At 02:16 PM 22-10-03 -0400, Miguel Braganza wrote...
MB
A four-page,tabloid-size apology for a newspaper has hit the stands. It is named [ in a rather insignificant Masthead] as the "Independent Goa Observer*" [Asterisk not mine;Conditions apply! ]. The footer on page four reads simply thus,"* Title pending final approval. Edited,Printed & Published by Rajan Narayan." No address,phone number,etc of the Publisher or the Printing Press. The ex-Editor of the Herald is apparently above [or way below] the law of the land. Even handbills require to identify the printer...specially when the contents are likely to be controversial.
CP
I received the same apology for a rag with my Sunday papers on the 19th at Miramar. A Preview or Demo or Trailer normally shows off the best of what is to come. If this Preview is any indication...then the Independent Goan Observer is a total flop before even launching.
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MB
The good news is that Rajan has become a "Printer",too. .... One would think Rajan knew more about timing, positioning and pricing of a newspaper. After finding it as an 'insert' ,one wonders how long Rajan hopes to ride 'piggy back' on the oHERALDo.
CP
Rajan has been riding piggy back on Herald for the last twenty years. The way he struts it, one would assume that the Herald daily newspaper was entirely his creation. It is because of the free hand and support given by AC Fernandes, and a talented technical and editorial staff, that Herald has gone places. Rajan Naryan had a lot to do with it no doubt, but he got to believing that he was the whole and sole 'soul' of Herald.
Now that he's planning his own venture it shows, that other than writing Stray Thoughts and courting controversy, he knows precious little about Publishing.
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MB
How many copies of a tabloid IGO does he hope to sell at Rs.10/- a copy, starting from mid-November? At that price he would be in competition with the likes of newsmagazines like "The Week","Goa Today" and "India Today".
... Is he getting conceited or are his thoughts going on a stampede? I am no authority on such issues and would shudder to hazard a guess. A possible indication is his offer of ' free copy of IGO for one year' to "every individual who contributes Rs.1000/- or more". Subscription recruitment by the back door?
CP
I had seriously considered contributing Rs. 1000/- towards this IGO. My main consideration was not so much Rajan Naryan's hyperbole but rather the fact that Floriano Lobo seemed to be supporting the publication. In my interaction with Floriano I have found him to be above board and although he may sometimes bark up the wrong tree, Floriano's intentions are always sincere and selfless.
But seeing this apology of a Preview that has been circulated I have changed my mind.
Of just four pages an entire page has been taken up by Tara Narayan's Food Column. For heaven's sake! Goans are looking forward to a revolutionary new newspaper that will be the sole publication in the state with some semblance of an opposition viewpoint. Instead we have to read a food column by Rajan's wife? I wonder when Tara Narayan will start giving her unsolicited 'personal lifestyle advice in public' writings under the guise of her cookery column. In the Herald she gave gratuitous unsolicited advice to Vijay Mallya and others and finally to CM Parrikar which resulted in the whole Rajan-leaving-Herald mess.
Tara Narayan complains that after the Editor in Chief (not Rajan Narayan!) dumped her column, no other newspaper was willing to publish it. No wonder they weren't. Nothing to do with any instructions by Parrikar. This has to do with good taste. Which editor would want to publish a column that gives unsolicited advices to public figures on what they should eat and drink and how they should lead their personal lives?
Rajan should maybe rename his new newspaper "The Narayan Ramayana" if it's going to be just a long winded family affair.
Are there any credible and respectable journalists who are going to be also writing in this Independent Goan Observer? No names seem to be mentioned.
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MB
There is a lot of [intentional?] confusion between individuals,contributors,stakeholders and shareholders.All and any of these words are used liberally to describe the "bhakra" who will not even appear on MTV. If after Teaquity,Anubhav,Maxworth,Mehna,Rockland,Manipal Finance,Chit funds and Cheat funds, the Goan investor is still a gullible fool, a compulsive gambler,an ever hopefull....so be it.S/he deserves to be cheated. As one James Hardly Chase novel I read in my school days put it, "There is always a sucker". Rajan is banking on the simple,educated,emotional Goan 'Cristao'.....the perpetual sucker!
Well put Miguel!
Enough Goans have lost their hard earned money to scamsters over the years. From Finance and Plantation companies that offer incredibly high interest rates, to fly by night 'builders', to Magic Magnetic Mattresses that promise to make you healthy and wealthy... we Goans have been taken for a ride everytime. It's time someone speaks up and cautions the gullible.
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Viva Goa.
Miguel
Jai Hind! Viva Goa! Fuloi Aldona!
Cecil
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