thevigil.in: public scrutiny of news media

By B V Rao (source: exchange4media.com)

 As a CNN regular, I have always marvelled at their readiness to not just pick important stories from rival channels but also give them full credit and play in their own bulletins. That’s such a rarity in our own country. Here, if one channel or publication comes up with a national scoop, the others will pretend as if nothing happened for as along as they can avoid it. continue reading…

By B V Rao (first published on exchange4media.com)

Things are looking up at the Time of India. The country’s biggest and richest media house, which rang the alarm bells first with an unprecedented round of blood-letting last year, has just announced the end of recession. Ravi Dhariwal, CEO, wrote an endearing letter to all his staff to inform them that the management has decided to put some money in their pockets ahead of Diwali, a sort of bonus payout. continue reading…

 By B V Rao (source: exchange4media.com)

 In 1987 the Times of India set in motion a process of deconstructing the Indian newspaper as we knew it up until then with the launch of the rather wordy Sesquicentennial (150^th birthday) Celebrations. Even though journalism became collateral damage (some would say it was the primary target) in its relentless march to superstardom, the Times of India did much more than just deconstruct the newspaper. It changed the game totally and completely. continue reading…

BY B V RAO (source: exchange4media.com)

So the government wants to file an FIR against two reporters of the Times of India for their report which said two ITBP jawans were injured in firing by the Chinese army.

The government claims that the report was wrong, that there was no firing by the Chinese and hence no question of any Indian soldier getting injured. continue reading…