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Category: Opinion

By BV Rao

The proceedings of the joint drafting committee of Jan Lokpal Bill have ended in the expected anti-climax. At a time when the government was under unprecedented pressure to bring in a tough law, a weak Opposition was two-timing the nation and the national media was more trusting of the government than “civil society”.

The result was that the government was allowed to wriggle out of a tight situation rather easily. Anna Hazare and his team were subjected to all kinds of scrutiny, which is as it should have been, but the government and the Congress got away scot-free. Little was being asked of them and nothing was answered.

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In the column “Talking Heads” on sports page today, the Hindustan Times writes: WHAT MUNAF PATEL SAID: I’m concentrating on line and length, and leg-cutter…batsmen do their job, we (bowlers) do our job. WHAT MUNAF PROBABLY MEANT: Why don’t you talk to me in Hindi? We can have a longer chat”!!!!!
Cheap, cheap dig. And by the way, whoever reads the Hindustan Times for its Queen’s English?

Courtesy: governancenow.com
An open application to Prannoy Roy for the post of Group Editor, NDTV

Respected Dr Roy,

I am writing to apply for the post of Group Editor, English News, NDTV.

I am a journalist with 26 years experience. Throughout my career I have made innocent mistakes. I have been silly, I have been gullible and I have been prone to making errors of judgement. Frequently, when I am “desperate for khabar” I also fib to sources. I string them along so much that I have often tied myself up in knots. continue reading…

On Monday, May 24, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will address a press conference in New Delhi to unveil the report card of his government’s performance in its first year. The press conference is going to be unlike any other before it. It will not be limited to Delhi journalists. Reporters from Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Lucknow will be present by video to pose questions to the prime minister. Maybe a few questions will be taken from foreign capitals too. According to Harish Khare, the information adviser to PM, about 250 news channels and 1,500 print journalists will cram Vigyan Bhawan, the venue.

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By B V Rao

I was always worried I would die without knowing enough about Arindam Chaudhuri. But last week, The Hindu and Tehelka put me at ease. Thanks to these two highly respected publications, I will leave this world armed with better information about the management mogul, his life and his works. continue reading…

By Srimoy Kar

After all, 24×7 news channels need meat and blood to sustain viewer interest but one-upmanship in breaking news seems to have created a virtual storm in a tea cup in the trainjack case.

More at expressbuzz.com

DEEPA GUMASTHE joins the debate on Naxalism on TheVigil:
We cannot expect marginalised people to adhere to democratic processes when the democracy they live in offers them absolutely no benefits. I think the key statement in her (Shoma Chaudhury’s) analysis was that these people seem to prefer a gruesome death to slow starvation and acute deprivation. continue reading…

By BIKRAM VOHRA

After 40 years in journalism and running 12 newspapers I have to confess to two passions. Aviation and the pursuit of human dignity. In the second category, the judgement by the colour of one’s skin has always burned me up and I see it as the worst form of racism practised with sinister malice in India. continue reading…

S B Easwaran posted his comments to my post “Learn to wring a chicken’s neck…”  wondering about the wisdom of an Hindustan Times article romanticising Kobad Ghandy, the alleged Maoist leader arrested in Delhi. I’m throwing up Easwaran’s comments as a separate post to carry forward the PublicScrutiny of that debatable article.

— B V Rao, administrator

By S B EASWARAN
Is a Maoist the more interesting for having gone to Doon School, for coming from an affluent and urbane Parsi family of Bombay? Is he the more interesting for his naive psychology of minor or ritual brutality in preparation for human violence and death of hundred-fold magnitude? Is he the more interesting for the polished affluence of his fruit-icecream fortunes? Or is he just a more interesting story for all that? continue reading…

By B V Rao

I’m not saying that. Kobad Ghandy, the top Naxalite who was recently arrested in Delhi, is saying that. And he’s saying that courtsey Jyoti Punwani, a Mumbai freelance journalist and courtsey the Hindustan Times.

continue reading…

 

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