The Golden 80s

 I am not a big fan of India's prime time debates, especially those by the so-called national media. I still scour the print media for news and editorial views and social media for comments (both valid and stupid).  To me, most of the prime time debates are just one-sided cacophony and in a democracy like India these unprofessional conduct should have been regulated and punished long back. It may be the case that as a trained journalist, I can research more on the fare dished out and check facts and fake news by all forms of news media.  Such a luxury may not be available to all viewers and they then become the primary victims of targeted propaganda through social media.  Against this background, I was not at all surprised at the belligerence in which the anchor at NDTV was shouted at by an 'expert'. The discussion was about the booming stock market amidst a tanked economy and a pandemic.  Stock markets are not the best indicators of an economy . So it is ridic...

I've seen several ways in which people write the word, iPad. This is but very innovative. This is from an English news channel based in Bengaluru. Another indication of murdering English on a daily basis. 

The India media's expertise is primarily on politics, cricket, entertainment, and business. Their forte is not on science, unlike other well-known publications like The Guardian or the New York Times. When I read the headline, Mandya's lake man to build 15th pond with award money , I was not all surprised. I was sure that normal readers may not find the words, Lake and Pond, that intriguing. A discerning reader or someone who have studied Ecology will notice that there is something wrong here. A lake and a pond are not the same thing strictly from an ecological science point of view. Of course, they are static water bodies of varying sizes. But there are obvious ecological differences. One is there are man-made lakes and there are lakes borne out of natural phenomenon such as volcanic eruptions, retreat of ice sheets and earthquakes. Technically, there are differences in the structure, energy flows, ecological stratification, flora and fauna, and so on. There is an intere...

Business Standard  is a pink paper published from India. This tweet raised my eyebrows, as the word, 'Braveheart' has been the Indian media's cliche for a rape victim. I searched the major dictionries and the Corpus of Contemporary American English. There was no word called Braveheart in any of the dictionaries. At least officially! And there is no reference in the Online Etymology Dictionary . " Braveheart  may now be used allusively to encapsulate a view of Scottish nationalism maintained against English oppression," says  Encyclopedia.com There was Mel Gibson's Braveheart in 1995. I remember the hype on the glossy mags and television. I did not watch that movie. To impose a non-existing word on the media audience is a crime. 

Most of the newspapers carry one or more editorials on all days except Sundays. Editorials state the newspaper's "editorial view" on matters of local, national, and international importance. They are actually official position of the newspaper about an issue and it varies from paper to paper. The main purpose of an editorial is to analyze, interpret, criticize, persuade, or praise issues of the day.  The structure of an editorial consists of the following parts: Lead or statement : The editorial starts with a statement opposing, criticizing, or supporting (which is very rare) a newsworthy incident. This explains the incident being referred to and provides essential details about the incident. This is important because the editorial may be written a few days after an incident. The explanation will also allow the reader to recollect the story if he or she has forgotten the details. Explanation : After the lead or introduction, the editorial will now explain the o...

1 I love cricket. I like to waste time by watching cricket, even though the results many not be in line with what I want or like. Indian cricket fans know that. Team India will lose when we expect them to win; the team will win when we expect them to lose. Just like the lives of millions in this "developing" country and also the "Next Big Thing" in the world, we are used to frustration. Usually, the teams had the dressing room where the team, next batsmen, coach, and the 12th man used to sit and watch the game. But, somehow T20 heralded the arrival of a new term to cricket: Dugout. On checking at M-W.com, Dugout is "either of two low shelters on either side of and facing a baseball diamond that contain the players' benches." The key thing is "baseball". Yeah, baseball. With T20, cricket is or resembles baseball. Because, here, in T20, what matters is over the top ecstasy. Whether the batsmen can hit the maximum number of balls out o...

It is quite some time that the news channels based in Delhi and Mumbai keep mumbling on how the "youth" will usher in a new India in 2014 by casting their votes for the same old politicians. Huh! In an article on Mint , Sanjay Kumar, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, debunks the untested hypothesis unleashed by the media.  Excerpts from his article: "... Banking too much on the youth vote or the votes of the first-time voters may ultimately backfire, the reason being the Indian youth hardly votes as the “youth” or the “young”...Studies indicate the youth have never voted en bloc for any political party, at least not in the last five Lok Sabha elections (1996, 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2009). They have remained divided between various political parties like voters of any other age group are divided between various parties ..." "... It will be a gross misjudgement if someone believes the youth will determine the outcome of the 2014...

The primary source of news for the average Indian is the news channels. These channels are lively, and the added effect of visuals is tremendous. But absence of any regulation, including self-regulation, has made most of these channels a laughing stock and the target of reprimand in coffee shops and software company cafes. I agree that, compared to newspapers, there is indeed a dilution of core "journalistic" values in news presented by news channels. Instead of news, as defined in journalism textbooks and media classes, TRPs and visual angle dominates most of the news channels. Therfore, when media companies conduct event management or has an event management wing, then it's no wonder that marketing and business takes precedence over "news". What is lost is trust in the objectivity of the news channels. The scare and hype generated over the swine flu in India again shows that the media have lost their responsibility and sense.