Here are further reflections on journalism for sale during the 2009 General Elections issue:. It is from the Reader’s Editor – Online & Offline column by The Hindu’s Reader’s Editor S. .Viswanathan:
Reader responses to last week’s column on media-related malpractices during elections throw further light on this serious issue, which is now before the Press Council of India. Some of them contend that the alleged malpractices were neither new nor confined to Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. No less shocking than the “coverage package” of Maharashtra or the “cash transfer scheme” of Andhra Pradesh is the “power of extraction” that allegedly played a role during the 2009 Lok Sabha election in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore constituency.

K. Ramasubramanian, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate in the Coimbatore Lok Sabha constituency, stated the following in an email to the Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu that has been forwarded to the Election Commission of India (ECI) for its information. Traditionally, money power and muscle power had been “two inseparable and fearful factors of Indian elections.” However in the recent parliamentary elections the media unleashed the “power of extraction” on a “selective basis” against “a few underprivileged candidates like me.” Mr. Ramasubramanian contended that the media, considered the fourth estate and a watchdog of democracy, were “partial in covering the elections” by giving “good news coverage” only to parties that “favoured” them. A section of the media, particularly some influential Tamil dailies he named, published election-related news “according to their whims and fancies without giving a fair chance to candidates from smaller parties.”
“Strange scheme”

He alleged that when he took up the problem with the relevant newspapers, he was assured of “due publicity” provided he shelled out about Rs.4,00,000 to Rs 5,00,000 over a period of 15 to 20 days under a “special scheme” of the managements of these newspapers. He was also “enlightened” by the management of one of these papers that if he released advertisements soliciting votes in newspapers, he would be accountable to the ECI, which was monitoring the election expenses of candidates. If, on the other hand, the message appeared as an editorial piece, it would help the candidate conceal the expense incurred.

This “strange scheme”, Mr. Ramasubramanian asserted, offered immunity to candidates who made a lump-sum payment and also ensured good publicity for them. If the candidate insisted on a receipt, it would be made out to a third party and not necessarily to the contestant. “This was an obnoxious and strongly objectionable scheme and was totally opposed to democratic principles and media ethics,” he said. Apart from encouraging unfair means, the “scheme”, also shook the very foundation of democracy and made it a mockery. “Obviously, as I was against the principle of buying editorial space by availing myself of ‘special packages’ offered by most of the regional newspapers, I failed in garnering adequate visibility in the mass media,”

Mr. Ramasubramanian wants the Election Commission and the Press Council to take a serious view of this corrupt practice and initiate stringent measures to stem the rot before it was too late. “Only then the right thinking and educated people would repose their trust in true democracy.” His appeal to these two bodies certainly deserves the support of the champions of true democracy and fair media.
Not restricted to election time

Pisipati Sriram of Hyderabad, also in an e-mail, said media greed was not restricted to election time. As one with long experience in journalism, his letter dealt with the circumstances under which journalism had reached such a low. The rot had set in much earlier, he felt. “To be precise, ever since editorial departments were taken over by market-men, editorial staffers, generally perceived as knowledgeable and scholarly persons, were reduced to cut-and-paste page-makers drawing wages that are peanuts in many news organisations.” In Mr. Sriram’s opinion, “standards of journalism have never been as low as I find them these days.”

The reader wondered what kind of professional standards and ethics one could expect when journalists in many Indian and English language dailies scrambled for favours from the establishment. He added cuttingly that a journalist who obtained benefits from the government such as a house site would only serve the establishment needs and at best was “only a dictation clerk to the powers of the day.” Such journalists would only file reports that show their benefactors in a good light. “Managements, for their own reasons, would seem to prefer such sycophants, drummers and trumpeters.”

The conclusion drawn by Mr. Sriram is that under such circumstances, “professional, impartial, dispassionate journalism gives way to narrow-minded, self-serving destructive journalism.”

A highly competitive media industry cannot afford to underrate the role of hyper-commercialisation driven by the conditions created by a fast-growing market-driven economy. Vice-President and chairman of the Rajya Sabha Hamid M. Ansari called attention to this challenge, which is actually a dilemma, in his inaugural speech at a recent New Delhi workshop on Parliament and Media: “the explosive growth in the media industry has highlighted the fact that the Fourth Estate is the only one among the pillars of democracy that has an identifiable professional, commercial and explicitly for-profit persona. While the primary duty of media organisations is to their readership for keeping them informed and appraised with news, views and ideas, the commercial logic brings in a new set of stakeholders …” Now more than ever before in India, there is a great need for checks and balances to ensure the primacy of editorial values and functions in the news media. This in clearly in the larger interest of protecting their integrity, independence, and fairness.

I can say that based on my journalistic experience, I am cautiously optimistic that maintaining a balance in order to “resurrect the professional and ethnical dimension of journalism” (to use the Vice-President’s words) is possible.
Courtesy: http://www.hindu.com/2009/11/09/stories/2009110955360900.htm

8 Nov. Thought I disappeared? No updates for two days! Eh?
Not exactly! I am in Bangalore. When in the state capital, I get disconnected for a while!!!
Reached Bangalore on Saturday. Whatever be that ‘confidential’ work, I had a break too. No laptop for two full days! And very little of mobile! The two tech-boons can make life unbearable! A break like this helps!
In the meantime, I have been following the political developments very closely! For the first time in almost a decade, I watched non-stop television: news channels. Even those channels which I don’t get to watch in Mangalore: NewsX. Glanced through other channels in the news like Colours, News9, Neo, etc.
Should I add, I watched the pathetic show by the BCCI’s cricket team? What is more appropriate nomenclature: BCCI team or Dhoni’s team? You tell me.
[To call it "Indian Team" is an insult to us! None of us have elected that team. There is no national interest involved in it. It does not represent any nation or state. It is not Indian team.]

8 Nov. Finally, Yeddyurappa gets an apparent breather. For now, his troubles are ’sorted out’ after the rebel Reddy brothers met their “mother” Sushma Swaraj in Delhi.
The defiant Reddy Brothers (Janardhana and Karunakara, along with Sriramulu) had a huge clout of MLAs who supported their demand.
The mining lords from Bellary are an extremely powerful lobby, who are responsible for installing the BJP government in Karnataka, sheerly on the power of their money. It may be noted that that the present BJP dispensation was the single largest party in Karnataka state polls in May 2008. But they ran short of three MLAs. The Reddy brothers had helped the Yeddyurappa group to buy independent MLAs and install the government for the first time in the South.

Later the BJP government, under the “Operation Lotus” banner shamelessly bought MLAs elected under the Congress and JD(S) banner, thus forcing another by-election on the electorate. Though the entire nation decried this mockery of the Constitution, then entire saffron brigade supported the move.

This move finally came to haunt Yeddyurappa when the Reddy brothers challenged him on various counts (though the real issue was proposed tax on iron ore trucks – which would have cost them Rs. 1000 crore!) like the self-styled rulers in Rural Development minister Shobha Karandlaje (who wields enormous influence on the CM), CM’s principal secretary V.P. Baligar, and CM’s style of functioning, etc.

The rebels asked for the CM’s head. Egos clashed when power was at stake. One faction wanting to control the state policies to suit their illegal business interests, another man to save his chair (this he openly admitted on 7 Nov. during an interview with Suvarna TV channel, while shedding crocodile tears!). And the people of North Karnataka continued to suffer post-floods! They continued to suffer. Power games deviated the nation’s attention to the warring political factions! What a misfortune! These are the contradictions of a democracy.

And finally the day came: crisis is solved. The demands of the rebels will be met in a phased manner. But how long will this artificial patch up last? I am not optimistic. It is a question of just a few months: and the Reddys will bounce back to hold the state and crying-CM the to ransom. The handle has been handed over into their hands. For now: status quo will continue. Reddys have won. The state and its people have lost.

6 Nov. It’s finally over! One big job. But there are some more waiting! Bigger ones, more complicated!
Happy for what is completed.

6 Nov. Here is a write from livemint.com. In terms of statistics (specially on Community Radios) there are glitches. But the message is quite clear.
http://www.livemint.com/2009/11/05223740/The-power-of-community-radio.html?h=B

5 Nov. www.radioandmusic.com has been with us ever since we signed GOPA in February, giving us good coverage, spreading the good work we do. This time, once again:
http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/news/radio-sarang-launches-legal-show

5 Nov. Finally the beaters are beaten up! On 4 November some bajrang dal activists assaulted Suhail of Government College in Car Street, Mangalore. Suhail’s fault: he -a Muslim boy- talked to a Hindu girl! The miscreants then entered the principal’s office, who engaged them in some negotiations in (another) room. In the meantime, word went to the police about the self-style policing.
When the police arrived on the scene, the unwanted activists were still arguing with the principal. The police, led by the young and energetic ASP Mr Amit Singh, beat up the attackers black and blue! Cases have been registered against them one of whom was a culprit caught in the attack on women in a pub!

India’s cultural pluralism its best defence
By Malini Parthasarathy

To question the patriotism of the Muslim community on the ground that it refuses to “worship” India as a concept is to make a mockery of the real meaning of patriotism and national loyalty.
for more:…
http://www.hindu.com/2009/11/05/05hdline.htm

He transformed western world’s outlook of “primitive” societies
Vaiju Naravane

Claude Levi-Strauss sometimes expressed disgust with the West and what he called its ‘own filth, thrown in the face of mankind.’

CLAUDE LEVI-STRAUSS: Towering intellectual. —

Claude Levi-Strauss, the father of modern anthropology and one of France’s most revered and influential intellectuals died in Paris a few weeks short of his 101st birthday.

Mr. Levi-Strauss’ field work and writings transformed the way the western world looked at so called “primitive” societies and was to have an enduring influence on related sciences like sociology, psychology, ethnology, ethnography, philosophy, archaeology and social anthropology.

During his long life Mr. Levi-Strauss taught at various universities across the globe and held the coveted Chair in Social Anthropology at the College de France. He was covered with honours that included doctorates from Harvard, Yale and Oxford Universities and in 1973 was elected to France’s prestigious Academie Francaise, the circle of writers and intellectuals known as the “immortals,” created in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu.

The fact that Mr. Levi-Strauss’ death has received massive media coverage and that ordinary persons have flooded the blogosphere and radio waves with anecdotes, tributes and remembrances is an apt comment on France’s everlasting love for affairs of the mind, despite the advent of President Sarkozy and his acolytes who have displayed a real preference for the material over the intellectual.

Mr. Levi-Strauss was the author of such well known classics as Tristes Tropiques (1955), The Savage Mind (1963) and The Raw and the Cooked (1964). In fact when Tristes Tropiques was published, members of the jury of the Goncourt Prize, France’s pre-eminent award for fiction announced they regretted not being able to honour the writer because the book was not a novel. Essentially a memoir detailing his time as a French expatriate throughout the 1930s, the book combined dazzling prose with audacious philosophical meditation and ethnographic analysis of the Amazonian peoples. The essence of Claude Levi-Strauss’ work pertained to theories about commonalities between tribal and industrial societies.

A towering intellectual who was astonishingly erudite, Mr. Levi-Strauss reshaped the field of anthropology, introducing structuralism — concepts about common patterns of behaviour and thought, especially myths, in a wide range of human societies. Defined as the search for the underlying patterns of thought in all forms of human activity, structuralism compared the formal relationships among elements in any given system.

Mr. Levi Strauss died on Saturday but his death was announced in Paris by his publishing house Plon on Tuesday. His son Laurent, a soft-spoken international civil servant said his father had died of “cardiac arrest” and that he had been buried in a small, intimate ceremony in the village of Lignerolles south east of Paris where he had a country house on the edge of a forest. “He had expressed the wish to have a discreet and sober funeral, with his family, in his country house. He was attached to this place; he liked to take walks in the forest, and the cemetery where he is now buried is just on the edge of this forest,” The New York Times quoted Laurent Levi-Strauss as saying.

Mr. Levi Strauss’ tetralogy, collectively entitled Mythologiques relates to the structure of mythologies and “is a seminal work on how to interpret customs and cultures in order to draw universal parallels,” said Catherine Clement, a former student and life-long collaborator. Ms Clement was posted in India as head of the French Cultural Centre at the same time as her husband, André Lewin who was France’s Ambassador to India.

Ms Clement who counts a biography of Mahatma Gandhi among her many books on India said in an interview: “Unlike other philosophers and political thinkers of his time, Claude Levi-Strauss placed a distance between himself and active politics, except in his early years when he was a militant socialist. He was not like Sartre, Camus or Bourdieu who felt they had to plunge into the hurly burly of political engagement. In 1968 during the student uprising when I told him of my political commitment, he said: ‘You and your friends would do better to go away somewhere, a monastery perhaps, where it is calm, and spend the next two years thinking.’”

Mr. Levi-Strauss came from a distinguished Jewish family where the atmosphere was bookish, intellectual and musical. One of his uncles was a minor but respected composer and Mr. Levi-Strauss said often he would have preferred to be an orchestra conductor or a composer rather than a writer. A book that had a profound influence on him was Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote. “I was fascinated by the giants hidden by the windmills. It made me realise that one had to get behind appearances to discover reality and that is what I have tried to do all my life.”

When Mr. Levi-Strauss turned 100 on November 28 last year, the Quai Branly Museum, devoted to native cultures and societies, organised a series of events, exhibitions and seminars. “I was astonished by the clarity and agility of his mind, his simplicity, humility and childlike curiosity,” said sociologist Annie Lavergne who attended the seminars.

“He felt he was out of touch with this century. He did not like what he saw — globalisation, the destruction of cultures and tribes and he was convinced that small, well-preserved tribal societies were bound to vanish one day soon, to be swallowed up by what he called the ‘mass civilization,’ of a modern ‘monoculture.’ He sometimes expressed disgust with the West and what he called its ‘own filth, thrown in the face of mankind.’ I think he felt he was living in a world where he no longer belonged. Not so long ago, he said to me: ‘I am not of this world.’ In his mind he had already moved on,” says Catherine Clement.
http://www.hindu.com/2009/11/05/stories/2009110554840900.htm

4 Nov. It was a nice day to spend – after hectic (should I say boring?) valuation & exam-duty coordination and anxiety-filled Radio SARANG 107.8MHz live phone-in program, I went to Milagres for the 12th anniversary Mass of Edwin Lobo (Dr Sandra’s father). Sandra lost her cousin Ashok last week. That was also there in my mind.

Leading the worship was a special experience – to be with the family to remember its dear one. That I lost my mother two years ago is at the back of my mind, too. … And to recall these precious memories, to be united in spiritual communion, and to vibrate with the family’s feelings is a special moment of grace.

My regret: Meal is another special moment of communion. I could not share in it; had to return to close the Radio SARANG 107.8MHz. But am happy to have participated in this Eucharist, to praise God for His graces to the bereaved families, to pray for the dear departed, to be with them… it is at these moments that someone like me feels ‘after all we all share one human family’, ‘we are all one’. So we are! So be it.

4 Nov. One of our visitors asks if the attacks are reported in any newspapers? And if ‘yes’, if I could upload the links.
Have any newspapers? Sure, all newspapers and media agencies have carried the news”story”! Sadly, most of them don’t have these stories on the online page. Eg: Mangalore pages of The Hindu has 5-10 stories in print edition, but today’s e-version carries only four stories! This is true of every newspaper!
Sure, you will get these copies in libraries of Mangalore.

4 Nov. The BJP government in Karnataka is in trouble, and the “diversion” game has begun! Even as Yeddyurappa is battling for his survival, the miscreants of the bajrang dal have started targeting minorities.

Mr Vincent and Ashalatha were attacked on 3rd Nov in Mangalore at their residence. The goons attackers alleged Vincent is involved in conversions!
If conversion-bogey be true, there is a simple lesson: lodge a police complaint! Don’t take law into your own hands. Any one who takes law into his/ her own hands is an anti-Indian since nationalism means loving and respecting the nation and its goals. It means abiding by the Constitution of the nation. Let the law take its own course!
If the attack is an attempt to divert the nation’s attention from the deep trouble BJP government is in, then this is an age-old strategy, which is bound back-fire.

3 Nov. The more you give, the more you are given.
The more you ask, the more you are asked.
Strange? But true.

Here is an email forward sent me by one of my media-critic friends. It’s worth the read! Dont miss it.
Here’s how the Indian TV news channel — would report the Jack and Jill nursery rhyme. All names (except those of Jack and Jill), are fictitious.
Prashant - TV Anchor
Two persons have been injured in a freak climbing accident. Jack and his companion Jill had gone up a hill to fetch a pail of water when Jack fell down and broke his crown. Jill came tumbling after. Live from the hill, our reporter, Amrita Shah, takes up the story.

Amrita Shah: Thank you Prashant. Well, as you say, two persons – Jack and Jill – had gone up a hill to fetch a pail of water. Suddenly, Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after. Prashant.

Prashant:Thank you Amrita. What do we know about the hill?

Amrita: Not too much. Jack was going up the hill to fetch a pail of water when he fell down and broke his crown. Jill came tumbling after.

[Headline appears at the foot of the TV screen: “hill breaks crown of pail-boy Jack”]
Prashant: What news of Jack and Jill?

Amrita: Prashant, it seems that Jack had gone up the hill to fetch a pail of water. We know nothing about the pail, or how heavy it was but it seems that Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after. I have here with me, an eyewitness to the accident, Mr Shahid Trivedi. Mr Shahid, tell us what you saw.

Shahid Trivedi: Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after.

[Headline appears at the foot of the TV screen: “Boy and girl tumble down hill. Water spilled”]

Amrita: Jack and Jill. What do we know about them? Are they brother and sister? Are they married? Just what were they doing on the hill together?

Shahid Trivedi: Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail a water.

Amrita: And what happened next?
Shahid Trivedi: Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail a water.

Amrita: And what happened next?

Shahid Trivedi: Jack fell down and broke his crown

Amrita: Go on.

Shahid Trivedi: And Jill came tumbling after.

Amrita: Prashant, there you have it. Two people innocently going about their business to fetch a pail of water when one of them falls down, breaks his crown, and the other comes tumbling after. Back to you in the studio Prashant.

[Headline appears at the foot of the TV screen: “Water errand ends in tragedy”]

Prashant: I have with me in the studio now, Professor Chandrashekar Belagare from the Indian Institute of Applied Hill Sciences. Professor: a hill; Jack; Jill; a pail of water. A tragedy waiting to happen?

Professor:Well that depends on the hill, the two persons, the object they were carrying and the conditions underfoot. Let us look at the evidence so far.

Jack and Jill
Went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down
And broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.

Clearly, one would suspect that if Jack’s fall was severe enough to break his crown then the surface of the hill must have been slippery or unstable. But I think we’re overlooking something quite fundamental here. Who was carrying the pail? Jack fell down and broke his crown and – this is the key – Jill came tumbling after. If Jack and Jill had been carrying the pail together, would they not have fallen at the same time? The fact that Jill came tumbling after suggests that Jack lost his footing first and perhaps knocked Jill over as he slipped.

Prashant: Professor thank you very much. So there we have it, two persons – Jack and Jill – went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after. Later in the programme, Osama bin Laden captured in Afghanistan, President Bush says rent-boy menage-a-trois was “just a brief lapse of judgement”, and Pakistan launches nuclear warheads against key Indian cities. But next up, join us after the break for a studio discussion about hills, boys and girls and whether water-fetching trips should be supervised. We’ll be right back…..

2 Nov.It’s over a month since the floods caused havoc in North Karnataka and nearly destroyed the lives of a huge majority of people. Our leaders whom we elected shed a lot of tears. And they also demanded Rs 20,000 crores from the Central Government. Our Chief Minister collected good many crores of rupees walking many a town. But what has happened since then?
Fight for power!
Bellary’s mining lords and the incumbent chief minister are fighting for power – for a game of one upmanship! Bellary’s mining lords want a change of leader in Karnataka (they want J. Shettar), and thus humiliate B.S. Yeddyurappa. The latter simply does not want to give up power for the sake of people. He says ‘no compromise’!
In the meantime, many of the MLAs are enjoying a “break” in Goa and Hyederabad’s resorts!
All – Bellary’s powerful MLAs, J Shettar, Yeddyurappa and all the MLAs- have forgotten the thousands of people waiting for relief in the aftermath of the floods!
God save our state and its political leaders!

2 Nov. Electoral malpractices such as bribing voters, impersonation, intimidation of voters by the goons of rival candidates, tampering with vote lists, and manipulating the location of polling booths to suit the needs of particular contestants have been as old as the Indian Republic.

Many of these complaints were heard in the first General Election, held in 1952. Every subsequent election saw new additions to this list of improprieties, which included abuse of power by bureaucrats and the police in support of the ruling group.

The 1970s saw a spurt in electoral violence, large-scale rigging of polls, booth capturing, ballot stuffing, and the mass removal of the names of voters from the electoral rolls. That has been checked, to a large extent, by the various measures adopted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to clean up the electoral process.

But the ECI has completely failed in one area, that is, in curbing the corruption of elections through money power. The 2009 elections witnessed the worst in this regard.

Truly shocking was what happened during the run-up to the Maharashtra Assembly elections in mid-October 2009 and the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh earlier in the year. In both cases, the authors and chief perpetrators of the election-related malpractices are sadly from the media — which ought to have been, and actually were in the not-so-distant past, in the forefront of the campaign for free, fair, clean, and violence-free elections.
Selling news space

In both States, influential sections of both the print and broadcast media sold their news space or news slots to electoral candidates or their parties, throwing to the wind all professional and ethical norms and probably violating the law as well. In both States, the media, mostly Indian language newspapers and TV channels reportedly made hundreds of crores of rupees in these deals. The transactions enabled the contestants to buy space and publish all they wanted to project themselves in favourable light to the electorate. Those who refused to purchase the “coverage packages” were reported to have been denied publicity.

While P. Sainath exposed this shockingly extensive malpractice witnessed in Maharashtra in his edit page article, “The medium, message and the money” (The Hindu, October 26, 2009), the “cash transfer scheme” in Andhra Pradesh involving influential sections of the media, was actually brought to light in May this year by the Press Academy of Andhra Pradesh and the Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists based at Hyderabad. But somehow this failed to get wider attention.

Thanks to the efforts of the two organisations, the Press Council of India (PCI) is looking into the matter. It has constituted a two-member committee to go into the phenomenon of “paid news.” The Press Council’s intervention followed a representation to its Chairman, Justice G.N. Ray from a group of senior journalists, who included Kuldip Nayar, Ajit Bhattacharjee, and Harivansh.

Many journalists have expressed their anguish over the “selling of news space,” which would jeopardise public trust in the media and lower credibility. The Council expressed serious concern over the phenomenon of paid news. It could cause double jeopardy to Indian democracy through a damaging influence on press functioning as well as on the free and fair election process. There was an urgent need to protect the public’s right to information so that it was not misled in deciding the selection quotient of the candidates in the fray, the Council said. PCI Chairman Ray described the media “scheme [of] paid news” as “nefarious.”
In Maharashtra

As for Maharashtra, the Election Commission is yet to take any initiative in going after this malpractice. Towards the end of his article Sainath appreciates the “fine job” done by the Commission in curbing “rigging, booth capturing and ballot stuffing” through its “interventions and activism.” However, he comments: “On the money power front … and the media’s packaging of big money interests as ‘news’ … it is hard to find a single instance of rigorous or deterrent action. These too, after all, are serious threats. More structured, much more insidious than crude ballot stuffing. Far more threatening to the basics of not just elections, but democracy itself.”

The intervention of the Press Council of India and hopefully of the Election Commission can go some way in reiterating the responsibility of the media in putting its house in order, not to speak of its role in ensuring that the play of money power in one of its crudest forms is exposed and curbed.

However, the issue needs to be taken beyond this. This may entail taking a fresh look at the functioning of the self-regulating mechanism in the media. More truths have to be brought to light, for instance, the role of journalists in such shameless media misadventures and how far they can be used for or forced into such questionable assignments. Do journalistic ethics concern only journalists? Do they relate solely to the news and editorial functions of the media or also to their business side?

These and many other questions may surface in the months and years ahead if such tendencies continue and spread to more sections of the media. The strengthening of the self-regulatory system of the media is certainly an urgent imperative.

Courtesy: http://www.hindu.com/2009/11/02/stories/2009110255070900.htm
readerseditor@thehindu.co.in

Krishna Pradeep was my student of Journalism at St Aloysius College. He was one of the finest secretaries of Al-Madhyam, our media forum. After his journalism at St Aloysius College, he did a year’s diploma in video production at St Xavier’s College Mumbai. Then he joined news media at TV9 – jumped to Aajtak & Worldspace – now with Suvarna group of TV Channels.
He has made this video on Karnataka State Festival (Nov. 1). Lyrics, editing-direction are KP’s. My another illustrious student (Samvartha) was kind enough to share it with his dear ones, over the net. I got back to KP sharing a few of my thoughts. He was quick to address them & re-upload the video.

It is good. Watch it and enjoy! I only wish KP had given subtitles for the international audiences!

‘Sangham Radio’, India’s first community radio station, celebrated its first anniversary on 15 October, 2009. For those of us who were unable to share the moment with General, Algole, Satheesh and the women of Pastapur, here’s a report from today’s Deccan Herald.

“Radioing friends over airwaves”
R Akhileshwari, Deccan Herald, 1 Nov 2009

The amphitheatre in Machnoor village of Zaheerabad mandal in Medak district was recently buzzing with women who had turned out in their finery: wearing brightly coloured, inexpensive but new sarees and their traditional necklace of ‘gundlu’ and ear-rings called ‘genteelu’ with flowers in their hair, the women of nearby villages turned out for an occasion that was as historic as their own. Their ‘Sangam Radio’ had turned all of one year.

Sangam Radio is India’s first community radio, entirely owned and run by members of women’s groups or Sangams as they are known. These Sangams are supported by the Deccan Development Society that has been working for the poorest, landless, Dalit women of Zaheerabad for the past 25 years helping them reclaim their lives from the relentless forces of globalisation. This was achieved through regaining their control over food production, seeds, natural resources and management, the market and finally over the media.

Setting up the community radio was part of the efforts to shake off the grip of a centralised media that alienates the communities from their own roots that lie in their culture, traditions and language. Most importantly, the radio became the voice of the community as it highlights problems which afflict their crops, livestock and families as also the solutions that are thrashed out on air and solutions shared.

As Bidekanne Sammamma said: “Our radio is our friend. When we come home after a day’s hard work our minds are full of problems we switch on our radio and are revived..with the radio by my side I feel my dost is there at home,’’ she said. Sangam Radio had its beginnings in the idea that the media should be an expression of the community, articulated in its own language unique to the region; that it should be a mirror of their identities and traditions; that it should be a platform for day-to-day problems and issues of their lives and livelihoods; it should be an outlet of their joys and woes, of their creativity, of their music and songs, of their crops and food. The idea was to reaffirm their strengths rather than be swamped by an alien media propagating an alien culture.

It was to take pride in them rather than be persuaded by a media that they were somehow lesser beings for being themselves. Sangam Radio started in 1998 with UNESCO’s help. Half a dozen women from Dalit, poor, landless families were trained in all aspects of radio programming. They produced a few hundred hours of programming and since the stiff rules of broadcasting would not be relaxed, Sangam Radio ‘narrowcast’ their programmes, playing the tapes in the weekly meetings of the Sangam.

However following the revolutionary judgement of Justice P B Sawant in the Supreme Court that airwaves were public property, Sangam Radio went on air on October 15, 2008. It is on air daily between 7 and 9 pm. The programme content is a mix of interviews, discussions, songs, folk tales and plays. According to a study, 80 per cent of the participants are women and Dalits. Elders are particularly encouraged to participate as they are seen as valuable repositories of knowledge.

Sangam Radio has discarded the traditional top-down development approach and focuses on creating awareness in the community, based on the premise that critical information will trickle down and they will absorb information important to them. Instead the participatory approach has been adopted where the community makes the decisions about what is important to their lives.

Importantly, the community owns the radio. Out of the 5000 women members of the Sangam (that are active in about 75 villages), at least 2000 are ‘active’ members, each contributing Rs 5 per month which takes care of the expenses of the radio station and its staff. Thus, the community ensures that the radio like the mainstream media does not depend on advertising which comes with its own set of strings attached.

This model of community shareholding is unique in the country and which apart from financial sustainability, ensures social sustainability with a strong sense of ownership and identification of the community with the Radio.

Another unique feature of the Sangam radio station is that the community members are not mere listeners but active participants. The radio station keeps its doors open for people to come and record their talk, songs or share their problems or knowledge. This promotes not just informality but a sense of belonging like we don’t need to take an appointment to get into our home! People from different villages are encouraged to visit the station once a month to take part in various programmes. Sangam Radio is not just an experiment but a valuable lesson on democratisation of the media and a huge step towards demystifying it!

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/33475/radioing-friends-over-airwaves.html

31 Oct. It was the last day of examinations at St Aloysius College (Autonomous) Mangalore. That is the beauty of Autonomy; you are in time, and then back into academic year. Mangalore University and its affiliate colleges will have their exams in December.
Just as the Under Graduates go into vacation mood, Post Graduates get into examination mood! Their day begins on Monday (2 Nov). Good wishes!

31. Oct. Journalism for sale

India’s elections, which in mid-2009 brought 415 million voters to the 1.18 million ballot units in 834,944 polling stations and were mostly peaceful, may be one of the wonders of the world. But it is widely understood that in 2009 the free, fair, and democratic attributes of these elections have been compromised as never before by the large-scale, illegal, and scandalous use of money power — which, to a considerable extent, involved recycled dirty money garnered through corruption in executive and legislative office. The role of the Election Commission of India in curbing booth capturing, intimidation of voters, and some other kinds of electoral fraud has won public appreciation. But as P. Sainath points out in his article, “The medium, message and the money,” published in The Hindu on October 26, 2009, “it is hard to find a single instance of rigorous or deterrent action” by the ECI in the face of such a serious danger to the democratic process. That is a large question that needs to be addressed in depth and in all its complexity by the various players in the political system.

The new shame is the extensive and brazen participation of not insignificant sections of the news media, notably large-circulation Indian language newspapers in two of India’s largest States, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, in this genre of corruption — which a politician speaking at a Hyderabad media seminar memorably characterised as a “Cash Transfer Scheme” from politicians to journalists. Sainath’s article exposes the phenomenon of “coverage packages” exploding across India’s most industrialised State during the recent Assembly election. Candidates paid newspapers different rates for well-differentiated and streamlined packages of news coverage. Those who could not or would not pay for the packages tended to be blacked out. The Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists has, on the basis of a sample survey conducted in West Godavari district, estimated that newspapers across the State netted Rs. 350 crore to Rs. 400 crore through editorial coverage sold to candidates during the 2009 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. Some candidates even recorded the expenditure incurred in purchasing editorial coverage in their official accounts submitted to the ECI. With some senior journalists drawing its attention to this new-fangled cash transfer scheme in Andhra Pradesh, the Press Council of India has constituted a two-member committee to inquire into the matter. What to do about such a shocking breach of readers’ trust (which is unlikely to be confined to Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra) by the so-called Fourth Estate will form the subject of a follow-up editorial.
http://www.hindu.com/2009/10/31/stories/2009103153620800.htm

29 Oct. Cases against Christians will be withdrawn, promised Dr V.S. Acharya, Karnataka Home Minister.
It may be recalled hundreds of cases were filed against Christians arbitrarily in the wake of attack on Christian places of worship on 14 September 2008.
Police, in stead of providing protection to Churches and Christians, supported the miscreants and went on the rampage, besides filing hundreds of cases, both during the days of tension, and many months after that tensions!
Many Christian leaders had tried to convince the government of the Christians’ innocence. But to no avail. But -today- after a delegation of Christians (including a good friend of mine!) met the Home Minister, the latter promised to withdraw all the cases.

28 Oct. Often I wonder if people value sincerity and truthfulness! I really wonder.

It may feel awkward coming from me. Personally I believe, no matter what others say or do, one needs to live by openness, sincerity, and one’s convictions.

What do you do, if you are pushed to corner again and again? And consciously and willfully? How would you take it if ‘your own’ gang up against you?

Two random thoughts come to my mind:
1. If you don’t stand for truth you don’t stand at all!
2. Once again some news from political circles: Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has been denied visa by the Oman Government for his role in Gujarat Pogrom 2001! What do you think – after USA refused to admit Modi to USA, should he have tried to gain legality from an Arab country? Well, he keeps asking for it; and gets rapped on his knuckles everytime! Justice has its way of reigning supreme!
I believe in truth & justice! Truth and justice will triumph: someday! They will.

27 Oct. Bad news again. B S Yeddyurappa government in Karnataka seems to be neck-deep in trouble.

Bellary’s mining lords (BJP MLAs – kingpins of BJP rule in Karnataka) are unhappy over many things : levy on iron ore transport trucks, BSY’s interference in every ministry, Shobha Karandlaje’s proximity to BSY & her consequent dominance in state politics, etc are a few of the accusations against BSY by some of the disgruntled ministers. These grouses have been there for a long time, though!

There have been meetings and rebel-meetings. Days and nights are loaded with meetings and pacification. All to keep power in one’s own hands and to grab power.

That is at a time when Karnataka is facing one of its worst disasters – havoc caused by floods in North Karnataka.

Even as the flood relief work is going on at a snails pace and along petty lines in North Karnataka, politicians are busy bargaining for power!

This political crisis comes at a very bad stage for the people of Karnataka.

In the meantime, the RSS – the parent organisation of the BJP- has opened its mouth, and the BJP is clueless as to what is going to happen to them! The RSS chief says BJP should decide what is wants: surgery, medicine or chemotherapy!
One reporter asked Rajnath (BJP national president) about this treatment. Rajnath was unaware of RSS comment. The president said, ‘It’s crazy!’

Journalists have a way of playing spoilsport between two friends / partners – like Narada! And the fun has just begun… But for Karnataka’s poor, it is only misery.

26 Oct.
The medium, message and the money

P. Sainath

The Assembly elections saw the culture of “coverage packages” explode across Maharashtra. In many cases, a candidate just had to pay for almost any coverage at all. …
All you have to do is copy & paste these URLs in your URL bar.
1. “The medium, message and the money” hindu.com/2009/10/26/stories/2009102651900800.htm

2. “Deepavali fireworks and media’s social responsibility”
hindu.com/2009/10/26/stories/2009102651960900.htm

26 Oct. It’s a special moment. The blog has recorded 1,00,000 hits.
I was eager to SEE the 1,00,000th hit. It happened just as I was online. But within two minutes the visitor counter jumped from 99,995 to 1,00,005.
I know at least two of my friends waiting to be the 100,000th visitor; one I know for sure – missed!
That’s fun! Feels good!
Now hoping for the multiples of this landmark!

26 Oct. Even as I woke up this morning, there was some shocking news: Ashok Pereira, met with an accident.
Ashok is Fr Anand Pereira (Jesuit)’s elder brother. They are the sons of Mr Charles Pereira & Mrs Janet Pereira (former teacher and Principal of St Aloysius Primary School). Ignatius Pereira (the famous Inaasaam of Inaas Pereira’s Hotel in Hampankatta) is a close relative of theirs.
[corrigendum: Ashok and my friends Fr Anand and Sandra are grand children of Mr Ignatius Pereira / Inaasaam]
Ashok settled down in Canada; he had his own food business. According to the news we received he succumbed to a traffic accident. It was an on-the-spot-death. His brother and my Jesuit companion Fr Anand Pereira SJ is studying in Creighton University in Nebraska. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. May the departed soul of Ashok rest in peace; may the bereaved family experience solace and peace!
Ashok is survived with his wife and two kids.

25 Oct. It was another round of auditions for our Community Radio SARANG 107.8MHz. We could not manage to accommodate all aspirants in last Sunday’s audition.
Today we had 17 aspirants – once again from students and professionals! One of them was a 9th standard student! A Nawayathi Konkani! The interest SARANG 107.8MHz has generated is immense. And the pool of talent is incredible!
Thanks to our Mass Communication (MCMS) students who made it a point to make a big success out of this.

‘Translation enables us to make sense of the world’
Special Correspondent

[photo cut-line] Making a point: T.R.S. Sharma, translator and former professor of English, speaking at the inauguration of a seminar in Shimoga on Friday.

SHIMOGA: T.R.S. Sharma, translator and former professor of English, has said that translation “enables us to make sense of the world”.

He was speaking after inaugurating a two-day seminar on “Methodology of translation of pre-modern Indian texts” organised by “Shabdana” – Centre for Translation, a project of the Central Sahitya Akademi, in association with the Kamala Nehru National College for Women here on Friday.

Mr. Sharma said, “There is also an intriguing aspect to translation. It is collaboration between the original author and the ‘secondary’ translator which results in the erasure of the source and its re-inscription in the receiving language.”

“There is an inherent asymmetry at the core of translation as every act of translation is a one-way traffic,” he said and added, “we cannot get the original by translating back from the received language”.

Secretary of the National Education Society S.V. Thimmaiah, who released The Tale of the Twin Warriors, an English translation by S.N.D. Poojary of the Tulu Koti Channaih by Bannanje Babu Ameen, said it was possible to widen the horizon of knowledge through translated literary works.

Prof. Poojary said that Tulu, a culturally rich language, was being protected and promoted by people who had not formal education.

The former president of the Karnataka Sangh K.G. Subramanya, who presided over the programme, said there could be no regimented methodology for translation as each translator followed his own methodology. He said that there was a need to take up translation of popular literary works of other Indian regional languages into Kannada.

Earlier, T. Venkatesha Murthy, Honorary Director of “Shabdana” (Southern Region), welcomed the gathering. Fourteen experts in various languages will present their papers on the methodologies of translation of literary works in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, Marathi and Urdu at the seminar.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/10/24/stories/2009102460080300.htm

Want to watch some music in action? Watch this video, courtesy Sam.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gedLmZHIMlA
and a clipping from Anand Patwardhan’s War and Peace
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtR_6mTVvdA

Here is an interview whose link Sam forwarded me. It’s worth a view:
http://www.cnngo.com/mumbai/none/anand-patwardhan-258893

22 Oct. “Love Jihad” received a jolt as Mohan Kumar arrested by the police squad, here in Mangalore.
Mohan Kumar, 46 years of age, was a teacher. He is married thrice! And has murdered 18 girls so far, as he remembers their names!
Police say he could have murdered many more.
He would hang out in public places like malls, bus stands and other places, approach girls (seemingly from lower economic strata), and pretend love. Then -after some time had passed & love had grown- they would elope.
They would be intimate; he would take them to a temple or so. He would force her to consume a ‘pill’ (actually cyanide!) to abort (in a public toilet, usually), and he would run away with her gold (kept in the lodge)!
This is the drams of love – isn’t this ‘love jihad’ which killed 18 or more young girls!
["Love Jihad" was coined recently by some factions of right wing people as a part of anti-muslim propaganda. They claimed, thousands of Hindu and Christian girls were by muslims, married and trained in madarasas, and converted to Islam.
The matter went to the courts. In a few cases, the courts opined since the girls were majors who could decide for themselves, they were free to love and marry whomever they want, and change their religions. But the 'cultural/ moral policing' right wing groups did not relent. Kerala government has ordered an inquiry by the Kerala high ranking police official. Karnataka High Court has ordered the state to submit a report.

If a major boy or girl decide to love someone from one's own religion/ community, why should some moral police poke their nose? And if they change their religion, what is the problem? May be that system must do some introspection, in stead of creating a hate-atmosphere in the society. This will shed light on why people leave their religion/ communities and marry someone outside!
In any case, self-appointed cultural/ moral police have no place in a civil society.]

Is security of India is threatened by internal forces at a time external threats seem to worry citizens and leaders alike? On the external front there is China and Pakistan (or if you may wish call it Taliban & Lashkar/ JUD); day and night media keep telling you about terror threats and plans.
And internally you don’t know what is happening! There are right-wing groups manufacturing, transporting and blasting bombs (like children burning crackers!) and naxalites holding people ransom! And there is the propaganda about “love jihad” – some kids even writing “mis-lead articles” in leading newspapers!
If our political leaders care for the country, they need to act decisively. Not like they did when late Karkare (in Mumbai attack 26/11/08) suggested that sanathan sanstha be banned for anti-national activities! The same sanstha is back with other blasts in Goa, now! Read an article from Outlook:-
=============================
Maharashtra Mulling a Ban on Sanatan Sanstha
MUMBAI | OCT 21, 2009

The Maharashtra government is considering a proposal to ban Hindu right-wing organisation Sanatan Sanstha allegedly involved in the Margao blast on Diwali eve that left two persons dead, Director General of Police S S Virk said here today.

Police investigation has revealed that both the deceased were associated with the Sanstha and suspected to have planted the explosive that went off on a busy street.

Asked as to why the Sanatan Sanstha was not banned last year despite a recommendation from the then Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, Virk told reporters, “We will discuss this and, if we feel it is necessary, we will surely ban the outfit.”

He also said, the investigation into the blast was on and the identity of those involved was yet to be established.

Virk was speaking on the sidelines of Commemoration Day parade to pay homage to policemen who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty.

A powerful blast had ripped through a busy street near Grace Church in Goa’s Margao city on October 16.

Source: Outlook India

21 Oct. This little blog has one more reason to celebrate. Soon -probably by this weekend?- we will have a hundred thousandth visitor to the blog.
The blog was started in 2006 October. Initially it took time to be known and be visited. Gradually the traffic increased – sometimes recording in thousands (highest visitor record was 10,864 (on 04 May 2008, Sunday)!
This is an indicator of the blog’s popularity, visitors’ perception as a good source of views and news, and even social/ structural criticism.
People have contributed to this immensely – in terms of their comments, criticism, suggestions, and visits -sometimes even citing as a reference work!

From where do we go? Further consolidating its position as a grass-root level source of views and news (sometimes even ’scoops’ and exclusives!), fair criticism and analysis, and a mirror of society and its various organs.
And this is a democratic forum at grass-root level – as far as criticism and comments (of systems and this very blog!) are concerned. But scope is only for fair criticism, views, news, and comments. If it serves as a forum for strengthening belief and practice, the blog and enormous efforts behind it are a success.

20 Oct. Last two days have been extremely humid. Thought it would rain today; but no trace of rain; probably it will rain in a couple of more days?

One more truck with relief material left for Belgaumn today from Bishop’s house. Remembering the rain-affected

A couple of days ago a crude bomb exploded in Margoa in Goa, and a man was killed. Investigations have revealed the hand of people associated with Sanathan Sanstha. Only further impartial investigations can tell us of the real culprits. For this, we need impartial probe.
In the meantime, fingers are also pointed at politicians, not just ordinary civilians! So, let there be a probe!
Here are a few reports which bring to light a few facts about the blast:
Margao attack: Pune ATS to assist probe Goa forms SIT to crack blast case
Margao, Oct 18, DH News Service :

A special investigative team (SIT) of the Goa police has been deputed to track down the two Sanathan Sansthan activists, who, the police suspect, assembled the crude bomb that went off at Margao on Friday night killing a Sanathan man, Malgonda Patil, and injuring another activist, Yogesh Naik.

The police said the improvised explosive device (IED) had been put together by technical experts.

Patil hailed from Sangli, but had been living in the Goa Sanathan ashram at Ramnathi, Ponda for four years, working in its administration. He and Naik have been listed as accused in the case.
“We are looking for a Sangli connection in this case,” Goa Home Minister Ravi Naik told Deccan Herald. The police said the markings on the gelatin stick gave them a fair idea that they had been procured from outside Goa.

A team of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), Pune, also arrived here on Sunday to assist the Goa police in the investigation. Five persons from the Sanathan’s Ramnathi ashram, which has become the national
headquarters of the right-wing group, were interrogated by the ATS at the police headquarters in Margao. They include ashram administrator Virendra Marathe and Sanathan Prabhat’s group editor Prithviraj
Hazare.

The state police also searched the office of Sanathan’s Marathi newspaper at Nesar, Margao.

The police said the Sanathan men had planned to plant four bombs around Margao during the Deepavali festivities to cause maximum damage during the crowded evening procession. The intention was to cause communal tension, DIG Ravindra Yadav said. In a cruel twist of fate, one of the IEDs went off as Patil and Naik were parking the scooter just a few metres away from Grace church. Two other similar devices
were found near the scooter later.

Just a lane away, Chief Minister Digambar Kamat and South Goa SP Allen De Sa were on the dais watching the floats. This happened at 9:45 pm.
An hour later, an alert driver watching another procession at Sancoale, about 10 km away, found another ticking IED planted in his pick-up cabin. He threw the bag into the field and informed the police. The police managed to get crucial details of the Sanathan connection from Patil’s dying statement.

He told the police that he lived in the ashram, was from Sangli and had been to Pune, Thane and Malegao. His mobile number was traced to the ashram. Naik, who is in hospital in a critical condition, is a
teacher in a school for deaf and dumb children run by a Hindu organisation.

* * *

Minister’s wife runs body’s finances Political patronage helped Sansthan’s expansion
Ramnathi, Ponda, Oct 18, DH News Service :

Sanathan Sansthan, a right-wing Hindu outfit which has been linked by the Anti-Terrorism Squad to the 2006 Malegaon blasts, has grown from strength to strength in Goa riding on the goodwill and financial
support of the admirers of the ideology it professes to propagate.

From a small indistinct office in Ponda just three years ago, its ashram in Ramnathi, which is in the religious and cultural heart of Hindu Goa, has blossomed into its national headquarters. This has not come without open political patronage. Goa’s Transport Minister
Ramkrishna Dhavlikar says unabashedly that his entire family is involved with the Sanathan’s activities and the good work it has been doing in spreading the ‘dharma prasad’.

Dhavlikar told Deccan Herald at his home in Bandora, located near the ashram, that his wife runs the accounts of the Sansthan and every member of his family is involved with the ashram in one way or other.
Only he and his brother Deepak, also an MGP MLA, are not directly linked, he said.

He wants proof to the Sanathan’s links to Friday’s blast in Margao before action being taken against them. “I don’t see any reason why my wife and other members of the family should stay away from the
Sansthan, unless the police have sufficient evidence,” he says.

He doesn’t see any reason to resign from the government to let investigations go on unhindered. “I am not interfering, neither have I called to police to find out the course of investigations,” he says.
Dhavlikar claims he is in no way involved in financing Sanathan’s activities. The police searched the ashram on Saturday and questioned its administrators on Dhavlikars wife’s links to the organisation’s finances. Police said they had found incriminating material at the
ashram like an electrical circuit and timers.

Two room-mates of Malgonda Patil the suspected perpetrator who died in the blast, were taken in for questioning. There were 176 people in the ashram, including three French nationals who were staying there without informing the police, the police said.

A spokesman for the ashram said the Sanathan’s activists had been victims of a bomb planted by someone else.

* * *
‘Transport minister should quit’

PONDA, DHNS: Goa Home Minister Ravi Naik said Transport Minister Ramkrishna Dhavlikar should consider stepping down from the government
if he wanted an impartial probe into the role of the Sanathan Sansthan in Friday’s blast.

Dhavlikar’s wife Jyoti is a high-ranking member of the Goa Sanathan asharam and handles its finance. Naik said he would meet Chief Minister Digambar Kamat on Monday to discuss the matter.

Asked if Dhavlikar should resign from the cabinet, Naik said: “He should think about it, if he wants an impartial probe.”

Apart from his wife, Dhavlikar’s three brothers and four
sisters-in-law are actively involved with the Sanathan. Meanwhile, Kamat said the police would be looking at every angle of Sanathan
activities. (Deccan Herald)

18 Oct. It was SARANG’s tryst with the public – yet another public attempt to get the public to participate in the Community Radio SARANG 107.8MHz. [/caption]
Our post graduate Mass Communication (MCMS) students took it upon themselves to take the radio [/caption]right to the public court.
After a fortnight’s hectic planning and execution, there registered some 30 students and other public to be

<img src="http://richardrego.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/harsha-with-students.jpg" alt="Harsha, our student of Mass Communication guiding a group of participants to the sprawling campus of St Aloysius

Harsha, our student of Mass Communication guiding a group of participants to the sprawling campus of St Aloysius College - for audition

College – for audition” title=”harsha with students” width=”300″ height=”225″ class=”size-full wp-image-3858″ />[/caption]SARANG artistes and anchors. 13 of them came today, whereas others opted for the next audition on 25 Oct.

The aspirants came from colleges and higher secondary schools; from teaching community and practicing communities (like physicians!). Their enthusiasm was simply too impressive.
We have not yet finalised the list of SARANG RJs and artistes from the contestants today; we will wait for the next Sunday and announce the winners.
Kudos to Mass Communication students for their enthusiasm. And to the participants for their zeal!

SARANG 107.8MHz St Aloysius College Community Radio
SARANG 107.8MHz, the St Aloysius College Community Radio is organizing audition for the radio artistes, presenters, and anchors on Sunday 18 October 2009. This is primarily meant for local community people (from and around Mangalore) and students. Those interested are requested to be present by 9.30am at St Aloysius College Teletorium. Languages: Kannada, Konkani, Tulu, English.

Dr Richard Rego SJ
Director , SARANG 107.8MHz
Community Radio
St Aloysius College (Autonomous)
P.B. 720; Mangalore – 575003.

Audition SARANG.docx

17 Oct. On this happy day of the Festival of Lights, I wish all my blog visitors, near & dear ones, friends, students, and all out there….

May your life be just as bright... may your light of life shine forth... Happy Diwali... Bright and Prosperous and Peaceful...

17 Oct. On Diwali day, bad news for the poor. International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) which managed to get the state government to give the contract for Bisiyoota (hot meals for school children), is caught in a scam.
Bisiyoota is a state government program to encourage literacy, by providing fresh meals to school children.
ISKCON managed to get the contract routed to all the schools and now has landed not only itself in a mess, but worse still – school children.

A couple of months ago the same society was caught for other malpractices like gathering money from foreign countries by portraying destitution in India.
The post can be read on this blog.
Today’s top story in Karnataka:
http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/rice_scam_in_bangalore_isckon_temple.php

by Javed Anand

Adarniya Sarsanghchalak Bhagwatji,Saadar Pranaam!

Oct.14 : I am deeply moved by your humko bhi parkho Dussehra Day invite sent out to Muslims and Christians to join the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). So, the Sangh Parivar, here I come. Please treat this letter as my application for entry into the fold for your kind consideration. I understand from the media that all you want is for the likes of me to accept that “all Muslims in India were Hindus in the past… who have only changed their method of worship”.

I hope I make it since I more than fulfil your benevolent requirement. For starters, I am not too strong on the worship front. Even otherwise, I have no difficulty in accepting the obvious — Hindu past — for I doubt if my forefathers could be Sikhs, Jains, or Buddhists. The former are easily discounted for they arrived too late on the scene. Jains? No way, they are not interested in Mughlai cuisine. As for Buddhists, I am unable to see what possible incentive there was for them to abandon their faith.

But converting from Hinduism is conceivable. I have been told since childhood that we are Siddiquis. That’s big if you are talking hierarchy — being part of the extended parivar of none less than the closest companion of Prophet Mohammed and the first Caliph of Islam, Abu Bakr. But this “Arabisation” drive, Bhagwatji, I suspect is quite like Sanskritisation — in search of respectability, status and imagination at work. It’s quite likely that my forefathers were Hindu and “untouchable”.

Imagine Islam’s appeal to one who is constantly told he is too “impure” to be allowed entry inside a temple. Imagine the doors of a mosque being flung open to him with an invite — Come, stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the rest of us. No hierarchy here, no caste, no class, no race: Sab ka maalik ek! Who says you are too impure to enter a holy space or hold a holy text? Here’s the Quran, it’s yours as much as anyone else’s: Touch it, hold it, read it, kiss it, hug it, store it in your heart and mind.

Imagine, Bhagwatji, does this not sound like celestial music to outcastes such as my forefathers quite possibly were? But all this is in the past, no hurdle in the way of my intended gharvaapsi. You may not know it, but afflicted by fickleness of faith, the subcontinent’s Muslim is forever being pulled in four different directions: dar-e-Habeeb, maikhana, butkhana, Kaaba. The sound of the sankh or the temple bell continues to mesmerise many a Muslim as much as the call of the muezzin. Nowhere is it more evident than in Urdu poetry, a treasure house which the parivar sadly disowns.

Here, for example, is poet Mir Taqi “Mir”,”Mir ke deen-o-mazhab ka, poonchte kya ho unne to kashka khaincha dair mein baitha kab ka tarq Islam kiya” (“What can I tell you about Mir’s faith or belief a tilak on his forehead in a temple he resides, having abandoned Islam long ago”).

Even more interesting is Mohammed Iqbal, the poet-philosopher who unfortunately started with “saare jahaan se achcha…” but ended up with the idea of Pakistan. Here he is, however, in conversation with shama:

“Yek been teri nazar sifat-e ashqaan-e raaz, meri nigaah maya-e ashob-e imtiyaaz kaabe mein butkade mein yaksaan teri ziya main imtiyaz dair-o-haram mein phansa hua”.

(For you all truth seekers are alike I am accursed with a malady, seeking differences You shine in the Kaaba as you glow in idols’ abodes I am trapped in my mosque-temple distinction).

(Noor, shama, diya: in all faiths remember, Light is among the attributes of the Divine).

No major problems, Bhagwatji, I’ll come running to Hindutva’s headquarters. My only problem is a little insecurity, that little voice which keeps telling me I am being naive, gullible and silly. It keeps jolting my memory, asking awkward questions. Perhaps you can help me with some answers.
I eagerly await your assurances.
Saadar.

Javed Anand is co-editor of Communalism Combat and general secretary, Muslims for Secular Democracy

Western Print Media
Death of the dailies
Ignacio Ramonet, IPS

The print media in the US and Europe has desperately sought ways to adapt to the rapid changes and survive.

It is a major catastrophe: Dozens of daily newspapers are bankrupt. In the United States, at least 120 have already closed. And the tsunami is now striking Europe. Not even institutions once considered the journals of record are safe: Spain’s ‘El Pais’, France’s ‘Le Monde’, ‘The Times’ and ‘The Independent’ of the United Kingdom and Italy’s ‘Corriere della Sera’ and ‘La Repubblica’ are all accumulating major economic losses as a result of the drop in subscriptions and the collapse of advertising.

The prestigious ‘New York Times’ had to seek help from Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim; the Tribune Company, publisher of the ‘Chicago Tribune’ and ‘Los Angeles Times’, as well as the Hearst Corporation, owner of the ‘San Francisco Chronicle’, are bankrupt; News Corp, Rupert Murdoch’s powerful multi-media group which publishes the ‘Wall Street Journal’, reported losses of 2.5 billion euros.

To reduce costs many publications are cutting back on the number of pages: the ‘Washington Post’ has eliminated its prestigious book review; the ‘Christian Science Monitor’ has dropped its paper edition and now exists only on the internet; the ‘Financial Times’ is asking its editors to consider a three-day weeks and has drastically trimmed its staff.

There have been massive layoffs. Since January 2008, the American newspaper industry has shed 21,000 jobs. In Spain, between June 2008 and April 2009, 2,221 journalists lost their jobs.

The for-pay daily paper is on the edge of a cliff and desperately searching for ways to survive. Certain analysts feel that this form of information is simply obsolete. Michael Wolf of Newser predicts that 80 per cent of US papers will disappear. Rupert Murdoch is even more pessimistic: he thinks that in the next decade newspapers will cease to exist entirely.

This situation, already very grim, was seriously aggravated by the global economic crisis, which triggered a plunge in advertising and a restriction of credit. Then, at the worst possible time, the structural problems of the sector grew worse: the problems inherent in the commodification of information, the newspaper industry’s dependence on advertising, a loss of credibility, drop in the number of subscribers, competition from free newspapers, and an aging readership.

In Latin America, there is an additional challenge: the much needed democratic reforms undertaken by certain governments (Argentina, Ecuador, Bolivia and Venezuela) against the ‘media barons’ — private groups with press monopolies. The effort has set off against these governments and their presidents a series of scurrilous attacks milled by the most spiteful major media and their usual accomplices.

The daily paper continues to use an economic and industrial model that simply doesn’t work. And the option of building mega international multi-media conglomerates, common between 1980-1990, would make no sense today with the proliferation of new modes of information distribution and of entertainment via the internet and mobile phones.

Paradoxically, newspapers have never enjoyed as massive an audience as they do today. With the internet, the number of readers has exploded. However, the use of the cyber world is still poorly thought out and currently features a particular injustice: readers who buy the print edition end up subsidising those who read the free on-line digital edition of the paper, which is both larger and more user-friendly. This is partly because web advertising never really came into its own, being far less expensive that in print.

The losses and gains produced by the advent of the internet never balanced out. Groping blindly, the print media has desperately sought ways to adapt to the rapid change and survive. Following the example of iTunes, some tried to impose small fees for reading material on line.

Rupert Murdoch decided that beginning in 2010, all access to the ‘Wall Street Journal’ with any technology, whether the Blackberry or iPhone or the Kindle electronic reader, will cost. The search engine Google is considering a system that would make it possible to charge for any digital access to daily newspapers and channel the revenue to the publisher.

But can such measures save the dying patient? Few think so. Because there is another, even more worrying factor in the mix: plunging credibility. The newspaper’s current obsession with instantaneous reporting and getting the story first leads to a multiplication of errors.

The demagogic request that ‘reader/journalists’ post their blogs, photos, and videos on the newspaper’s website only increases the risk of transmitting mistakes. And adopting the defence of the business strategy as the editorial line (which we see in various dominant papers today) leads to the imposition of a subjective, arbitrary, and partisan slant.

Meanwhile, faced with the new ‘mortal sins’ of journalism, the people feel their rights are being eroded. They know that having reliable, quality information is more important than ever, for them and for democracy, and they are asking where they can turn to find the truth.

(The writer is the editor of ‘Le Monde Diplomatique’ in Spanish)
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/30784/death-dailies.html

15 Oct. A team from the Kuvempu University, Shimoga, visited St Aloysius College (SAC) regarding the application by the College for recognition as a “Research Centre”.

Unfortunately, St Aloysius College comes under the purview of the Mangalore University. But the University does not recogznise SAC as research centre except the Lab of Applied Biology led by Rev Dr Leo D’Souza SJ. No other lecturer/ professor is allowed to guide research! Can you believe this – a University blocking research! Have any of you heard such absurd things?
A few of our professors/ teaching faculty are invited by universities from other States to guide research. But Mangalore University refuses to accept!
Another paradox – whenever University Grants Commission (UGC) teams come to inspect the quality of the College, their first question is ‘are you guiding any research?’ ‘why are you not a guide?’ No reply!
The only reply could be ‘Mangalore university knows better than the UGC!’
Worse still, Mangalore University does not know what is autonomy. For them, autonomy means, do all the clerical work -earlier done by University- to make University feel lazy, be subservient to everything (so much so no college can survive! It was better without autonomy; and that is precisely the University wants autonomous colleges to accept & come to them on knees. In addition, then pay up many more times the fees you used to pay under colonial university system!!! Temples of knowledge are fast becoming threat to knowledge / information production.

14 Oct. St Aloysius College Community Radio SARANG 107.8MHz is picking up momentum.
Today we had the second episode of “Kaanoonu Kacheri” or the Legal Cell. SDM College has been graceful to take up this challenge.
Next in line is Health and Hygiene phone-ins. I hope the local community benefits from these initiatives.

14 Oct. “Virtul” is a Marathi film by my friend of yore Mr Santhosh Ram, from Pune. “Virtul” means ‘circle’. Yesterday he messaged me to share the good news that his film has been selected for the 11th Osian’s Cinefan Film Festival, New Delhi (Oct. 24-30). It has also been honoured by the Third Eye 8th Asian Film Festival Mumbai (December 2009).
I feel very proud of Santhosh Ram.

Santhosh and I met during a Film Appreciation Course (the much-talked about “FAC”) at Film & Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune in Association with National Film Archive of India. The esteemed Prof. Satish Bahadur was one of our noted guides. I suppose, that was the year.
Later, (I guess a few years later) Santhosh also joined an FAC. Side by side, he tried joining FTII for formal training. Many years of efforts did not help him in fetching him a seat!
But Santhosh lose hope. Without any training from the FTII, Santhosh grabbed every opportunity to grow in his cinematic thirst.

Voila! Santosh, came up with this much acclaimed Virtul! I was so happy to speak to him yesterday after his SMS. Hope, one day he will bring his film to Mangalore! He has promised to!
Well done Santhosh!
After the course, Santosh

Now trying something more: updating blog via email. Just found a few minutes to see if there is something new: there it is! This should save sometime? Let’s see… But, hei, don’t be worried with those cute hearts with the cute guy! They are to warm your hearts as you surf the net! Straight from my email!

13 Oct. The French Delegation led by Mr Dominique Causse – Consul General (Embassy of France) visited St Aloysius College this evening. The delegation had a fruitful time exchanging views on education, culture and Mangalore! The delegation was so much impressed, they spent more time that they planned to!
After the delegation, I had to good privilege of meeting Rev Alain Baptiste from Lyon! What a lively person! He is a man of photo language! I am sure, SAC MCMS will utilize his expertise in the near future!

The delegation included: Mr Dominique Causse
Mr Nino Ciccarone – Director, Alliance Française de Bangalore
Mr Thierry Boisseaux – Attaché Scientifique
Ms Vidya Suresh – Student Advisor, Campus France
Ms Anuradha Narayan – Administrator, Alliance Française de Bangalore
Mr Ronald D’Souza – Trainer, Alliance Française de Bangalore
A few of the issues we discussed included starting a systematic, standardized French language course at SAC, exchange of ideas, cultural artifacts, literature, art, etc.
For more, just keep visiting this blog and college site in the near future!

Here is an article – a note of dissent by Prof Shiv Viswanathan from JNU Delhi. The article was by Sam for greater and meaningful readership. I am grateful to Sam for bringing this to my notice.
The context is use of force against the “Naxal Menace”. The Home Minister has decided to use armed forces to subjugate the Naxals, who seem to be on the rampage! Read further:

A letter of dissent
12 Oct 2009
By Shiv Visvanathan

Dear Mr P. Chidambaram,

I am part of the much maligned group, the human rights activist, that you often challenge. You suggest we protest at the wrong time and at the wrong things. You seem to think we point too many fingers. Actually, we raise some simple issues. As cottage industries of dissent and democracy, we may not be doing it effectively. We are supposed to be “sympathisers” of the Naxal movement. This letter is to clarify some of our arguments as academics, Indians, citizens concerned about the fate of our society.
Let me build a counter model for you. Working in these areas, documenting the drama of development, is a feisty old woman, a famous writer called Mahasweta Devi. She is worth all the policy intellectuals you command and her integrity is something your entire council of ministers cannot match. She understands poverty and does not have to play boy-scout pranks to demonstrate her concern. Mahasweta Devi makes three or four major points we need to recognise.
Firstly, Indian democracy is often cannibalistic. It consumes its own people. There were decades where the Army was being honoured for action against its own people. Outside our Army, we have roughly a million paramilitary troops which maintain law and order. The question one asks is what happens to a society which attacks its own people with such frequency?
One is not supporting the Maoists. One is referring to the armed groups which do not think twice about violence and murder. Along with the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), they have added to the brutalisation of the countryside and its criminalisation.
We are as concerned as you are about violence. Our voices may not carry far but while your emphasis is on the stability and the sovereignty of the state, ours is on the vulnerability and fate of ordinary tribal people. They face a cruel choice: Development destroys them and when they agitate against its inequities, the state destroys them all over again. You are asking the human rights groups to stand up. We have and we are. As a part of some of them, I can say Maoism is wrong, misguided, is murderous and often gets criminalised. Most of these groups do function as extortion agencies. But will you own up to all the women and children, and old people killed in your operations? Will you dismiss it as part of the logic of internal war?
Mr Chidambaram, logic is deceptive, managerial logic is worse. Using the Air Force against the so-called Naxal zone is to Vietnamise it. Very logical, very rational people have pursued this strategy. As David Halberstam, a great journalist and an authority on Vietnam, said, the best and the brightest came from Harvard and Yale.
The future of democracy is not just your responsibility. To condemn intellectuals who question and to label them as “sympathisers” is to inaugurate a tacit McCarthyism — the concern for internal security forces, an unnecessary homogeneity, or the dualism of “you are with me or you are against me”.
Democracy is troubled and troublesome, but it is the availability of dissent and diversity that protects both you and me. This panchayat of pluralisms needs expansion. Our sense of doubts demands that we rethink “development”, “security” as currently defined. Let me add the word “rights”. All three need to be questioned, not just academically as formal definitions but as practices. Let us ask, does development allow the rape of tribals through dams and deforestation? Does security give every policeman the right to brutalise a people? Have these words become ironic and counter-productive? To address it to a more general audience, what can the worlds of Nilekani, Pitroda and Prahlad do for these people? Does the state need a hearing aid or does it think that machine-gunned silence means consent?
On our side, yes, we have been silly. Our reports need to be more complete, less rhetorical, and occasionally less paranoid. However, some of our suggestions are practical and let me repeat them. The involvement of the Army will damage the Army. Secondly, the militarisation of the police without institutional reform and human rights sensitivity will brutalise them. As a society, we did it once in Punjab and let us not use the same tactics. Brutalising a generation is not a way to stability.
When Naxalbari happened last time, the response was brutal, but public sympathy was with them. Ever since the CPI(M) cauterised a society, public middle-class sympathy has been with you.
Dissent will sound anachronistic, museumised, and even idiotically Gandhian. We must still dissent, both against you and the Maoists. The use of landmines is utterly cowardly and brutal. The Maoists should be told that. The use of sanitisation operations does not legitimise murder and harassment. You should recognise it. Torture is a stigma, the unforgettable mnemonic which both, Maoism and the state will leave for future generations to gasp in horror.
Maoism has been in the making for years, Mr Chidambaram. Once made, it cannot be unmade through violence. The pacification you propose may be seen as the equivalent of ethnic cleansing. This is not an issue for a hysterical media or the parties to legitimise. If democracy is at stake, the issue has to be solved democratically. Terror and murder can only lie defeated by the inventiveness of democracy. Body counts are not equivalent to electoral votes that we tot up for victory. In fact, by treating casualty rates as low-level production statistics, both society and state have waited too long to act.
Our response cannot be thoughtful. Let us begin with two of the government’s own reports: The report on tribals and the report on the informal economy. Both focus on groups refractory but central to development. Let us ask how these two reports be applied creatively to the current problem.
Conflict resolution often becomes a formal settlement between state and adversary as the insurgent party. Let us involve civil society and community in it, maybe even a few imaginative corporations. We need to create a third space of “constructive labour”, as Gandhi called it, to challenge Maoism. This also needs the tolerance which does not treat people who empathise with suffering as suspect. It will also allow the state not to be hemmed in by machismo solutions which add little to problem solving.
Thirdly, internal war needs a different kind of Red Cross. Beyond the ambulance and the human rights team, we need constructive teams. Security operations get too fond of technological solutions. The long march, the night vision device, and the remote-sensing map are not really the answer to summary executions and kangaroo courts. Here small programmes built around livelihood can offer modest alternatives with long shelf lives of sustainability.
The request, Mr Minister, is simple. Do not undermine democracy in attempting to save it. This is the irony the politics of good intentions faces today.

* Shiv Visvanathan is a social scientist
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/op-ed/letter-dissent-922

Here is a link sent by Mr John Thomas, to me. I found it interesting. The speaker is Fr Gaston Roberge SJ, of Kolkata Jesuit Province. We have been in touch with each other for over a dozen of years. Here are his views on video training of today’s youth:

12 Oct. After a two-day visit to Bangalore I am back. I thought my Bangalore visit would be wonderful. I am a bit disappointed. Robin, my musician-friend who had composed seven music pieces for Community Radio SARANG 107.8MHz, could not access his external hard drive – some problem. Both of us spent one full day! Then, I left my media there with him for him to recompose and returned. In the meantime, I could not keep up many appointments with media friends! Another disappointment!
It was Mount Saint Joseph’s golden jubilee.
Mount Saint Joseph is our Novitiate house in Bangalore. This is where hundreds of Jesuits have their initial spiritual training. I was one of them. The jubilee celebrated meaningfully.
Fr Rudy Heredia from ISI Delhi, gave lectures on Evangelization in the Context of Religious Fundamentalism and Terrorism. It was an insightful, critical look at the Church’s life of witness in India. Of course, he was questioned thoroughly. But he responded with poise.
Then there was Mass with Archbishop Bernard Moras. Well, I could not stay for the entire celebration – cultural and meal. My bus at 9.30pm did not permit me the joy of being together! Great meeting so many of the alumni of our beloved alma mater MSJ!
Back home, the College has worn exam looks – Undergraduate students begin their odd-semester-end exams. Post graduate MCMS (Mass Communication & Media Studies) students are busy with their second internal exams!
Silent campus!