I'm not an expert in anything, and therefore I suspect I am eligible to hold opinions on everything.
If the newspapers and media organizations of today believe in the "pen is mightier than the sword" rah rah rah, and, I know most of them claim to; but, if, _if_ they are really interested in leading social change as the fifth column and all that, then it's really simple, they must do their job. When newspapers promote salacious content over news, they become tabloids. When the writer would rather entertain the reader, he becomes an entertainer. If it isn't intellectual dishonesty that the newspapers of the world are guilty of, then it is dereliction of duty. Newspapers have the moral authority to raise their voice when things go wrong, or as is more often the case when things don't go right, they must act with emotion and passion, and show the cause has reason, and most importantly they must tell a story. The art of storytelling is at the heart of the business of journalism. To trigger an emotional response in the reader, based on facts, to cause action. The journalism trade has sadly become the 'house negro' of its economic masters. I adore the BBC for the independence of voice it's often been afforded - there isn't a comparable voice of reason in India. I'd love to see a website or a radio station that rallied for the cause of truth become a part of the news landscape in India. This is all the more important in India, a fascist state where a truly independent voice would feel the jackboot. Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom as the saying goes. If you feel strongly about being an honest journalist, then write. No one will give you permission to begin. Write about anything you feel strongly about. The deplorable lack of free press is a fine starting point. On Fri, Dec 9, 2011 at 4:21 PM, Sidin Vadukut <sidin.vadu...@gmail.com>wrote: > I am not an expert in India media, having only worked for a newspaper for > a very brief period of time. At least my paper, I know, writes and deals > with things like police reform. We had a columnist for a while who wrote > about this kind of thing. And we keep writing about it. Do people read > about it? I have no idea. I do not remember being inundated with reader > emails or thoughts on the topic of state reform or police reform in > response to these articles. We've written about the Natgrid, constitution > reform and a bunch of other topics. > > Do newspapers bring these things up? Yes. Do they bring it up more > frequently than it comes in public discourse? I would think so. Is there a > lot of pubic discourse on these topics? Not in my little experience offline > and on. > > I don't think newspapers operate in some detached vacuum from what the > public at large is talking about. Or in any case not all of them. I suppose > newspapers should be leading debate on the topics you mention. But if the > general traction for these topics are so low... what do you do? > > I am not being rhetorical. I am asking. What do you do? > > And I don't think there is deliberate intellectual dishonesty everywhere. > I have never, in my experience, sat through a single editorial meeting and > seen a topic of national relevance being played up or down for dishonest > reasons. This may not be a universal phenomenon. > > There is, however, a lot of deliberate opportunism in the business. Some > people only care for what the 'public' cares. > > Or maybe I am just writing all this because I yearn to be a decent > journalist. > > Anyways. > > Sidin Sunny Vadukut > London correspondent, Mint - WSJ > www.livemint.com > Mobile: 07572441292 > > > > > On 9 Dec 2011, at 14:53, Srini RamaKrishnan wrote: > > On Thu, Dec 8, 2011 at 5:31 AM, Biju Chacko <biju.cha...@gmail.com> wrote: > > What with the Kapil Sibal brouhaha, I thought I'd better find out more > > about what rights I actually have. > > > What rights do you actually have? How about none? One doesn't even > have the right to end up along with 6000 other Kashmiris in an > unmarked grave. > > Let's be clear about one thing here, India isn't a shining democracy. > Far from it. Most Indian states on their own would be declared fascist > regimes overnight [0]. > > I find it funny that the Indian intelligentsia get their panties in a > bunch because of some silly comments by a minister who should know > better, and yet mass graves, genocide, mass oppression and warfare on > its people go for the most part uncommented. > > Misplaced priorities: the newspapers of the world will rant incessant > about the merits of letting Walmart & co into India, and only make > silent noises about the lack of Police reform, even when ordered by > the Supreme court. How many times has the police reform issue been > mooted and vetoed? The lack of attention is not accidental, it is > deliberate intellectual dishonesty. > > What about the reforms to the constitution? Does anyone even bring up > the Sarkaria commission in the polite company of politicians these > days? > > > [0] I am not given to hyperbole, I can make a rather strong case for > quite a few large Indian states. > > >
