Journalism in Goa

Obit for Sushruta Martins

2010-05-08T01:34:00.001+05:30

Sushruta Martins, a popular homeopath from Goa, India, passed away in early May 2010. A tribute from Miguel Braganza... Sushruta was a popular figure at the "unofficial press club of Goa", the Cafe Prakash!

in reference to: [Goanet] OBIT: Sushrut Martins, homeopath, campaigner, photography-enthusiast, President's Scout and more... (by Miguel Braganza) (view on Google Sidewiki)

Ignorance, prejudice... and warm wishes always...

2007-01-25T10:16:00.000+05:30

Someone calling herself Kylie Suarzes sent me this note, published here in full (excepting the deletion of two names of journalists, mentioned a bit disparagingly), without comments:

Dear Frederick, Hi! I trust this mail finds you in good health. First of all it was good to read your work in the Goan Womans ebook.

I enjoyed reading it thoroughly and felt so proud to be a Goan. But I want to mention that chapter nine 'Goan women in fine print' was absolutely Incomplete.

First of all you forgot to mention a leading young goan journalist -- Cheryl Rodrigues, who started her career with Herald only in class XI.

She won the Best poem competition in Herald in class VII and has been pursuing writing since then. Her articles were one of the best as far as I remember and were much appreciated by all readers. She was so creative and covered good issues. She contributed not just to Herald Friends (Youth supplement) but also to the magazine Herald Insight, under Ethel Da Costa.
She covered some of the best stories for the youth and the Goan community at large. She interviewed some of the best personalities too.

Yet you had not a word of mention about her.

She went ahead to write for Home and Garden, a magazine started by Guru Sardessai in Panjim. She also worked as a Radio journalist for programmes like Yuvvavani. and as a Radio Jockey on All India Radio.

Thanks to her influence and inspiration, she got the so-called good writers .... [names deleted --FN] involved in Journalism. She was the Pioneer and they only followed her footsteps.

So much so that when she went to pursue Journalism in one of the best colleges, Bombay College of Journalism (Mumbai), [names deleted-FN] only followed suit. Nothing much can be said about their writing, which lacks structure and a good editing style.

Cheryl went International by becoming the Desk editor and staff writer for Kuwait Times, and continued some of the best stories for them and yet Mr Frederick you had of appraisal for her.

How can anyone write an article without mentioning Cheryl Rodrigues, anout spoken talent that even [names deleted -FN] can vouch for. It is nothing but a shame. As a matter of fact, I'm sure she will be more than disappointed to even hear about this.

This is what discourages us Goans. Few writers like you, inspired by your lack of awareness, prejudices and ignorance tend to shun out some ofthe brillinat achievers our society has produced.

Thank you. I look forward to your response in this regard.

Warm wishes always,

Kylie Suarzes

technorati tags:goa, journalists, gulf, journosingulf

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New Year thoughts... thanks to LFY

2006-12-28T14:30:00.000+05:30

EFY, Electronics For You, the New Delhi-based group that publishes the Linux For You magazine too, had this small surprise for me. A 2007 desk calendar. What was interesting was the quotes it contained, some from people whom I don't quite admire ... or appreciate their role in changing the world in a certain direction. (Walt Disney, for instance). But whose words are inspiring in a way. So let me share the same with you:

To talk well and eloquently is a very great art; but that an equally great one is to know the right moment to stop. -- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today. -- Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865). The important thing is not to stop questioning. -- Albert Einstein (1879-1955). Be great in act, as you have been in tought. -- William Shakespeare (1564-1616). Try to learn something about everything and everything about something. --Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895). The essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection. --George Orwell (1903-1950). We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. -- Aristotle (384-322 BCE). I can give you a six-word formula for success: 'Think things through -- then follow through.' --Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832). Everyone things of changing the world, but no one things of changing himself. --Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910). I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best. --Oscar Wilde (1854-1900). Kites rise highest against the wind -- not with it. --Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965). When you're curious, you find lots of interesting things to do. -- Walt Disney (1901-1966).

Says the calendar:

How do you feel? The way things are going in your life depends on how you choose to feel. Your feelings are your most sincere expectations. Some see a challenging situation and feel dismayed. Others see the same situation and know that they can choose to feel energized and inspired. How do you choose to feel about things? Whatever it is, that is the way your life will play out.

2006-07-09T00:40:00.000+05:30

Here's what Dr Cornal DaCosta has to say about Goanet in the latest issue of GoanVoiceUK:

The Football World Cup tournament has unsurprisingly generated many posts on Goanet. One line of thought asked why India does not produce footballers of the calibre of many small nations as represented by this year's tournament? The responses have been varied including the lament that football crazy Goa is not entitled to send a team. Others have claimed that, India has excelled in field hockey many times and should concentrate on this game rather than football. GV(UK) readers are invited to provide their views on this and other matters.
Is there something called "a rock solid Christian moral code?" Discussion on this theme has been ongoing for some time but there are some new considerations currently being examined in this controversial theme.
There is much on Goanet about the Konkani stage in Goa and elsewhere. An unusual performance as a disabled girl by Rosy Alvares in Mario Menezes' tiatr receives many plaudits and is definitely worth finding out much more about it.
Whether pupils should wear school uniforms or not is an ongoing controversy the world over. Now, Goa seems to be gripped by this issue but with an unusual twist. Tension has emerged between those who seem happy with Indian attire and those wanting western attire in schools.
Domnic Fernandes presents an insight into life in the 1950s and 1960s in his excellent piece on the Cuckoo. This time, Domnic has been good enough to present his material in Konkani but with an English translation. Clearly, this is helpful when a command of Konkani may not be that sound among some GV (UK) readers.
Finally, do read a scholarly article by Priyamvada Gopal of Cambridge University. Apart from Goanet, this article has appeared in several sources and is well worth reading for much thought about revisionist British Imperial history. The title of her essay is "Imperial apologists peddle poisonous fairy tale." Readers' comments on this piece would be very welcome to Goanet administration.
More details can be found at the Goanet archives at http://www.goanet.org Or to subscribe to Goanet, send an email to subscribe@goanet.org

Prasun Sonwalkar, London blasts, and blogs

2006-07-07T18:06:00.000+05:30

Prasun Sonwalkar studied in Goa, at the People's High School, I think. Got to know him when he was on the desk at Bhubaneswar (for the TOINS), and contributed to the Deccan Herald, where I was then employed. We met up via Debashish Munshi.

Just today came across his article July 7 was a 'tipping point' for British media. It's about the July 7 blasts in London and how the media -- and specially blogs -- responded to it. Indo-Asian News Service concludes the article saying: Prasun Sonwalkar is a London-based journalist and a journalism teacher at the University of the West of England. He can be contacted at sprasun at yahoo.co.uk

Goajourno is here

2006-07-07T17:54:00.000+05:30

Goajourno, a for-journalist-only (ex-journalists covered too!) mailing list for those who work or worked in Goa, is accessible here. It's archives are here.

Sports, ESPN, and the cost of viewing a match

2006-07-07T17:38:00.000+05:30

Pamela D'Mello's article titled Goaaaaaaaaal! But not every hotel and outlet has scored which offers an insight into the economics of football. So, ESPN is charging big money to screen football matches in Goa's restaurants, making it tough for people to afford viewing!

Pensions... who foots the bill?

2006-07-05T05:24:00.000+05:30

Currently, the Goa Union of Journalists is seized with the issue of pensions for retiring journalists. Priviledged as we are, this is the only private sector class of employees who not only get our wages regulated by the government, but also now get a (even if nominal) pension in Goa. Thanks to the Parrikar government's sense of priorities, a retiring journalist is now entitled to Rs 1000 by way of a government pension. But, journos were quick to realise, this is hardly sufficient. So, they want a hike to Rs 3000 pm. Of course, the Rane government (till now at least) and the bureaucrats taking the decision, put their foot down. If retiring journalists want more pensions, then they need to contribute more, they argued. (Obviously, the reserves would run out fast otherwise.) But, to add to the complications, the younger journalists resent the fact that they would have to pay a hiked-up contribution, so that an elder already-retired segment (who never paid any contributions) could get a three-fold hike in pensions. This view came out strongly at the 2006 union general body. To make things even worse, the managements, who were supposed to contribute to the kitty and build the pensions' fund, are unwilling to do so. Or have just pointedly refused! So that's where things stands. A complex issue indeed!

Interruptions at the news-conf

2006-07-05T05:16:00.000+05:30

July 2006 debates on the GoaJourno mailing lists have begun with some angry perspectives on interruptions at a news conference. Rupesh Samant of PTI and Y Balamuralikrishna of the UNI are early posters on this issue. Rupesh's plaint is: "Hi guys, sometimes journalists can get so nagging. I was covering a Das munshi press conference in Margao. Sports minister as he is Munshi is also the Information and Broadcasting minister. When I ventured to ask Munshi a question related to his IB ministry, one journalist who is also a member on our mailing list had the gall to say "Mr Munshi is here to answer sports related questions". I find this apalling. This enabled Munshi to wriggle out of the nasty question I was feilding him. This is so not done. This is absolutely unethical and pissing off."

ToIGoa, Vijay Times... and the rumour mill

2006-07-05T04:33:00.000+05:30

Rumours are rife among the media circuit that the Times of India is planning to come out with a Goa edition, printed out of Pilerne, at their plot given to them in the early 'nineties when Suresh Parulekar was minister. If that happens, how will it impact Goa's far-from-inspiring journalism? Meanwhile, this blog entry is confirming that the Vijay Times has been taken over by the Times of India. Likewise, another blog entry with more details is called "A small Tribune story helped TOI pick up VK, VT".

Eight-column battles... on language

2006-06-05T05:45:00.000+05:30

Don't trust religion-based and language-based battles in Goa. These are clearly made to get you fighting, without resolving anything of significance. Now with the tug-of-war over implementing English-as-a-subject in Standard I, various sections of the media are up to their tricks again. Sections of the Marathi media are up with the 'Marathi in danger' battlecry. Some newspapers have been carrying eight-column banner headlines about fairly boring items, that keep the issue on the boil nonetheless. It helps strengthen one's believe that politicians and the press are the two main forces that provoke communal sentiments in Goa.

On a Friday at Mapusa...

2006-05-19T17:27:00.000+05:30

It was a summer Friday evening and, having some time to spare, one ventured into the crowded and colourful Mapusa marketn. After taking a look at cursory look at all the many plants for sale (some vendors even speak fluent English!), the next stop was the earthernware section. There, they nowadays sell the earthernware 'cock-shaped' drinking-water pot in sizes tiny enough to hold just a glassful of water. An interesting toy for the kids; maybe more innovation could take our age-old pottery skills ahead....

After a while, one ran into a familiar face. It was Olga Martins, the lady who served a lifetime (or so I think) in the Goa government's Department of Information which many of us rub shoulders with as journos.

Ms Martins and her husband were near the section selling traditionally-grown (not the high-yielding IR8s and Jayas) rice.

After exchanging a few pleasantaries, she mentioned that her son was running Mum's Kitchen, the new restaurant focussing on Goan food in the Taleigao-Caranzalem (if I got it right) area. Her daughter-in-law was into designing. Another son ran the Lemon Tree school, which some of us might have passed by en route to the Goa University or the International Centre.

Nice to catch up with old times. As I realised later, she was scouting around for Goa-grown traditional rice for the family restaurant.

It was nice to meet up after these years. She wanted to know where all the old-time journalists were and what they were doing. G R Singbal, Flaviano Dias, Jagdish Wagh... When the topic veered around to Africa, Ms Martins mentioned that she had grown up in Tanzania (or Tanganika, as it was then called) including at Arusha.

Just thought of sharing this as a link to all those whom we tend to forget when they go out of the world of work which we too have been associated with. Unfortunately, Ms Martins is not email otherwise we could have invited her to join the Goajourno mailing list.

Goa press accreditation committee meets...

2006-05-15T03:01:00.000+05:30

Goa's press accreditation committee met on May 11, 2006 -- exactly ten months after its earlier meet held on July 11, 2005.

It may be recalled that the issue of accreditations was raised at the recent Goa Union of Journalists general body meeting, with special debate on the accreditations granted to representatives of the electronic media and the contentious issue of 'provisional accreditations' being given out by the government even while meetings were not being regularly held to take a formal decision on the same.

Deccan Herald's special correspondent in Goa Devika Sequeira was elected chair of the press accreditation committee.

GUJ is represented on the PAC by Devika Sequeira, Umesh Mahambre (2006-07 president), Ashley do Rosario (past president of GUJ) and Sandesh Prabhudesai.

According to unofficial accounts of decisions taken, accreditations were approved for Flaviano Dias (former PTI bureau chief), Mario Cabral e Sa, Pushpa Iyengar (back in Goa and working for the DNA), Prakash Kamat (who recently changed over from the ET to the Hindu), Bagli, Mayuresh Pawar, Rupesh Samant (who recently moved to UNI, from Sunaparant), and S Shanbhag of Navhind Times.

Further details were sought from (or accreditation was turned down) in the case of Shareen, Sanjay Sinha, Ms Yadav, Devidas Gawde, Preetu Nair (GT), Nilesh Naik (Pudhari), Jyoti Dhond, Tara Narayan (Goan Observer) and Nandesh Kambli.

For a confirmed version of the list above, details may be obtained from the information department itself. Or talk to someone who attended the meeting; I didn't.

Viewing Indian journalism, as seen from the metros?

2006-05-15T02:57:00.000+05:30

Its jacket terms it an "exciting collection of original essays", and to add weight to the claim this books has some big names contributing to it. But surely an understanding of Indian journalism needs to go beyond the metros and big newspaper editors; for a country the size and diversity of India, what we see of Indian journalism obviously depends on where we stand.

That said, this is an interesting publication. Some 26 contributors discuss a range of thems, from media laws (including the often-neglected in India right to privacy against media intrusion) to the social role of journalists; gender, caste and communal issues in journalism; journalistic practice in war and peace; censorship and repression by the state; the role of media technology and future trends; sports journalism; urban reporting; and alternative media such as community radio.

Editor Nalini Rajan is associate professor at the Asian College of Journalism in Chennai. She says the book "is not envisaged strictly as a textbook for a journalism school" but more as a general collection reflecting trends and visions within the profession. Her fifteen-page introduction gives a fair idea of what the book is about.

BRP Bhaskar, formerly with the United News of India and many Indian English-language newspapers -- including the Deccan Herald, during this reviewer's longish stint there -- takes a large over-view of the growth of India's press and the law. Coming from a veteran, this is clearly an essay worth a close reading, specially by anyone who has entered journalism in the last decade or two.

>From the British control of the Indian media, to its takeover by industrialists, and the lack of any mention of a free press in the Indian Constitution... these are some of the issues that get touched on. Then we move over to various laws passed by the government -- the Press (Objectionable Matters) Act of 1951, the press commission headed by Justice G S Rajadhyaksha, the attempt at a Daily Newspaper (Price and Page) Act in 1956, the second press commission under Justice K K Mathew in 1977, and more.

Bhaskar also looks at the growth of the regional and 'national' media in India. As an aside, one could perhaps ask: do we really have a paper that really reflects the diversity of the country, or are these just overgrown editions of Mumbai and Delhi newspapers, pretending to do so?

N Ram, the blunt-speaking editor-owner of The Hindu and, in a way, the Friedrich Engels of Indian journalism, has a reprint of an earlier editorial titled here as 'Defining the Principles of Ethical Journalism'. He explains what his family-owned newspaper stands for.

His unequivocally-described "five principles" stand as inspiration both for its clarity and vision. These are: truth telling, freedom and independence, the principle of justice, humaneness, and contributing to the social good. But how do these play themselves out in the day-to-day operations of his influential Chennai-headquartered daily? Maybe we'll have to ask someone from his staff.

Harivansh is the editor of the editor of the Jharkhand-based Prabhat Khabar for a decade-and-half, and makes the case that a commercially-run newspaper can also play a sharp role in development journalism. He claims his publication has been doing just this by way of giving people "information on science, information technology, economics and the comparitive financial progress of different states". Interestingly, his paper has conducted "readers' courts", where readers could interact with journalists, and discuss ways of improving the product. In days when the advertisers-rupee-is-all logic tends to predominate, such perspectives come as a breath of fresh air.

"From the most backward region of Bihar, Ranchi -- which is now the capital of Jharkhand state -- the almost defunct 'Prabhat Khabar' forged ahead and is today published from five centres in three states," Harivansh writes with percpetible pride. He reminds us that being a journalist in metros like Mumbai or Kolkata "is very different from being one in Ranchi". You bet! His narration of experiences in turning-around a near-defunct paper have a lot of lessons for anyone in journalism.

Engineer-turned-journalist, the Mumbai-based Dilip D'Souza tells the story of what happens to those who dare to dabble in investigative journalism.

Corruption and crime flourish in our societies because the media pay too little attention, dig too infrequently and rarely deep enough, he argues. (That the recent hidden-camera sting operations have shown it hugely profitable, in viewership figures too, to expose grand-scale corruption is an issue which emerged only after this essay was penned.)

Besides, as D'Souza points out, stories are hardly followed beyond initial reports. Crimes and scandals come at us at a "fearful rate" too. More importantly, nobody of consequence -- in India's nearly six decades of Independence -- has been punsihed for their crimes. Crimes themselves prosper despite being exposed. (Bal Thackeray, named for instigating several riots, rode to power in riots after 1995. Sukh Ram commands adulation in his home state. Harshad Mehta, the prime figure in the stocks scam, was not just never punished but became a sought-after speaker and columnist in several publications, as we are reminded.)

Investigators also themselves face vicious reprisals, notes D'Souza. Just take the case of what happened to the Tehelka after its dramatic pointing out of corruption when the BJP was at the helm.

Mukund Padmanabhan, associate editor with The Hindu, focuses on the right to privacy against media intrusion. He has another take on the Tehelka investigation and says it stands out "not very well". He argues: "Even call girls (deployed by Tehelka) have privacy rights and the contracts to hire them for sex did not include permission to secretly film them in the act."

Valerie Kaye -- journalist, TV researcher and producer -- has an unusual story about a two-week contract with the BBC while filming in Argentina. That just shows the difference between a media organisation's image from the outside, and the reality within. Darryl D'Monte, who could probably be called the poster boy of Indian environmental journalism, writes on "the greening of India's scribes". His chapter looks at the growth and erosion of green writing in India.

It is D'Monte's view -- and one you can't quite disagree with -- that since economic liberalisation of the 1990s, the Indian media has "been more preoccupied with economic than environmental issues, and there is no saying whether green scribes will continue to flourish in future". D'Monte has an interesting story about how Anil Agarwal's report on the Indian environment came to be, following a visit to Malaysia and the Consumers Association of Penang.

Indian Express associate editor Pamela Philipose looks at how women's activism prompted changes in news coverage in some cases. V Geetha, an author, looks at gender, identity and the Tamil "popular" press. One of the generes there is the telling of female victim tales. "Part-sensational, part-sincere and possessed of a will to 'tell the truth', 'to report the unreported', this mode of writing has come to stay in the Tamil media," Geetha writes.

The Hindu sports editor Nirmal Shekar says sports journalism can be "so different from" journalims. He sees it as "a hybrid and a maverick, an island that revels in its isolation, constantly celebrating its independence by skillfully violating all time-tested norms of sound journalism".

Agricultural scientist-turned-journalist Devinder Sharma finds agriculture to be a "missing dimension" in the media. He writes bluntly, "Politics is important, but perhaps more important is the role that the corporate houses play to woo the political powers in a desperate effort to bring in a genetically engineered food product or technology."

Mumbai-based veteran development journalism Kalpana Sharma has a chapter on urban reporting. She notes: "Cities are a reporter's dream. They represent the variety, the excitement, the drama and the complexity that can yield endless stories." As anyone who worked beyond India's four (or, at best, six) metros should know, if you don't work in a big city your copy could simply be dooomed into non-existance. But then, there is a challenge writing a good story away from the beaten track too.

Sharma goes on to the new trends such as 'celebrity journalism' and 'page 3 journalism'.

This text also contains a number of other interesting papers -- lawyer Lawrence Liang on issues related to the new media and so-called 'piracy'; S Anand squarely raising blunt issues of casteism in the newsroom (a rather insightful piece); M H Lakdawala on the Urdu-language media; Praveen Swami on the many flaws of defence reporting in India; Shyam Tekwani on the risks of "embedded journalism"; Bindu Bhaskar on the mainstream Indian media after the 1990s; Robert Brown on the need to be "earnest as well as entertaining"; Robin Jeffrey on "the public sphere of print journalism"; S Gautham on alternative spaces in the broadcast media; and KP Jayasankar and Anjali Monteiro in a almost-flippantly titled take on a serious issue 'Censorship ke peeche kya hai?' about film censorship.

Mahalakshami Jayaram writes on News in the Age of Instant Communications; Stephen S Ross on Teaching Computer-Assisted Reporting in South India; and Ashish Sen on Community Radio -- Luxury or Necessity? Anjali Kamat also has a text on 'Youth' and the Indian media. --Frederick Noronha, December 2005.

ABOUT THE BOOK: Practising Journalism: Values, Constraints, Implications. Nalini Rajan (ed). 2005.Sage Publications India Pvt Ltd. 81-7829-522-9 and ISBN 0-7619-3379-4. Paperback, pp 358, Rs 450.

Gova Doot, a year old...

2006-05-15T02:54:00.002+05:30

Gova Doot, perceived as being close to the BJP if not propped up by it, completes a year of publication on May 22, 2006. It invites its readers to have their say on how the paper functioned over the past year.

Sunaparant... tabloid on the weekend

2006-05-15T02:54:00.001+05:30

Sunaparant goes tabloid. The paper has come out in a new format on Sunday. Its new format announces a story -- or is it speculation -- that Margaret Alva could become the next governor of Goa.

Rashtramat's former editor Sitaram Tengse says readers are a must for any newspaper to gain stability. He was talking at a Sunaparant function, and called for the paper to target a growth in readership.

Goa accreditation rules 2002 (currently in force)

2006-05-15T02:54:00.000+05:30

[ACCREDITATION RULES, published by the Department of Information Series I No 39 dated December 26, 2002. Notification DI/INF/Acc.Com/2002/3502] The Government of Goa, in supersession of all previous notifications published in the Official Gazette, in this behalf, hereby makes the following rules, namely:-

1. SHORT TITLE AND COMMENCEMENT: (1) These rules may be called the Goa State Media Representative Accreditation Rules, 2002.

(2) They shall come into force from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

2. DEFINITION: In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires:

(a) "Committee" means the Press Accreditation Committee constituted by the Government to advise the Government in respect of accreditation of media representatives working at the headquarters of the Government;

(b) "Government" means the Government of Goa;

(d) "media representatives" means the correspondent, press photographer, sports journalist or representative of any newspaper, news agencies, broadcasting concern or electronic media, provided he/she is a working journalist;

(e) "Member Secretary" means the Director of Information of the Government;

(f) "newspaper" means any publication, printed and distributed at fixed intervals, which contains news and comment of public interest as defined in the Press and Registration of Books Act (25 of 1867) but not a publication containing information of sectional interest such as house journals;

(g) "State" means the State of Goa;

(h) "working journalist" means a working journalist as defined in the Working Journalists and Other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1955 (45 of 1955), as amended from time to time;

(i) "accreditation" means recognition of media representatives by the Government for the purpose of access to sources of information in the Government and also to news materials, written or pictorial, released by the Department of Information and/or other agencies of the Government.

3. AMENDMENT TO RULES: These rules may be amended/altered/modified/added to on the recommendation of the Committee, if a proposal to this effect is made to the Committee, by at least three of its members or the Member Secretary.

4. APPLICATION OF RULES: These rules shall apply to the accreditation of media representatives to the Government at headquarters at Panaji.

5. CONSTITUTION OF COMMITTEE: (1) The committee shall consist of nine members including the Member Secretary.

(2) Three members shall be the nominees of the Goa Editors' Guild, or, in its absence, of the editors of daily newspapers published from Goa and four members will be nominees of the Goa Union of Journalists which shall include one photographer, besides one sports journalist, nominated by the Sports Journalists Association of Goa.

(3) The members of the Committee shall elect a Chairman from among themselves by a simple majority.

6 TERM OF COMMITTEE: (1) The normal term of the Committee shall be two years commencing from the date of its first meeting, but shall continue till a new Committee is constituted.

(2) The constitution of the new Committee shall not be delayed for more than three months after the expiry of the term of the existing Committee.

7 MEETINGS: The Committee shall meet once in every three months. The Member Secretary shall convene the meeting by fixing the date of the meeting and the agenda, inc consultation with the Chairman of the Committee.

8 QUORUM: Five members, excluding the Member Secretary, shall form a quorum of a meeting;

Provided that, if a meeting be adjourned to some other date for want of quorum, the adjourned meeting shall be held on such other date whether there be quorum present or not.

9 NOTICE: Seven clear days notice shall be given for convening a meeting of the Committee. But emergent meeting may however, be held after giving a 48 hour's notice.

10 APPLICATION FOR ACCREDITATION: (1) The application for the accreditation shall be submitted by the Editor of the newspaper, editor of a news agency, in-charge of news unit of the broadcasting concern and by the concerned head of news unit of the electronic media, etc., to the Member Secretary. Full details about the professional experience of the media representative shall be furnished with the application for accreditation, on a prescribed form available with the Member Secretary. The Member Secretary shall refer the applications to the Committee for consideration in its next meeting;

(2) The application referred to in sub-rule (1) shall also be accompanied by a letter from the Editor (or Resident Editor in case of outstation newspapers), recommending accreditation on behalf of the newspaper concerned. The application shall be accompanied by a letter from the in-charge of news unit of the broadcasting concern, concerned head of news unit in case of electronic media, and by the editor in case of a news agency.

(3) Accreditation on a provisional/temporary basis may be granted by the Member Secretary in consultation with the Chairman of the Committee, till such time as the committee meets thereafter, provided the applicant fulfils the conditions laid down for grant of accreditation on a regular basis and provided that he/she was accredited earlier to any other media organisation or has been posted as a replacement for a duly accredited correspondent and the media organisation concerned has no other accredited correspondent in Goa. No provisional accreditation shall be granted to a fresh applicant.

11. CONDITIONS FOR ACCREDITATION: (1) The media representative shall fulfil the following conditions for accreditation --

(i) His/her office should be normally in Panaji and he/she should submit contact address in Panaji at the time of application for accreditation and thereafter during the period of accreditation for the purpose of official correspondence.

(ii) The applicant should be a working journalist.

(iii) At the time of the application, the applicant who seeks accreditation should have spent not less than five years as a journalist. However, these requirements may be waived in case of new newspapers.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in clauses (i) and (iii) of sub-rule (1), the Committee shall be guided by the following aspect in recommending either grant or withdrawal of accreditation;

(a) regularity of newspaper/news agencies;

(b) submission of necessary papers in respect of salary, income, etc, by the applicant whenever the Committee so requires

(c) Newspapers shall publish minimum 350 issues, a weekly shall publish minimum 50 issues, a monthly shall publish minimum 12 issues and a fortnightly shall publish minimum 23 issues, per annum.

(3) In case of news agencies, etc, the factors to be taken into consideration to determine accreditation are:

(i) nature and type of the agency

(ii) method of distribution of its service

12 VALIDITY OF ACCREDITATION: accreditation shall be valid for a period of one year with effect from 30th June.

13 NUMBER OF CORRESPONDENTS TO BE ACCREDITED: (1) Newspapers shall not be entitled to have more than three accreditations for the daily published and printed in Goa. All other media organisations, including outstation daily newspapers, shall be entitled to one accreditation only.

(2) Any publication printed and published in Goa, which fulfils the conditions laid down in rule 11(2)(c), shall have, in addition to the above one accreditation each for a photographer and a sports journalist.

(3) A senior journalist may be granted accreditation on account of his/her retirement or otherwise, provided he/she has completed 25 years in the profession and 15 years as an accredited journalist or editor of a daily newspaper, and continues to be active as a journalist.

(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in subrules (1) and (2) above, the committee may change the number of accreditations for any daily newspaper arising out of its professional requirements after recording reasons in writing and being satisfied about the same.

14 EFFECT OF ACCREDITATIONS: (1) Accreditation does not confer any official status on the media representatives but shall recognise and identify him/her as a professional journalist dealing with news of public interest. He/she should not have letter heads, visiting cards and display boards with the words "Accredited to the Government of Goa" or any words to similar effect.

(2) Accreditation shall be used for journalistic purposes and for no other purposes.

15. ACCREDITATION IS PERSONAL: Accreditation is personal and not transferable.

16. ACCREDITATION CARD FOR PRESS REPRESENTATIVES: (1) Accreditation card bearing a passport size photograph of the media representatives will be issued to an accredited media representative by the Member Secretary.

(2) The accreditation card will normally be utilised for attending press conferences convened by the Government, or any authorised Government officer and for entry into Government offices.

(3) The accreditation card shall not be admissible for attending special functions or conferences, where entry is covered by special invitation cards and security passes.

(4) The accreditation card will entitle the holder to receive the facilities provided to him/her by the Government from time to time in respect of medical, transport, housing, Government accommodation in the State of Goa.

(5) Accreditation card shall be renewed each year between 1st June to 10th June.

17 LIST OF ACCREDITED MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES: The Member Secretary shall maintain a list of accredited media representatives representing any newspapers or news agency or a broadcasting concern or electronic media.

18 REVIEW OF LIST OF ACCREDITED MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES: (1) The list of accredited media representatives will be brought upto date once during the year by the Member Secretary in consultation with the Chairman of the Committee, in the light of changes in respect of accredited media representatives of outside newspapers, and dailies of the State.

(2) For the purpose of such a review, information regarding circulation may be called for and media representatives be asked to provide clippings of published dispatches or photographic or audio/visual clips from the news media organisation concerned.

19 WITHDRAWAL OF ACCREDITATION OF MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES: A media representative will be liable to dis-accreditation, if:

(a) he/she uses the information and facilities accorded to him/her for non-journalistic purposes;

(b) in the course of his/her duties as a correspondent, he/she behaves in an undignified or unprofessional manner;

(c) he/she ignores or violates the condition on which information and facilities are provided by the Government, or acts contrary to any provisions of these rules;

(d) the organisation on whose behalf the representative is accredited ceases its publication or the network ceases to function except for a short period for reasons of industrial disputes or natural calamities.

(e) the accredited representative is found to have given false information about himself/herself or about his/her organisation and if the Committee, after giving a reasonable opportunity to the representative concerned to defend himself/herself, is satisfied that the charges are true, the accreditation may be suspended/withdrawn for a period not exceeding two years, and during this period he/she shall not be eligible for the grant of further accreditation.

(f) He/she causes wilful publication of news that is incorrect or false, in so far as Government is concerned. But in case the newspaper itself is responsible and not the accredited media representatives for such wilful publication of false, malafide or incorrect reports, or abuse of confidence, the newspaper concerned shall be liable to dis-accreditation i.e. an action under these rules shall be taken by the Chairman of the Committee after the matter has been referred to him in writing by the aggrieved party. The Committee, after due study of the complaint, shall recommend appropriate action to be taken by the Government against the concerned media representative or newspaper and the Government decision in this regard shall be final.

(g) Provided that no decision to suspend/withdraw the accreditation of a media representative shall be taken by the committee except at a meeting attended by at least two-third of its members.

20 NOTICE OF TERMINATION OF ACCREDITATION OF A PRESS REPRESENTATIVE: When an accredited media representative ceases to represent a newspaper, news agency, broadcasting concern or electronic media on behalf of which he is accredited, the fact should be brought to the notice of the Member Secretary in writing by the media representative, or by the Editor, or the Manager concerned, within fifteen days, failing which the matter may be reported to the Committee by the Member Secretary for necessary action.

21 CONTINUOUS ABSENCE FROM THE HEADQUARTERS: An accredited media representative who is continuously absent for three months from the headquarters shall forfeit his/her accreditation, except on a written permission from the Editor or the Manager of the newspaper concerned to that effect, duly conveyed to the Member Secretary.

22 REPRESENTATION AGAINST DECISION: Newspapers/agencies and correspondents can make representation to the Secretary of Information to the Government against any decision related to dis-accreditation which is prejudicial to them. Such representation should reach the Secretary of Information to the Government within two calendar months from the date on which such decision was communicated to the newspaper, agency or media representative concerned.

23 POWER OF GOVERNMENT TO TAKE ACTION DEEMED FIT: Notwithstanding anything contained in these rules, the Government shall be free to take any action warranted by circumstances in matters relating to accreditation and dis-accreditation and in giving press facilities and in all these cases, the Government decision shall be final.

By order and in the name of the Governor of Goa.

Rajesh Singh, Director of Information and Publicity.

Panaji, 17th December, 2002.

Seeing the world through a camera: V B Anand

2006-05-13T15:42:00.000+05:30

[By Frederick Noronha] If you came across Verapaneni Brahmanandrao Anand, the name wouldn't strike you as familiar. But when a slim South Indian was introduced to me at V.B.Anand -- outside that age-old resource of reading material, Varsha Book Stall in Panjim -- the name immediately struck a bell. My mind immediately went back to all those scenic picture post-cards I had come across years ago. This was a photographer one was just waiting to meet.

V B Anand's claim to fame is that he showcased Goa (he subsequently moved on to other areas) in a way few did. Not only was his photography markedly superior, but he also moved away from the low-quality, low-cost viewcards that earlier dominated the market here.

How and why did he enter this field? "My father was a photography. From childhood, photography has been a passion. I was interested in it since my schooldays. Then, I joined a fine arts college in Madras (subsequently renamed to Chennai), and learnt painting and drawing. But I've stopped using the brush and shifted to 'painting' with the camera," he explains.

Being an artist by training does help, he feels, specially since 'writing with light' involves creating the right effect, the right mood, and the apt composition in the world of photography.

V B Anand has an interesting story of how he got involved with the world of the viewcard. "I once went on a trekking trip to Himachal Pradesh, that was around 1988. It was in my college days, and I wanted to send some viewcards home to my dad. But I simply couldn't find any good ones. On returning home, I mentioned this to my father, and he shot back to say, 'Why don't *you* make some viewcards of your own)?'"

As fate would have it, V B Anand already had made some very good photographs of his trip to Kulu Manali (in Himachal). "So I made some post-cards and took them back there there (to market them). Then the craze started. There was a very good response (to that set of cards)," he elaborates.

Back home, his sights next settled on Goa, which was suddenly booming as a tourist-destination-in-the-making in the 'eighties. "It was my second place (for entering the viewcards market), starting from 1988. First I started with six postcards. Now I have about 120 designs (on Goa). Goa Tourism map also carries my photographs. Likewise, a lot of Indian tourism offices also use my photographs," he adds.

What are his most-liked settings in Goa? Without hesitation, V B Anand replies: "Palolem and, in the north, Vagator. I like nature and beauty more. People and markets also fascinates me."

Like many other visitors here, he finds the people here "frank, loving and affectionate". Is this for real? Or is this just a case of running into what we expect to see? But V B Anand also says he got an encouragement in Goa which cannot be compared to the feedback in other destinations.

His cards were among the very first set of quality, if higher-priced viewcards put out in India. At a time when poorly printed cards were sold at fifty paise to a rupee, his sold for many times that price.

Says he: "Earlier, the potentiality on this front (quality viewcards) was not explored, and nobody seemed to know the need of the customers." Initially, his stockists were worried about the price. "But when they put it out for sale, these viewcards started moving fast. Many then stopped stocking the cheap cards and started selling my cards," he says.

After Goa, his next destination was the diverse south Indian state of Karnataka. "I started there in 1989. And, after that, almost every year I added one state. Tamil Nadu, Kerala, later North India. Rajasthan, Delhi and Maharashtra followed. Presently, I've started working in the east and north east (of India). And Kolkata, Darjeeling, Orissa, Bodh Gaya (Bihar), Varanasi (UP) too. Along with these, my main interest is to collect pictures for coffeetable books," he said in an interview.

Is working in a new place, specially in a country as diverse as India, really a challenge? Is it tough? Says V B Anand: "I never felt anything, probably because I'm so involved in the art. Taking photographs, so much so that nothing ever disturbs me. Language is never a barrier while taking photographs."

"They say love is blind. I say the same of photography," he says, suggesting the love of the art blinds you to many a problem. "I've been so much into it that I've never bothered where I've been and what I'm doing."

What are the main subjects he prefers to work on? Lifestyle, beauty of the place and landscapes, and places of historical importance are his priorities. "I prefer rural settings... places that depict that the real Indian culture is there."

Would he agree with the view that India is still a very under-photographed place?

"There's much to be done. In the meantime, we are also losing our photography heritage. Abroad, they have better collections (of early Indian photographs) than we ourselves have of India. In Mahabalipuriam for instance, in 1870s, there was an artist who has come and painted the place. But these works are not in India, but in a museum in London. Why not have similar museums collecting work here too?"

Of late, V B Anand says he's beginning to feel comfortable with digital photography. Says he: "Working with film involves a lot of constraints. Now, one feels (a sense of freedom). If you had ten rolls, you needed to think of 360 photographs. Now, if I go to any event, I take a thousand or twelve hundred pictures."

How does he store all this? On five cards that store a total of 3.5 GB of digital photos! Once each is filled, he downloads the pics to his laptop and then starts again!

When asked about his preferred camera, he shoots back without hesitation: "Nikon". His wife has been his strong supporter in his pictoral mission, says V B Anand, and she has also accompanied him on his travels.

His dad V K Rao died in 1990. He started in the career with still photograph for the then influential world of the movies. Then he left that and launched a portrait studio in Mylapore, Chennai, in 1959.

"He was a pioneer of sorts and produced educational film-strips for school students. These strips were made on 35 mm film. Instead of being sildes, they were on a film-roll. Each film had differing educational content. For instance, one would explain the growth of a butterfly. Teachers would display these in schools, helping students to remember better. That was in the 'sixties and 'seventies. A manual projector with a fan cost just Rs 1200 or so then. Dad had around 70 titles on different subjects," recalls V B Anand.

His next mission? Possibly working on Indian architecture and religious themes, with the foreign educational market in mind. He's also keen to look at travel CDs. Tamil Nadu Tourism, he explains, has made eight CDs of his photographs and supplied it to travel agents across the globe.

What are the nice and not-so-nice things about being a photographer in India? "Returns (can be low). Abroad, if you take a good picture, they pay you more. In India, that doesn't happen. India has both the talent and potentiality. There's a lot of scope for the new generation. Also, a lot of good colour printing priesses are coming up, some of which have international standards," says he. V B Anand sees the lack of respect for copyrights as one issue. "People copy my photos and put it up on their websites, which in other countries would not happen," he adds.

His plans also include a coffee-table book on Goa, depicting the beauty of the place and her people. Says he, with a smile: "I feel I have contributed to promote tourism through my postcards. The same happened with Varkala, beach near Quilon in Kerala. I made postcards of the place, and started selling in Kovalam beach, which is far south. Tourists started enquiring about how to go to that place. Along with the tourists the shop-owners also went. So I have now 40 card-outlets there now, selling my postcards."

Photography is still an envied profession, he feels. It gives him time to do things he loves and travel and meet so many people. "Earlier, I visited Goa upto five times each year. I would even come on long stints, and stay for 2-3 months. Lately because I'm doing work all over India, my trips have become less," says he.

CONTACTS: vbanand@hotmail.com 0938 1029496 vbanand.com

Viewing Indian journalism, as seen from the metros?

2006-05-13T14:59:00.000+05:30

Viewing Indian journalism, as seen from the metros?

By Frederick Noronha

Engineer-turned-journalist, the Mumbai-based Dilip D'Souza tells the story of what happens to those who dare to dabble in investigative journalism.

Investigators also themselves face vicious reprisals, notes D'Souza. Just take the case of what happened to the Tehelka after its dramatic pointing out of corruption when the BJP was at the helm.

Sharma goes on to the new trends such as 'celebrity journalism' and 'page 3 journalism'.

ABOUT THE BOOK: Practising Journalism: Values, Constraints, Implications. Nalini Rajan (ed). 2005.Sage Publications India Pvt Ltd. 81-7829-522-9 and ISBN 0-7619-3379-4. Paperback, pp 358, Rs 450.

Photos: Hinterland of Goa

2006-04-10T12:19:00.000+05:30

April 10 is the last day of the exhibition by Nirmal Kulkarni and Aasari, titled Hinterlands of Goa, at the Myriad Art Gallery, opposite Hotel Venite in Panjim (near the GPO area). 10 am to 7 pm. Nirmal is 9326107079.

Navy war room case... some Goa links

2006-04-09T02:32:00.000+05:30

This issue has figured prominently in the national media. Is there sufficient follow-up on the Goa angles? Reporting on the Navy has tended to be a huge black home for the most... with by-invite-only coverage obviously not doing justice to the issues on hand.

Niraj Naik's DigitalGoa service said 6-Apr-2006 16:49:46: "CBI raided plant in Verna over Navy war room leak case."

Later, a report in the ET named the plant concerned. Below are some reports that show up the Goa link, and name officers whom some of us might have encountered in news conferences:

Navy war room leak case links http://tinyurl.com/mxetb

In particular, see http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1480764.cms Navy war-room leak: CBI raids 17 places. It says:

NEW DELHI: Almost a year after the war-room leak rocked the Navy like never before, and led to the sacking of four officers, the wheels of justice finally seem to be turning now after a long delay....

The CBI case, registered under the Official Secrets Act and section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code, names nine persons for "conspiring to trade off classified documents and information relating to the defence ministry, the disclosure of which is likely to affect the country's sovereignty and integrity".

CBI, in particular, is eager to arrest Ravi Shankaran, the alleged "brain" behind the episode, who also happens to be the nephew of Navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash.

Shankaran and Parashar, former naval officers who took premature retirement to set up their own business, were the ones who allegedly enticed Rana, Jha and the then director of naval operations Captain Kashyap Kumar to "leak" classified information from the Navy war-room in South Block for monetary and other gains.

The leaked information, primarily of commercial nature, was apparently meant for international armament companies eager to bag lucrative Indian defence contracts.....

The government had handed over the war-room leak case to CBI belatedly in February only after allegations surfaced that middlemen were involved in the Rs 18,798-crore Scorpene submarine project and that the "recipients" in the war-room leak episode were also linked to French firms involved in the submarine project.

With UPA coming under fire from NDA, defence minister Pranab Mukherjee denied any wrongdoing in the Scorpene deal, saying it was completely above board. He has stressed that the "leaked information" from the war-room did not pertain to the submarine project.

* * * * *

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1480861.cms CBI raids premises of Naval chief's kinAdd to Clippings

Sources said that the CBI had filed the FIR over 15 days ago but had been waiting for Parashar to return before starting arrests and conducting raids. Raids were conducted in 17 locations in New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Muzzafarpur, Chandigarh and Goa.

Another key accused in the case Lt Commander (Retd) Ravishankaran, the nephew of Navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash, is still in London and the CBI is waiting for his return from London before proceeding against him, He is also named in the CBI FIR.

The factory premises of Shanks Oceaneering belonging to Ravishankaran in Mumbai and Goa were also raided. The CBI also raided the house of Manish Vohra, the chartered accountant for Parashar and Ravi Shankaran....

The entire leak was discovered due to an illicit relationship between Jaiswal and Indian Air Force ex-wing commander Sambhajee L Surve, who is also named in the FIR. Surve's wife had complained to the Air Force.

During that investigation, the Air Force counter surveillance team stumbled on to a pen drive in Surve's possession that led them to the entire war room deal. The Navy and the Air Force both conducted inquiries and three naval officers were thrown out of the Navy. The CBI was given the findings of both the inquiries....

The war room leak case has led to speculation that the Scorpene deal is also linked somehow to the case. CBI spokesperson Mohanty said that all aspects of the case are being investigated....

Scribe-bashing, when will it end? (Vidya Heble, 1991)

2006-04-09T02:20:00.000+05:30

Scribe-bashing, when will it end?

[This article was published in the June-November 1991 issue of NewsSpeak, the quarterly publication of the Goa Union of Journalists.]

[BY VIDYA HEBLE] An assault on a journalist is, at the most, a nine-day wonder. If at all. Even the hue and cry raised over the brutal beating-up of O Herald's Anthony Fernandes on March 22, 1991 -- which actually brought to the fore the whole issue of assaults on (and freedom of) the Press -- has died down to a mere memory.

This statement is justified because the long history of attacks on journalists shows up precisely this. As a GUJ pamphlet puts it, the list of those who have been attacked or threatened down the years -- even if one takes only recent years -- makes "frighteningly long reading".

Going by available records alone, it started as far back as around 1979. Then Gomantak correspondent Kalidas Kanekar was assaulted by the Police during the Collem teachers' agitation.

It has now come to the most recent assault on Anthony Fernandes by goondas. In between, there have been many cases, involving unknown elements, mobs and even the Police as those responsible. Which, in parenthesis, leads one to wonder whether the only difference between goondas and policemen is that the latter are in uniform.

Among the other victims of assaults who suffered as a direct result of discharging their journalistic duties have been Gomantak correspondents Vishal Kalangutkar and Ramnath Dessai, O Herald photographer Menino Afonso (in two different cases), Rashtramat executive editor Sitaram Tengse, Gomantak Times correspondents Freddy Dias and Edmund Antao, Maharashtra Times correspondent Suresh Kankonkar, Tarun Bharat correspondent Sunil Fatarpekar, O Heraldo photographer Joe D'Souza, O Heraldo editor Rajan Narayan and the Navhind Times photographer Joy Vaz.

Besides, PTI, Gomantak and Gomantak Times have also received threatening anonymous telephone calls in the course of their publishing reports on various issues.

In all these cases, there has either been absolutely no action or the action taken has been so half-hearted and diluted that it has been of no practical use.

For instance, in the Joy Vaz case, the Collector of North Goa held an inquiry into the assault of the young photographer by a senior Police officer and other police personnel, in the presence of eye-witnesses. The Collector's report however concluded that there was insufficient evidence to press the charges, and the case was dropped.

After Menino Afonso was attacked, once again by policemen, GUJ tied up with the Department of Information and Publicity to issue armbands, for identification, to field journalists. This however, as inevitably it would when a careless bureaucracy is involved, backfired when armbands were sported by all and sundry, even departmental peons.

In the other cases, there has been no action taken to apprehend the culprits, and the only tangible official action noticed has been the provision of Police protection to Rajan Narayan and the offices of O Heraldo and Gomantak/Gomantak Times.

Why is this so?

GUJ (the Goa Union of Journalists) on its part has tried varied measures to tackle these cases, whenever it has received complaints to the effect.

In fact, the Joy Vaz case saw an impressive morcha and a dharna before the Police headquarters, with the Inspector-General of Police even agreeing to suspend the Police officer concerned, pending the enquiry.

And the GUJ action in the Anthony Fernandes case has been perhaps unprecedented, with public meetings held in Panaji, Margao and Vasco, morchas in Panaji and Margao, and a week-long chain hunger strike at the Panaji ferry point, besides memoranda and meetings with the Goa Governor, the Chief Minister and others.

The net result? Zero, it would seem.

Action had to be forthcoming from the Government. But what the Government actually did was to promulgate the National Security Act (NSA). This was never a demand of the Goa Union of Journalists, for the NSA is, as we are only painfully aware, much more often than not, misused; and the GUJ itself was criticised for this act of the Government.

But the men who brutally assaulted Anthony Fernandes are still free. And there is no guarantee that another Anthony Fernandes somewhere else will not be beaten near-unconscious at any time for penning the truth.

The reason for the Government's action -- nay, its hesitation -- to make even a definite statement on the whole case is clear. The people about whom Anthony Fernandes wrote, the people who then hit him with swords and iron rods, themselves enjoy political patronage. Immense money power is also wielded by this section, which makes politicians reluctant to antagonise them.

What then must GUJ do to secure justice to its members?

Drastic action seems to be the answer. What form should this take and how drastic should it be? The main weapon journalists have is their pen -- the power of their words. In order to use this weapon, GUJ needs the backing of newspaper editors and managements.

This is essential.

O Heraldo, Gomantak and Gomantak Times have been cooperative in sticking-up for journalists assaulted. But photographer Joy Vaz found himself in dire straits when his editor claimed that he had never been sent on the assignment at which he was assaulted.

Cooperation in this kind of a case is difficult to expect. And cooperation is essential to prevent field staff from being assaulted while covering agitations, morchas and the like, the newspaper could at least provide armbands stating clearly the newspaper's name, and this could be given to the staffer assigned to cover the event.

And when a case like this comes up, the newspaper has to support its employees, because it is while working for the newspaper that the employee suffers, and so it is as much an attack on the publication as on the individual.

It is desirable that the Goa Union of Journalists and the Goa Editors' Guild discuss this issue and work out a strategy, or at least, a loose plan, for concerted action in cases of such a nature.

For such cases will perhaps continue. As the people are more and more dissatisfied with the way things stand, as anti-social elements become bolder, as the Press beleaguered by competition grows increasingly vocal, lathis and iron rods will be wielded only more often and more forcefully.

We must be prepared. -------------------------------------------- Vidya Heble worked for the Gomantak Times in its early days, and after both reporting and editing for a number of different publications, is now based in Singapore.

Broken peace... fact-finding and the media

2006-04-09T01:33:00.000+05:30

Supreme Court lawyer and human rights campaigner Nandita Haksar's (et al) just-released report 'Broken Peace: Fact finding report on the first communal violence in Goa' is now available online, for those interested:

PDF version (with annexures): http://mum1ww1-a.sancharnet.in:83/vgad/brpeace.pdf

Plain-text version (without annexures) http://mum1ww1-a.sancharnet.in:83/vgad/brokenpeacerep

Incidentally, the report makes some references to the media. It seems to have however overlooked the role of a section of the media in fuelling rumours that could have aggravated the violence.

Some of its references:

Page 2 of the Introduction: Thanks Preetu Nair for introducing the team to people who proved valuable in its investigations. Thanks Sujay Gupta of the Gomantak Times for inviting Nandita Haksar to participate in the discussion on communal violence.

Page 3: Subhash Velingker ... has a regular column in the only Konkani daily, Sonarprant (sic). Unfortunately, the editor of Sonaprant claims he is both secular and leftist. But many Goans, including Ramesh G Naik and Dr Pratap Naik SJ have expressed their concern about the growing communalization of their society because of the language issue (and) have expressed their anger at the Editor for publishing the vicious anti-Catholic and anti-Muslim articles by Subhash Verlingker. Father Pratap Naik, a linguist and in-charge of the Thomas Stephens Konknni Kendr wrote to Ms Sonia Gandhi informing her that the Sonaprant which is owned by Dattaraj Salgaoncar, mine owner and staunch Congress supporter, was sowing seeds of communalism and linked it to the violence in Sanvordem-Curchorem....

Page 20: The next day the newspapers reported that an illegal mosque had been demolished by some miscreants. Niraj Naik's SMS-based news service reported on March 2, 2006 at 10.29.07 IST: "Miscreants demolish disputed masjid at Goddemol, Sanvordem last night. Five arrested. The masjid was declared illegal. But court had stayed its demolition."

The language of this short cryptic message needs to be analyzed. The word "disputed" seems to suggest that it was a dispute between Hindus and Muslims which there is none. No one has disputed that the structure belonged to the Muslim community. Everyone agrees that the land on which it was built was government land. And that the structure had been there for more than three decades. It is true that the structure was illegal in so far as the land still belonged to the government on record. However, in addition to the mosque which was demolished there are on the same land a temple, hotel, a house constructed by the Sarpanch Baptist Fernandes within 150 metres of the madarsa-mosque that was demolished....

Page 48: The arrest of the Kashmiri "terrorist": When we asked how come the police told the media within minutes of arresting a man that he was a "terrorist" and subjected him to a trial by media, the SP (South) said that the media "happened to be present at the railway station" when the arrest took place.

The man arrested was not given an opportunity to call a lawyer and the media presumed him guilty even without any evidence. The media reporting and the attitude of the police had the direct result of putting fear into the Hindu minds in Curchorem. They became victims of politics of fear. The Hindu professional who had initiated this peace initiative told us he lost five friends who called him pro-Muslim and have stopped talking to him.

The challenge before the Goan civil society is to first acknowledge the ugly reality that the Sangh Parivar along with the Congress party are using the war against terror for their own electoral politics and communalizing the society and state machinery. This has resulted in the large part of the media to become party to this insidious politics, leaving very little democratic space for open discussions and debate. The only way to save Goa is to fight the politics of fear and speak out against all those who are responsible for trying to turn Goa into another Gujarat....

GUJ site gets going

2006-04-05T05:53:00.000+05:30

Here's the new site created for the Goa Union of Journalists in early-April 2006. You'll find some photos to the years gone by, and a link to an e-book called 'The Net for Journalists: A practical guide to the internet. There's also another useful link to an e-book on covering labour issues and reports by past general secretaries to the GUJ taking stock of the years gone by. Do check it out...

Media hype hits poultry biz hard, says Pawar

2006-02-23T00:01:00.000+05:30

Would the Gomantak Times agree? Remember how many headlines the SARS created some time back? Maybe some journalists benefitted from this; but SARS seems to have had less of an impact than, say, malaria. :-) FN

http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=118356

Economy

Media hype hits poultry biz hard, says Pawar

New Delhi, Feb 21 The media has exaggerated the extent of the outbreak, contributing to a steep decline in poultry sales, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar told reporters in New Delhi on Tuesday. "I am afraid that the rural economy may be hit because of this coverage," Mr Pawar said.

Chicken prices fell 42% on February 19 at the Ghazipur market in New Delhi, the day after an outbreak was discovered in poultry in Maharashtra, said Shashi Kapur, president, Poultry Federation of India.

According to the World Health Organisation, the virus in birds creates more opportunity for human infection and increases the risk of it changing into a pandemic form.

At least 92 of the 170 people known to have been infected with the H5N1 avian influenza virus have died, mainly in Asia. China, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan had announced bans yesterday on poultry and poultry product imports from India.

—Bloomberg

Sunday papers... some Goa links

2006-02-20T10:41:00.000+05:30

While visiting Uganda, where daily newspapers are priced the equivalent of 50 US cents (about 1000 Ugandan shillings), it suddenly struck me how inexpensive and affordable Indian newspapers are. A paper here costs Rs 2-3 on a weekday (under 10 cents US) and about Rs 5 on a weekend.

But papers that are advertisement-driven can be a bit (or more) reader-unfriendly at time. One compromise is the Sunday newspapers, and most outstation weekend-editions tend to have a fair amount of interesting reading material.

My joke on myself was that the Sunday Deccan Herald used to be a very readable product... till I joined (from 1987-1994) and started writing for it ;-) Anyway, whenever the chance comes along, one does like to pick up the Sunday papers. Problem is: these editions come only to the towns (Panjim mainly, Mapusa doesn't get all) and Sunday is a day when one is seldom in town!

Yesterday's papers did have some Goa links in them...

Deccan Herald's art and culture page had this tory on the Opera House in Mumbai. It read:

The fat lady sings only in Mumbai! Its rich history and intricate architecture make the Royal Opera House in Mumbai a major tourist attraction. K D L Khan on the only opera house in India. The Opera House in Mumbai waits to regain its past glory...

One wondered: with all the talent, couldn't Goa have something even remotely like this? Never mind that the sun has set on the British Empire!

And whiele reading, a Goan link presented itself. Apparently, the (then) Bombay Opera House was constructed in the Baroque style, and was the brainchild of Maurice E Bandmann, a renowned entertainer from Calcutta and Jehangir Framji Karaka, who headed a coal brokers' firm. The article further says:

An advantageous corner site was leased at the northern end of Queen's Road in the vicinity of the Sandhurst and Kennedy bridges, and in 1908, Karaka and Bandmann drew up designs for the theatre. Bandmann's manager was responsible charge of the construction...

Almost expected it! A Goan link there. As one reads a little of history, the Parsi-Goan links and the role they played in British colonial history of India keeps coming up. Even if the Goan often seems to be a junior partner in such endeavours. Interesting that Collaco is referred to only by his surname here. Does anyone have more details?

Another article in the DH is Marianne de Nazareth's review of Manohar Malgaonkar's *Inside Goa* (published by Architecture Autonomous, pp 495, Rs 695). Year of publication is not mentioned.

She writes: "Written in a fluid and easy reading style, Malgaonkar takes every Goan back to the days when their Portuguese 'masters' converted them to Christianity forcibly -- "Let him who wants to live in the islands become Christian". The others ran away to Mangalore and remained Hindu..."

That, to me, seems a bit too simplistic. In post-colonial times, it's fashionable to claim that the Portuguese converted "forcibly". It would seem more believable that many simply saw opportunity in this switch-over. Likewise, one thought that migration further south down the coast (to Karnataka and Kerala) started in pre-Portuguese times. It might be fashionable now-a-days to blame this on colonialism alone.

Another article in the SUNDAY Times of India (the paper I love to hate... it has changed the idea of what newspapers are so drastically, but you still can't afford to miss its adverts!) has this rather convoluted article on Wendell Rodricks, about a February 10 event in Colombo but written from Mumbai.

It begins thus: "The fashion world is in a state of shock. The attack on designer Wendell Rodricks at a fashion show in Colombo on February 10 has left a bad taste in the mouths of the glad-rag brigade."

After reading two-thirds of the piece, one lears that it probably was some rivalry between designers... or something to that effect. Apparently some designers had been invited to showcase their work at a charity event coordinated by a (?) Sumita Radhakrishna from Colombo on behalf of the Rotary Club of Colombo East.

Maybe one is just missing something here!

In the Deccan Herald, there's also another profile of Satish Gujral, the brother of former Indian PM Inder Kumar Gujral. We're told his "thirst for life and creativity led him to dabble in many artistic mediums".

Wonder how many would agree that his design of the Goa University was something worth writing home about?

There's a bomb in your shopping bag!

2006-02-11T03:00:00.000+05:30

S Gasper D'Souza of the Navhind Times has put up a photo exhibition at the currently underway 'Gagged by the Bag' event, on at the Municipal Garden in Panjim.

Gasper writes: "The garbage problem does not begin in the dumps. It begins in your shopping bag! Each time you go shopping, you are adding to the city's garbage. With cities bursting at the seams with increasing population [actually, with overconsumption really --FN], the waste being generated each day is simply too much for the limited space available. A day will dawn (and it has, for some cities) when we will not have any place to dump our garbage.

View the photo-documentary and article at http://www.gasperdesouza.com Contacts: 946 Gasper Village, E3/24 Tivai Vaddo, Calangute gasperd at gmail dot com Phone 227 5235 or 9422 638381

Finally, a book?

2006-02-05T00:41:00.000+05:30

Does this mean that our October 2003 ebook on journalism in Goa will finally see the light of day? In terms of being printed, I mean? A friend from the Free Software network CV Radhakrishnan <cvr at river-valley.com> has helped me immensely in typesetting the book, using world-class LaTeX software and skills. After all, a book on freedom in the media needs to be worked on in Free Software, right?

PS: The book was out in e-format soon after being compiled. It's also available here http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11523/11523.txt

Goa: Cross vandalised at Aldona

2006-02-02T20:31:00.000+05:30

I really think that by highlighting such reports so prominently, the Herald (in particular... but other papers also have their own thing going when it comes to dealing with communalism in Goa) is playing into the hands of those fanatics who want to divide Goan society on communal lines.

It may be good for circulation, but certainly not good for Goa. Maybe it might be better to have a fact-finding committee, to find out the issues involved, what might have been the provocation, areas of possible tension, and where there is scope for bridge-building (among communities) in Aldona.

Action at the municipal garden...

2006-01-26T22:46:00.000+05:30

As I write, the GUJ show (spearheaded by Ashley do Rosario and Umesh Mahambre) are going great guns, at the Municipal Garden.

All doubt over the event was over, when we saw a good crowd turn up on the evening of Thursday, Republic Day here.

The idea of having a children's drawing competition starting 5 pm was a good idea... it pulled in the parents early. So was the fancy dress (for kids), and the music provided by the journos showed another side of the profession.

It was nice to see the younger team taking charge of all the arrangements. The programme is still continuing; unfortunately, one had to miss Hema Sardessai in performance... and Bondo too!

Among those sighted at the event were the deputy CM Dr Wilfred de Souza, Herald editor Robin Abreu, CCP chief officer Sanjit Rodrigues (seen squatting on the band-stand) and a whole lot of journos and press employees. FN

Churchill Alemao named in TV-sting operation... Mayabhushan's innovative work unnoticed in Goa?

2005-12-21T23:06:00.000+05:30

Congrats Mayabhushan Nagvenkar, one of our young and intrepid colleagues from Goa... who incidentally has had to face harassment from editors in this state too for some of his earlier endeavours in Goa!

Unfortunately, in Goa, many viewers have probably this story on STAR TV, since the channel is currently not being shown in parts of the state due to some dispute over broadcast rights and payments. --FN - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Another sting exposes scam in use of MPs' funds

By Indo Asian News Service http://in.news.yahoo.com/051219/43/61m32.html

New Delhi, Dec 19 (IANS) A week after a sting operation exposed 11 MPs who took cash to raise questions in parliament, a TV channel Monday aired footage showing parliamentarians discussing kickbacks to release officials funds for developing their constituencies.

The Star News channel claimed its reporters were able to obtain assurances from several MPs - including Chandra Pratap Singh of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Churchill Alemao of the Congress and Parasnath Yadav of Samajwadi Party - that they would provide money from the MPs Local Area Development scheme to fake NGOs for a 'commission'.

Responding to the expose, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, a stickler for rules, said he was 'ashamed' at this latest revelation of corruption among MPs. Last week, Chatterjee had said he was saddened by the cash-for-questions scam, a sentiment also expressed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Members of both houses of India's parliament can provide up to Rs.20 million a year under the scheme to fund projects in their constituencies like building of roads and schools and setting up of computer centres.

Alemao, who represents Mormugao constituency in Lok Sabha and is a former chief minister of Goa, was shown in secretly filmed footage saying he would release Rs.1.5 million - if he was paid a commission of Rs.300,000 - for setting up a Konkani library in his home state by a non-existent NGO called Ashraya Abhiyan.

But Alemao later became suspicious of the reporters involved in the sting operation and refused to go ahead with the plan.

Chandra Pratap Singh, one of the 11 MPs exposed last week in the 'cash-for-questions' scam, was shown allegedly accepting Rs.25,000 from Star News reporters for similarly releasing funds to a fake NGO.

He was told by the reporters that the payment was part of the '20 percent commission' demanded by him for releasing Rs.500,000 from the development funds.

The reporters were also shown having discussions on similar lines with Ramswaroop Koli of the BJP (who represents Bayana in Rajasthan in the Lok Sabha), Isam Singh of the Bahujan Samaj Party and Sakshi Maharaj of the Samajwadi Party (both Rajya Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh), and Faggan Singh Kulaste of the BJP (Mandla-Madhya Pradesh in the Lok Sabha).

Parasnath Yadav of Samajwadi Party was shown getting angry after the reporters apparently failed to make a payment of Rs.50,000 he had demanded.

Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh said in an immediate reaction to the sting operation that Yadav had been asked to resign from the party. Amar Singh urged other parties whose MPs were named in Monday's expose to act against them.

There were also MPs like Tufani Saroj of Samajwadi Party (who represents Saidpur seat of Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha) who steadfastly refused to accept the kickbacks offered by the reporters, and asked them to visit his constituency to discuss what development projects they could carry out.

Star News said it had conducted the sting operation over the past six months.

The Rajya Sabha has suspended the lone member of the upper house involved in the cash-for-questions scam uncovered by Internet portal cobrapost.com and Aaj Tak news channel, while a Lok Sabha panel will decide on the action to be taken against 10 members of the lower house involved in the scandal.

More MPs caught taking bribes on camera

Onkar Singh in New Delhi | December 19, 2005 20:20 IST http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/dec/19bribe.htm

Hardly had the furore over Operation Duryodhan by Cobrapost.com, in which 11 MPs were caught on tape taking bribes for asking questions in the Parliament, died down another sting operation by Star News channel is likely to create another storm in Parliament on Tuesday.

Operation Chakravyuh organised by two journalists Jamshed Khan and Mayabhushan Nagvenkar, both former tehelka.com journalists, has caught several big politicans off guard while demanding commission for getting work done or showing undue favour to an NGO, which had floated fake projects for developmental works in their respective constitutencies.

Amongst those who had been shown were Shakshi Maharaj and Paras Nath Yadav, Samajwadi Party MP from Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh.

While Shakshi Maharaj wanted a commission of up to 45 per cent, Yadav even wrote a letter to a district magistrate which he withdrew later since he was not given the promised money. "You do not have the guts to leave Rs 50,000. Bring the rest of the money to get the letter," he is quoted a saying on the tape.

The expose promises to expose a former minister in the National Democratic Alliance and a Congress member as well.

"The team has been working on the sting for the last six months. One former NDA minister, one former chief minister of Goa, and five Members of Parliament have been caught on camera," Milind Khandekar of Star News told rediff.com.

In the campaign, a few scraggly lines can pack a powerful punch

2005-11-27T07:45:00.000+05:30

By Frederick Noronha fred at bytesforall.org For Leif Packalen (59) it all started when his Finnish friend in Tanzania wrote in to ask if Leif had anyway of transferring useful dairy-cattle ideas from Ethiopia to the poor who so badly needed it. Leif's romance with the scraggly line has gone strong for over a decade-and-half. Now, he's spreading the message across parts of Africa and South Asia. For Leif, and his New Delhi-based pen-and-ink friend colleague Sharad Sharma, comics are not just something trivial that entertain kids. These drawings say much more than the proverbial thousand words of the picture -- more so when large sections of people still can't read or are sticken by poverty, illiteracy and a crying need for information that reflects their reality. Leif Packalen started World Comics and Sharad Sharma picked up and extended the idea via worldcomicsindia.com. While Leif -- a former commercial attache in Africa for the Embassy of Finland -- has held training camps in half-a-dozen African countries, Sharad has been spreading the idea across half-a-dozen Indian states in this sub-continent sized country, and other parts of South Asia. In end-November 2005, both teamed up in Goa's sleepy Madkai village, to host a training-for-trainers camp, which they hope will spread the idea, to more of those who can use it. Put briefly, their idea is remarkably simple -- yet effective. You don't need to be an artist to express yourself in drawing. "If you have a good story, you can manage with less skillful drawings. But if you have a lousy story, there's no drawing that can rescue it," Leif told a dozen-and-half trainers-in-the-making at Goa. On simple A4-sized paper worked, non-profit groups and tribal young men and women find an alternative to searching for that elusive access to the media. Leif's message is: wall-poster comics can be put up anywhere. Wall-poster comics create local debate. Wall-poster comics are simple to make, and inexpensive. "The idea is to enable people who have something to say, to convert their ideas into comic-format. This can then be transferred into a wall-poster or a brochure," he explains. Sharad says that "anyone from eight to eighty" can work on this idea. And, he has the creative work of Lakhindra Nayak of Jharkhand, Deepak from Uttaranchal, Champalal of MP, Sujata in Orissa, Noel from Tamil Nadu, Zuala of Mizoram and Rina of Nagaland to make his point. In largely-literate Finland itself, this media is being harnessed largely for marginalised groups. Immigrants, refugees, minorities. "But I must say, our international work takes most of our time," adds Leif, who incidentally studied business administration and international marketing. He also worked in a development cooperation project in Tanzania, after being an embassy official in Nigeria and Sudan. So, he's not an artist? "I've trained myself," he corrects you speedily. "On realising the power of comics, I went to a comic-making course. Then, to drawing classes. In fact, I started drawing only at the age of 42, and had not drawn anything before that. Adult (continuing) education is very good in Finland." Drawing, he believes, is a skill you acquire only by drawing. "It's not a gift from god. I took a degree in commercial art in 1998, at the age of 52." Sharad Sharma, an artist who has worked with Indian mainstream television, has been extending Leif's idea, and his slogan of 'comics power'. But he's been not just stopping where Leif left off, and invites keep coming across South Asia for him to conduct trainings. "This is my 25th workshop in one year. We have been busy (and can only manage (to spread the idea) by) training more trainers," says Sharad. Leif adds: "I've been quite many times to India. But WorldComicsIndia has become very strong. So, now, I mostly come here to learn. My vision is to see this method of grass root communication being exported from India to other places." "We develop pictorals on parenting issues," says Rina Nath of Kolkata. From the poor urban quarters of Manchester (UK) come two community workers Kezia Lavan and Kath Taylor who say: "We hope to use this idea in building more community participation (among those marginalised in an affluent society). We had a wonderful workshop with World Comics in May this year." Meanwhile, in Mizoram, the idea is being moulded to preserve almost-forgotten folk tales, and pass these onto local children, in the more-than-catchy comics form. In Tamil Nadu, some of the victims of the December 2004 tsunami were also encouraged to use the comic form to get an alternative media voice for themselves. "Most of the time when the word 'comics' is uttered, people think it's for kids. But anyone from eight to 80 can participate (in the training). It's not even necessary to be an artist," reassures Sharad. Involving women is important, he stresses. Men take to comics more easily, but women hold the key in development. Sharad encourages trainers to get neophytes to write a story, break it into manageable parts, translate words into visuals, place the text on a rough draft, boldly knock out all but the bare-minumum of wordage, and so on.... For their work, they already have something to show. It's an 28-page booklet subtitled 'Wall-poster Comics: A Great Campaign Tool'. It carries cartoons in the Mizo language, tips of how to get your message out, and suggestions on how to 'text' your drawings. Then, there also are stories of afforestation in Jharkhand, the neighbour's pig from the North East, drug-addiction issues, the story of an eye-doctor from Madhya Pradesh, and a Jharkhandi story of elections... from a people's perspective. You wouldn't think a line-form more associated with entertaining affluent and middle-class kids could actually talk all these issue. Villagers can surely pick up the rudimentary elements of drawing. They do need some tips on how to reflect the moods in an egg-shaped face. Or how to depict people and motion. Drawing movement, sound and other effects is also briefly explained. The end-message is simple: this simple idea works. If only more could get down to try it out. 'Adivasis neh jeeti ladayee' (Tribals won the battle) is the title of one theme about the story of the Tawa Dam project in Madhya Pradesh. "When you're using comics in this way, there should be an insider element in it," says Leif. And the voice does come across. ###

Getting history wrong... JD Fernandes is actually the name of the bookshop

2005-10-12T12:50:00.000+05:30

October 3 is a day when I spend usually on going back down memory lane, and reminiscing. So is October 10. The first day was when I entered for a full-time job into a newspaper office, in 1983. The second date was when the paper which we joined as college kids actually hit the stands. We thought Herald would be a big splash when it came out (with a dateline error) with its English-avatared first issue. Nobody, or almost nobody, noticed it. The Navhind refused to carry an advertisement about the birth of a 'rival' newspaper. To add to the tragi-comic situation, the Herald poster which was put up in a very few parts of Panjim read, "Announcing the birth of a new English (language) daily...." or something to that effect. Below it there was the photo of two singers with a guitar! On Monday, the Herald's few ad-packed extra pages reminded it was the 22nd anniversary of Herald's and our entry into journalism. Some comments on the occasion, mostly in response to what the Herald is saying (or not saying): * Editor Robin Abreu's brief front-page piece is titled 'Dev Borem Korum'. In addition to Rajan Narayan's almost patented phrase, he also signs off with an additional 'Devan Tumcher Bessaum Galum'. I think Rajan has added to the Konkani language and localspeak with repeated use of terms like DBK and Pratapsing *Raoji* Rane... * Robin is as much a man of few words, as Rajan is loquacious. While we did learn some positive things from Rajan and he was at first a great boss (specially in the early days), one of his traits as editor was to virtually fill the entire paper with his own writing. This has been commented on elsewhere; I think by RK Nair. Sometimes, this left less space (in both senses of the word) for his team. Perhaps an editor should spend his or her energies in getting out the best from others, rather than dominating the publication himself or herself.... Robin terms Herald Goa's "largest read paper" and says it is "getting stronger and stronger". His contention that "the changes over the past one year" have been undertaken "to meet the varying demands of our readers" can however be debated. Firstly, most changes are advertiser-driven and seem shaped with the trends being brought in by papers like the Times of India. The ascent of the marketing sections over editorial is clearly visible in many papers, including the Herald. This has little or nothing to do with providing a better product to the reader. (In fact, readability of such papers has gone down.) Instead, it has everything to do with jazzifying and sexing-up the product, under the (mistaken) belief that everyone wants a glamorous, colour and snazzy paper in between their hands, one that appeals to their emotions rather than to their brain, and one which is advertiser-friendly and conflict-free (it doesn't care about local concerns and ignores them often). THE NEXT THING that drew my attention was Uday Bhembre's article on Page 5, titled 'Remembering with gratitude'. It acknowledges "the contribution of Herald to the success of the language agitation in 1986". As someone working there in the heat of the "agitation", I felt then as I feel now that it was a lot of hot air, misplaced chauvinism and all that has resulted in frustration and unfulfilled promises. Few might the details of how the "agitation" was used for selfish purposes by its leading lights. I know at least one senior who was arguing for a raise in salary on the basis that the newspaper had "brought 75,000 people to the Azad Maidan" (or words to that effect). I couldn't agree more with Bhembre's view that "Herald... should not try to be a 'national' paper, in the sense that it should not ignor elocal news and run away from issues of local interest". He has an apt example when he says, "As a reader, I do not expect any local newspaper to ignore the controversial VCD product by the Government, and devote its columns to discuss films like Lagaan or Swades..." Well put. Bhembre says, "Herald should improve its Sunday magazine". Does the Sunday magazine still exist? It seems to have been given a quiet burial some months ago, or at least reduced to a shadow of its former self. Bhembre also adds that the Sunday magazine should "discuss books published in Goa especially in Konkani". Why Konkani? Because a lobby has hijacked a language and turned it into a barely-read one, which has no takers in its own language? It is quite a comment on the failure of the language protagonists that they need reviews of Konkani books in an English-language newspaper. Also, Bhembre seems to be contradicting himself when he argues that "in the present times, Goa needs newspapers which fearlessly protect the interest of Goans" and at the same time says "Herald has the potential; but to fit into that category it will have to practice free, fair and fearless journalism in the interest of the country in general and Goa in particular". The first statement suggests that the "interest of Goans" are somehow distinct from those of others. Or that someone who is not a Goan is impinging on these. The actual fact is that many of our contradictions lie within *our* society itself. Bhembre goes on to talk about the "interest of the country". As if Goa is one undifferentiated mass, and so is India. Bhembre also adds: "There is a perception in a section of the Goan population that Herald looks towards a particular community as a constituency. This perception needs to be dispelled." This is a debatable proposition. In a Goa where every paper is seen as a mouthpiece (or largely read by) one community or caste group or lobby (even the BJP has its own organ now!), the Herald gets consistently blamed as being a newspaper read mainly by the Catholics. Which it is. But what's wrong with that? In my view, the Herald (or any other paper in a similar position) need not be apologetic about this. Worldwide, papers have a preferred readership, when tends to be a group whose views are reflected and re-echoed in the newspaper they read. Sometimes the group might be based on politics (liberal, conservative, radical), or religion (Urdu papers, Marathi papers in Goa, former Portuguese papers here, etc). This is not a crime! Anyone running a paper will try to echo the views and concerns of his basic readership constituency. Unfortunately, the Herald gets put on the defensive, even while nobody even seems to notice that papers like the GT also show signs of wanting to cut into the "Catholic readership" market. What *is* wrong, I think, is to polarise readers of one community against the other, and to lead readers into believing that the 'other' are evil enemies out to destroy you. Many papers in Goa -- sometimes Herald too in the past -- have adopted such an approach, which is not just very unfortunate but also dangerous to the future of Goa. Herald needs to be more honest about where it stands, and try to adequately serve the Catholic readership -- which otherwise gets very little media space in Goa. It also needs to give a honest, liberal and secular leadership to the community. It needs to question corrupt politicians, specially those of a Catholic background, who are otherwise adept at throwing dust over the eyes of the common(wo)man without ever being challenged on the basis of the support they draw from the cornered minority community, which is itself a significantly large minority. At the same time, papers like the Herald have a crucial role in building understanding between different sections of the Goan population, both communities and castes, locals and migrants, etc. Just highlighting a few reports about Hindu religious festivals isn't going to fool anyone or ever be sufficient. JOE D'SOUZA, one of the preferred columnist of the Herald currently, has another piece titled 'A tribute to the voice of Goa'. He calls the Herald (actually O Heraldo, the shrunken O's at either end were a typographical trick intended to continue getting newsprint quotas in the days of the license-permit raj) a "predominantly Portuguese daily" started in 1900. Predominantly? I thought it was wholly Portuguese ... Those weren't days days of multiculturalism anyway. Or am I wrong? But the bloomer in Joe's piece is that he mistakes A.C.Fernandes, the man who went in for the shifting of Herald from being a Portuguese-language daily to an English-language one, with AC's father, J.D.Fernandes. Actually, the latter is also the name of the far-older stationery shop (named after A C Fernandes' father, and Raul-John-Oswald Fernandeses' granddad, so others tend to get confused too). For Dr Joe to get it wrong, not once but twice, is understandable. For a newspaper to forget its own history is -- and that too, going just 22 years back -- is surprising. This is the problem with a lack of 'insider' understanding of issues, an issue we have been debating on the Goajourno mailing list recently. See http://puggy.symonds.net/pipermail/goajourno/2005-October/002367.html What is also more noteworthy is the piece also erases the role played by Rajan Narayan in the Herald. There's no mention of this name. It's like the case of Leon Trotsky, who was wiped out of photographs when he fell out of favour with revolutionaries in Russia. On a related point, in the early days of the Herald (maybe the first year or two), Rajan Narayan actually named the entire team that brought out the paper in his anniversary edit. Right down to proof-readers and peons! But over the years, this was forgotten as the then-editor took on a larger-than-life image himself, and the Herald-is-Rajan, Rajan-is-Herald era began. Dr Joe claims that "Herald alone was the voice, which proclaimed (sic) about the extensive damage done by unscientific mining and haphazard urbanisation taking place in Goa". Actually, a closer look at the issues of the time shows that the paper was largely silent at the peak of what it later described as the rule by the Gang of Four (four of the controversial Congress politicians) and actually lionised politicians like Ravi Naik when they were in power, and unleashed the land conversions of the early 'nineties. (Ravi was heroised as the man who had the guts to jail Churchill Alemao; later on, Alemao himself came in for praise, after becoming, at one stage, the Godfather General of Goons! Joe would also like to believe that it was his and Norman Dantas' work in the Herald (I have great respect for Norman's work generally) that resulted in a House Committee to look into the Nylon 6,6 DuPont issue. Actually, a high level of industrial rivalry (don't forget the Nylon 6 link to the Ambanis and others) was more responsible in one of the few successful environmental protests in Goa. Believing otherwise would be an exercise in self-delusion. Joe also credits the Herald with standing up to the BJP when it was in power and Goa was facing the "manipulation of the press". I think the GT played a much more significant role. That too, even when the Parrikar regime seemed almost-invincible, not only in early-2005, by which time its fall was imminent. It is also questionable to portray the BJP as the only "arm-twisting" force affecting the Goan press. What about other politicians, including the Congress during its long years in power, and other smaller players too? Just a few thoughts. Your comments are welcome. FN

Meeting John Thomas

2005-03-21T01:59:00.000+05:30

Met up with John Thomas over the past weekend. My senior whom I reported to in Deccan Herald where he was Chief of News Bureau is currently the Editor (Operations) of the also-Bangalore-based Vijay Times. It was nice to get talking about people we knew, earlier bosses and colleagues, and the newspaper scene in Bangalore. John's wife Susheela was also there, and we spent some hours walking around Panjim/Panaji/Ponnje/Pangim together.

BJP... and the Press

2005-03-06T03:06:00.000+05:30

After a long romance with the Press in Goa, the story soured for that party. And how! The Navhind Times reports that "supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party today went berserk after pro-tem Speaker Mr Francisco Sardinha announced (the) victory of the Rane government in (a) trust vote. They unleashed (their) fury by attacking vehicles, manhandling people in the city." It adds that "even press photographer Mr Barnabe Sapeco became victim of their ire, who was attacked by a group of BJP workers. They also snatched away his camera. Others narrated how a TV team had been heckled at the Cabo. Check three reports from the English-language papers here.

New Marathi newspaper?

2005-02-24T02:55:00.000+05:30

There's a new Marathi daily being planned in Goa, and this was an advert for staff that got reflected in cyberspace... actually onGoajourno. This evening, journo friends were talking about who, and how many, have quit which Marathi newspaper, in obvious planned moves for a shift.

Angry debate, emerging issues

2005-02-22T02:46:00.000+05:30

Goajourno is a mailing lists where (some) journos speak their mind. See this thread (and related posts) titled "Correspondents" where some strong words and angry accusations have been traded. It seems to have degenerated into a personal slanging match ;-) My arguments are: let's go beyond personalities to see some of the issues emerging:

* Should journalists accepts presents, hospitality, tours, etc? If so, under what conditions, and to what limit? If not, why? * Can hospitality influence journalism? If so, how do we respond to (i) tours (ii) food (iii) gifts? * Should journalists be allowed to hold another full-time job? If not, why? On the other hand, could there be some advantages of such an arrangement? * Can there be a 'conflict of interest' even when a journalist doesn't hold another job and, if so, what steps need to be taken to prevent this? * Is the problem caused by the low payment structure for non-staff journalists? * Should teachers be disallowed from also functioning as journalism? If so, why? (Just the need to create more full-time job opportunities for journalists might not be a good-enough reason!) * Is freelancing viable? If so, under what conditions? If not, why not? * How does a journalist ensure that his functioning is *not* wholly dependent on the whims of management's policy? * Is journalistic rivalry touching unhealthy levels? * Do juniors have good role-models from among the seniors? Or are juniors themselves at fault, and unnecessarily scapegoating their seniors? * Do journalists take professional and mid-career- training issues seriously enough in Goa/rest of India? * What are the questions that are left out in the above list?

Ethics and other issues...

2005-02-22T02:35:00.000+05:30

All of us are violating one or the other here... Consider the unsparing standards set out in the Society of Professional Journalists' Ethics Code, which instructs journalists to:

* Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived. * Remain free of associations and activities that may compromise integrity or damage credibility. * Refuse gifts, favors, fees, free travel and special treatment, and shun secondary employment, political involvement, public office and service in community organizations if they compromise journalistic integrity. * Deny favored treatment to advertisers and special interests and resist their pressure to influence news coverage. * Be wary of sources offering information for favors or money ...

See: http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/050217lasica/