Media lessons from Mumbai

On mannerisms of the media

Different newspapers covered the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai in more or less the same vein. However, one newspaper disappointed many because it resisted the popular temptation to go out of the ordinary way during the most extraordinary times of the city warfare. The Hindu in its tone and appearance remained regular and restrained than other major English language dailies here.

Creativity pays

The Economic Times and Hindustan Times surely deserve praise for their ingenious graphics and elaborate coverage. (The Times of India’s coverage was also satisfactory.) While the HT coverage stood out as it tried to listen to what the people had to say, the ET’s concise but clear stories satisfied the intellect. I received just a copy of the Indian Express after the terror attacks (I haven’t subscribed as many newspapers as I had earlier), and was amused by their coverage. The Indian Express with its hallmark reporting revealed that the authorities had received warnings of a possible terror attack via the sea route but had failed to act – the paper broke the details ahead of its ‘rivals’ (to my knowledge).

For The Hindu, it’s usual business?





Dec 16, 2009 issues of The Hindu, Hindustan Times and The Economist

While other newspapers recognized the significance of the victory of the Indian test cricket team against England in the aftermath of the terror attack, it was downplayed by the Hindu. The editors weren’t convinced that the victory had anything to do with the mood of the people or it could heal the scars left by the deadly attack. I couldn’t stop wondering if it chose to lag behind while other newspapers showed much flexibility in their coverage. The answer appeared over the following weeks as serious questions regarding the overall media coverage during the terror attack in India were widely raised. Here’s what readers felt about the Hindu coverage:

S.R. Vijay (Sharjah), who regularly comments on the coverage in The Hindu, felt the paper lagged behind others in describing the happenings. That was on the first day when the paper was found wanting. The early editions did not carry the news at all because of the time factor. But the paper pulled up its socks and did full justice to the developments from then on, including some outstanding work by Praveen Swami.

Reader T.S. (he prefers to be known by his initials) from Edayaranmula, Kerala, thanked the editor and staff of The Hindu for “the restrained, dignified and informative coverage — the absence of gory and sensational pictures and the focus on information rather than shock value was especially appreciated — setting a calm and courageous tone — at a time when highlighting fear-mongering and corpses might have sold more issues.”

— Readers’ Editor

Television at the height of obscenity

Nissim Mannathukkaren’s thought-provoking criticism of the media mannerisms appeared in the last week’s Magazine. Although overall electronic media came under fire because of its irresponsible and obscene coverage, needless to say the same principles that bind people in the broadcast media also apply for those in the print. We cannot feed opinions when the facts are scarce. The commercialization of the media surely has its pitfalls but it is our duty to maintain restrain even when provoked incessantly as there is always this danger, as exposed during the 26/11 attack, of the medium being misused to promote propaganda and terror. At a time when the mindless mass is preaching war, it is our foremost duty to restore the sense of normalcy and perseverance.

Jingoism and war vultures

The reelection of Dog Bush to the Oval Office was engineered by the propaganda machine of the Grand Ol' Party that ‘used’ the media to convince the people that their nation was in a great danger and they needed a dog like Bush to guard their country. The media disseminated wrong information regarding the existence of WMD in Iraq and became an effective tool of ‘thought control’ prior and after the war. The political vultures exploited everything possible to convince the mass that their concerns were genuine and the war was just. People in media got wars to cover and run their business against odds facing the newspaper industry there as news and views were fed in abundance to the public. Who profited from the wars? The list includes politicians, businessmen, bankers and not surprisingly media tycoons as well.

Mass Media and Control

I watched a few films and interviews recently that showed how/when the media becomes the enemy of the people and the very ideals it claims to protect. The works fresh in my mind are Zeitgeist, Noam Chomsky's works and speeches (Mass Media and Control) and Hearts and Minds — a 1974 Oscar-winning documentary exposing the lies behind the Vietnam War.

The elite media set a framework within which others operate. If you are watching the Associated Press, who grind out a constant flow of news, in the mid-afternoon it breaks and there is something that comes along every day that says "Notice to Editors: Tomorrow’s New York Times is going to have the following stories on the front page." The point of that is, if you’re an editor of a newspaper in Dayton, Ohio and you don’t have the resources to figure out what the news is, or you don’t want to think about it anyway, this tells you what the news is. These are the stories for the quarter page that you are going to devote to something other than local affairs or diverting your audience. These are the stories that you put there because that’s what the New York Times tells us is what you’re supposed to care about tomorrow. If you are an editor in Dayton, Ohio, you would sort of have to do that, because you don’t have much else in the way of resources. If you get off line, if you’re producing stories that the big press doesn’t like, you’ll hear about it pretty soon. In fact, what just happened at San Jose Mercury News is a dramatic example of this. So there are a lot of ways in which power plays can drive you right back into line if you move out. If you try to break the mold, you’re not going to last long. That framework works pretty well, and it is understandable that it is just a reflection of obvious power structures.

The real mass media are basically trying to divert people. Let them do something else, but don’t bother us (us being the people who run the show). Let them get interested in professional sports, for example. Let everybody be crazed about professional sports or sex scandals or the personalities and their problems or something like that. Anything, as long as it isn’t serious. Of course, the serious stuff is for the big guys. "We" take care of that.

What are the elite media, the agenda-setting ones? The New York Times and CBS, for example. Well, first of all, they are major, very profitable, corporations. Furthermore, most of them are either linked to, or outright owned by, much bigger corporations, like General Electric, Westinghouse, and so on. They are way up at the top of the power structure of the private economy which is a very tyrannical structure. Corporations are basically tyrannies, hierarchic, controled from above. If you don’t like what they are doing you get out. The major media are just part of that system.

— Noam Chomsky, What makes mainstream media mainstream

Here’s Mannathukkaren’s article:

Whose media? Which people?
Nissim Mannathukkaren

The coverage of the terror attacks showed that when the media becomes a purely business enterprise, news becomes a commodity, serving the interests of the few. It ceases to be the guardian of democracy or the protector of public interest.

Hastiness and superficiality are the psychic diseases of the 20th century, and more than anywhere else this disease is reflected in the press.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

Walter Cronkite announcing John F. Kennedy's Assassination.

On November 22, 1963, some 38 minutes past two p.m., Eastern Standard Time, Walter Cronkite of the CBS takes off his glasses while announcing the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He puts them back on slowly, and takes about seven seconds to read the next sentence in a voice struggling to regain its composure. Those few seconds of time, which are an eternity for live television, surely would rank among the most poignant moments of television journalism. Reams of pages could not have evoked the same pathos as those moments of silence. Contrast these with the plasticity and obscenity that characterised the 60 hours of visual media coverage of the terror in Mumbai, especially in English. As Jean Baudrillard puts it, the obscenity of media events “is no longer the traditional obscenity of what is hidden, repressed, forbidden or obscure; on the contrary, it is the obscenity of the visible, of the all-too-visible, of the more-visible-than-visible”. What the terror exposed was not just the underbelly of the Indian State but also the innards of the institution of media in India.

Role of commercial media

But the few critical responses to the terror coverage do not go beyond the superficial and technical aspects of this phenomenon to understand the deeper question, which is the role of a commercial media in a democratic society. The real issue, therefore, is the systematic erosion of the concept of the press as the fourth estate: the belief exemplified by people like the 19th-century historian Thomas Carlyle that “invent Writing” and “Democracy is inevitable”; the belief that the press is the guardian of democracy and the protector of the public interest. And this erosion is the inevitable culmination of the long process of the appropriation of the concept of public press for the private interests of a few, in short, the turning of the press into a business enterprise. The news here becomes like any other commodity in the market. Of course, the media in India has hardly assumed the scale and the depth of corporatisation in countries like the United States. But the signs are ominous and these are hardly encouraging for the miniscule number of media outlets that seek to be a real “public press”.

The most problematic aspect of the recent coverage is the media’s posturing as an “objective” and “neutral” entity — above all kinds of power interests — which merely seeks to bring the “truth” to the public. This posturing is seen in the shrill rhetoric of the blaming of the State and the political class for the tragedy. In this simplistic formulation of the “good” press versus the “evil” politicians, the media panders to something called the “public opinion” instead of acting as a critical catalyst of the latter. Public opinion must be the most abused term in a democracy. But what we forget in the aura of Obama is that it is public opinion that sanctioned the U.S. war in Iraq and it is public opinion that elected George Bush back to power. So a public opinion uncoupled from higher universal principles of justice and ethics is merely a mob stoning an alleged adulteress to death. Walter Cronkite went on to become the “most trusted man in America” for often going against the public opinion, even from within the confines of a commercial media. When he, against the logic of television ratings, delivered the verdict against the American war in Vietnam, President Lyndon B. Johnson famously remarked: “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost America.” With hundreds of debates on television in the last few days, it was reprehensible that not even one proposed a political solution, rather than a technical or military solution, to the problem of terrorism.

A modern myth

The moral superiority of the media in relation to the political class and the State is the biggest myth in any capitalist democracy. The recent politician-bashing undertaken by the media hides the deep need of both for one another. Such a synergy could not be better illustrated than by the media celebrity status attained by politicians like the late Pramod Mahajan. The same goes for the media’s harmonious and mutually beneficial relationship with capitalist interests which include the entertainment industry. It is almost laughable that the media, after 60 hours of shameless voyeurism, chose to call Ramgopal Varma’s visit to the Taj as “disaster tourism”. The media’s defence that the lack of coverage of the victims at the CST railway station as compared to those at the five-star hotels was not “because of some deliberate socio-economic prejudice” but an aberration and imbalance that crept into the chaos of covering live tragedy ignores the deeper systemic problems hinted above. Even after the tragedy was over, the sanity of the studios could still not restore the imbalance. For instance, NDTV’s “We the People”, telecast on November 30, had among its expert panellists, Simi Grewal, Kunal Kohli, Ratna Pathak, Ness Wadia and Luke Kenny! These people are supposed to represent us, citizens, against the inept and carnivorous State. Through the magic wand of the media, the rich and the famous transmogrify into “we the people”. The philosopher Slavoj Zizek had noted that the “close door” button in the elevator is actually inoperable: it does nothing to hasten the closing of the door, but gives the impression that it does. The presumed power of the media as the representative of the people is something similar: it merely gives the illusion that we are all participating in it. And it has always been this way. That is why the suffering and tragedies of the few elites who lost their lives in the terror attack become more important than that of the other victims. That is why the media spectacle of terror has the habit of ignoring the systematic horrors and tragedies undergone by millions of Indians on a day-to-day basis. And that is why the Taj and the Oberoi will enter our wounded collective consciousness, unlike Kambalapalli and Khairlanji.

It is shocking that a slogan like “enough is enough” is bandied about in the media now after a terror attack. The moral angst of the media could not be roused all these years even when 1.5 lakh farmers committed suicide in a period of mere eight years from 1997 to 2005. How many channels did exclusive “breaking news” stories when India, the second fastest growing economy in the world, secured the 94th position, behind even Nepal, in the Global Hunger Index Report? Where were the Shobha Des and Ness Wadias then, who are now out on the streets mouthing revolutionary slogans like “boycott taxes”? Where were the candle light vigils and demonstrations when policemen rode on a motorbike with a human being tied to it? Or when a father and a child were crushed under a bus after being thrown off it for not being able to pay two rupees for the ticket? For the 40 crore Indians who live like worms, the prospect of being shot dead by terrorists would seem like a dream come true. At least it is more glorious and patriotic than swallowing pesticide!

The clamour for the accountability of the State and political class that has been occasioned by the terror was long overdue. And the media has played a role in giving a stage to vent this anger. But ultimately, it hides the fact that commercial media is just another partner in the State-corporate alliance. Otherwise, how can you explain the lopsided coverage in the English media about poverty, hunger, health, nutrition and violation of human rights (which would not exceed 10 per cent of the total number of stories and reports)? While a lot of questions have been raised about democracy after the terror attack, there is none about the need for a real independent media which is free not only from the clutches of the State but also from profit and commercial considerations. Enforcing some security guidelines for the media for wartime and emergency coverage does not address the larger question of the freedom of the press and its accountability to the public which can happen only if the latter are treated as citizens and not as consumers.
Blaming the media alone for our problems or not acknowledging some of the benefits of even a commercial media is naïve and one-sided. Nevertheless, the “public debates” that were staged on television in the last few days operated on a thoroughly emasculated notion of democracy and security. What the urban middle classes and the elite want is not democracy but Adam Smith’s night watchman State which does nothing more than the strong and efficient protection of the life, limbs and property of the people (read the classes). Once that is accomplished, whether the masses sell their blood, kidneys or their bodies to make a living is none of their problem. Despite the clamour for democracy, even the media is aware that if real democracy is established, it will not be able to sell many of the things that it is selling now, including terror as a packaged product. Until then, it will continue to be the vulture in the Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of photojournalist Kevin Carter: the Sudanese toddler, all skin and bones, lies slumped on the ground in her attempt to crawl to the feeding centre, while it waits in the background, for her to die. At least, Kevin Carter had the conscience to end his life.

The author is Assistant Professor with Dalhousie University, Canada.

Feedbacks:

Commercialisation of media

This has reference to “Whose media? Which people?” by Nissim Mannathukkaren (December 21). The electronic media failed to react in a responsible way during the Mumbai attacks. It sums up the limited agendas of present age media that seems to prefer commercial interests over humane interests. I fail to understand why the media is so interested in treating everything as saleable?

Arvind K. Pandey, Allahabad

The article truly portrayed the increasing commercialisation of the media. It is true that the media only highlights news that evoke considerable interest among the viewers and is not bothered about the ideals of democracy or the death of ‘insignificant’ persons. But we shouldn’t forget that part of the blame is with us. It is we the people who have commercialised the media. If only the news and other channels highlight issues like poverty, hunger and such other things prevalent in each and every corner of the world, will anyone watch the reports and appreciate them? There’s a need for us to change too..

G. Ranjith Kumar Reddy, Hyderabad


The Myth of the Liberal Media: The Propaganda Model of News


Television news is for reel
Chitra Padmanabhan, Jan 02, The Hindu

Time will tell whether the television camera corrects its retreat from journalistic conventions or tilts completely towards the hyper mould of the reality show.

Fatal attractions, one is told, are precisely that — fatal. More so when two ‘frame fatales’ like film and television are seized by a violent desire to be like the other in their hot pursuit of ‘reality’.

When that frame of reality happens to be the footfalls of issues like terrorism and the war on nerves, it is time to sit up and take note.

The switch has been happening over a period of time. Filmmakers want to ‘go real’; they hanker for the authenticity and immediacy of a television news frame, especially in the new crop of multiplex political thrillers, be it an ‘Aamir’ or ‘A Wednesday’.

They choose plots which echo real junctures that have come to pass in the life of the nation. Then they create a patina of naturalistic acting and dialogues, locations, ambient sound as well as impromptu and over-the-shoulder camera shots as on television news.

But television news seems to be going the other way. It is very often packaged as histrionic performance, dressed up in hyperbole and melodramatic mien, serenaded by lethal sound effects and evocative background scores, invariably from films.

And yet it is completely secure in the conviction that unlike cinema there is no confusion about it not being ‘real’, whatever it may do. It is the ultimate reality show.

This is especially true of occasions when an incident of immense proportions rips through the humdrum pace of normality, developing tragic dimensions over time and providing a captive audience hitherto undreamt of.

In the week that Mumbai lurched in pain, caught unawares by the terrorist’s calculated rage, the switch became glaringly apparent. Granted, the challenges of reporting 60 hours and not 60 minutes, live, unscripted, must have been a huge challenge at a time of immense responsibility, when television was the fastest and to all practical purposes the only source of information.

However, the references of news presentation seemed to lie outside the journalistic profession, exhibiting streaks that have been perfected over time by the networks. Each time India wins a cricket match anchors/reporters crow that “we” — not India — have won a match; every time there is a calamity one is struck by the rather unprepossessing manner in which anchors superimpose themselves dramatically in the coverage of an event.

‘S/he who controls the image is the righteous one’ is the adage by which news networks largely live in our times. However, the magnitude of those 60 hours was so great that the reality of a medium of news sans anchor in the conventions of the profession became glaringly apparent.

Rarely has any coverage been deconstructed in such detail — be it tragedy kings and queens wanting us to plumb the depths of their scarred hearts instead of trying to make sense of every leaden minute of visuals coming our way; or apoplectic anchors hectoring at the invisible terrorists, “We shall never let you succeed in your evil designs”. In that instant they became the voice of the nation and were no longer journalists who track news.

If BBC journalists seemed remiss in calling the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack gunmen and not terrorists as they termed the attackers of 7/7 in their own land, our own TV journos showed an evangelical zeal in repeatedly terming the attacks and attackers ‘evil’, forgetting what they were on camera for. We witnessed journalists lying supine and clutching their microphones to report on camera in a way we had not seen journalists reporting from conflict zones like Iraq or elsewhere.

Rumours about resumed firing in a part of the city were spilt spontaneously and later retracted. It was the scariest feeling – it seemed as if there were no gatekeepers of news to filter in all the information that was coming in. The viewer was caught in a paradox: able to see images but without much clue as to what was happening.

With the ebb and flow of outraged voices and matching background scores; with looping replays and hyped up commentaries to create a flurry in times of lull as far as the actual incident was concerned, in effect a new reality was being constructed in the studios – and offered authoritatively as ‘the’ 24/7 reality.

This was a bigger film than any filmmaker could ever hope to make, without the normal time constraints of 90 or 120 minutes. For instance, the number of times the video grabs of the two terrorists advancing in tandem was replayed created a distortedly fast pace and larger than life presence no movie on the mechanics of terror would be able to match.

Ironically, as public rage against the political class swelled to unheard of proportions, watching lives turn into detritus – a rage the television networks beamed again and again, adding to it their pained expressions, the print and net world was buzzing with outrage against the television news networks for making news almost invisible by playing out the tragedy in sensational tones, by becoming actors in it.

The pained faces of rescued hostages receded from the mind even as uncomfortable memories of reporters virtually forcing them to emote the horror they had experienced, lingered distastefully. That, unfortunately, is the numbing aftertaste of the television news coverage one was left with. Not to mention the competitive streak of various channels insisting that the visuals they were showing were exclusive.

Clearly, this was all about consumption of images 24/7 playing NOW — not even in the nearest cinema, but in your home theatre. No extra strong speakers needed; television news comes with a lethal decibel level and at a hammering pace guaranteed to quicken your pulse. There is no bigger entertainer than news milked as reality TV.

The boundaries are well and truly blurred. There was a time when we knew that a film, however, realistic, was not for real; that the aura of a frame which reflects the physical reality of an incident is television’s alone. Both come together in the phenomenon of news as reality show.

In our times we are almost tempted to say that the planet is not spherical but rectangular, for that is how most of us encounter it these days — through moving images, through the camera frame.

That is why it is somewhat unnerving to think that what we earmark as news and information and ‘reality’ could be television’s flight of fantasy, extracting the seed of emotion from a human dilemma and converting it into a spectacle to be viewed vicariously, not experienced with concern.

The debate generated around the television coverage of the Mumbai attacks is a watershed in a sense, for it has prompted reflection in some quarters. Time will tell whether the television camera corrects its retreat from journalistic conventions or tilts completely towards the hyper mould of the reality show, adding to it aspects of film at will for untold entertainment.

The frame of reality was never so tenuous.

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Obituary: Harold Pinter

The playwright’s death has brought him and his works back into the memories of millions. His Nobel lecture is a powerful statement against the mass murders committed by the United States over the last century. “Language is actually employed to keep thought at bay,” he said referring to the U.S. presidents who waged wars to 'protect the cause of the American people.’

A writer's life is a highly vulnerable, almost naked activity. We don't have to weep about that. The writer makes his choice and is stuck with it. But it is true to say that you are open to all the winds, some of them icy indeed. You are out on your own, out on a limb. You find no shelter, no protection — unless you lie — in which case of course you have constructed your own protection and, it could be argued, become a politician.

When we look into a mirror we think the image that confronts us is accurate. But move a millimetre and the image changes. We are actually looking at a never-ending range of reflections. But sometimes a writer has to smash the mirror — for it is on the other side of that mirror that the truth stares at us.

I believe that despite the enormous odds which exist, unflinching, unswerving, fierce intellectual determination, as citizens, to define the real truth of our lives and our societies is a crucial obligation which devolves upon us all. It is in fact mandatory.

If such a determination is not embodied in our political vision we have no hope of restoring what is so nearly lost to us — the dignity of man.

Truth, obviously, cannot entertain the mass addicted to the likes of hideous Hilton and their holy Christ. If you can stand it, watch this lecture recorded for Stockholm. Visit the Nobel Prize’s website for the text.

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The task for tomorrow

Dear readers and subscribers, thank you! ‘Tata’ 2008!

‘Aspirations had an eye for Oxford, and Jude the Obscure could tell what I haven’t.’ 17th December

Straight out of the musical box!

As a validation of scholarship, Oxford or any old institution of another age always remained a daunting dream for that teenager with an innate quality to ‘accumulate ideas, and impart them to others.’ The boy, now a young man, would look at those in charge of the grand institutions, suspect their capacities as connoisseurs of academia and compare with his growing intellect his strength as a craftsman of letters. The quondam raisers were now unseen bearers of thoughts so familiar that the advanced noesis of his time devalued their contributions — at least for the boy who in his school years thought Shakespeare was too obscene a name which also explained his sexual inhibition till nature stimulated his spirit beyond suppression. He was to him a repeat of ancient texts so far, his ambition being cogitation of a terra incognita.

Jude the Obscure

Thomas Hardy’s last book of fiction, Jude the Obscure, ‘completely cured’ him of ‘further interest in novel-writing.’ But critics claim he reached the personal peak of craftsmanship with the novel being discussed here and his other work Tess of the d’Urbervilles. One can find several criticisms online or in print, also the novel is now freely accessible through projects such as Gutenberg. As I write this without any book of reference in hand or access to the Internet, the knowledge being circumscribed since anything like Oxford is yet to happen to me, the novel’s references to the classical literary texts were the only portion that remained ‘obscure’ throughout my self-study. The paragraph above is partly about Jude — Hardy’s tragic hero.

A lady friend rightly cautioned me that there is a systematic way to study literature and other texts should be acquainted with prior to this scandalous work. This critique is thus incomplete without the assessment of Hardy’s previous works, so this writing will only state the obvious. The novel is a treatise against marriage and an experiment with disillusionment. After the first reading, I have started funnily using the old dialect to interact and applying some of the central ideas of the novel into the analysis of certain traits of the opposite sex. The tones of the earlier two paragraphs above are thence that of a bygone era, and this hangover should mean the novel was ingenious. Sue, the modern ‘emancipated’ woman of the city, is a model figure of this century so commonplace that I started to see this work as one of the beginnings of the dissolution of the faith in the institution of marriage.

The liberal women of this age who flash their bodies in the name of freedom; people in some industry which uses sex as a currency and qualification; the increasing acceptance of heterosexuality or live in relationships; the gender transplant; the change in the meaning and pattern of human sexuality; and an ultra postmodern theme which has been a subject of my excessive literary and cinematic interest — love and relationship with robots; these and other several layers of complexities have been a constant cause of alteration of the human psyche. The topics mentioned here require extensive study and discussions could run into several volumes. I leave this task for ‘tomorrow.’

Writing job

The exercise is tiresome today, but I might pursue creative writing as a subject of formal education starting next year. Whether it’s a dying art or one of the most difficult one is the least of my concern but the challenge is to sit down, start writing and complete a book next year. The moribund exercise of mind forced to monotony cannot produce a classic, so whether to consider making the next career move is another difficult question. Art, cinema and literature being the major fields of personal interest and indulgence, another difficult task set for tomorrow is to continue to study all the three art forms.

Besides editorship and writing, there is no trade I am interested in for the moment and it’s not a right time for the westward migration for people of my or any other profession anyway, so I am giving the decision to study aboard a second thought. Nevertheless, I am taking a SAT text next month. A well-wisher proposed a newspaper position in one of the upcoming editorial teams in the country last month. But the recent developments and the state of journalism in Nepal have been a major deterrent ever since I decided to return home.

This weblog and other plans

A reader complained that Kathmandu Speaks, as you’ve noticed, is increasingly becoming unreadable. But I believe the number of the readership has increased for this particular reason. I met wonderful people through this weblog — a continuing personal project. I thank you all for infrequent but invaluable feedback through inquiries, comments and unexpected personal visits. The readership decreased in comparison to the last two years for two reasons — the number of posts was less and their nature being more serious and specific. The year was spent more or less inside a cubicle, and many plans including joining a Chinese language class, just remained the same. Next year, I’ll move out more and visit a few places (in China and Pakistan as well), work on writing with a renewed enthusiasm and finish a book by this time of the year. I am laughing at the tone of this writing; caught by Hardy’s ghost, huh?

I want to thank you for exploring topics discussed in this forum. The weblog covered varied topics this year and I am happy about it. Once I cheered at the thought of each piece of writing being so different that each ‘issue’ was like a special edition of anything but an electronic magazine. Certainly, the increased readership has added responsibility and worked as a necessary fuel for me to increase the quality of the work. (I’ve removed some beautiful work of prose as I want to use them for other purposes.) The commercial interest ceased after I chose to keep a post discussing how much Nepali bloggers earned intact and preferred being out of the Google Adsense program.

During one of the work assessments last month, my boss told me that it was always good to have something (this weblog) besides a job. Since we were discussing about various things including money at that point, I felt it necessary to explain that the work on this blog was that of a philanthropic nature and I will keep it the same in coming days. The freedom to continue Kathmandu Speaks is an obvious condition even if I take any new editorial role. The work of the last three years has made a great difference in my life. I hope my work will continue to satisfy my readers.

Carry on

“When Heaven is about to place great responsibilities on a man, it first frustrates his spirit and will, exhaust his muscles and bones, exposes him to poverty and starvation, plagues him with misfortune and setbacks so as to stimulate his spirit and toughen his nature and enhance his abilities.” Mencius, an ancient Chinese philosopher.

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Right shoes at right face can make a difference

President Bush, on a surprise trip to Iraq and Afghanistan, got a taste of dissent at a Baghdad press event Sunday when an Iraqi journalist threw shoes at him, forcing him to duck. (APTN/AP)

The Iraqi journalist, Muntader al-Zaidi, 28, a correspondent for Al Baghdadia, an independent Iraqi television station, stood up about 12 feet from Mr. Bush and shouted in Arabic: “This is a gift from the Iraqis; this is the farewell kiss, you dog!” He then threw a shoe at Mr. Bush, who ducked and narrowly avoided it.

As stunned security agents and guards, officials and journalists watched, Mr. Zaidi then threw his other shoe, shouting in Arabic, “This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq!” That shoe also narrowly missed Mr. Bush as Prime Minister Maliki stuck a hand in front of the president’s face to help shield him.

— NYT

"All Iraqis should be proud of this Iraqi brave man, Muntadhar. History will remember him forever."
— A geography teacher tells her students at one Baghdad elementary school.

Abdel-Sattar Qassem, a Palestinian political science professor at the West Bank's An Najah University, wrote in an online commentary that "Bush wanted to end his bloody term hearing compliments and welcoming words from his collaborators in the Arab and Islamic world. But a shoe from a real Arab man summed up Bush's black history and told the entire world that the Arabs hold their head high."

— IHT

"Oil is the trouble, of course. Detestable stuff!"

As Britain prepares to pull its troops out of Iraq, former BBC Baghdad correspondent Andrew North looks back to a previous military campaign and considers whether history is destined to repeat itself?

As the insurgency spread, the letters from the British diplomat in Baghdad grew bleaker.

"We are in the thick of violent agitation and we feel anxious… the underlying thought is out with the infidel."

And then: "The country between Diwaniyah and Samawah is abandoned to disorder. We haven't troops enough to tackle it at present."

A month later: "There's no getting out of the conclusion that we have made an immense failure here."

In fact, this insurgency was in 1920, the uprising against the British occupation of what was then still Mesopotamia.

— Iraq presents a lesson from history.

Like father, like son

But it is worth mentioning that there is quite a rich history when it comes to shoe-ing incidents involving Iraq and the Bushes.

The first was the floor mosaic at the front door to Baghdad's Rashid Hotel depicting the first President Bush.

Its location meant visitors to the hotel - frequented by top Baath regime officials and visiting VIPs - had to step on George Bush Snr's likeness, in revenge for alleged "war crimes" committed during the 1991 liberation of Kuwait.

— BBC

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Open letter (to lords of Nepali print)

Let’s not cheat our readers again
(An edited version of this letter was published in the January 2009 edition of Himan Southasian magazine.)

The fact that most of the senior journalists vacated their posts in the wake of the Kantipur-split can provide invaluable insight into why the lords of journalism felt the urge to print new newspapers rather than staying there to restructure and redefine the print media which was a child’s play than establishing foothold in the market with a new publication only to sop up empty pockets of the readers — the largest group of their readership is definitely the unemployed youth of Nepal.

Our top editors seem to be bolstered and full of self-pride that their junior counterparts were left with only one ‘sensible’ choice and that was to follow their gods faithfully in blind hope that they had supernatural powers to take their careers out of the sump by redefining the meaning of their profession and improving their characters among the educated youth disgusted by work of their old and unchallenged masters. But these flimsy heroes further embarrassed the disillusioned youth by cheering characterless nouveau full of promise but whose qualification would raise a thousand questions and there would be nothing unquestionable about the quality of their work.

If there was a need for a new newspaper, then we cannot afford it to be just like the old ones. If there was anything wrong with the old paper, then we cannot put the blame on the owners of the publication alone. Those who were responsible for the everyday work from the field to the editorial desk to the printing press and the market, they should own up their roles in downsizing and disappointing their valuable readers. These are serious issues that should be discussed and addressed immediately. We can’t wait till the first copies of Dainikee and Republica hopefully reaches the hands of curious readers and leave them in utter disbelief. Please, let’s not cheat our readers again.

Since discussions have already started about the online media, let’s not confine ourselves to the questions that appear on surface alone. I think it’s equally important to give a serious thought to problems faced by media workers of the country today. We have to remodel organizational structure, reinvent work ethics and re-impose professionalism. If you were not satisfied with your job or pay in your former organization, you cannot expect your employees to be satisfied with a meager pay and mediocre work in your organization. We need to set standards to evaluate ourselves today and judge our performance later time and again.

What I expect from Narayan Wagle and Ameet Dhakal and their teams is to raise bar of the journalism in Nepal and come up with a new set up that others will follow. This is the right time to do so since their publication is still nascent and much can be done now that will make a real difference. If they don’t address old grievances that affected their work and business in the past, those problems will surely resurface and plague the new institution.

No one should take leadership for granted. If the youth cannot prove themselves, they cannot claim their stake on their leadership. If they lack ideas, they should be open and seek constructive criticism and initiate serious discussions in their newsrooms. I can see many are afraid to open their mouth just because they don’t want to upset their bosses. But I believe they are wise enough not to take such criticism personally.

Go, speak out. Now.

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From Facebook on myRepublica.com

Today's Highlight (Dec 20th)

I don't have a choice than to pity the sorry state of our media houses and those poor guys who don't have a dummy page yet for testing purposes. Look at any top news portal, they prefer still images than such an irritating image menu which you can see on their portal right now. Unfortunately, that doesn't work either! I thought the problem was with my browser (MF) but the errors are same on IE.

Is there anything left to say now? Oh, it's still BETA!

(Click to enlarge the screenshots.)




The power of Web 2.0 (More Updates: Dec 9th- Dec 18th)

Note: I'm posting a discussion from facebook about the newly launched news portal, myrepublica, for general readers.

Executive Director Prateek Pradhan checks the site as Chairman Hari Kumar Shrestha and Dhumbarahi Media team look on. (Ujjwal Acharya)

"BETA VERSION"
(This discussion is still being fine-tuned)

Mohammad Tajim wrote
at 12:50am on December 9th, 2008

Site doesn't appeals to me.

http://blog.tajim.com.np/nepali-web/why-myrepublicacom-wasn’t-as-good-as-i-thought/

Kay-shuve Koeraalaa wrote
at 1:00am on December 9th, 2008

rep site is better than dain's

Kay-shuve Koeraalaa wrote
at 1:02am on December 9th, 2008

but tajim claims there are errors.. he should be correct. tech thing not my cup of tea

Mohammad Tajim wrote
at 10:30am on December 9th, 2008

Yes there are errors in code but that can be secondary things to many people in Nepal, but my question to everyone in Republica is that why could not Republica go one stop forward and really the break the trend of web design and development in Nepal using all sorts of modern web design trends.

I know all of your visit websites of US based newspapers but did you even gave second thought to make your own website somewhat like that. You guys are missing on a lot of points.

Damakant Jayshi (Harvard) wrote
at 11:53pm on December 9th, 2008

hi tajim,
thanks for comments. the code is not secondary to us. we would appreciate if you are more specific as it will really help us improve the website. also we would like to work on the points you said we have missed. it will be helpful

Mohammad Tajim wrote
at 11:57pm on December 9th, 2008

Well, there are lots of things needed to be changed on the site. If i go on pointing everything one by one then you may have to completely redo whole website.

Just compare your website with any one website of US based publishing house. You will see the difference yourself. You are missing on many points.

the whole design. It does not look professional from any point.
Colors of the site seem to be made by a child playing in MS-Paint
Structure of the template is no where near to any other New publishing site.
Typography of the site is too poor.
Images are not placed in correct place.

There many more but i can write them all here.

Tajim

Mohammad Tajim wrote
at 11:58pm on December 9th, 2008

and you also missed Social Media which is vital today for any site publishing content.

Salik Shah wrote
at 3:28am on December 10th, 2008

well, tajim, my friend, when i was in ekantipur and proposed social media and tagging and link back things, the so-called designer of the site said that would be like promoting other sites/blogger for free!!!! and the dear editor agreed! i proposed so many things — both content wise and technical things — lol i used to blabber a lot but that was it… i had to stop within a month after they said they didn’t even use google analytics then!!! “khub online uchalchhu bhanera aathyo salik hahaha” bhanera malai sadhai arko purano dai le jiskauna chhodnu bhayena… and now that you've pointed out their technical ignorance, i feel GOOD indeed at least you understand my pain!!! lol jati jogi aaye pani kanai chireko!!

But come on yaar, forget it? who cares? even if they care, they CAN'T do it — they are “the bestest” in the small country and arrey why would you come out and do some soul-searching when you already know you know so little! if they hope to redefine online new media (as they claim), they have to redefine their standards first… why would you waste your time trying to learn new things? i’m worried about the work they will come out with (i mean the newspapers), and the signs aren’t anywhere near i had expected… nepal ho yaar, budha haru lai kachkach mann pardaina, chup laga (joke garya)..

personally, yeah, i am working on my blog to make it one of the best in the whole blogosphere… my definition of blogging is unremittingly evolving! when people say my blog’s nice, i feel somewhat satisfied because i’ve spent many sleepless nights trying to meet the standards i have set for myself (and i’ve a long way to go before i can boast abt the technical things but forget Singh, Content is king lol), on a serious note when your hard work is recognized, you feel good.. there have been so many developments recently and i am ‘clueless’ … there are so many errors in my code and haven’t been able to launch my community portal www.kathmanduspeaks.com no time, no expertise ( and $ lol)… but there are people there who know so little but talk so much… unfortunately, that can’t do any good to the citizenry or the local media industry… i wonder if they are honest with themselves abt such things?

old people with experience should use their wisdom to let young talents take over these new areas... new media or Web 2.0 is for geeks(i’m talking abt handling the technical department), please let them do it. obviously, we need ‘expert’ guidance about areas of their expertise though… i think prachanda knows this well lol

i can go on and on but i’ve a page to do now..
thank you for the link, tajim

Mohammad Tajim wrote
at 12:53pm on December 10th, 2008

Wow Salik! That was something man. You really said everything that was in your mind since last whole year.

Mohammad Tajim wrote
at 12:55pm on December 10th, 2008

But i am also wondering why is not there anyone from Republica or commentiing on this issue.

Damakant Jayshi (Harvard) wrote
at 4:12pm on December 10th, 2008

well, salik, looks like you have vented your ire of your experience of working at kantipuronline on us! indeed there are many things that we need to improve and we welcome any ideas that you. i am sure we are going to discuss those soon

Salik Shah wrote
at 1:50am on December 11th, 2008

well damakant (JI) that was my experience of working in nepal for nepalis being a nepali


Salik Shah wrote
at 2:13am on December 11th, 2008

this was abt the online media, here's my nonsense abt your paper:
http://kathmanduspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/11/journos-case-on-nepali-media.html


Ujjwal Acharya (Nepal) wrote
at 8:53pm on December 11th, 2008

Well, it looks like lots of discussions are going on here. I missed it all due to my leave.

Thanks for all comments and we will certainly try to improve the sites all the times.

Guna Raj Luitel wrote
at 11:44pm on December 11th, 2008

Yes, we're committed to improve if there is any weakness. And there is always room to improve. We worked ling time as a print journalist and online journalism is our new carrier as well :).

Kay-shuve Koeraalaa wrote
at 12:00am on December 12th, 2008

hey salik boy cool down.

Salik Shah wrote
at 2:28am on December 12th, 2008

BOY? who me? i'm a cool guy daii, you know that already hoina ra? thought my experience could be useful here and for my countrymen...
the problem is instead of hiring professionals, we think this guy knows a lil-bit and can pull off. this is not a good sign. the print media, especially Kantipur, was doing a great job. let’s hope Kantipur 2.0 doesn’t turn out to be a disappointment.. but dear editors of TKP, i seriously doubt your capabilities. Fire that guy who designed the website, and btw who designed the masthead? i hope you understand the weight (burden?) of expectations you carry on your shoulders from people like us…
unfortunately most people who are in responsible positions lack vision in our country from politics to publications.. we know the problems, so let’s stop talking and start WORK.. i’m always open to contribute (but i don’t want to take part in tea-talks, social interaction seems waste of time because of the examples already set by my senior colleagues)..


Salik Shah wrote
at 2:43am on December 12th, 2008

and ujjwal, "Well, it looks like lots of discussions are going on here. I missed it all due to my leave. "the discussion is still on, and how come you missed it?

i hope discussions will take place in your newsroom... best of luck to you all and thank you for another kaam-chalau initiative... there's enough room for improvement, let's start working on those areas in a sincere and serious manner...

we all have finest ideas, but pioneers don't give up so easily...


Ujjwal Acharya (Nepal) wrote
at 8:41am on December 12th, 2008

Salik, I hope the discussions will go on and I will get some valuable suggestions for improvements. Web 2.0 thing is of course hot and sleek, but does that mean it's the only thing? Of course not.

MyRepublica/dainikee were not coded by amateurs, the people behind them are professional web programmers. And, they are still working to get us what we need. The beta version [or even after official launch] has/will have problems, but since you have been maintaining your own blog, u know that web is a thing that always gives opportunity to improve.

Apart from that, any comments?

Salik Shah wrote
at 8:54am on December 12th, 2008

My best wishes for your married life bro...


Mohammad Tajim wrote
at 4:42pm on December 12th, 2008

Well, Ujjwal Dai let me clarify you something. You say you are "pioneer blogger" but you do not know that Web 2.0 does not only means sleeks colors, rounded borders, huge typography and sideshow. There is more to web 2.0 than we can even think of.

Web 2.0 is not only thing that we incorporate in our blogs or site. It is a damn phase of Internet that we are in right now.

The early versions of Web from the start to the little later of the 2000 Dot-com bubble burst was considered as web 1.0. if you have no idea about the Dot-com bubble burst then better look in Wikipedia.

Web 2.0 was an initiative started by Tim O'Reilly to enhance the user experience while using web sites.

From Wikipedia:
"The term "Web 2.0" describes the changing trends in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aim to enhance creativity, communications, secure information sharing, collaboration and functionality of the web. Web 2.0 concepts have led to the development and evolution of web culture communities and hosted services, such as social-networking sites, video sharing sites, wikis, blogs, and folksonomies."

You guys easily use Wikipedia but many of you don't know that Wikipedia is biggest example of Web 2.0. There is no flashy colors on Wiiki, No huge logo neither rounded borders. It still looks as a plain old websites from the ages of 1999 but this website is Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is a way we use Internet. Its about user-generated content- easier collaboration and better functionality. If you still think that Web 2.0 is not everything then you better stop using Wordpress, Blogger, Wikipedia, Digg,Youtube,etc etc because all of them are Web 2.0 and from your viewpoint i get that you don't think that they are that real important aspect of Web today.

Don't get me wrong but i never expected such remarks from you regarding Web 2.0 as you are a "pioneer" blogger of Nepal

Tajim

Ujjwal Acharya (Nepal) wrote
at 5:57pm on December 12th, 2008

Tajim,

Thanks for your long three comments.

The first thing, I do not consider myself a technically-advanced person. Secondly, to be a blogger you do not need to be one. [THANKS TO WEB2]

And, if you consider everything on internet after 1999 is web2, then of course myrepublica/dainikee is also web2. About community thing, we have plans [and little bit of codes ready] for citizen generated content / sharing thing. And, you probably have also noticed that the importance we have given to comments [on every news] which will be published on sidebar once moderated [unlike other news site of nepal, which does not bother to give much priority].

Blogs are already there.

On better functionality, you can question.

And, I will be very grateful to you if you point out specifically what we can do to make the site better.

Tapas Thapa (Nepal) wrote
at 5:58pm on December 12th, 2008

So what IS the definition of a" professional"?

Salik Shah wrote
at 2:24am on December 13th, 2008

Tajim, I was equally disappointment by his answer. After my wishes, he should have at least left a "thank you" note. But he didn't. lol So let's stop now. If they need ideas, there are a couple of sites which you have already mentioned where they can look to. But they have "professional web programmers" working for them already (and Tapas that was really an imp question), they might not even need our help. Oye timro aru kaam chhaina bhaney? Am sorry for telling you to stop, but don't you see I got a signal already lol: "Apart from that, any comments?"


Tapas Thapa (Nepal) wrote
at 2:26am on December 13th, 2008

wat signal?

Uttam Lama wrote
at 6:03am on December 13th, 2008

Hi,
Nice to see all in one after long time i i experince that the,
"Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.”

Keep it Up

Uttam

Salik Shah wrote
at 6:12am on December 13th, 2008

thanks uttam that makes sense


Mohammad Tajim wrote
at 3:56pm on December 13th, 2008

Well Ujjwal Dai

I have said in my blog post what points you need to focus to redesign your site. I hope you must have read it.

Avash Karmacharya wrote
at 7:38pm on December 13th, 2008

Okay, some serious stuffs r going around. And I wud surely want to volunteer to put my some feedbacks as an outsider. Well...wid due respect to all opinions, when like anyone else I got to hear that republica's and dainikee's websites r being launched and when i heard so much about it from my senior dais working there, I was expecting sumthing really grand to happen. sumthing extra ordinary. Honestly speaking, I'm no that good in all the technical sides of the websites, but as a regular visitor to different websites, especially news based, my excitement turned to disappointment after the official launching of these two websites. When I logged in for the first time, I wanted to feel - Oh my God! but after logging in I went - What! This was it? Why so much hyped? What's so new? As I happen to b one the well wishers of the entire team of Republica and Dainikee....its a sincere repquest to listen at least a bit to Salik and Tajim.

Avash Karmacharya wrote
at 7:42pm on December 13th, 2008

Internet is accessed mostly by da ppl residing in urban areas of Nepal. And I guess many do watch other international websites. The tow website launched by tapaiharu seems no different than the ones we're already tire of. All of u must be an avid visitor of iht.com and nytimes.com. They haven't tried making it look all fancy and colorful. In simple way, the website looks attractive. To be dead honest, I found nepalnews.com more a news website than the ones launched recently. My best wishes r always there. And don't get offended please.

Besides I agree to Salik that young ppl r always pushed back be it in politics or in anything else. Old knowledgen and over confidence creates chaos at the end.
Cheers to all!

Salik Shah wrote
at 1:37am on December 14th, 2008

Thank you Avash for coming out and speaking. I hope others will also express their views in the medium which they find comfortable - private or public.


Mohammad Tajim wrote
at 1:41am on December 14th, 2008

i am wondering where are big bosses of Republica. I don't see any serious comment from anyone who has any authority of over these sites. Are you guys afraid to face comments in public? or you think it would be too demeaning to reply to comments by folks like us who are just teenagers.

After saying so much too i don't see any change in the website. If there is no point in discussing this then lets close the whole chapter.

I said all this to help you guys make your website more useful. If you think a good looking website won't help you gain a name and fame in this country then i am sorry for all my comments. I think i was just wasting my time

Salik Shah wrote
at 2:01am on December 14th, 2008

Tajim, two things I would like to say but I know what you meant:
We've passed sweet adolescence now and in case they don't know, we've many years of experience with us of our respective fields. So I'm sure they are taking everything seriously. But may be they don't want to come and indulge in spat in public place. I find it myself disgusting that I had to come to this level but I'm very emotional about such things and I have already lost faith in these people who could have actually made a difference to bring about real change in the country. (Change is a slow process; now I've patience that I lacked two years ago.) I am confident that we are going to play important roles in the country and regain our lost pride worldwide. And we are not wasting our time. I believe by now everyone in the Nepali media industry should have realized what's going on and where we would be if we continue to let things go this way.

If you like it, raise your hands. If you don't, please raise your standards.


Avash Karmacharya wrote
at 1:55pm Dec 16th

why is Uzz dai quiet?

Ujjwal Acharya (Nepal) wrote
at 2:38pm yesterday Dec 16th

Its better to listen to people than to speak - ALWAYS!

Avash Karmacharya wrote
at 3:18pm Dec 16th

may b after all that, a realisation now! Lolz

Salik Shah wrote
at 1:26am Dec 16th

Please don't mind, tara one SHOULD let people speak to listen and not remove comments that links to something you DON'T want people to listen to. I hope you got it. This is a free world and I didn't expect that from one of our senior journalists.

Salik Shah wrote
at 1:27am Dec 16th

and avash a question? how do you rate your work?


Salik Shah wrote
at 1:32am Dec 16th

The best thing would be to close comments here. And start real work.

Suresh Nath Neupane (Washington, DC) wrote
at 5:34am Dec 17th

Well guys, especially those who claim to be youngsters. I have something to say. As Chanakya Rishi said: "The world's biggest power is the youth and beauty of a woman," it's true that youths have that power and burning zeal to change the world. However, sometime youths lack power to see beyond the transcendental knowledge, power to see a statue inside a unstructured stone.
To talk about Republica and Dainikee, they are great news websites. Why dont we say this way--the websites are really good-looking but still need to work a lot to remove unnecessary parts from the unstructured stone to make a statue. Sculptors might have been working there.

Govinda Adhikari wrote
at 6:47am Dec 17th

Thank you very much Sresh ji for your kind words and insight. You have excellently expressed your ideas.

Salik Shah wrote
at 10:41am Dec 17th

People who consider themselves 'old' should show their competence at work and cannot hold onto the glorious days of their youth. I am sure some of us who are following this discussion have read/seen Master Builder. When the new generation tries to the unseat old masters, friction is inevitable.

If you can lead, youngsters will follow you anyway. If you lack leadership qualities, you’ll surely earn more respect by admitting it. But we don’t have that culture. The point of the whole discussion was (as I get): WHAT KIND of people have we employed for the job?

The difference between the old and the new definition of aesthetics is threatening our future, that’s why it’s more urgent to make space for and groom new talents to meet today’s world standards and prepare for tomorrow. The first major hindrance to success is our traditional mindset.

I don’t dismiss the wisdom of our sages but as a journalist I believe truth is the world's biggest power and I value goodness over beauty.


Kay-shuve Koeraalaa wrote
at 2:29am Dec 18th

I enjoyed the discussion. :)
Suresh made a point.

Kay-shuve Koeraalaa wrote
at 2:29am Dec 18th
And m reading wat Salik has written.

Kay-shuve Koeraalaa wrote
at 2:32am Dec 18th

And, the leadership argument is correct. :)

Background:
About Tajim, visit this. Damakant Jaysi writes in his profile: "Associate Editor, Republica. Spent nine years with The Kathmandu Post. Currently, we (mostly ex-Post colleagues and those from outside) are working together to bring out Republica, English daily newspaper." Ujjwal Achrya writes on his blog about the launch of the sites. Avash was with City Post and is now with NewsFront. Suresh was with eKantipur for around three years.

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