(My response, below.)
From: "Sachin Phadte" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, October 21, 2003 2:28 PM > I am sorry if I sound like a parrot on this issue. > > Valmiki Faleiro wrote: "Press freedom, like most ideals in life, is only a > relative term. Not absolute. Not here in India nor, from the little I know, > anywhere else in the world." > > If that be the case, then do we have a right to criticise the present > dispensation in Goa if they try to muzzle the press? I think Valmiki is > rationalising. > > Sachin Phadte. No, Sachin, I was not even TRYING to rationalise what you think I was. You have quoted me but, somehow, avoided the crux (that immediately FOLLOWED in my original mail.) I'll copy both paras to clear the context:- <Press freedom, like most ideals in life, is only a relative term. Not absolute. Not here in India nor, from the little I know, anywhere else in the world. <Press freedom is not just a relative term but comes in layers. Freedom from whom, if one may ask (and as I have said before): from arm-twisting political dispensations, from newspaper managements who expect returns on their investment, from wily editors nursing their own agendas, or from the biases of journalists themselves?> Maybe we were on two different floors. You were, as I now understand, on the *present dispensation in Goa (trying) to muzzle the press* while I was on the wider question of WHO needs to muzzle a press that was, as far as I know, already muzzled - at different levels and a variety of ways. You could, perhaps, (a mere suggestion here) address the 2nd para for a meaningful exchange of views. [If I must clarify, I hold no brief for arm- twisting political dispensations -- just as I don't for commerce-minded newspaper managements and unscrupulous and irresponsible editors.] Regards/Valmiki ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
