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2008 International Goan Convention
Toronto, Canada
http://www.2008goanconvention.com
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The Paid Pipers of Panjim
People who read newspapers in the naïve faith that the journalists are
batting for them, will get a rude shock after reading such accounts.
AUGUSTO PINTO reviews In Black and White: Insiders' Stories about the
Press in Goa.
Book Review
In Black and White: Insiders' Stories about the Press in Goa. Ed.
Frederick Noronha, Published by Goa 1556, Goa, 2008. Price: Rs 195.
The press is a Piper who will play tunes for whoever pays him, or at
least whoever pays him some attention. This includes the publishers of
newspapers, the advertisers, the government, the readers, and those
who produce the paper – such as the editors and other journalists.
But at least on occasion, he must perform for the downtrodden and the
voiceless; those who may never even be able to buy a copy of the paper
or to read one. Or else, he risks losing his relevance. This is not
just the case in Goa, regarding whose press this book is about, but is
so all over India, and indeed, all over the world.
'In Black and White' is an account of the press in Goa in recent times
which gives ample evidence to this proposition. It is a collection of
essays by Goan journalists from the time of its Liberation from
Portuguese rule in 1961, up to the entry of The Times of India's Goa
edition in 2008; with glances at the entry of new media such as the
television and the internet, which have changed the face of
journalism. But since one can hardly speak of a medium without
speaking of the message it conveys – one also gets a series of
snapshots of the momentous events regarding Goa that hit and sometimes
did not make it to the headlines.
But before one examines the significance of this book, it is useful to
remember that the story of the printing press in Goa goes back to
1556, when the first one in Asia was, by a stroke of luck, established
in Goa. [A printing press, which was supposed to go to Abyssinia
(nowEthiopia), with a batch of Jesuit missionaries, arrived in Goa on
March 29, 1556. En route, while they were preparing to proceed to
Abyssinia, news reached them that the Emperor there was not keen to
receive the missionaries. Thus the press stayed in Goa and was set up
at the College of St. Paul in Old Goa.] 'Goa 1556', which has
published the book under review, is named in memory of that event.
The first phase of printing in Goa was controlled by the Portuguese
clergy and the government, and mainly occupied itself in publishing
religious texts to help them in converting the local populace to
Christianity. This phase continued till the middle of the 17th century
when the last book of this Gutenberg type press rolled out. Printing
in Goa resumed in 1821 when the government brought a printing press
from Bombay, and began publishing a weekly called Gazeta de Goa to
inform people about govt. policy.
But around 1846 onwards, in the midst of an era which the sociologist
Robert Newman calls 'traditional – colonial' the local aristocrats
began to be able to afford to buy printing presses and began
publishing journals, mainly weeklies and monthlies, to propagate the
views of the factions they represented. For instance the O Ultramar
sided with the Christian Brahmins, while the A India Portuguesa was
the mouthpiece of the Christian Chardos [equivalent of Kshatriyas].
Apart from these, there were Marathi publications begun mainly by the
Saraswat Brahmin merchants as a means of communicating among
themselves without too much interference by the Portuguese, who were
not too familiar with the language.
Then there were Roman script Konkani journals edited by either elite
Catholics or the clergy. Most of these are now defunct but
'Vavraddeancho Ixtt' [Workers' friend] and the monthly 'Gulab' which
still cater to mainly middle and lower middle class Christian readers
of Goa and Bombay, are examples of such journalism.
The early publishers and journalists saw their papers as mainly
performing a public service to their constituents (though in reality
many of these papers were often merely pandering to the egos of the
publisher-editors). In the tiny Goan market where advertisers were
few, these journals often published at a loss, as is indicated by
their high death rate.
But after Goa got liberated in 1961, a new era of publishing began. In
the run up to the first General Elections to the Assembly of the then
Union Territory of Goa, Daman and Diu, at least 5 Marathi dailies and
one in English started. Of these, the ones that thrived belonged to
rich Goan mine owners. It seems clear in hindsight that these were
meant to be the handmaidens of the rapidly dominant bourgeois
capitalist class. However the papers also aimed at being successful
business ventures.
The essays in 'In Black and White' are mainly first person accounts,
many of which are amusing. One example, the first essay "Sixties'
Stories: Free Goa's First Polls" by the septuagenarian novelist Ben
Antao, now based in Canada, is a stunner in demonstrating the way the
owner - publishers could dictate how the Piper played. His account of
the way he, as a young journalist with The Navhind Times in 1963, was
lulled into first believing, and then promoting the views of the
publisher, Vasantrao Dempo,[later to be awarded the Padma Shri] with
the connivance of the more worldly wise Lambert Mascarenhas, then
co-editor of the paper. This story had it been presented as fiction,
would have sounded unbelievable.
Antao swallowed the line that an Indian National Congress Govt. would
be best for Goa. During these elections, Vasantrao's younger brother
Vasudevrao was a Congress candidate - his ticket given to him because
of his wealth. Purushottam Kakodkar, the then Congress supremo in Goa
became close to Antao, and fed him with reports of the imminent
victory of his party. Antao naively churned out stories favorable to
the Congress, blind to the ground reality that the election was a
straight fight between the United Goans and the Maharashtrawadi
Gomantak Parties.
Believing his own reports, Antao on the eve of the election, thought
that it was now payback time and rang up Kakodkar with whom the 28
year old journalist was on first name terms:"Purushottam, can I ask
you something?...Soon you will be Chief Minister of Goa…what will you
do for me?' Kakodkar said," What do you mean?" "What I mean is, if you
become the Chief Minister, can I be your Press Secretary?" Kakodkar
was non-committal. One wonders what the state of mind of the then
young reporter was when the results were out, and he discovered that
the Congress didn't win a single seat.
If one didn't suspect it already, then this is a very clear
demonstration of the way the press functions; each stake bearer
bartering away their wares for their own gains. 'In Black and White'
is peppered with such stories. People who read newspapers in the naïve
faith that the journalists are batting for them, will get a rude shock
reading such accounts. Antao and others should be thanked for their
candidness, as it may help people open their eyes to the reality of
the media.
Antao's essay confirms an old media dictum: the press is not all that
successful in deciding what people think; but it is spectacularly
successful in dictating what people should think ABOUT. This point
might have been confirmed had the editor managed to get more
contributions from those who covered the mid- 1960's in Goa.
By now, the industrialist – publishers had realized that it was
preferable to let clever minions do their bidding, rather than get
dirty in the rough and tumble of real life politics and journalism. At
this time Niraj Naik points out, these publishers who were mainly
mine-owners were inflicting a huge amount of environmental degradation
in the interior parts of Goa.
The gatekeepers of the press – editors, mainly from outside Goa, who
were hired by the industrialist owners ; and the journalists they in
turn hired - made sure that the stories of the environmental disasters
being inflicted on Goa by the mining lobby never appeared on the pages
of the papers they controlled. Hence public opinion on the issue
remained muted, and the evil went unchecked.
This was the time when the momentous Opinion Poll was conducted in
1965. This was meant to determine whether Goa merged with Maharashtra
or remained a separate entity. Also it was the time when the
redoubtable Madhav Gadkari in the Gomantak was making a pitch for Goa
getting integrated with Maharashtra. It was opposed by the Rashtramat,
also in Marathi, which was anti-merger.
Although Raju Nayak does give some space to these agenda setting
Marathi papers, a deeper analysis of their contribution to the long
running Goan identity debate is missing. Former Gomantak Times, and
current Herald editor, Ashwin Tombat has elsewhere opined that
Gomantak played major roles in splitting the MGP after the Opinion
poll, and in toppling Shashikala Kakodkar's government in 1979 by
leaking the Budget. He also contends that the paper was instrumental
in the MGP nearly defeating the Congress in the 1989 poll, and
subsequently in splitting the Congress to form the PDF government in
1990.
While it is more plausible that there were socio-economic movements
going on such as the Ramponkar [traditional fishermen] agitation that
were fuelling political discontent; and also Machieavelian politicians
like Dr. Willy D'Sousa and A.N. Naik who were engineering such
developments; there is no gainsaying that this paper was in the thick
of things. It also was the main opposition voice to the Konkani
movement in 1986.
There is need to examine the Goan press from the viewpoint of the
readers which this book does not set out to do. Gomantak again, was
for long looked upon as the voice of the 'Bahujan Samaj', an euphemism
for the lower class, lower caste Goan Hindus. It helped to reflect the
tremendous social transformation that has overtaken Goa in the last
few decades. In the bargain, it may have helped stoke communal
feelings among its readers. Later Tarun Bharat took over this role, a
role which the English language Herald was to oppose. Perhaps another
book is needed to explain the role of these papers in communalizing
Goa.
The 60's was the time when Goa was quietly becoming a destination for
the 'flower-people' – the hippies who were the harbingers to Goa
becoming the tourist destination it is today. What the press's take on
this phenomenon was, is not given much space here, nor is the more
recent land grab attempts by various forces in guises such as the
Regional Plan and the attempt to set up S.E.Z.s.
But the press scenario from the 1970's onwards is the strength of this
book. The contributors of this volume who worked during this period
give full vent to their Oedipal instincts. Journalists, who are
regarded as holy cows by people even today, are shown to be the human
beings that they are. Among those who get a tanning include Lambert
Mascarenhas [by Ben Antao and Eugene Correia]; Uday Bhembre [by Raju
Nayak] and K.S.K. Menon [by Valmiki Faleiro].
However the hero, or is it villain, of the book is undoubtedly Rajan
Narayan. In fact the book was originally conceived as an e-book to
mark in 2003 the 20th anniversary of the Herald's existence, the paper
where he was the long time editor.
The foibles and failings of this remarkable man come into view. When
he was hired Narayan was an obscure journalist who had worked for a
Free Press Journal magazine called Onlooker; and at the time he
applied for the job had in fact been in advertising and public
relations. O Heraldo was a Portuguese - English daily paper that had
been bought by the printer J.D.Fernandes, as much to import printing
machinery, as to set up a challenge to the monopoly of the The Navhind
Times.
Rajan went about his job to transform this obscure journal,
brilliantly, or recklessly, depending on how one views the man. He
discerned that the Goan Christian minority wanted a voice, and he
positioned his paper to perform that function. Yet he did not wish to
upset the applecart of the big businesses, and Frederick Noronha notes
that an editorial guideline in the Herald explicitly stated,"Reports
or features critical of large companies are to be avoided..." on the
grounds that they could not afford to antagonize potential
advertisers.
Given that much of the corruption that happens in the state is fueled
by these companies, this makes for dismaying reading. Notwithstanding
the fact that his actions may have polarized people on communal
grounds, Narayan has played an important role in articulating some of
the most important issues that affected Goan politics and society
through the 80's and 90's including the language issue and statehood.
Incidentally the Herald's nemesis, the pro - establishment The Navhind
Times, which is the subject of snide remarks throughout the book,
remains an exception to the rule that the Piper should sometimes play
for the poor or voiceless. In spite of being boring, badly produced,
and having the reputation of being a government gazette, it has
retained a large circulation in Goa.
'In Black and White' helps the reader to understand that a successful
newspaper is a collaborative venture. Some of those whose
contributions are little known such as rural correspondents;
compositors; proof readers; and newspaper vendors get interesting
mention. Valmiki Faleiro's account about the way a promising
newspaper of the late 1970's, The West Coast Times, was killed because
the owners could not come to an understanding with the printers'
demand for better wages is an example.
The book comes at a time when there seems to be some very significant
changes occurring in the Goan media. There are new media options like
the 'free sheeters' about which Miguel Braganza writes. But a more
important development is the entry of media groups such as the Belgaum
based Tarun Bharat; the originally Pune based Sakaal, now owned by the
Sharad Pawar family, which has taken over Gomantak and Gomantak Times;
and The Times of India which by pouring money into its Goa edition has
made the other papers to sit up and spruce up their operations.
The stranglehold which the mining lobby had over the media appears to
be weakening. Local television is becoming a reality forcing papers to
become more visually attractive though frivolous in some ways. And
radio is making a comeback through FM broadcasting.
And as Daryl Pereira notes, the phenomenon of the internet in recent
times has had an enormous impact on the press. Mailing lists such as
www.goanet.org and blogsites such as the journalist watchdog
www.penpricks.blogspot.com are ensuring that the agenda setting
function of the press is not left solely in the hands of editors any
longer. This has resulted in the emergence a brash young breed of
journalists such as Mayabhushan Nagvenkar, the Tehelka reporter, whose
innuendo dripping article on the crime scene in Goa, reveals how
skeletons are routinely hidden by the police on behalf of the local
elite.
'In Black and White' has the feel of the work of journalists whose
everyday job is to write history in a hurry. As in a daily newspaper,
one will find typos; and the editing could have been much better.
Still it is essential and enlightening reading for all those who
consume the Goan papers along with their breakfasts.
--
Augusto Pinto is a lecturer, freelance writer, translator and reviewer.
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