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Electronic Journals & Newspapers on South Asia

2007-06-18T14:51:00.000+05:00

For a broad listing of other electronic journals on Asia, please consult the Register of Asian & Pacific Studies Electronic Journals, edited by Tobias Ghosh-Beverborg, University of Cologne.
Aakrosh: Asian journal on international terrorism and conflicts. -- New Delhi: Forum for Strategic and Security Studies. (Print journal title: Aakrosh: Asian journal on terrorism and internal conflicts, ISSN: 0971-7862). 1998-.
Quarterly journal "devoted to the study of organized terrorism, and internal conflicts in South Asia, Afghanistan, Central Asian Republics and the Chinese provinces bordering the region." Edited by Major General Afsir Karim and other current and retired Indian government and military leaders. Full text archive, but no search engine.
Annual of Urdu Studies. -- Madison, WI : Center for South Asia. (ISSN: 0734-5348). 1981-.
A literary journal designed to "provide scholars working on Urdu humanities ... a forum in which to publish scholarly articles, translations, and views... [also] reviews of books, an annual inventory of significant Western publications in the field, reports, research-in-progress, notices, and information on forthcoming events of interest to its readers (conferences, workshops, competitions, awards, etc.). Each issue of the AUS will also include a section in the Urdu script featuring old and new writing." The website provides full-text of the current issue, and a full-text archive back to Vol. 8 (1993). Earlier issues (Vol. 1 [1981] through Vol. 4 [1984]) are published online as part of the Digital South Asia Library (DSAL).
Asianists' Asia [Online]. -- Paris: Centre de Recherche sur les Études Asiatiques. [ISSN 1298-0358]. 2000-.
"An academic journal devoted to researched articles in the humanities and social sciences, and learned essays & relevant fiction or faction, including translations, which might not easily fit into, or find a place in, the existing Asian studies publications." Edited by T. Wignesan.
AsiaWeek Online. -- Hong Kong: AsiaWeek Limited. [developed by Time Inc. Asia]. 1995-2001.
Complete tables of contents, and full text presentation of select articles, editorials and features from AsiaWeek Magazine. Considerable coverage of South Asia. Site contains an archive link for issues from June 1995 through 2001.
Bharat Rakshak Monitor. [NP] : Bharat Rakshak: the Consortium of Indian Military Websites. 1999-.
A monthly magazine on produced by "a private non-profit venture committed to promoting a greater understanding and appreciation of India's military and its strategic environment." Intended to provide a non-specialist audience with a "centrist perspective on issues of importance to India's security". Articles by current and former military writers, analysts, retired officers, etc. This is not an official publication of the Government of India, nor of its military.
Blue Chip : Business Peoples' Magazine. -- Islamabad, Pakistan: Blue Chip. 2004-.
Pakistan business monthly. Presents current issue, and link to past issues. (Free, but requires registration and setting up a password).
Bridges: Berkeley Research Journal on South & Southeast Asia. -- Berkeley: University of California Berkeley. 2002?-.
A "professional, faculty-refereed journal, edited by graduate students and based at the University of California, at Berkeley... The journal will feature articles and reviews by graduate students, faculty, and independent scholars focusing on various topics within the broad fields of South and Southeast Asian studies." Online issues will contain abstracts of all articles appearing in the printed volumes, and a selection of major articles in full-text.
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies - SOAS. -- London: SOAS. [Online presentation published by Cambridge University Press]. ISSN: 0041-977X. 2001-.
Site contains browsable and searchable tables of contents with complete citations of all articles plus abstracts. Only registered users can purchase online articles in full-text.
Business Recorder [Pakistan]. -- Karachi: Business Recorder. 1998-.
"Pakistan's national financial daily, published simultaneously from Karachi, Lahore and on the World Wide Web." Editor is M. A. Zuberi. Daily full-text, and complete full-text archives back to January 1, 1998. Site also contains useful reference resources as well as a structured subject index of all articles in the archives.
CASI Notes. -- Philadelphia: Center for the Advanced Study of India, University of Pennsylvania. 1995-.
News and research from CASI, a University of Pennsylvania center functioning as an interdisciplinary academic link between American & Indian academics, policymakers and professions, especially in the areas of energy & environment, governance, international security, communications & economic development. Site contains backfiles (PDF files) for many issues from 1997 onward.
CNN.com Asia. -- [n.l.] : CNN.
Daily Asian news coverage culled from CNN, AsiaWeek and Time. Special subsction devoted to South Asia.
Communalism Combat: Hate Hurts, Harmony Works. -- Mumbai, India: Sabrang Communications and Publishing Pvt. Ltd. Dec. 1998-.
A monthly magazine of Sabrang, a secularist human rights organization that was "started in 1993 to provide information on, analyse and expose the machinations of communal politics in India, on the subcontinent and abroad and to publicise the attempt of secular individuals, groups and organisations engaged in fighting them. We stand for equal respect to all religions but are opposed to the cynical manipulation of faith in the pursuit of power. Therefore we are opposed to both majority and minority communalism." Communalism Combat publishes "analyses and exposures of the manipulations of communal political parties, both of the majority and the minority, as also soul-searching personal accounts of individuals...engaged in battling the forces that divide." Site contains current issue, and an archive of selected articles from each issue back to December 1998.
Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East (CSSAAME). -- Durham, NC : Duke University Press. (ISSN: 1548-266X) 1991-.
"Critical and comparative analyses of the histories, cultural productions, social and gender relations, politics, and economies of Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East... CSSAAME, which merged with the former South Asia Bulletin in 1995... brings together the breadth of comparative studies, the depth of area studies, and the theoretical sophistication of postcolonial and cultural studies." Two issues per year. Online backfile archive includes tables of contemts. and full text of articles (in .pdf and .doc formats) from 1997 onward. Through library subscriptions, the journal is also available via Project Muse and via the Duke University Press open access archive.
Connect! : SAWF Fortnightly Ezine. -- [n.p.] : South Asian Women's Forum. Sept. , 1999-.
A publication design to foster "the intellectual, artisitic and business endeavors of our community members, specially women." Site contains articles, poetry, interviews, social commentary and opinions, columns, etc. Contains archives of back issues.
Critical Asian Studies (formerly Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars). -- [Cedar, MI] : Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars Inc. (ISSN:1467-2715).
Their stated mission is "to develop a humane and knowledgeable understanding of Asian societies and their efforts to maintain cultural integrity and to confront such problems as poverty, oppression, and imperialism...[and]...to create alternatives to the prevailing trends in scholarship on Asia, which too often spring from a parochial cultural perspective and serve selfish interests and expansionism." Site also contains complete tables of contents for the entire backfile (1968-2001) of BCAS, but not full text of the articles themselves.
Daily News and Sunday Observer [Colombo] (Internet Edition). -- Colombo, Sri Lanka: Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited [via Lake House and Lanka Internet Services Ltd).
"The English daily with the largest circulation in Sri Lanka." Site contains the complete current day's issue, and an archive of issues from 2001 onward.
Dalit Voice: the voice of the persecuted nationalities denied human rights. -- Bangalore: Dalit Voice. 2004-.
A fornightly journal by V. T. Rajshekar, characterized by strong anti-Brahminist, anti-caste and anti-racist stance, advocacy of liberaton from Brahminism, and polemical tone. Self-proclaimed as "the sole spokesman for the entire deprived, dehumanised lot of India...", -- Dalits, Backward Castes, Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, women -- "all victims of the Aryan Brahminical racism." The print journal has been published since 1993. The online archive goes back only to v. 23, no. 16 (August 16-31st, 2004).
Dawn (Daily Internet Edition). -- Karachi & Lahore, Pakistan: Pakistan Herald Publications, DAWN Group.
"Pakistan's most widely circulated English language Newspaper." A daily newspaper. The site is updated daily by noon GMT, except on Fridays and public holidays in Pakistan, and contains the current issue as well as a browsable archive of the preceding thirty issues. By manually adjusting the date indication in the URL (e.g. "http://www.dawn.com/2001/01/30/" for January 30, 2001), one can also view issues back to January 1, 2000. Deeper archives, going back to January 1, 1999, can be viewed by adjusting the date in the URL in a different format: "http://www.dawn.com/1999/19990728/" (for July 28, 1999). A full-text SEARCH ENGINE allows searching of the entire archive.
Dawn Wire Service (Weekly Internet Edition). -- Karachi, Pakistan: Pakistan Herald Publications, DAWN Group. March 1995-. [via university of Virginia].
The DAWN Wire Service (DWS) is a free weekly news-service from Pakistan's largest English language newspaper, the daily DAWN. DWS offers news, analysis and features of particular interest to the Pakistani Community on the Internet.
Doing Business in India. -- Phildelphia: CASI (Center for Advanced Study of India). 1997-1999.
"Seeks to broaden the knowledge of corporate executives and the policy-making community about the intersection of socio-political changes and economic policies that shape opportunities for investment, growth, and social welfare."
Economic and Political Weekly (EPW), India [online]. -- Mumbai: EPW. (ISSN 0012-9976). 1998-.
"A social science journal [est. 1966] featuring research articles in economics, sociology, political; science and other emerging disciplines; scholarly commentary on topical developments; in-depth reports on people's struggles; regular columns by eminent social scientists; book reviews; weekly statistical updates; analytical review of company performances; monthly review of the money market; plus a periodical series of special statistics on the economy and society." Site contains full text of all articles back to January 1999. The archives section also contains article abstracts of all issues back to January 1998. Although the service is free, EPW requires all users to register and get an individual password.
Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies. -- [Cambridge, MA]: EJVS. (ISSN:1084-7561). 1995-.
Scholarly articles on Vedic Studies, providing hypertext (WWW), downloadable ASCII, and Adobe PDF (Acrobat) and PostScript versions of each article. Site also contains links to an ftp archive of supporting materials (e.g. fonts, macros, and other utilities for Indian languages). Editor-in-Chief is Michael Witzel of Harvard University. Site provides access to *some* of the articles in full-text.
Faultlines [Online]. -- [New Delhi] : Institute for Conflict Management. (ISSN: 0972-1290). 1999-.
A quarterly journal on conflict management and national security of India, "bringing an inter-disciplinary focus to bear upon issues of internal security and conflict management, and on related areas of public policy." Provides primary source data as well as analytical and research papers on these topics. Edited and published by K.P. S. Gill. Website contains current issues and full backfile archive (for subscribers). (For a critique of this publisher and publication by Kuknalim.Net (Naga organization), see Conflict Managers or Conflict Mongers?.)
Femina [Online] : For the Woman of Substance. -- [Bombay] : Bennet, Coleman & Co., Ltd. (The Times Group). 1996-.
The popular Indian women's fortnightly. Online archive contains all back issues from Nov. 1996 onward.
Frontier Post (Online). -- Peshawar, Pakistan: Frontier Publications (pvt) Ltd. (Current three weeks only).
A daily English-language newspaper from Pakistan. Site contains the current day's issue, and an archive of the preceeding three weeks.
Frontline (Online). -- [Madras, India and New York] : Frontline, Tribeca Internet Initiatives, Inc., Indiaserver, and The Hindu Group of Publications. (ISSN: 0970-1710). 1997-.
"India's National Magazine". A major, well-respected bi-weekly news and feature magazine covering India and the world. Online site contains current issue as well as a searchable archive of prior issues (1997 to present) with full-text of all articles (with photos).
Himal Southasian (Online). -- Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Inc. (ISSN: 1012-9804). 1996-.
A monthly magazine (previously titled Himal South Asia) on political and cultural affairs and analytical articles and opinion pieces on South Asia "from a non-nationalist, regionwide perspective," with special focus on cross-border cultural and social movements, book reviews, and the arts. Edited by Kanak Mani Dixit. The website provides tables of contents (with brief abstracts) of all issues, as well as full-text of most articles from each issue, and extracts of others.
Hindu Daily Full-Text Edition (Online). -- Madras, India: The Hindu. 1995-.
Daily newspaper in full text. Site contains an archive of all issues back to June 4, 1995, with selected full-text articles from each. The related The Hindu Home Page has links for their News Update Service, News Briefs, Folio, and other weekly, fortnightly, and annual publications of The Hindu Group.
Hinduism Today (Online). -- Kauai, Hawaii: Himalayan Academy. (ISSN:0896-0801). 1993-.
A glossy monthly magazine "affirming Sanatana Dharma and recording the modern history of a billion-strong global religion in renaissance." International organ of the Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami Ashram (Saiva Siddhanta Church), based in Hawaii. Covers general events and issues of Hinduism worldwide. Site contains an archive of backfiles from 1993 onwards (with plans to extend the files to earlier issues), as well links to other activities and publications of the Ashram and its international affiliates.
IIAS Newsletter (Online). -- Leiden, Netherlands: International Institute for Asian Studies. (ISSN:0929-8738). 1993-.
A substantial quarterly, providing "interviews, research updates, book reports, conference reports, news about followships and grants, forum articles, calendars of events, internet news, and a special Asian art section... comprehensive coverate of the latest developments in the field of Asian Studies." A very rich source of information on Asian Studies, with extensive coverage of South Asia. Particularly useful as a window on European activity in this field. Site contains complete backfiles. (A separate IIAS Home Page links to other activities, publications, directories and databases of this large and important European center.)
India Perspectives [Online]. -- New Delhi: India Ministry of External Affairs. [ISSN 0970-5074]. December 1998-.
A well-produced general interest monthly magazine on Indian society and culture, produced by the Ministry of External Affairs.
India Together. -- [Bangalore]: Civil Society Information Exchange Pvt. Ltd. 1998-.
An ejournal "devoted to coverage of public affairs, policy, and development in India, providing news in proportion to the country's broad development experiences...India Together runs at least one article each day, covering over 15 major topics and themes ranging from government and poverty to agriculture and environment. The publication also helps practitioners, scholars and artists take their ideas, insights and concerns expeditiously to an interested national and global audience." Although the individual articles are added to a daily "issue", there is no backfile archive of distinct issues as such. But the search feature allows one to search and retrieve any individual articles from the archive, based upon simple keyword searching.
Indian Folklife Newsletter [Online]. -- Chennai: National Folklore Support Center. April 2000-.
Newsletter of the National Folkore Support Center. Newsletter is apparently quarterly and contains announcements, reviews, editorials, etc. in the area of folklore studies throughout India. Online edition contains full text of issues, but lacks photos and images which appear in the print edition.
insideReport: Tamil Eelam News Review (WWW edition). -- Jaffna, Sri Lanka: Inside Report. 1995-.
Apparently issued monthly. Site contains full text of monthly issues, only for July-October 1995 (as of 10/19/96).
International Journal of Hindu Studies (Online). -- Quebec: World Heritage Press. 1997-. [via University of Florida].
Published three times per year. "The aim of the [IJHS] is... to consider Hinduism analytically and comparatively as a 'form of life' as clarified by its contrasts and similarities to other historical and present day forms... Our focus will be, on the one hand, on Hinduism's adaptations to a wide range of historical circumstances and ecological, economic, and political possibilities and, on the other, on the Hindu forms that work "on the ground" in particular places and times to generate special kinds of social, cultural, and psychological order and problems." Published under the auspices of the International Institute of India Studies (Quebec), the Chief Editor is Prof. Sushil Mittal of the University of Montreal. The website does not contain full text of the Journal's articles, but does provide complete table of contents (at least for the inaugural issue).
International Journal of Jaina Studies. -- London: Centre of Jaina Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies. (ISSN: 1748-1074). 2005-.
Research papers, monographs and reviews in Jain studies.
International Journal of Tantric Studies. -- [Cambridge, MA]: IJTS. (ISSN:1084-7553). 1995-.
"Tantric studies in Sanskrit, Bengali, Vernacular, Tibetan, Chinese, Japanese, etc. Particular attention is paid to the Trika schools of Kashmir." Covers primarily Tantras (or Agamas or Samhitas in Sanskrit), scholarly treatments including philosophies of language, knowledge, æsthetics, rhetoric, etc. Editor-in-Chief is Enrica Garzilli of Harvard University. Site contains abstracts of selected current and back-issue articles, table of contents, and subscription information. Full-text access to articles is by subscription only.
Jang [Daily Jang] (Online). -- [Karachi : The Jang Group of Newspapers]. 1998-.
Urdu-language daily newspaper from Pakistan. Said to be the large newspaper in PAkistan. Published in Karachi since 1937. Site contains newspaper in full text. Urdu text can be accessed either as graphics or as text. (Site claims the latter is only available using Internet Explorer 4.0 or later.) Site's archive contains September 25, 1998 and continuing.
Journal of Buddhist Ethics. -- University Park, PA: Journal of Buddhist Ethics. (ISSN:1076-9005). 1994-.
Annual scholarly journal "...to promote the study of Buddhist ethics through the publication of research articles, discussions and critical notes, bulletins and reviews." Site includes backfiles, online conferences, internet links, and other related material. General Editors are Damien Keown (University of London), and Charles Prebish (Pennsylvania State University). There is a mirror-server at http://www.gold.ac.uk/jbe
Journal of South Asian Women Studies. -- [Cambridge, MA]: JSAWS. (ISSN:1085-7478). 1995-.
"...meant to disseminate works which address theoretical and practical issues that are of interest to both scholars of South Asia and to women in and from South Asia...". Geographic coverage actually includes both South and SOUTHEAST Asia. Editor-in-Chief is Enrica Garzilli of Harvard University. Full-text access is only to Editor's Notes and book reviews. Other articles available in full-text only to paid subscribers.
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. -- London: Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. [Online presentation published by Cambridge University Press]. ISSN: 1356-1863. 2001-.
Site contains browsable and searchable tables of contents with complete citations of all articles plus abstracts. Only registered users can purchase online articles in full-text.
Kashmiri Pandit International: Newsletter of Kashmiri Overseas Association, Inc. -- [Baytown, Texas]: Kashmiri Overseas Association, Inc. 1995-.
The Kashmiri Overseas Association states its aim as "promoting Kashmiri Pandit ethnic and socio-cultural heritage...". The Newsletter, which comes out 4 to 6 times per year, contains much cultural, religious and especially political analysis and commentary (particularly about Kashmir, as viewed from the perspective of the Kashmiri Hindus), as well as detailed news of the activities of the Association itself.
Kolam: A Mirror of Tamil and Dravidian Culture (continued by New Kolam) -- Köln : Institut für Indologie und Tamilistik [IITS], Universität zu K&oum;ln; Singapore: SASP National University Singapore. (ISSN: 1435-2311). 1998-.
A bi-annual multi-lingual publication of the IITS. Edited by Ulrike Niklas and Sascha Ebeling. A series of compilations on Tamil literary traditions (classical and modern), sciences (grammar, philosophy, theology, medicine, architecture), and village culture (oral literature, village religion and customs, sociological topics, village performing arts, traditional arts and crafts, etc.). Requires installation of Tamil fonts.
Language in India. -- [Bloomington, MN] : M. S. Thirumalai. March 2001-.
"...a monthly online journal devoted to the study of the languages spoken in the Indian sub-continent. We wish to present the scholarly research findings on these languages in popular language. Our focus will be on language use in mass media, education and administration, sociolinguistic and political aspects relating to these languages and the society in the Indian subcontinent, linguistic description, interdisciplinary research, and current issues of importance relating to Indian languages..."
Lines. -- [Colombo, Sri Lanka] : Lines. May 2002-.
A monthly political discussion magazine. "lines is an online magazine that engages with the political spaces of Sri Lanka. We seek to provide a forum that inspires and challenges us to critically scrutinize the terms of received debates, and enable alternative political imaginaries...lines was founded and is co-edited by Ahilan Kadirgamar, S. Nanthikesan and Vasuki Nesiah." Site includes current issue and archive back to May 2002.
Little India. -- Reading, Pennsylvania: Little India. Nov. 1995-.
"... a monthly feature magazine focusing on overseas Indian life..., on the nearly one million Indians in the United States. Every month, the magazine brings its readers trenchant commentaries on overseas Indian life and the works and visions of overseas Indian artists, performers and professionals. Contributors include Indian academics, scholars, professionals, artists, students, social activists, government officials and journalists." Site contains current issue and links to back issues.
Migration News. -- Davis, California: University of California at Davis. 1994-.
Migration News is a newsletter that summarizes the most important immigration and integration developments during the preceding month. Topics are grouped by region: North America, Europe, Asia, and Other. Site also includes electronic data on migration-related topics, organized by world area and by theme.
Modern Asian Studies. -- London: Cambridge University Press. ISSN: 0026-749X. 1998-.
Site contains browsable and searchable tables of contents with complete citations of all articles plus abstracts. Only registered users can purchase online articles in full-text.
Nation [The Nation] Online. -- Lahore, Pakistan: The Nation Publications (pvt) Limited. [Current issue only].
English-language daily newspaper of Pakistan. The print publication began in 1986 in Lahore. Site contains full text, but has no back-issue archives. (Current issue only).
NCSAS Newsletter. -- Melbourne, Australia: National Centre for South Asian Studies, LaTrobe University. 1995. [via Australian National University]
News India-Times on the Web. -- New York: News India-Times [Perry & Co.]. (ISSN:1071-0248). 1997-.
An English-language weekly newspaper for Asian Indians in US. Substantial news coverage and editorials about India, as well as news of the Indian-American community. Site contains the current week's edition, as well as backfiles from 1997 onwards.
News International [Pakistan]. -- [Karachi : The News International; The Jang Group of Newspapers]. 1998-.
English-language daily newspaper from Pakistan, in full text. Site's archive contains September 26, 1998 and continuing.
Pakistan Economist [Online]. -- Karachi: Pakistan and Gulf Economist. 1996-. [username: "page" / password: "page"]
Online version of the well-known financial news weekly, The Pakistan and Gulf Economist. Contains full-text articles on finance & markets, industry & economy, market watch, weekly news, special features, searchable database, etc. Archives of back issues contain selections of the more important articles, but not the full issues.
Pakistan Link: Daily Internet Edition. -- Inglewood, California: Pakistan Link. 1998-.
"The largest Pakistani-American newspaper and the first Pakistani newspaper on the Internet." Site contains full-text of current day's issue, as well as an archive of the Daily News sections from the previous two months.
Panchayat: Discussions of South Asian Politics, Society & Culture. -- [Philadelphia] : Vikash Yadav. May 2002-.
A left-secular non-commercial daily web-log and discussion forum organized by Vikash Yadav (Univ. of Pennsylvania) and Conrad Barwa (Oxford Univ.). Archive goes back to May 2002.
Passi sulla Rete: Pacing the Net. -- Venice: Department of Indological and Far Eastern Studies, Università Ca' Foscari di Venezia. April 1996 - November 1996.
"Passi sulla Rete (Pacing the Net) is published as part of the Multimedia Project of the Department of Indological and Far Eastern Studies, Università Ca' Foscari di Venezia. It is devoted to (1) selected new resources on India, Tibet, China, Korea and Japan especially useful to students and scholars; (2) developments in the use of computers in the humanities; and (3) new networked tools of general interest." Issues are in Italian. Site contains only numbers one through four (April 1996 to November 1996).
Pop Times: the Population and Development Newsletter of UNFPA India. -- [New Delhi] : UNFPA India - United Nations Population Fund. 2000-.
Newsletter of the UNFPA with reports, news, media coverage, etc. on UNFPA programs in India. Files are large, and in .pdf format. Server can be slow...
Princely States Report: Journal of Indian States History, Philately & Numismatics. -- [s.l.] : Vahana Project. [ISSN: 1534-5572]. 2000-2001.
Detailed research articles on the (primarily philatelic) history of the Indian princely states.
Qalandar: Islam and Interfaith Relations in South Asia. -- [s.l.] : Qalandar. 2002-.
A monthly newsletter with editorials, analytical articles, book reviews, interviews, etc. on Islam and its relations with other faiths in South Asia.
RagaNet. -- [Santa Cruz, CA]: Batish Institute of Indian Music and Fine Arts. 1995-.
"...an educational magazine for the music and fine arts of India. It features regular lessons on Indian music and the various instruments of India like the sitar, tabla, dilrubha etc... lots of gifs, examples of audio excerpts, and midi files where applicable." Published approximately quarterly. Site contains current issue as well as complete online backfiles. Published by the Batish Institute of Indian Music and Fine Arts.
Newsletter, Regional Centre for Strategic Studies. - Colombo, Sri Lanka: Regional Centre for Stategic Studies. 1999-.
Quarterly newsletter of this NGO devoted to "collaborative research, networking and interaction on strategic and international issues pertaining to South Asia." Online archive goes back to Vol. 5 no. 1 (January 1999).
re/productions. -- [Cambridge : Global Reproductive Health Forum - Harvard, in association with SNDT Women's University (Mumbai, India) and The Centre for Women's Development Studies (New Delhi)]. 1999-.
"an on-line journal dedicated to disseminating work by scholars, activists, and organizations exploring discourses of reproductive health and rights in South Asia. The journal focuses on expanding understandings of 'health' and making connections with people and issues outside the traditional scope of public health and reproductive rights in the region."
Revolutionary Democracy Journal [Online]. -- [New Delhi] : [np]. 1995-.
"a half-yearly theoretical and political journal published in April and September from India. It contains materials on the problems facing the communist movement, particularly relating to Russia, China and India, the origins of modern revisionism, the restoration of capitalism in the USSR and developments in the international communist movement." Beginning with the April 2000 issue only selected articles have been posted. In some cases only the introductions to articles, including some of the most important ones, are posted. The complete table of contents of the more recent issues are shown. From 1995-2000, full-text of all articles is included on the site.
SAGAR: South Asia Graduate Research Journal (Online). -- Austin, TX: University of Texas at Austin. 1994-.
"A biannual journal from the Center for Asian Studies at the University of Texas at Austin... Showcases exceptional graduate student and junior scholar articles. It also includes faculty and graduate research methodology, reports from the field, and book reviews." Web site contains substantial backfiles.
SALNAQ: South Asia Libraries Notes & Queries [e-SALNAQ]. -- [np] : CONSALD (Committee on South Asia Libraries and Documentation). 1999-.
Organ of the Committee on South Asia Libraries and Documentation, designed to "keep those interested in South Asia bibliographic information current with new bibliographic tools and information resources" on South Asia.
SALON Newsletter: South Asian Linguistics 'Off' the Net (Online). -- London: SALON; Tanmoy Bhattacharya. 1997-.
Brief articles, notices, queries and postings on the linguistics of South Asia, by members of, an international group of linguists and linguistics students devoted to this topic. The Newsletter grew out of the transactions of the SALON listserv. Site contains archives as well as current issue, and links to the SALON homepage.
SAND: South Asia Nuclear Dialogue. -- Berkeley: Nautilus Institute for Security & Sustainable Development. 2000-.
Weekly bulletins, reports and updates on nuclear issues in South Asia. "The South Asia Nuclear Dialogue Network (SANDNet) aims to bring together officials, NGO representatives, scholars, and others working to advance peace and security in South Asia. SANDNet weekly email and web updates provide news summaries, analysis, and discussion mainly from the South Asian press. SANDNet also serves as a repository for security-related government documents, substantial policy statements, and links to other high-quality web pages that focus on regional nuclear and security issues."
SAPRA India Monthly Bulletin (Online). -- New Delhi: SAPRA India (Security and Political Risk Analysis India), a division of K Media Private Ltd. 1995-[1999].
Bulletin of SAPRA India, "a New Delhi based, private sector, independent think tank which focuses on peace/conflict studies, political & business risk, terrorism and security related issues pertinent to the South Asian context. SAPRA India looks at all of these from an 'Indian point' of view. Specifically, it analyses trends, events or findings in the military, external, political and business fronts that could impact on India at the strategic level." Site contains abstracts of all articles as well as full-text of selected articles from each issue (but only through 1997?)
SCANNER: Electronic Newsletter for Economics and Bangladesh Studies. [New York: Tanweer Akram]. January-December, 1998.
"Scanner is an electronic newsletter for economists and other specialists interested in Bangladesh. It lists publications, workshops, conferences, events and information of professional and academic interest. It is edited by Tanweer Akram." Note: website contains description and contact information only. The journal is available free of charge over the internet, distributed only in the form of an email subscription, which can be requested from the address given at the site.
Seminar: The Monthly Symposium (Web-Edition). New Delhi: Malvika Singh, Seminar Publications. July 1999-.
The online version of the famous monthly Indian political magazine of the same name, which has been publishing almost 50 years. Site is equipped with indexes, tables of contents, a search engine, and full-text archives back to July 1999. (The current issue provides full table of contents and only selective full-text of articles. The remaining articles are included in full-text one month after the issue's release).
SikhSpectrum.com Quarterly. -- 2002-.
Quarterly magazine on general topics on politics, culture, religion -- often from a Sikh cultural perspective. Full-text archive covers all issues from 2002 onward.
siliconindia magazine [Silicon India]. -- New York: Silicon India. August, 1997-. (ISSN 1091-9503).
A monthly "business and technology magazine for professionals of Indian origin. Its aim is to provide information, news, analysis and opinion on business and technology in India and the United States. It is a forum for Indian professionals to interact, exchange information, develop business relations and share industry expertise. siliconindia is the leading information resource for technology savvy professionals..." Site includes tables of contents as well as the full text of many articles selected from each issue (including all back issues).
SINHAS: Studies in Nepali History and Society. -- [Kathmandu]: Nepal Studies Group, Center for Social Research & Development. 1996-. [via Emory University]. (ISSN: 1025-5109).
"...an interdisciplinary forum for original research... that i) opens up to scholarship areas of study that have not traditionally been part of "Nepal Studies" and ii) casts new light on familiar topics." Apparently biennial. Site does not carry the full text of the journal, but does contain complete tables of contents and abstracts of every article, plus background and subscription information.
South Asian Outlook. -- [np] : GlobalomNet Media. July 2001 -.
"An independent e-monthly...by South Asians for South Asians." News and opinion and culture. Publisher is based in Canada and Germany.
Taraqqi: Monthly Online Journal of News, News Analysis and Views on Indian, South Asian and World Events. -- New York : Association of Indian Progressive Study Groups (AIPSG). September 1999-.
"Taraqqi features news, news analysis, commentary and views on a variety of subjects concerning the peoples of India, South Asia and to people of South Asian origin abroad. In particular, it will highlight the initiatives people everywhere are taking to affirm their rights and to contribute towards the movement for renewal. Taraqqi also features background material for our readers to place those initiatives and problems in the context they appear. Our regular topics include the movement for people's empowerment (democratic renewal), problems of state terrorism and defence of rights, Indo-Pak relations, the "identity crisis" of South Asian youth abroad among others."
Teaching South Asia. -- [Joplin, Missouri] : Project South Asia, Missouri Southern State University. [ISSN: 1529-8558]. Winter 2001-.
"Published semi-annually, this electronic journal features articles, written by teaching professors from around the world, addressing issues and problems of course and curriculum development relating to South Asia..." Edited by Karl J. Schmidt.
World Tibet Network News. -- [NP] : Canada-Tibet Committee. 1992-.
A daily world news on Tibet and Tibetans। Site contains current month of issues, and a link to a backfile archive starting with December 6, 1992.

सोर्स: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/southasia/ejournals.html

[msumphil2006] Sondhi's 'new time journalism'

2006-11-23T11:59:00.000+05:00

Photo by Angilee Shah

Sondhi's 'new time journalism'

In an on-camera interview with AsiaMedia, media mogul and anti-Thaksin activist Sondhi Limthongkul said corruption in Thailand has forced his news reporting into a journalism-activism hybrid

By Amanda Natividad
AsiaMedia Staff Writer

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Los Angeles --- Sondhi Limthongkul, Thai media mogul and outspoken critic of the administration of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, spoke at a crowded lecture hall at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) on Monday. Armed with criticisms of the now-ousted regime and toting staunch views on press freedom, he explained the struggles he and his supporters faced in their fight for a change of leadership.

Sondhi is the founder and owner of Manager Group, a conglomerate of media outlets including the Manager Daily newspaper, a weekly newspaper, a monthly magazine, a community radio station and Asian Satellite TV (ASTV).

His media outlets, said Sondhi, push the envelope of journalism in Thailand. Pervasive government control and corruption, he said, make it impossible to practice traditional news reporting. He subscribes to what he called "new time journalism," a journalism-activism hybrid that calls for political change. One of the differences between Thai and American democracy, he said, is that media outlets in the United States cover a variety of political perspectives.

"Here, if you don't like Bush, you stop watching Fox News. Instead, you maybe take a look at CNN. If you hate Bush, you read The New York Times, Washington Post. If you love Bush, you read Washington Times. But in Thailand, there's bloody no choice. There's only one side of the story," Sondhi told AsiaMedia.

Watch AsiaMedia's exclusive interview with Sondhi Limthongkul on Real Player or Windows Media Player (forthcoming). You can also read a full transcript of the interview.

"We are the only network which asks 'why' and once we asked a lot of 'whys,' we've been bullied," he said. "[The government] sues us in court, they try to close down the station, they instruct the Communications Authority of Thailand -- which controls the Internet -- to have the Internet company to shut us down."

Sondhi has faced considerable hurdles in his business and his political crusades. He declared bankruptcy after the 1997 Asian financial crisis and Manager Group went into serious debt.

He said he learned the "hard way" by overcoming three years of bankruptcy and facing endless criticism, but he strongly believes that the people "love to hear the truth." Thaksin had destroyed the commercial viability of media outlets, Sondhi said, but ASTV fans are not easily duped by political figures' statements.

"If you don't stick to your principles, you'll be dead on arrival," he told the UCLA audience.

This year, Sondhi has faced many lawsuits, including charges of defamation and lèse majesté. In May, the Manager Daily newspaper published a series of articles claiming that Thaksin and former student leaders met in Finland in 1999 and plotted to abolish Thailand's monarchy and create a republic similar to western countries'. Thaksin and his administration vehemently denied these accusations and sued Sondhi for defamation.

Now, Manager Group faces new adversity while martial law remains in effect: "We are still the only media group defying martial law," Sondhi said.

Through new time journalism, Sondhi hopes to bring about political awareness that did not exist when Thaksin was elected to office. Thaksin, he said, took advantage of the poor who "lack a complete understanding of what politics are all about" by bribing them to vote and rally for him.

At one rally, he said pro-Thaksin supporters were each paid 500 baht. "They are paid half first, and once the rally finishes they receive another half," he told AsiaMedia. The Nation indicated that Thaksin supporters, "some of whom were said to have been paid between Bt300 and Bt500 to join the rally," were being shuttled in to a 200,000 strong Mar. 3, 2006 pro-Thaksin rally at Sanam Luang.

When asked if he is underestimating the rural poor, Sondhi said, "No, not at all. I lived there, I've been there, I fought against Thaksin and I know them all."

Thaksin's corruption has been widely recognized, but Sondhi too has his own set of critics. When he spoke at the University of Washington last week, several students protested and distributed handouts entitled "9 myths about the September 19, 2006, Coup."

Dr. Charles Keyes, a professor of anthropology and international studies at the University of Washington who attended the Washington event, argues that Thailand's rural majority have a greater understanding of politics than Sondhi gives them credit for. In Feb. 2005, Keyes conducted field research of villages in northeast Thailand. This same month, the Thai Rak Thai Party and Thaksin won with a landslide victory, winning 374 of the 500 seats in the House of Representatives while the Chart Thai Party won 26 seats and the Democratic Party of Thailand won 96 seats. His research shows, Keyes said in a phone interview, that poor people in the Maha Sarakham province could clearly differentiate between the leading Thai Rak Thai and Democratic parties' platforms.

"Thai Rak Thai won because the Democrats didn't succeed in reaching the rural people," he told AsiaMedia. "Even if they really were being bought, they really did have a sense they were voting their interests."

The idea of an uneducated rural population is a myth, Keyes said. The rural poor now have significant education to the middle school level, and many complete high school and college.

Keyes said that he respects Sondhi's courage in organizing protests against the former prime minister, but also cautions that Sondhi is very similar to Thaksin in that both use their media empires to build a following.

"Sondhi and Thaksin are two of a kind [Sondhi] has always been manipulative in the same way Thaksin is manipulative," Keyes told AsiaMedia. "[Sondhi] is sophisticated in his use of the media, but uses it to manipulate public opinion."

Sondhi admitted to having mixed feelings about the way the coup took place and its outcome. Though he is relieved that there was no bloodshed, he lamented that the military takeover would never have had to occur if Thaksin respected the people's rights. He said that if the interim government and the military do not restore democracy and power to the people within a year as they have promised, he would protest again.

On Sunday, Sondhi held a rally at the Hollywood Park and spoke to an estimated 2,200 Thai American supporters.

In spite of whatever criticism he may receive, Sondhi's supporters who crowded the two Los Angeles venues, look to him as a courageous leader. One UCLA audience member, who said he had invested 50,000 baht to ASTV, pledged his loyalty to Sondhi. "If [Sondhi] can fight Thaksin, he can fight anybody," he said.

Additional reporting by Angilee Shah

[msumphil2006] 3rd International CICT Conference

2006-11-02T05:21:00.000+05:00

3rd International
CICT Conference Mobile and wireless content, services and networks
- Short-term and long-term development trends

Introduction
Introduction
Call for Papers
Important Dates
Organisation
Venue
Registration
Program
Program Committee
Online Participation
Contacts
Useful Links
Previous CICT conferences

On November 30th to December 1st 2006, the Center for Information and Communication Technologies (CICT), Technical University of Denmark, holds its third international conference on Mobile and wireless content, services and networks -
Short-term and long-term development trends.
The diffusion of 3G networks has taken far more time than anticipated. The primary reason is that operators have found it difficult to develop profitable 3G business cases. From an operator point of view, the additional average revenue per user from new data and content services does not seem to warrant fast build up; from a user point, there are not sufficient relevant new features to shift technology. Meanwhile, other wireless technologies have appeared, including Wi-Fi, WiMAX and technologies using the vacated 450 MHz frequency band. Furthermore, new P2P, mesh or ad-hoc network technologies are also being developed.
The conference focuses on issues related to the short as well as the long-term developments in mobile and wireless technologies, the services and content enabled by these technologies, and the relations between the development of technologies and services/content. User requirements and how they are met by technology and service solutions are examined. The two main themes of the conference are:
The direction and development of networking technologies.
What characterizes the future of 3G?
Which technologies are likely to supplement or substitute for 3G technology in the development beyond 3G?
The diffusion of new services and content
How will the adoption process of the new features develop?
What are the potentials in, e.g., the developments in mobile broadcast and the new communicative services enabled by higher capacity mobile and wireless networks?
What characterizes the communicative and informational user needs and requirements that potentially can be served by mobile and wireless networks, applications, services and content?

Center for Information and Communication Technologies
Technical University of Denmark
Building 371
2800 Kgs. Lyngby
Denmark
Phone: +45 4525 5178
Fax: +45 4596 3171
E-mail: cict@cict.dtu.dk

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[msumphil2006] International Conference on Communication and Reality COMMUNICATION CROSSROADS:

2006-10-31T17:23:00.000+05:00

SECOND CALL FOR PAPERS
International Conference on Communication and Reality
COMMUNICATION CROSSROADS: LIMITS AND TRANSGRESSIONS
BARCELONA, 25-26 MAY, 2007

Call for papers

* Submission deadline has been extended to November 8.
* Abstracts should be sent before November 8 2006 through the webform available at: http://cicr.blanquerna.url.edu
* Notification of acceptance is due by November 30.
* Full papers will be delivered before February 1 2007, once they have been accepted.
* All accepted papers will be published in the book of proceedings

DESCRIPTION
School of Communication, University Ramon Llull ( Barcelona , Catalunya-Spain), will organise the forth International Conference on Communication and Reality. The theme for reflection and discussion is: Communication Crossroads: limits and transgressions

In all societies, and at all times throughout history, a tension has existed between the consciousness of the socially acceptable ethical, aesthetic and political limits and the real possibility of transgressing them. On many occasions, the resolution of this tension has been dramatic, yet it has also paved the way for the majority of social advances in our civilisation. With the emergence of the aesthetic avant-garde of the early 20th century transgression became, for the first time in history, a positive value. This radical change of attitude requires us to rethink the ethical, aesthetic or political limits of the products generated by the information society and mass culture. This applies to all of its activities but especially to journalism, publicity and audio-visuals

The theme will be explored through four core areas, which correspond to the four central lectures of the conference (keynote speakers will be announced as soon as they are confirmed):

1. The scope and boundaries of journalism
The new social and technological realities confronting us offer great opportunities to journalism in the 21st century, though they also throw up many challenges and questions. The shortening of the classic binomial space-time, the increase in the quality and quantity of information produced, or the bursting on to the scene, and their mixing, of new formats, genres and professional profiles all favour the profession and an improved professional practice. However, they may also act as a brake on progress. Paradoxically, both journalism and the journalist are going through a crisis of direction and their role as the traditional arbiters of reality is up for (re)interpretation in a society that has become highly media-conscious.
While the Conference Committee is also willing to accept papers that explore other perspectives, in principle the discussions will be centred around the following themes:
* Credibility of journalism and journalists
* New ethical challenges thrown up by globalisation
* Weblogs and journalism
* Journalism and press offices
* Limits to freedom of _expression
* Community and participatory journalism. The end of the journalist as administrator of reality?

2. Limits, creativity and content in audiovisuals and advertising
The impact of globalisation, the crisis of some media (falls in levels of newspaper readership), the confusion between reality and fiction, and the intrusions on privacy (Big Brother, Supernanny...), the hybridisation and confusion of certain overlapping specialist forms (television news programmes that seem more like instruments of government propaganda, serials and programmes with high levels of publicity content...), or the appearance of other media with new needs (blogs, wikis, DTT, nano-media...), throw up a series of questions about the idea of the limits to creativity. Nevertheless, the other side of the coin reveals the opening up of substantial creative possibilities. What should audio-visual and advertising products be like in a world that is increasingly audio-visual? Should limits be placed on creativity? Should there be an ethical limit to the power of immediacy and expressiveness of these new communication formats?

While the Conference Committee is also willing to accept papers that explore other perspectives, in principle the discussions will be centred around the following themes:
* New formats in audio-visual creativity
* New formats in advertising creativity
* Limits between fiction and reality in audio-visual creativity
* New creative challenges thrown up by DTT
* New forms of business communication (viral marketing, direct advertising...) - dialogue or interference?
* Hybrid products that mix audio-visuals and publicity (advertising shorts, bartering, tele-sales, tele-promotions, etc.)

3. Communication, culture and counter-culture
The counter-culture suggests the explicit rejection of the âofficial cultureâ and proposes âtransgressiveâ cultural and communicative forms that allow us to go beyond dominant conventions. But is the counter-culture a social movement that opposes âCultureâ with a capital âCâ, or is it a new form of alternative culture that simply breaks established limits and norms? What is the role of the media in publicising these alternative proposals that, on occasions, end up being adopted by the very society they criticise? To what extent have cinema, television and publicity taken on board the aesthetic and cultural proposals generated by the counter-culture?

While the Conference Committee is also willing to accept papers that explore other perspectives, in principle the discussions will be centred around the following themes:
* New technologies and social movements
* Advertising and counter-culture
* The marketing of counter-cultural products
* The representation of the counter-culture in the conventional media as a first step in creating the counter-culture business
* The industry of counter-cultural communication

4. New aesthetic parameters in the media society
Undoubtedly, the internal mechanisms of the media, and their submission to both technological and commercial imperatives, are producing a hyper-fragmentation with new forms that are very swiftly assimilated. At present, new parameters of consumption and new aesthetic canons can be observed that are based on performance phenomena and media feedback.

While the Conference Committee is also willing to accept papers that explore other perspectives, in principle the discussions will be centred around the following themes:
* Limits between chance and creativity
* Cultural industry and marketing
* New aesthetics and new challenges in communication
* Fashion, trends and communication

We would appreciate it if you could circulate this as widely as possible.

For further information, please contact:
Pere Masip
School of Communication. University Ramon Llull
Valldonzella, 23
Barcelona 08001, Spain
Tel: +34 93 253 30 21 Fax: +34 93 253 30 99, E-mail: cicr @blanquerna.edu
Website: http://cicr.blanquerna.url.edu

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[msumphil2006] Changing News... by Sevanti Ninan

2006-10-31T17:22:00.000+05:00

MEDIA MATTERS
Changing news
BY SEVANTI NINAN
The emergence of a vocal middle class, and 24-hour news channels, have led to a broad interpretation of the term "news".

Would it reduce the blood pressure of old-time hacks if one were to modify their nomenclature and call them lifestyle channels?

IN the United States, 24-hour news took away the sanctity of evening network news and the importance of the anchor who delivered it. Anchors changed by the hour, and everything became news.
In West Asia, satellite TV news has put Arab leaders under greater scrutiny than ever before. Over there, they've gone from soft to hard with a freedom that is new.
And in India the traditional news establishment has been wrenched from its moorings by the emergence of a middle class, and a youthful segment within it. Why that should happen is mystifying, but there it is. Upward mobility has meant more news consumers whose preferences are constantly second-guessed. And much less of news as we used to understand it.
Selling proposition
"Don" ke bina Hindustan mein news channel chalana sirf mushkil nahin hain, na mumkin hai. (It is not just difficult to run a news channel in India without "Don", it is impossible.) For an entire fortnight it seemed like TV news had bought that proposition wholesale. From re-running the original version of that line, to the overheated coverage of the movie's release, to interviewing the new Don on news channels which he cheesily described as mediocre. Between "Don" and Deepavali, with "Jaaneman" getting a generous look in, you could have been forgiven for wondering where the news went. The Champions Trophy coverage was the hardest the news got.
At 9.30 p.m. the day the movie released, you had "Jaaneman" versus "Don" on Times Now, Sanjay Dutt on his life on NDTV, Interviews with "Jaaneman's" lead stars on CNN-IBN, "Don" on Headlines Today, "Jaaneman" on Aaj Tak, Khan vs. Khan on Star News, and Which is the Bigger Khan on Zee News. That's called choice. Two hours earlier, on all of the above, you would have found cricket.
And in between everybody behaved as if they had just discovered Deepavali. Join Us, For the Great Indian Shopping Experience. Indians apparently now have money. Eighty three thousand millionaires, and counting. And like the rich everywhere, their problems are different. Where will you leave your pooches when you go away for Deepavali? We'll tell you about a dog resort. What does a diabetic do at Deepavali? We'll tell you about the sugar free options. Some party pooper would say all that splurging was disgusting in a poor country. So on NDTV they were worrying about the rich being unfairly targeted. And kindly offering ways to assuage your conscience. "Here's how you can contribute to help farmers in U.P. It's going to be a dark Deepavali for them." The solicitousness continued after Deepavali had come and gone. Then it was "Fighting Deepavali Blues". Tips for warding off Deepavali fatigue, on a news bulletin, no less.
Would it reduce the blood pressure of old-time hacks watching all this if one were to modify their nomenclature and call them lifestyle channels? Because then it's perfectly alright for Star Lifestyle News to bring us a special on the Star Plus bahus going Deepavali shopping. Or for Lifestyle Today to serve up at 9 p.m. its sex special on "What Men Want" (I'll spare you the gory details). Or for Zee Lifestyle to present the cricketers as gladiators with a Roman arena for a backdrop. Or for Star Lifestyle News to run an sms poll on whom the readers think Preity Zinta should plump for in the film "Jaaneman": Salman Khan or Akshay Kumar? None of the above would then seem quite so bizarre.
New methods
Playing alongside the great news transformation is the debate over sting journalism, newly revived by the U.P. legislature's summons to Rajdeep Sardesai of CNN-IBN. Stings are in fact part of the news transformation, turning journalists into investigators armed with the tools and ethics of the modern detective trade.
How would you have nailed a minister abetting drug runners in the old days, the TV expose that has irked the U.P. assembly? By despatching a reporter to crack the story and take photographs where possible. Naming names would still have resulted in a furore in the assembly, including charges of a breach of privilege. Arun Shourie notched up a notice a year in the Rajya Sabha in 1981 and 1982 for such breach. He did not use entrapment. He used files and photographs to nail ministers at the Centre or State.
Don't be fooled by Tarun Tejpal's gush in the Hindustan Times: "For the first time in decades, there has appeared an independent deterrent to wrongdoing in public. The sting." What entrapment does get you is that image of someone taking wads of notes, which can be played seamlessly over and over again to a bored middle class with attention deficit disorder. And ratings to show the advertiser. Ask Rajat Sharma, who used stings to establish a channel nobody had heard of and who gleefully admits as much today.
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Courtesy: http://www.hindu.com/mag/2006/10/29/stories/2006102900100300.htm
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[msumphil2006] Gatewatching: Collaborative Online News Production

2006-10-26T19:46:00.000+05:00

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Canadian Journal of Communication > Vol. 31, No. 3 (2006) open journal systems

Gatewatching: Collaborative Online News Production
By Axel Bruns.
New York: Peter Lang, 2005. 330 pp. ISBN 0820474320.
Axel Bruns has written a timely book that is a welcome addition to the nascent body of research on alternative forms of online journalism. In Gatewatching: Collaborative Online News Production, he takes a systematic look at the collaborative and open news-production models that characterize various websites â" in particular weblogs â" and asks a central question: Is this journalism?
Brunsâ basic premise is that mainstream âindustrialâ journalism is outmoded, a dinosaur that needs to reinvent itself in order to remain relevant to a new, more engaged, citizenry. This citizenry is one that has evolved from a mass, passive audience, consisting of people who are readers and receivers of packaged news â" mere consumers of information â" into smaller communities of actively involved users and producers of news content distributed in a globally networked online environment. Ready to supplement and surpass traditional journalism is the new-media news: personal, subjective, relevant, diverse, and, above all, amateur. In the bookâs final line, Bruns asserts that alternative online news production in its various forms, including open publishing and even blogging, may indeed be considered journalism. That is, if we consider a prime function of journalism to âhelp enable, extend, and enhance public discovery, discussion and deliberation of the newsâ (p. 317).
This conclusion, of course, will be shocking to media critics and practitioners who subscribe to journalistic convention; such an assertion is heresy to them. But Bruns builds his case, chapter by chapter, deconstructing what we understand as news media and recasting it as a participatory, virtual endeavour undertaken by those who formerly constituted the audience. He begins by taking stock of the so-called Internet Age, posing the question typically asked by worried advocates of the status quo: If everyone is a publisher (as Marshall McLuhan famously stated) or at least has the potential to be, what are the implications for journalism as we have come to know it?
In an effort to answer this troubling question, Bruns tackles some foundational tenets of journalism, such as gatekeeping and the venerable notion of objectivity. Gatekeeping, the process whereby news organizations determine the nature of the news for public consumption, is out, he contends, at least for the new online news producers or âprodusersâ (a clever combination of producer and user). Bruns coins a new term, âgatewatching,â to explain the shift in balance from publishing newsworthy information to publicizing and evaluating whatever relevant content is available on the Web. Gatewatching builds on the assumption that the Web, in the words of Bruns, âis an egalitarian, open-access medium which is particularly well suited to liberating the exchange of alternative, non-mainstream content and ideasâ (p. 2). Gatewatching, as Bruns defines it, is a dominant practice on a number of the websites studied here, including Slashdot and Kuro5hin, and largely characterizes the practice of blogging. The categorization and explanation of the concept of gatewatching is an important contribution of this book to the study of alternative news production online, and Bruns returns to it again and again.
Brunsâ discussion of journalistic objectivity is less convincing, however crucial it is to understanding the reconfiguration of news from an activist or alternative perspective. He offers insufficient context to fully grasp either the importance of objectivity to traditional news production or the significance of its rejection by what he calls âopen news.â Bruns draws upon the open-source software phenomenon to explain this new approach to content generation and publication on the Web. In the same way that open-source software production benefits from large numbers of volunteer user-producers working collaboratively to develop and debug programs, open news relies upon Internet users as active participants in the creation of content for the various online communities to which they belong. Similarly, inaccuracies are detected by âthe power of eyeballsâ or the sheer number of people reading (and similarly participating in the generation of) the news.
Extending the analogy of open source perhaps too far, Bruns develops a taxonomy of collaborative online âpeer to peerâ (p2p) news publishing, ranging from more traditional journalistic efforts to indirectly news-related online-publication models. Here, Bruns understands p2p in a more literal (rather than technological) way, as the ârange of systems and practices enabling participants to interact amongst themselves on an equal footing and without significant intervention from editors, moderators, network administrators or other controlling powersâ (p. 121). He rather successfully establishes a case for the consideration of weblogs â" the virtual incarnation of the personal journal â" as news sources and, in some cases, âprodusersâ of news; they are âguilty of journalism,â albeit not in the professional sense. Strangely, Bruns does not offer much of a history of blogs, despite their early use as correctives to errors in the mainstream media. Although the concept of open source is a powerful alternative model for organization, production, and problem solving, Brun forces the analogy in places, sometimes moulding his discussion self-consciously rather than allowing similarities to emerge naturally from his examination of the topic.
Brunsâ theoretical grounding for Gatewatching is weak. He relies solely upon a book written by Herbert Gans in 1980, which proffers a multiperspectival model of the news, a two-tier system comprising mainstream and alternative news producers. The application of this model to a virtual environment is interesting, but it is a somewhat soft premise for an entire book. Bruns brings everything back to this (rather limited) model, flogging it relentlessly and, frankly, boring the reader at times. In fact, Brunsâ over-reliance on other peopleâs ideas is the key drawback of the book. It reads like a collection of quotes, with little evidence of an authorial voice, except in the transition to the next quote. Some of the bookâs best insights come from other people. In this, Bruns acts as an aggregator (much like the Web-based news aggregators he talks about) of information about alternative online news âprodusers,â rather than an original thinker on the subject.
Despite some obvious flaws, Gatewatching remains an important book in several ways. First, it systematically documents emerging online trends in news production, from gatewatching sites like Slashdot to original-content open-news production, as practised by Indymedia, to personal blogging. Although much more research is required in this area, Brunsâ contribution is significant. He has collected the majority of his data from the people most involved â" the users and creators of the websites studied. Bruns goes directly to the source and allows the techies, bloggers, and media activists to speak freely, in their own words â" a most refreshing approach. Finally, he contests status quo thinking about media making, providing a solid â" even controversial â" critique of mainstream journalism. His presentation of the news as incomplete, as a conversation, is more than irreverent; it shakes the foundation of an entire industry.
Reviewed by Kate Milberry, Simon Fraser University

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[msumphil2006] Canadian Journal of Communication

2006-10-26T19:41:00.000+05:00

The Canadian Journal of Communication has just published a double issue
on The Labouring of Communication, guest-edited by Catherine McKercher
and Vincent Mosco.

The online edition is available at:

http://www.cjc-online.ca/viewissue.php

EDITORIAL
The Labouring of Communication
Catherine McKercher and Vincent Mosco

ARTICLES
Defending Listeners' Rights: Labour and Media Reform in Postwar
America
Elizabeth Ann Fones-Wolf

Acting in the Name of Culture? Organized Labour Campaigns for
Canadian Dramatic Programming
Amanda L. Coles

âLaborâs Monkey Wrenchâ: Newsweekly Coverage of the 1962-63 New York
Newspaper Strike
James F. Tracy

Taming Labour in Neo-Liberal Ontario: Oppositional Political
Communication in a Time of "Crisis"
Kirsten Kozolanka

Doing it For Themselves: Striking Newsworkers Publish the Castlegar
Citizen, 2000-2005
Marc W. Edge and Karl Hardt

"EA Spouse" and the Crisis of Video Game Labour: Enjoyment,
Exclusion, Exploitation, and Exodus
Nick Dyer-Witheford and Greig S. de Peuter

System Error: Labour Precarity and Collective Organizing at Microsoft
Enda Brophy

Heritage Institutions, Resistance, and Praxis
Susan L.T. Ashley

The Fundamental Role Played by Unionism in the Self-Structuring of the
Professional Journalists from QuÃ©bec
FranÃ§ois Demers and Florence Le Cam

Taking it to the Streets: French Cultural Worker Resistance and the
Creation of a Precariat Movement
Christopher Bodnar

De-skilling Effects on Journalists: ICTs and the Labour Process of
Taiwanese Nnewspaper Reporters
Chang-de Liu

Telework: A Way to Balance Work and Family or an Increase in
Work-Family Conflict?
Diane-Gabrielle Tremblay, Renaud Paquet and Elmustapha Najem

Convergence Bites Back: Labour Struggles in the Canadian
Communication Industry
Vincent Mosco and Catherine McKercher

REVIEW ESSAY
The Transformations of Labour: Knowledge Work and the Legacies of the
New Economy
Enda Brophy

L'Effet des Nouvelles Technologies
Yveline Montiglio

REVIEWS
The Globalization of Corporate Media Hegemony
Naomi Fraser

The Network Society: Key Concepts Series
Christopher May

Gatewatching: Collaborative Online News Production
Kate M Milberry

Appropriating Technology: Vernacular Science and Social Power Roy
Bendor

Media Economics: Applying Economics to New and Traditional Media
Marc Edge

Global Electioneering: Campaign Consulting, Communiations, and
Corporate Financing
Vincent Mosco

Network Culture: Politics for the Information Age
Andrea Zeffiro

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[msumphil2006] CALL FOR PAPERS China East Asia Media New Media Conference Brisbane , Austr

2006-10-26T19:36:00.000+05:00

CALL FOR PAPERS
China East Asia Media New Media Conference
Brisbane , Australia 5-6 July 2007
Chinaâs emergence as a manufacturing behemoth is reshaping the global economy. The developed world and much of Asia watch with a mixture of apprehension and anticipation. However, China s media and creative industries have not achieved the same export oriented momentum as its low cost manufacturers. With the Beijing Olympics moving closer China is mounting a claim for a leading role in the global and regional cultural economy, drawing on its long tradition as the centre of East Asian culture. Will this be vision ever be achieved? How will the state manage the inevitable conflict between media industry development and information management? What kind of role will the international community play? What will be the influence of East Asian innovators in China , and China in East Asia ?
Building on two previous conferences staged by the China Media Centre at University of Westminster , London , this event shifts the site of deliberation from the North Atlantic to the Asia-Pacific. The conference will be hosted by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation.
The conference seeks initial expressions of interest in panels and papers on the following themes:
Â· CONTENT AND INNOVATION: Creative business and user-led developments in Chinese and East Asian audiovisual, online, print, advertising, design, and broadcasting industries.
Â· POLITICAL ECONOMY: Reframing global media theory; rethinking paradigms in the light of East Asian dynamism.
Â· CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY: The Chinese media and the Beijing Olympics: creative cities and media capitals; media outside the urban clusters.
Â· NEW MEDIA AND EMERGING REGIONAL EXPORT CULTURES: China s engagement with East Asian networks of digital production.
Â· EDUCATION: New pedagogies to engage with the global creative economy; cultural diplomacy - training Chinese journalists to engage with the international media (special panel).
Â· SERVICES, ADVERTISING, AND CREATIVE MEDIA: Cultural tourism and creative industries developments in the region; advertising and branding the new China .
Â· LEGAL AND REGULATORY ISSUES: Copyright, information management, creative commons and global trade regimes.
Abstracts of no more than 300 words should be submitted electronically through the conference website ( http://cea.cci.edu.au )
Panel proposals of no more than 300 words can be sent to Dr Michael Keane m.keane@qut.edu.au
Final submission date: 30 November 2007
For more information, visit the conference website ( http://cea.cci.edu.au ).
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[msumphil2006] Lorenzo Natali Prize for Journalists Launched

2006-10-25T06:01:00.000+05:00

Lorenzo Natali Prize for Journalists Launched
Reference: IP/06/1457 Date: 24/10/2006
HTML: EN FR DE ES NL IT
PDF: EN FR DE ES NL IT
DOC: EN FR DE ES NL IT
IP/06/1457
Brussels, 24 October 2006
Lorenzo Natali Prize for Journalists Launched
The European Commission launches today the 15^th edition of the Lorenzo Natali prize for journalists writing on topics of human rights and democracy in the developing world. A total of 50.000 EUR prize money is awarded to outstanding pieces of print and online journalism in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America/Caribbean. Submissions are welcome at www.nataliprize.eu until 31 January 2007.
The Natali prize is given annually to outstanding journalists for articles on human-rights and democracy in the developing word. With the Lorenzo Natali Prize the European Commission wishes to stress the importance of good governance, human rights and democracy for development. Commissioner Louis Michel said, âHuman rights and democratic governance are closely linked to economic and social development. Without democracy, without freedom of press, development cannot be sustainableâ.
The Lorenzo Natali Prize was established by the European Commission in 1992. It commemorates Lorenzo Natali, a former European Commissioner for Development and a fervent defender of Human Rights. His work and commitment contributed significantly to increase the importance of development cooperation within the policies of the then European Communities.
The 2006 Lorenzo Natali Prize applies to written and online press journalists who published an article on the defence of Human rights or democracy between 1^st September 2005 and 31^st December 2006. The European Commission will award prizes in each of the following 5 world regions: Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Arab Word, Iran and Israel. The deadline for entries is 31^st January 2007.
Last year, the prize attracted a record interest, with 996 nominees from 138 countries. The grand prix 2005 was awarded to the Sri Lankan journalist Ms Wjedasa Namini for the article âBlatant Relentless Child Recruitmentâ on the practice of recruiting children as soldiers by the Sri-Lankan Tamil-Tigers.
For further information:
www.nataliprize.eu
Source : http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/06/1457&amp;format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
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[msumphil2006] World Press Trends: Newspaper Circulation & Advertising Increases

2006-10-25T05:38:00.000+05:00

World Press Trends: Newspaper Circulation & Advertising Increases
Newspaper circulations worldwide rose slightly in 2005, while newspaper advertising revenues showed the largest increase in four years, the World Association of Newspapers has announced. The African continent has registered a light increase.
WANâs annual survey of world press trends, was released to more than 1,700 publishers, editors and other senior newspaper executives from 110 countries attending the 59th World Newspaper Congress and 13th World Editors Forum in Moscow, Russia.
The 700-page publication offers global and country-by-country data on circulation, advertising, free dailies, online publishing as well as advertising expenditure forecasts for the next years and information on the last trends of the newspaper industry.
WAN said global newspaper sales were up 0.56 percent over the year, and had increased 6 percent over the past five years. When free dailies are added to the paid newspaper circulation, global circulation increased 1.21 percent last year, and 7.8 percent over the past five years.
"Overall, the audience for newspapers keeps on growing, both in print and online," said Timothy Balding, Chief Executive Officer of the Paris-based WAN. "Newspapers are increasing their reach through the exploitation of a wide range of new distribution channels, ranging from daily free newspapers to online editions. They are proving to be incredibly resilient against the onslaught of a wide range of media competition."
More than 439 million people buy everyday one of the 7,700 dailies publishes in the world. Readership is estimated to be more than one billion everyday. And while new paid titles have gone down 0.3 percent worldwide, Africa has seen an increase of 4.5 percent.
The audience for newspaper websites continued to grow and increased 8.71 percent in 2005 and 200 percent over the past five years.
The World Press Trends 2006 edition is now available by contacting the World Association of Newspapers. Email: contact_us@wan.asso.fr

Source : http://www.rap21.org/article18907.html
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[msumphil2006] New file uploaded to msumphil2006

2006-10-25T05:30:00.000+05:00

Hello,

This email message is a notification to let you know that
a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the msumphil2006
group.

File : /voices-of-change.pdf
Uploaded by : arulselvans <arulselvans@yahoo.com>
Description : Voices of Change: Strategic Radio Support for Achieving the Millennium

You can access this file at the URL:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/msumphil2006/files/voices-of-change.pdf

To learn more about file sharing for your group, please visit:
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Regards,

arulselvans <arulselvans@yahoo.com>

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[msumphil2006] Voices of Change: Strategic Radio Support for Achieving the Millennium Developme

2006-10-25T05:28:00.000+05:00

Voices of Change: Strategic Radio Support for Achieving the Millennium Development Goals
Dr. Andrew Skuse
andrew.skuse@adelaide.edu.au
School of Social Science, University of Adelaide
January 2006
"This paper asserts that information and communication are located at the very core of poverty alleviation processes, from processes of community participation and empowerment, to raising broad awareness of public health issues, to providing humanitarian information during times of conflict, to promoting good governance and accountability, to complex debt relief processes or the promotion of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)."

Published by the Information and Communication for Development (ICD) team of the United Kingdom (UK)'s Department for International Development (DFID), this 32-page paper provides a summary of the scope of radio's involvement - and its potential and actual impact - in fulfilling the broader goals and targets of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. While acknowledging that a rich variety of ICD initiatives have used diverse tools - such as face-to-face or interpersonal communication, community-level communication (e.g., theatre or role-playing), mass-mediated communication, computer-based modes of information retrieval and exchange, and telecommunications via land line or mobile channels - to support achievement of the MDGs, this paper focuses explicitly on radio, which "constitutes a communications mainstay for millions of poor people in the South."

To begin, the document explores the ways in which radio can play - and has played - a role in raising public awareness and support for the MDGs, which the author suggests is "critical to their achievement". Additional chapters detail how radio has been used in specific contexts and ways around the world to sustain livelihoods (agriculture and enterprise), help people claim a voice and be heard (human rights and equality), support better health and education, and prevent/mitigate conflict and natural disasters. The paper's core premise is that ICD initiatives are central to upholding the rights of economically poor people to receive and share information - and thus lie at the core of poverty reduction efforts.

A key purpose of this paper is on the role of overseas development aid (ODA) in sustaining and supporting radio-based communication initiatives. To that end, throughout his review of the "broad range of radio-based sectoral activity undertaken in support of...the MDGs", the author offers specific suggestions for the DFID in sustaining and supporting radio as a communication tool to address poverty and other development issues around the world. For instance:
Stimulating a vibrant media environment could involve supporting civil society and non-governmental organisations to advocate for media deregulation and plurality at community and national level, as well as in making community radio licence applications. DFID could also continue to help build media environments in which there is a clear separation of state and national media and which are based on regulatory frameworks that emphasise the rights and responsibilities of journalists and broadcasters.
Increasing the equality of access to radio and supporting the realisation of rights could involve enhancing the ability of economically poor people to own or access radio technology and invest in cheap and sustainable energy sources (e.g., solar). DFID could also strengthen investigative journalism and radio-based advocacy work within community and national broadcasters. Finally, supporting radio initiatives that improve women's access, such as through listening groups or training for women broadcasters, is suggested.
Strengthening radio's health and educational content could involve providing direct training for public radio staff in "pro-poor content creation" and by supporting non-governmental organisation (NGOs) which are developing content independently of the sector. DFID could also consider focusing on radio-based educational opportunities for children excluded from formal learning, as well as content related to child mortality, maternal health, and communicable diseases.
Promoting sustainable livelihoods could involve modernising and strengthening national broadcasters' approaches to farm broadcasting, and deepening radio content related to sustainable environmental management, small enterprise and transition economies, and so on.
Supporting radio's role in conflict and disaster prevention and mitigation could involve providing training to public, commercial, and community broadcasters in conflict prevention, mitigation, and inter-ethnic dialogue and reporting. DFID could also strengthen humanitarian information by supporting emergency broadcasting interventions and the provision of radio to the vulnerable/displaced, as well as helping develop disaster preparedness and mitigation broadcasting.
Enhancing our knowledge of radio's role in the realisation of the MDGs could involve strengthening work in monitoring and evaluation (M&E) through the development of simple M&E resource guides, such as simple-to-use social research tools for community radio practitioners. DFID could also help partner governments (national public media) and the independent ICD sector in developing formative research and impact evaluation strategies.
In conclusion, the author suggests that "technological and informational empowerment underpins the ability of poor communities to realise their own voice. Therefore, access to radio and support for the development of useful and useable content remains critical. When combined, these two capacity building thrusts can help poor people realise a voice, and realising a voice has long been identified as fundamental to effective community participation in development."

Click here for the full document in PDF format.

Contact:
Dr. Andrew Skuse
School of Social Science, University of Adelaide
andrew.skuse@adelaide.edu.au

ICT Team, DFID
Tel: 44 (0) 20 7023 1743 / 0286
ICD@dfid.gov.uk

Source: ICD team page on the DFID website.

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[msumphil2006] 4th Annual International Photoshare Photo Contest

2006-10-25T05:26:00.000+05:00

4th Annual International Photoshare Photo Contest
For development photos...
Deadline: November 10 2006

Photoshare is seeking - from across the globe - photos of programmes in action, pictures illustrating the realities of urban and rural life in developing countries, or snapshots from personal travels, volunteer service, or work experience. Winning photos receive cash and/or a Canon digital camera.

Participants may submit one photo per category (8 photos maximum):
Family Planning and Reproductive Health
HIV/AIDS
Environment
Agricultural & Economic Development
Democracy & Governance
Humanitarian Assistance
Global Health (open subject)
Human Interest (open subject)
Deadline for entries is November 10 2006.

Winning photos and photographers will be publicly announced and featured on the Photoshare website in December 2006.

Click here for more information and to download the electronic entry form.

Contact:
JHU/CCP Photoshare Contest
Attn: David Alexander
111 Market Place, Suite 310
Baltimore, MD 21202
United States
Tel: 410-659-6280
Fax: 410-659-6266
photoshare@infoforhealth.org
Photoshare website

Source: Hipnet Digest, Vol 5, Issue 19, August 23 2006.

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[msumphil2006] Award for Best Public Announcement on HIV and AIDS

2006-10-25T05:25:00.000+05:00

Award for Best Public Announcement on HIV and AIDS
by Javad Mottaghi
The Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) is happy to announce a world award for the Best Public Service Announcement on HIV and AIDS. The award is to promote quality Radio programming related to HIV and AIDS.
The entry form (enclosed) with a copy of the programme(s), along with a full English translation should reach the AIBD not later than 1st of December 2006.
A jury composed of experts and broadcast professionals will select the best entries, and the awards will be announced during the Asia Media Summit 2007.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your
cooperation. Looking forward to receiving the entries from your organization. Any question or enquiry about these awards should be addressed to AIBD through admin@aibd.org.my.

Source : http://www.aibd.org.my/
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[msumphil2006] Child labour and the media

2006-10-24T16:57:00.000+05:00

Child labour and the media
REPORTING ON CHILD LABOUR
Missing links
Few of the reports that appeared in the press in the two-week survey
period told readers anything they did not already know. Ammu Joseph
surveys media reports of child labour as the Centre's widened ban on
employing children in hazardous occupations comes into effect.

http://www.indiatog ether.org/ 2006/oct/ ajo-misslink. htm

REPORTING ON CHILD LABOUR
Missing links - II
Only a systematic review of past policies and efforts can shed light
on why child labour continues unabated in the country. Without such
analysis, it will be impossible to call the official bluff, and we
will continue to witness grandstanding that relies on the short
attention span of the media and the public, writes Ammu Joseph.

http://www.indiatog ether.org/ 2006/oct/ ajo-misslink2. htm
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[msumphil2006] Balancing freedom and social responsibility

2006-10-24T16:49:00.000+05:00

Balancing freedom and social responsibility
S. Nagesh Kumar
`Judicial interpretation a key determinant of the strength of press freedom and a great contribution to democracy'
Photo: Satish H.

N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu , arriving with the Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, G.S. Singhvi, to deliver the A.P. High Court Golden Jubilee Commemoration lecture on `Freedom and Accountability' in Hyderabad on Sunday.
HYDERABAD: The Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu , N. Ram, said here on Saturday that the creative and progressive interpretation by the higher judiciary of Article 19 (1) (A) of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and expression, was a key and perhaps the leading determinant of India's enviable position among developing countries in the matter of press freedom.
While there was still some way to go before catching up with developed countries, he observed, the role the judiciary played in protecting press freedom, establishing it on strong ground, and even giving it a special place in the constitutional scheme was a tremendous contribution to democracy. Other key determinants of the strength of press freedom in India were the active participation of significant sections of the press in the freedom struggle, the experience of fighting a battery of anti-press laws instituted by the British Raj, and the unusually liberal attitude of independent India's first rulers, notably Jawaharlal Nehru who showed a commendable appreciation of the value of a free and independent press.
Emergency experience
The "one major exception to such generalisations," Mr. Ram noted, came during the Emergency of 1975-77. When democratic freedoms and fundamental rights came under unprecedented attack, when censorship was slapped down on the press, and when journalists were arbitrarily detained along with political leaders and a large number of activists, the response of the press, barring a few exceptions, was "very poor" and "the failure of the higher judiciary to protect the democratic rights of the Indian people" was equally disappointing. However, if in that particular crisis "both our institutions did not measure up to expectations, it was a valuable learning experience and I don't think anything like that could happen again."
Mr. Ram was delivering the fourth commemorative lecture at the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh on "Freedom & Accountability: The Media in relation to the Judiciary." The lecture, organised on Diwali day by the High Court and the Andhra Pradesh High Court Advocates' Association, was attended by Chief Justice G.S. Singhvi, other judges of the High Court, retired Supreme Court judges, members of the subordinate judiciary, lawyers, law students, administrators, and members of the public.
Three concerns
Mr. Ram, however, identified three areas of concern for press freedom in India the outmoded and illiberal law of criminal defamation, the use of contempt of court powers by some courts and some judges in a manner that suggested intolerance, and the misuse of privileges and contempt powers claimed by some legislatures. Advocating immediate de-criminalisation of the law of defamation, he quoted Rajeev Dhavan as saying "the process was the punishment." The Supreme Court, he recalled, had constituted a Constitution Bench on a petition filed by The Hindu challenging Sections 499 & 500 of the Indian Penal Code; and another Constitution Bench to hear the newspaper's challenge of sky-high privileges claimed by legislatures to punish journalists and citizens for critical writings about the legislatures or their members.
Contempt of court
Mr. Ram quoted a paper titled "The Boundaries of Press Freedom: Some Issues" given by N. Ravi, Editor, The Hindu at a colloquium organised by the Media Development Foundation as pointing out that "the Indian law of contempt of court is perhaps the most restrictive among the constitutional democracies" and also that there is a "built in unfairness in a contempt case where the court acts as judge, jury and hangman rolled into one, and judges are judging their own cause." He regretted that their frequent use had exposed intolerance among certain sections of the judiciary. However, he appreciated the just relief journalists, including The Hindu 's journalists in 2003, have got from the higher judiciary whenever they encountered high-handedness from legislatures. Mr. Ram added that when someone close to Rajdeep Sardesai, Editor-in-Chief of CNN-IBN, who the Uttar Pradesh Assembly ordered the police to bring before it in a privilege case, asked him what needed to be done to protect this senior journalist, his simple advice based on The Hindu 's experience was "Just go to the Supreme Court!" As everyone knows, Mr. Ram pointed out, the immediate problem had been solved by the U.P. Government assuring the court that Mr. Sardesai would not be arrested and the journalist agreeing to go to the Assembly on his own, without any police escort of course.
Dynamic growth
Providing an overview of the Indian media, he said since they had become very big players, issues of freedom, accountability, and social responsibility had become more important than ever before. Media growth in India was buoyant and dynamic, contrasting with the difficult, even gloomy situation faced by newspapers and also broadcast television in "many mature media markets, that is in many developed countries." The World Association of Newspapers, in its latest survey, has put India's newspaper circulation, at 79 million, next only to China's, at 97 million; and then came Japan, the United States, and Germany. It has also pointed out that a stunning 70 per cent of the world's top circulated dailies are published in Asia. According to the National Readership Study 2006, daily newspapers in India had a combined readership of 204 million and broadcast television had an audience of nearly 450 million drawn from 112 million households. Estimates of the number of internet users in India vary from 13 million according to NRS 2006 to 35 million suggested by some surveys. But this was still a very low base for the Internet considering India's population and resources.
Internet impact
The point about these figures, Mr. Ram said, was that while newspaper circulation and readership were apparently in "inexorable, irreversible decline" in most developed countries as the younger generation had got used to getting whatever news it wanted free from the Internet, in India the low level of Internet penetration combined with the buoyancy and dynamism in the growth of newspapers and broadcast television channels provided the old media time and space to "avoid the mistakes made by newspapers and broadcast television in mature media markets and get the answers right." Quoting the British media guru, John Naughton, as saying that [in developed countries] the Internet was in the process of becoming "the dominant player in the media eco-system," displacing broadcast television, he said that such a process was nowhere in sight in India, with both newspapers and broadcast television being dominant in the media eco-system. He expressed confidence that all the media in India would continue to grow, adjusting to changing circumstances by learning lessons, positive as well as negative, from the developed countries.
`Incomplete freedom'
Citing an argument made in Mr. Ravi's paper about media freedom in India being "an incomplete freedom," Mr. Ram pointed out that it was unfortunate that the Article 19 freedom of speech and expression made available to a virtually privileged press through judicial interpretation was not available to the broadcast media, on account of arguments that are now clearly outmoded. As a newspaper journalist, he wanted the same degree of freedom to be available to television and radio. But the paradox of the Indian situation was that while terrestrial television and also radio (with the exception of FM radio, which was not allowed to do news and current affairs) continued to be a state monopoly, television broadcasts that came via satellite and cable were functioning with no broadcast law, no regulatory framework, and "no clear rules of the game," which contrasted with the situation of virtually all developed countries. Mr. Ram said a "liberal broadcast law and a liberal broadcast regulatory framework" were badly needed.
Negative trends
Mr. Ram spoke strongly in his lecture against the negative tendencies of sensationalism, tabloidisation, trivialisation, celebrity-worship, the unchecked use of hidden cameras, and so forth, in the Indian news media. Focussing on the absence of institutional mechanisms of self-regulation to give meaning to journalism's accountability and social responsibility, The Hindu 's Editor-in-Chief said this was "the real challenge before us," since harping on freedom without demonstrating accountability and social responsibility would weaken the position of the media in society.
He said that historically the Indian press had won its special place because of these positive roles it played, which he identified as "the credible-informational, the critical-investigative, the educational, and the agenda-building functions."
The Hindu had worked out for itself, over 128 years, "its Panchsheel for socially responsible and ethical journalism the principles of truth telling, freedom and independence, justice, humaneness, and contribution to social good."
He said that there were several examples of good, serious investigative journalism by Indian newspapers but the recent practice chastised by the apex court of venal paparazzi sting operations, of freelance `journalists' going from one television broadcaster to another to sell their spy camera footage to the higher bidder, "must make the media hang down their heads in shame."
Self-regulation
Observing that the Press Council of India had become a weakened institution and newspapers did not take it seriously any more, Mr. Ram called for the formulation of a Code of Practice along the lines of the voluntary code drawn up by newspaper publishers and editors in the U.K. and enforced by the Press Complaints Commission. The U.K. Code of Practice laid down clear and specific rules of the game, among other things requiring newspapers and editors to give the affected party an opportunity to reply, prevent journalistic intrusion into grief, protect children against being interviewed without supervision, show great care in the coverage of hospitals, and prohibit the use of clandestine devices unless legitimate methods did not yield information and the public interest justified such use in exceptional cases.
Mr. Ram reminded the audience that in a recent panel discussion on NDTV's 24x 7, Prannoy Roy, Vinod Mehta, and he, representing different media sectors, had agreed that a Code of Practice specific to Indian conditions must be drafted as soon as possible and presented to the serious sections of the media for wider discussion and acceptance.
Readers' Editor
Mr. Ram recalled that The Hindu had, following The Guardian's exemplary model, introduced in March 2006 the institution of the Readers' Editor, an internal news ombudsman of independence and integrity, and that the institution was functioning excellently, with clear benefit to the newspaper and its readers; and that Rajasthan Patrika and Sakal had subsequently appointed their own readers' editors. Mr. Ram wanted other newspapers and media organisations to institute such self-corrective and self-regulating mechanisms and added that public pressure on the media to do this would help.
Justice T. Meena Kumari, Judge, A.P. High Court, welcomed the distinguished gathering. Justice Goda Raghuram introduced the speaker while the President of the A. P. High Court Advocates' Association, G. Vidyasagar, proposed a vote of thanks.
Courtesy: http://www.hindu.com/2006/10/23/stories/2006102304041300.htm
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[msumphil2006] E-JUDICIARY IN INDIA: SOME SUGGESTIONS

2006-10-24T10:03:00.001+05:00

Electronic judiciary in India (E-judiciary in India) is no more a science fiction though much has still to be done to make it a practical and operational reality. Electronic justice in India (E-justice in India) has already found its existence to some extent and that is reasonably enough for a good beginning. The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for judicial purposes has its own advantages. The major among them is the reduction of backlog of cases, decreased costs, increased efficiency, etc. At the same time ignorance of ICT will also come with its costs for the judiciary in India. The judicial system can collapse if it fails to adopt and transform itself as per the requirements of ICT in India. It would be a good idea to train the fresh judges at the entry level and provide e-learning and classroom training to the existing and otherwise competent judicial force in India.

I. Introduction

Indian judiciary is known for its impartiality, independence and justice oriented approach. However, new frontiers are challenging its capabilities and way of functioning. Though the judiciary has tried to inculcate appropriate skills to tackle the challenges of ICT yet not much has been achieved.[1] The seriousness of this situation has not yet been realised by the otherwise capable, potent and dynamic judicial system. The first duty of a court is to do justice. If the "rule of law" has been declared to be a "basic feature" of the Constitution, which cannot be taken away even by exercising the constitutional power of amendment, then "rule of justice" is definitely above it and deserves the status of the basic feature of the constitution. This is so because the concept of justice is wider and is of greater importance than the rule of law because:

(1) The express incorporation of Article 142 in the Constitution of India assures this guarantee. The Supreme Court in exercise of its jurisdiction can pass such decree or make such order as is necessary "for doing complete justice" in any cause or matter pending before it. For instance, the Supreme Court can extend the benefit of its judgment to a case not in appeal.[2] In D.D.A v. Skipper Construction Co (P) Ltd[3] the Supreme Court observed that it is advisable to leave this power undefined and uncatalogued, so that it remains elastic enough, to be moulded to suit the given situation.

(2) There may not be any law governing any particular situation, but the justice may require taking of an immediate and inevitable action.

(3) There may be a law, which does not satisfy the present demands and requirements of the society at large.

(4) The mandates of morality require taking of an action, which is normally not taken.

(5) The concept of justice, equity and good conscience may be applicable in a given situation where the law has left a vacuum or is not addressing the problem in hand in an appropriate manner.

Thus, the courts in India to do complete justice invoke the concept of "rule of justice". This does not mean that one can ignore the concept of rule of law. It must be appreciated that both rule of law and rule of justice must go hand in hand to make the justice system just, fair and reasonable. In today's world we cannot afford to say that "justice must not only be done but it must also be seemed to be done". The concept of justice requires that:
(1) it must firstly be done in a just, fair and reasonable manner,
(2) it must be seemed to be done, and
(3) it must be "felt" to be done.

Thus, unless this third element of "felt to be done" is satisfied, the concept of justice is not complete because this third element is the most important component of justice delivery system. The public at large in India has a great faith in Indian judiciary and this third element is absolutely essential to maintain and preserve that faith and confidence. A court of law cannot render justice unless the ultimate decision is based on the contemporary law as prevailing in the society. A decision based on an old law, which does not satisfy the requirements of the present situation, and environment should be avoided. In such a situation the efforts of the courts should be to give the law a "purposive, updating and an ongoing interpretation". This position makes the interface of justice delivery system with the information technology inevitable and unavoidable. We cannot allow the dead hand of the past to stifle the growth of the living present. Law cannot stand still; it must change with the changing social concepts and values. If the bark that protects the tree fails to grow and expand along with the tree, it will either choke the tree or if it is a living tree, it will shed that bark and grow a new living bark for itself. Similarly, if the law fails to respond to the needs of changing society, then either it will stifle the growth of the society and choke its progress or if the society is vigorous enough, it will cast away the law, which stands in the way of its growth. Law must therefore constantly keep on adapting itself to the fast changing society and not lag behind.[4] Justice is supreme and justice ought to be beneficial for the society so that the society is placed in a better-off situation. Law courts exist for the society and ought to rise up to the occasion to do the needful in the matter, and as such ought to act in a manner so as to sub serve the basic requirement of the society. It is a requirement of the society and the law must respond to its need. The greatest virtue of the law is its flexibility and its adaptability; it must change from time to time so that it answers the cry of the people, the need of the hour and the order of the day. Thus, the justice delivery system cannot afford to take the information technology revolution lightly. The need of the hour is not only to provide a holistic ICT training to the judges, lawyers and law students but also to actively support and apply the same in the day to day functioning of the Courts, Tribunals and other quasi-judicial institutions.[5]

II. Judiciary and the ICT gap

The increasing backlog of cases is posing a big threat to our judicial system. The same was even more in the early 90 but due to the computerisation process in the Supreme Court and other courts that was reduced to a great extent. However, the backlog is still alarming. This is because mere computerisation of Courts or other Constitutional offices will not make much difference. What we need is a will and desire to use the same for speedy disposal of various assignments. There is a lack of training among Judges regarding use of Information Technology (IT). We need a sound training of Judges first before we wish to capatilise the benefits of IT. A good initiative has already been taken by the Supreme Court of India. However, the same appears to be dormant for the time being. Thus, we need a public initiative as well. The resource titled "Electronic Courts in India" is making a database of different situations that the Courts may face while discharging the judicial functions.[6] As far as the computerisation is concerned, the Judges of all courts in Delhi have their own computers that are as per the latest configurations. However, the need of the hour is greater than mere computers providing. For instance, there was a proposal in the Delhi High Court where every computer of the concerned Judges was to be connected to the Central computer. Thus, whenever something is typed it would automatically go to the central computer and from there we can have the "Certified copies" of the concerned documents. That proposal has been applied to a greater extent and now it is much easier to get the certified copies. Further, cause lists, name of the Judges, Court numbers, name of the lawyers, etc are all available on the Internet. That has also facilitated the speedier disposal of cases. However, we need more. We need a complete utilisation of ICT for the effective disposal of cases and witness protection. For instance we can use the facility of "Video Conferencing" on a large scale. Presently, it is used in some cases. We can use the concept of electronic governance for Witness protection. We can use the medium of Internet for filing of cases, bail applications, serving of notices, etc. These are some of the issues that are above mere computerisation. With the present pace, it may take at least 10 more years to be adopted. If we all take some pain and provide our own contributions that that task may be achieved within 1 year. Then another concern is regarding the security of the ICT infrastructure. We can provide the concerned officer with the necessary training but it is very difficult to make them technically aware about the security aspects. Thus, a technological base must also be established at the Court that may provide the security inputs to the Courts. A special attention must be paid to the Cyber Forensics aspect. It is useful for the Investigative, Prosecution and the judicial authorities.

The real problem is not the functioning/management part but the procedural part. The procedural laws like Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, Indian Evidence Act, 1872 are too cumbersome that lot of precious years of parties are wasted. At this point we can use the ICT to speed up and streamline the judicial system. The first step is to lay down a foundation for e-governance and then we must effectively use the ICT for the betterment of Indian Judicial system. We have to cover a long distance yet because mere computerisation will not serve any purpose. If we have to succeed we have to learn to digitise papers and provide free and easy access to the litigants and other players involved with the system. We must learn how to establish a base for electronic filing, how to use e-mails and chatting systems for serving notices, summons and warrants and how to get the presence of the crucial witnesses through video-conferencing, etc. The safest bet is for the witness who can be sufficiently protected from the retaliatory tactics of the offenders by an active use of ICT base. Let us hope that these initiatives will be adopted very soon.[7] Alternatively, we have to use the tool of purposive, updating and creative interpretation that is a potential and effective tool in the hands of the judiciary.

III. Witness protection and whistleblowing

The role model for governance and decision taken thereon should manifest equity, fair play and justice. The cardinal principle of governance in a civilized society based on rule of law not only has to base on transparency but also must create an impression that the decision-making was motivated on the consideration of probity. The government has to rise above the nexus of vested interests and nepotism and eschew window-dressing. The act of governance has to withstand the test of judiciousness and impartiality and avoid arbitrary or capricious actions. Therefore, the principle of governance has to be tested on the touchstone of justice, equity and fair play. Though on the face of it the decision may look legitimate but as a matter of fact the reasons may not be based on values but to achieve popular accolade that decision cannot be allowed to operate. The primary responsibilities for bringing such affairs before the courts lie with the whistleblowers. This process, however, has its own perils and deleterious effects. Thus, the life and limb of these whistleblowers should be duly protected. The traditional methods of protection of these whistleblowers though are effective but are not free from risks and lacunas. The use of information technology, particularly a sound e-governance base, can safeguard the interest of justice in the most benign manner. The whistleblowers are protected, as they are not exposed to the retaliatory tactics of the persons exposed by them. At the same time valuable evidences are also made available to the courts to do complete justice. The use of video- conferencing and web-meetings can solve most of the problems associated with the evidence giving. The whistleblowers can be testified by using these technological devices that are readily available at the disposal of the courts. It is no bravery to expose the crucial witnesses and whistleblowers to the risks of retaliatory tactics adopted by hard-core criminals. The prudent judicial system should maintain a balance between the interest of justice on the one hand and the interest of the whistleblowers on the other. A crucial witness or a whistleblower need not to be taken to the court premises if a sound e-governance base are in vogue. The time, money, efforts and resources consumed in bringing the whistleblowers is on a much higher footing as compared to the use of e-governance for the same. The evidence of these whistleblowers can be recorded and its recorded version can be transmitted to the court along with a copy of the same. The evidence so recorded is of durable nature and can prevent the miscarriage of justice. Thus, the maintaining of e-record is also important in maintaining an apposite judicial system and for meeting the ends of justice. For instance, if the records of the proceedings are destroyed due to natural calamities and their reconstruction is not possible, then the court has no other option but to acquit the accused. An electronic record is not only durable but can be easily stored as well. It must be noted that in majority of cases the witnesses do not come forward to give evidence and many important pieces of evidences are lost forever. This results in acquittal of the accused and a miscarriage of justice. If the identity of the witnesses is concealed and their evidence has been obtained by the use of e-governance, then justice can be administered in its most judicious manner. A sound judicial system requires proper evidencing and the same is a risky affair on all counts. This is not a case of dissatisfaction with either the justice administration system or the law enforcement system but the natural and human tendency that must be recognised and accepted. The courts must stress on obtaining as much evidence as possible. The same can be done by primarily relying upon a sound e-governance base, though traditional methods of evidencing can be also be used to supplement it. Thus, the future of whistleblowing is very bright in India, as the "electronic justice delivery system" has already found a place in the Indian legal system.[8]

IV. Conclusion

The advent of information technology has changed the mode of working of almost all the spheres of the life. The justice delivery system has also been benefited by this technological revolution. The "E-justice system" has already found its existence in India.[9] However, the same requires rejuvenation keeping in mind the contemporary needs and standards. We must concentrate on the "futuristic aspect" of the use of ICT for justice administration.[10] We have to test various standards and policies over a period of time to make them compatible with the Indian socio-economic realities. We have to learn to live in a digital environment as well as in future most of the dealing will be taken care of by the online environment. The standards set by foreign countries, particularly developed nations, must not be followed blindly rather they must be tested on the touch stone of "Indianised environment" before applying the same. The "common sense" seems to be the best choosing criteria. It would be in the interest of Indian judicial system that a sound and effective ICT training must be imparted to the Judges, Lawyers, professionals and students. The concept of e-learning in India has already taken a shape and it is proceeding in the right direction.[11] E-learning can provide valuable inputs and training to the crucial members of judicial system in India. The means to achieve the same are there and we have to wait for the will to learn and apply these much needed skills.[12]

© Praveen Dalal. All rights reserved with the author.
* Arbitrator, Consultant and Advocate, Supreme Court of India.
Managing Partner-Perry4law (Legal Firm)
Ph.D Cyber Forensics (Pursuing).
Contact at: perry4law@yahoo.com, pd37@rediffmail.com

[1] B.S.Dalal, " Judicial reforms in India: An ICT perspective", http://bsdalal.blogspot.com/2006/09/judicial-reforms-in-india-ict.html
[2] Manganese Ore v. Chande, AIR 1991 SC 520.
[3] AIR 1996 SC 2005.
[4] Justice Bhagwati in National Textile Worker's Union v. P.R.Ramakrishnan, (1983) 1 SCC 228, at p. 256.
[5] B.S.Dalal, " Judicial reforms in India: An ICT perspective", http://bsdalal.blogspot.com/2006/09/judicial-reforms-in-india-ict.html
[6] http://indian-judiciary.blogspot.com/
[7] Praveen Dalal," ICT strategy in India: The need of rejuvenation", http://cyberlawindia.blogspot.com/2006/07/ict-strategy-in-india-need-of.html
[8] Praveen Dalal, "Witness protection and e-governance", http://cyberlawindia.blogspot.com/2006/03/witness-protection-and-e-governance.html
[9] Praveen Dalal, " Electronic governance and justice in India", http://indian-judiciary.blogspot.com/2006/01/electronic-governance-and-justice-in.html
[10] Praveen Dalal, " ICT strategy in India: The need of rejuvenation", http://cyberlawindia.blogspot.com/2006/07/ict-strategy-in-india-need-of.html
[11] Praveen Dalal, " E-learning in India", http://cyberlawindia.blogspot.com/2006/09/e-learning-in-india.html
[12] B.S.Dalal, " Judicial reforms in India: An ICT perspective", http://bsdalal.blogspot.com/2006/09/judicial-reforms-in-india-ict.html

posted by PRAVEEN DALAL
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[msumphil2006] THE LEGALITY OF STING OPERATIONS UNDER THE PROPOSED IT ACT AMENDMENTS

2006-10-24T10:03:00.000+05:00

THE LEGALITY OF STING OPERATIONS UNDER THE PROPOSED IT ACT AMENDMENTS

This is my personal opinion and not a legal advice. Any person who wishes to take an action based upon this opinion must get it confirmed first from a competent advocate and then apply his/her mind independently.

I. Introduction

While analysing the proposed IT Act Amendments, the privacy aspects were also discussed at http://perry4law.blogspot.com/2005/09/critical-analysis-of-proposed-it-act.html . I think it is high time that the "privacy aspect" must be discussed in some detail now.

II. The relevant provision

The relevant provision that may be used for countering the "sting operations" is section 72(3) that reads:

(3) Whoever intentionally captures or broadcasts an image of a private area of an individual without his consent, and knowingly does so under circumstances violating the privacy of that individual, shall be liable to pay compensation not exceeding Rs. 25 lakhs to the person so affected, and shall also be liable for imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or with fine not exceeding Rs 2 Lakhs, or with both on the complaint of the person so affected.

However, section 72(4) bars the courts from taking cognizance of any offense punishable under sub-section (3) except upon a complaint filed by the aggrieved person in writing before a Magistrate.

III. Right to privacy

Article 21 of the constitution confers the right to privacy. This is not expressly mentioned in it but the same has been enunciated by way of judicial interpretation by the Supreme Court. It is personal in nature and only the concerned person has a right to control it subject to the restrictions imposed by the law.

In Kharak Singh v. state of UP (1963) justice Subba Rao, while expressing the minority view, laid down the foundations for the development of law of privacy in India and observed that the concept of `liberty' in article 21 was comprehensive enough to include privacy.

In Gobind v. State of MP (1975) the Supreme Court observed that `right to privacy' must encompass and protect the personal intimacies of the home, the family, marriage, motherhood, procreation and child bearing.

In R.Rajagopal v. State of TN (1994) the Supreme Court held that the right to privacy is a `right to be let alone'. None can publish anything concerning the above matters without his consent, whether truthful or otherwise and whether laudatory or critical. If he does so, he would be violating the right to privacy of the person concerned and would be liable in an action for damages.

In Mr. X v. Hospital Z (1998) the Supreme Court held that the right to privacy may, apart from contract, also arise out of a particular specific relationship, which may be commercial, matrimonial or even political. Public disclosure of even true private facts may amount to an invasion of the right to privacy.

In this background the legality of sting operations must be judged.

IV. Legality of sting operations under IT Act, 2000[1].

The proposed analysis will be made by ansewring certain queries:

(a) What are the provisions that are likely to have an impact, implicitly or explicitly, on "sting operations"?

(a) Section 72(3) of the proposed IT Act amendments may "impliedly" cover a "sting operation" that is "vulgar" in nature. It cannot be applied to any other sting operation.

(b) Does the proposed amendments take into account that "sting operations" justify invasion of privacy for a larger public interest?

(b) No. The proposed IT Act Amendment is not considering that aspect either expressly or impliedly. That, however, cannot be excluded since the Constitution of India warrants such inclusion.

(c) If the amendments are passed, and a TV channel conducts an operation, would the courts be able to take the "public interest journalism" issue into account?

(c) Yes. The court will take the "public interest journalism" into consideration except where that is used for "adventure", "news making", "vulgar reporting", etc.

(d) If national interest is being compromised in the comfort of privacy, would the invasion of privacy be justifiable under the provisions of the act and/or before a court of law?

(d) If national interest is involved then there cannot be a question of either invasion or violation of privacy right.

(e) What prompted the government to introduce this provision in the proposed IT Act amendments?

(e) The secret video recording that is frequently found these days is the real reason for this provision and it should be strictly confined to that aspect only. The sting operations must be excluded from the ambit of this provision unless where they were used for "adventure", "news making", "vulgar reporting", etc.

(f) Will it cover "sting operation" not involving capturing of private parts?

(f) The proposed amendments can never include sting operation not covering "vulgar recordings".

V. Conclusion

In short, the traditional sting operations are not covered by the proposed amendments and only "vulgar recording" is covered. Further, every recording involving `private parts" is not per se vulgar and it depends upon the facts and circumstances of each case. If the reporting is "predominantly" meant for some other "purpose", including making public an "offence or contravention", then merely because some private parts were also recorded should not make it an offence under this provision. However, the media must take "precautions" and "avoid" showing the actual facts and details as they are. These facts and details must be kept for the appraisal of the court only and media must not make them public unless anonymity is maintained in all its aspects. Otherwise, it may find itself in trouble.

[1] Liability under other statutes is excluded and not discussed in this work.

I express my sincere thanks to Mr Shivam Vij for his intelligent questions and conversation in this regard.

posted by PRAVEEN DALAL
Courtesy: http://cyberlawindia.blogspot.com/2005/11/legality-of-sting-operations-under.html
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Government plans web portal

2006-09-28T19:16:00.000+05:00
BY HERALD REPORTERPANJIM, SEPT 13 — The Department of Information Technology (IT) is in the process of drawing up a proposal to launch a single web portal for Government departments so that e-governance becomes a reality. The web portal will serve as a virtual link for the public to carry out transactions such as payment of bills, applications or issue of certificates from Government departments among other services. Nearly 617 services have been identified according to T H Rao, Director of Department of IT. He said, “With such a portal, people will have a virtual contact with Government departments.” People will be able to pay electricity or water bills, apply for issue of birth certificates etc. Since the number of services identified are large, the proposal will be implemented in a phased manner, according to Rao. The project proposal is still in the preliminary stage, according to Rao. The cost estimates have not yet been drawn up. Today, the department had a meeting with the Chief Secretary. “The Chief secretary has directed the department to launch the first phase by December this year,” said Rao. The proposal will be presented for Government approval in a month, according to Rao. He said that the volume of transactions in various Government departments will be checked. In the first phase, those services which have a large number of transactions will be covered, said Rao. Around 20 services will be provided in the first phase.

India grants press accreditation to online journalists, finally

2006-09-28T19:15:00.000+05:00
The Indian government has decided to grant accreditation to online journalists. The new Accreditation Guidelines for media persons have introduced the category of web journalists.
The Union Ministry of Information & Broadcasting which grants accreditation to Indian as well as foreign mediapersons through its media unit Press Information Bureau (PIB), has revised the existing guidelines keeping in view the changes in media scenario. Raising the quota for existing media organisations by approximately 50 per cent is one of the major amendments, a statement issued by PIB said.
A new category ‘Long and Distinguished Service’ has been introduced for working journalists of over 65 years of age to “acknowledge their long innings and standing” in the field of journalism. Revision of eligibility criteria for electronic media, news agencies and freelance journalists are other important features of the revised accreditation rules.
In the case of newspapers, while the requirement of minimum 10,000 circulation copies remains unchanged for being eligible for grant of accreditation, some modifications have been brought about in the minimum number of pages.
The guidelines were last reviewed/revised in 1999 and a relook at the existing provisions and amendments thereto was necessitated due to factors such as major developments in the media scenario, super specialisation in various segments of reporting, rise in the number of 24-hour news channels and media organisations branching out in various areas of news dissemination, the PIB statement said.
The Central Press Accreditation Committee (CPAC) had also unanimously suggested the need for the proposed changes. Detailed revised guidelines are available on PIB website pib.nic.in.
© NewswatchThis item has been viewed 837 times.Permanent link: http://www.newswatch.in/?p=5820

Mobile and internet connectivity improves in least developed countries

2006-09-28T19:13:00.000+05:00
ITU to release report for Brussels Plan of Action review in New York
Geneva, 11 September 2006 — State-of-the-art information and communication technologies (ICT) can empower people to achieve their development aspirations through information and knowledge. During the past five years, many of the least developed countries (LDCs) have made remarkable progress in achieving the ICT connectivity targets set out in the Brussels Plan of Action for Least Developed Countries. These targets have been met by 25 of the 50 LDCs. The mobile sector in LDCs has grown considerably and access to the internet has also increased, providing a host of applications, such as e-education, e-health, e-business, e-agriculture, and e-government to tie in with the goals and objectives of the World Summit on the Information Society.
The International Telecommunication Union will launch a report in New York on 13 September 2006 on ICT/Telecommunication development in least developed countries. The report examines key developments in the ICT and telecommunications sector including trends and challenges in the world’s poorest countries in the period 2001 to 2005.
The ITU report will be unveiled during a special session on "Integrating Least Developed Countries (LDCs) into the world economy through telecommunications/ICT" to be held during the Mid-Term Review on implementation of the Brussels Programme of Action for Least Developed Countries for the decade 2001-2010.
The special session will review progress in ICT and telecommunications development in LDCs as well as discuss the concrete work to be implemented in the next five years in the following priority areas :
Promotion of universal, ubiquitous, equitable and affordable access to ICT in underserved areas.
Rehabilitation and reconstruction of telecommunication infrastructure in LDCs following disasters and war.
ICT for disaster management, including the dissemination of understandable warnings to those at risk.
For highlights of ITU’s success stories in Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States, click here
When:
13 September 2006
Where:
Room 8, United Nations Secretariat, New York.
Who:
All stakeholders concerned with bridging the digital divide and achieving the development goals in least developed countries.
For further information, please contact:
Mr Sanjay Acharya
Chief, Media Relations and Public Information
ITU
Tel: +41 22 730 6135E-mail Contact
Mr Cosmas Zavazava
Head
Least Developed Countries, Small Island Developing States and Emergency Telecommunications
ITU
Tel: + 41 22 730 5447
E-mail Contact
About ITU

Courtesy : http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2006/NP07.html

Communication and Natural Resource Management Experience/Theory

2006-09-28T19:11:00.000+05:00
Prepared by The Communication Initiative in collaboration with the Communication for Development Group
Extension, Education and Communication ServiceResearch, Extension and Training DivisionSustainable Development Department
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United NationsRome 2003
The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
All rights reserved. Reproduction and dissemination of material in this information product for educational or other non-commercial purposes are authorized without any prior written permission from the copyright holders provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of material in this information product for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without written permission of the copyright holders. Applications for such permission should be addressed to the Chief, Publishing Management Service, Information Division, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy or by e-mail to copyright@fao.org
© FAO 2003
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Foreword
About the authors
Introduction
Using This Book
A World of Finite Resources
Critical Perspectives
Changing Approaches to Natural Resource Management
Communication for development and Social Change
Insights and Direction
Experience 1 - Community Based Natural Resource Management - Namibia
Theme: Principles and Action
Learning Objective: To improve participants' understanding of the relationship between differing communication principles for effective change, and the planning and organisation of their actions.
Experience 2 - Pastoralist Communication - Kenya
Theme: Voices and Action
Learning Objective: To advance participants' understanding of effective communication strategies, where substantive action is sourced in the voice and perspective of the people most affected.
Experience 3 - Indigenous Forest Management - Cambodia
Theme: Issue Analysis for Action
Learning Objective: To expand participants' skills at analyzing the issues to be addressed by the communication initiative.
Experience 4 - Recovering from Conflict - Viet Nam
Theme: Contextual Analysis for Action
Learning Objective: To improve participants' skills at analyzing the contexts for change.
Experience 5 - Internet Radio - Sri Lanka
Theme: Culture and Action
Learning Objective: To expand participants' awareness of the relationship between culture, context and strategy, in developing effective communication initiatives.
Experience 6 - Regional Networking - Costa Rica and Nicaragua
Theme: Behavioural or Social Action
Learning Objective: To develop participants' ability to understand the relation between individual behaviour change and structural/social obstacles or supports to that change.
Experience 7 - Creating Local Organic Markets - Turkey
Theme: Education or Dialogue for Action
Learning Objective: To improve participant's ability to understand key differences between approaches emphasising education or dialogue and the programmatic implications of those emphases.
Experience 8 - Environmental Education and Communication Project: El Salvador, The Gambia, and Jordan
Theme: Innovation and Action
Learning Objective: To heighten participants' critical skills at matching the requirements for action with the context for that action.
Drawing Your Own Conclusions
Theme: Planning for Action
Learning Objective: To prioritise the lessons of the previous 8 experiences and reflect on how they will impact your future communication for development and NRM work.
NOTES

Courtesy : FAO http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/005/Y4737E/Y4737E00.HTM

Programme Experiences: Sara Communication Initiative - Africa

2006-09-28T19:08:00.000+05:00
Click here for the Mid-Term Evaluation: Sara: A Role Model for Girls as They Face HIV and AIDS in AfricaSummaryIn September, 1996, UNICEF-ESARO (East and Southern Africa Regional Office) officially launched the five-year Sara Communication Initiative (SCI) to research, produce, and disseminate a regional communication package on the rights of the child that emphasises gender issues. The purpose of the comic book, animated film, and supporting printed materials that made up this package was to address existing disparities in the status and treatment of girls by providing an empowering role model for girls as they face HIV and AIDS in countries in sub-Saharan Africa. (The programme later expanded into countries in Western and Central Africa.) The focus of the materials, which were designed to entertain while educating, was on promoting the survival, protection, development, and participation rights of girls and boys, drawing on formative research to articulate these rights in a way that is directly relevant to African communities.Main Communication StrategiesThe primary strategy for this initiative was a cartoon character named Sara. This 13- to 15-year-old character was created through 20 months of research that began in October, 1994. 150 African writers, artists, and researchers, as well as 8000 Africans in rural villages and peri-urban slums throughout the region, took part in Sara's development. (Formative research involving interviews and focus group discussions was conducted in 12 countries over a three-year period to assess which issues were most important to young people and to brainstorm about solutions). Sara is a charismatic heroine living in peri-urban Africa. Like many girls of her age, Sara faces nearly insurmountable socio-cultural as well as economic obstacles in her desire to reach her goals in life. But her aspirations to improve herself and her community by pursuing alternative solutions to problems is meant to be an inspiration. Sara's ability to negotiate and persuade and her determination never to give up - even in desperate situations - makes her a dynamic role model for girls; however, the series was also designed to be inclusive of boys' needs and interests, and includes male role models. HIV/AIDS is a central theme. Many of the stories, like "Sara Saves Her Friend", were intended to educate girls and to keep them in safe school environments as long as possible. In these and other stories, rather than being presented as a victim who evokes pity and sympathy, Sara emphasises girls' potential. Sara's adventures were designed to be informative, to motivate people to change, and to address life skills necessary in certain situations. The stories were also designed to illustrate the various environmental factors that facilitate or impede positive change, either at the individual or community level. Sara's experiences were portrayed in a multi-media project that included seven episodes. These episodes appeared in comic books and animated films. In addition, supporting promotional, advocacy, and informational printed materials were produced by UNICEF-ESARO. For instance, print packages to accompany each episode were created, along with posters and flip charts on various themes, such as children in armed conflict situations (Uganda). A Sara life skills manual was developed as a resource for in-school and out-of-school programmes in the region (to be published in 2003). A trainers' resource manual for prevention of female genital cutting was also completed (for publication in 2003). Sara promotional and advocacy materials were been developed by UNICEF-ESARO, Tanzania, Mozambique, Uganda, Malawi, Rwanda and Ethiopia. Finally, a guidebook for artists was created. In addition, there were other national-level offshoots of SCI. In various countries in East, Southern, and West Africa, training workshops and Sara discussion groups were held to help various stakeholders use Sara materials. Peer educators helped establish Sara clubs; materials were distrubted to schools. Sara videos were also screened to audiences in rural areas, as well as broadcast on national television and BBC radio. Local Sara materials were developed (and translations completed), as well as songs and dramas based on Sara stories. To cite only one example, in Uganda, the Straight Talk Foundation's newspaper magazine, Young Talk, began incorporating Sara since the mid-1990s. It has a monthly print run of 280,000 copies of which 16 copies are distributed in English to each of 12,000 primary schools in Uganda.Development IssuesChildren, Youth, Girls, Gender, Rights, HIV/AIDS.Key PointsIn Sub-Saharan Africa, many of the rights of children are not recognised or protected by their families and communities. Lack of respect for rights in the areas of labour, education, and health care has been documented. Many children lack protection from harmful traditional practices, neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse and exploitation. In the past decade, HIV/AIDS has become the greatest new threat to children's well being and survival. Among young people between the ages of 15 and 24 in Eastern and Southern Africa, females are up to six times more likely to be infected than males (UNAIDS, June 2000). One of the fundamental causes of HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa is gender inequity (SIDA, Nov. 1998; Long and Ankrah, 1996). The rights of African girls are less recognised and valued than those of boys. Because girls' primary role is child bearing and nurturing, girls learn to take on a subservient role at an early age. This leads to a lack of basic psychosocial skills, such as the ability to communicate wishes assertively, to think critically and creatively, to make decisions and negotiate, to solve problems in social relationships, to resist pressure, and to and cope with emotions and conflict. SCI was launched in response to these problems and as a follow-up to the Meena Initiative in South Asia. Phase 1 took place from September 1994 to August 1996. UNICEF-ESARO hosted several regional training workshops for African researchers, writers, and artists. Research was conducted in 10 countries in 1995. A radio series was then developed through collaboration with the BBC Education Department. English, French, Portuguese, Swahili and Hausa voices were then recorded for the animated film and radio series using African talent in Nairobi, Abidjan, Maputo, Dar-es-Salaam and Kaduna, respectively. Capacity building of artists and research assistants followed. In 1999, a mid-term evaluation was conducted. Among other studies, a quantitative survey was conducted in 25 districts in Tanzania. The 2 to 3 years of SCI's implementation resulted in the following:
Out of 635 girls interviewed in 25 districts, 32.4% could correctly identify Sara when shown an illustration.
18.4% of girls interviewed said that they had read the comic books.
14.8% said they had shared the story with others.
14.3% of the girls interviewed had been exposed to the comic books at school.
10.2% of girls interviewed had heard the radio show.
15.3% of girls interviewed had seen a Sara video.
13.4% of girls interviewed had seen the poster for episode 1. PartnersUNICEF, UNAIDS, BBC, and various partners from governmental, non-governmental, and media organisations.For more information, contact:Justus OlieloProject Officer, Sara Communication Initiative, UNICEF - ESAROP.O. Box 4414500100, Nairobi, KenyaTel.: 254-2-622183Fax: 254-2-622679jolielo@unicef.org SourceLetter sent from Justus Olielo to The Communication Initiative on January 30, 2003; and "Meena and Sara: Two Characters in Search of a Brighter Future for Girls" by Neill McKee & Christian Clark - available on the Animation World Network site.

Courtesy : SOUL BEAT AFRICA ... Communication for Change portal

Press union launches Web site featuring news, poetry

2006-09-28T19:06:00.000+05:00
Region :NoneCountry :PakistanTopic :Press Freedom, Internet
14/09/2006
The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) have launched a new Web site to help its members connect, and to spread press freedom news.
PFUJ was established in 1950 to fight for media workers’ rights and working conditions. The Web site contains more information on the group’s history, along with special sections including photos and poetry in Urdu. There is also a membership section for those interested in joining PFUJ.
For more information, contact pfuj_pak@!yahoo.com or visit http://www.pfuj.info/.

Young journalists eligible for internship program in the U.S.

2006-09-28T19:05:00.000+05:00
Region :WorldwideCountry :NoneTopic :Fellowships and Awards, Young Journalists, Study Abroad, International Experience
18/09/2006English-speaking journalism students worldwide who are interested in gaining work experience in the United States can apply for the Scripps Howard Semester in Washington Internship Program until October 1.
The program, administered by the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), will bring one fellow to Washington, D.C. for 10 to 14 weeks starting in January to write news and feature stories for the Scripps Howard news service. The program covers all travel, living and insurance expenses, and is organized three times each year.
ICFJ is a Washington, D.C.-based media assistance organization that organizes training events, fellowships and conferences worldwide. ICFJ also publishes the International Journalists’ Network.For more information and applications, contact Katherine Wagenblass at kwagenblass@icfj.org, or visit www.icfj.org/shintern.html.

BBC World Debate

2006-09-28T18:55:00.000+05:00
A special edition of The World Debate, one of the BBC's flagship programs, will be filmed on Thursday 26 October at the World Congress on Communication for Development in Rome, Italy. Entitled "Is a free media essential for development?" it will be broadcast on BBC World on 28-29 October, as well as made available online.
This debate will introduce the concept of development communications to a worldwide audience unfamiliar with the term. It will involve a panel of guests drawn from policy makers, international organizations and the media. Conference delegates will be invited to pose a limited number of questions to the panel.
Participants will be encouraged to discuss the media's role in promoting health and education, as well as holding governments to account. Participants will also be asked what they mean by a "free" media and whether they fear state control in many developing countries is being replaced by control by private media operators.
The World Debate is a series of discussion programs broadcast regularly on BBC World television and BBC World Service radio from around the globe, mediated by senior channel presenters. Questioning and insightful, The World Debate programs put the important questions to those in the spotlight, including representatives from global politics, finance, business, the arts, media and other arenas.
This debate will be chaired by Stephen Sackur, a leading BBC presenter who usually presents HARDtalk, the current affairs interview program on BBC World and BBC News 24. Previously, Stephen was the BBC's Europe correspondent and, prior to that, the BBC's Washington correspondent.
This debate is being organized by the BBC World Service Trust, which is also producing two short films for the Congress on the role of communications in promoting good governance and health. The Trust is the international development arm of the BBC that works with people in developing and transitional countries to improve the quality of their lives through the innovative use of the media.
Transmission Times
"The World Debate: Is a Free Media Essential For Development?" will be broadcast at the following time on BBC World (all times GMT):
Saturday 28 October: 12.10 p.m. / 7.10 p.m.
Sunday 29 October: 1.10 a.m. / 8.10 a.m. / 5.10 p.m.

Experienced journalists eligible for fellowship

2006-09-28T18:52:00.000+05:00
Experienced journalists eligible for fellowshipRegion :Asia and the PacificCountry :PhilippinesTopic :Fellowships and Awards08/09/2006Asian journalists interested in a master's program featuring onlinecourses in ethics, media laws and basic reporting at the Ateneo deManila University, can apply for one of 15 fellowships. Applicationdeadline: October 31.The Asian Center for Journalism (ACFJ) awards cover the cost oftuition, travel, accommodation and books for the 2007 to 2008 schoolyear. The Konrad Adenauer Asian Center for Journalism at the Ateneo deManila University has organized the fellowships annually since 2003.Applicants must be full-time staff members of a news organization inAsia who have proved their leadership skills and commitment tojournalism.For more information or to apply, contact newsroom@admu. edu.ph,telephone +632-926-3253, or visit http://acfj. ateneo.edu

Fwd: Job Opportunity : Drishti/Video Volunteers

2006-08-05T05:18:00.000+05:00
Posted by: "Tarun Udwala" tarun.udwala@gmail.com tarunudgir
Thu Aug 3, 2006 11:45 pm (PST)
Job OpportunityPosted by: "Stalin K" stalink123@gmail.comWed Aug 2, 2006 12:42 pm (PST)

*Drishti/Video Volunteers is seeking a PROGRAM COORDINATOR for its Community Video program*

*Organization and Program Profile*

Drishti is a leading human rights and development organization that usesmedia, communications and the arts to strengthen India's social movementsand organizations. Video Volunteers is an international organization workingto create a global Social Media Network of community producers. Drishti andVideo Volunteers have launched seven Community Video Units (CVUs) in 3different states of India, in partnership with seven leading NGOs. Each CVUcomprises 6-10 community members who are trained in all aspects of videoproduction and who produce one "Community Video News Magazine" each month.Each Video Magazine is screened back to the community in 25 differentvillages or slum pockets to approximately 10,000 people per month.For more information on Drishti and Video Volunteers visit*www.drishtimedia.org *and *www.videovolunteers.org**Position : Program Coordinator (1 post)Location: Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India**Main Responsibilities*The coordinator will report to the director of Drishti and to the directorof Video Volunteers. S/he will play the critical role in the successfulmanagement of the CVUs and will be the point of contact for our NGO partnersand our Trainers located at each of the seven CVUs. The job will include :- *Communicating* with video trainers and NGOs: responding to emailsand phone calls related to the CVU, ensuring the timely receipt of updatesfrom Trainers; troubleshooting all issues at the CVU; conducting weeklyprogress phone calls with both the trainers and the NGOs; being the point ofcontact for all matters related to the CVU- *Monitoring and Evaluation of CVU:* compiling all data related toscreening feedback and viewer response into monthly reports- *Assisting in newsletter creation:* gathering colorful stories fromthe field and writing it for use in the website and newsletter- *Editing:* minimum duties include subtitling of CVU films andcompiling short show-reels and clips. Someone with greater skills will beable to create more advanced and fulfilling projects- *Creating the 'video library':* organizing the collection of CVUvideos that arrive each month.- *Volunteers/Intern program:* finding and placing volunteerfilmmakers at the CVUs as required- *Assisting in outreach/marketing efforts:* communicating withleading Indian NGOs who may wish to start CVUs- *Media Relations:* publicizing the program to the media- Overseeing equipment purchases- *Research:* compiling lists of NGOs for future CVUs; film festival;media/distribution outlets; film equipment suppliers and others- *Event organizing:* such as our 'training of trainers,' NGOconference, and Community Producers Film Festival*Required skills*- At least 3 years experience in development communication or videoproduction- Excellent communication and writing skills- Video editing experience will be a strong plus- Experience in community based work or human rights work will be aplus.- Languages: minimum Hindi and English*Salary*Minimum Rs.15,000 per month, more depending on experience.*Start date*August 15th-September 15th for a minimum two year commitment*Start date*Send your resume and a detailed cover letter to info@videovolunteers.org nolater than August 10th.

Be sure to include in your cover letter informationon your technical skills in video production.-- Stalin K.Co-founder & DirectorDrishti - Media, Arts & Human Rights103, Anand Hari TowerBodakdev, Ahmedabad 380054TEL: +91-79-2685 1235 and 6661 4235
www.drishtimedia.org

The broadcast bill and the public interest

2006-08-02T06:15:00.000+05:00
Posted by: "Tarun Udwala" tarun.udwala@gmail.com tarunudgir
Mon Jul 31, 2006 10:32 pm (PST)

Opinion - Leader Page Articles

The broadcast bill and the public interest

Ammu Joseph

The primary objective of media regulation in a democracy is to
preserve and protect citizens' fundamental rights to information and
freedom of _expression.

THE RECENT flip-flops of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
over the draft Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill, 2006, suggest
the proposed legislation may ultimately be stillborn, as were two
earlier attempts to regulate the burgeoning broadcast media in India,
in 1997 and 2001. If it does become late, as Mma Ramotswe of the No. 1
Ladies' Detective Agency would put it, it will be largely unlamented.
Few would mourn, let alone defend, such a mishmash of a law. Drafted
in unnecessary isolation and unwise secrecy, it deals inadequately and
ineptly with a wide range of disparate issues, and includes several
provisions that can be — indeed have been — readily and justifiably
dubbed draconian and inimical to freedom of _expression.

However, freedom of _expression will also be adversely affected if the
baby of media regulation is thrown out with the bathwater of defective
legislation. Regulation — as opposed to control — of the media is a
well-established feature of modern democratic societies. The purpose
of such regulation is not to serve the interests of the state, not to
shield the government or other influential sections of society from
scrutiny, or to prevent the dissemination of news and views that could
be embarrassing or damaging to the powers-that-be.

The primary objective of media regulation in a democracy is, in fact,
to preserve and protect citizens' fundamental rights to information
and freedom of _expression. As the Supreme Court of India noted in its
landmark judgment of 1995 pertaining to the broadcast media, "The
airwaves or frequencies are a public property. Their use has to be
controlled and regulated by a public authority in the interests of the
public and to prevent the invasion of their rights." Clearly the only
legitimate role for the state in this regard is as trustees for the
public. On the flip side, broadcasters are allotted use of airwaves on
the assumption that they will be used to serve the public interest.

In fact, the apex court had also stated that the central government
must take immediate steps to establish an independent, autonomous
public authority — representative of all classes and interests in
society — to control and regulate the use of airwaves. That was over a
decade ago. The drafters of the present Bill cite the Supreme Court
judgment, pointing out that it provides the guiding principles for
regulating the broadcast sector in the country. But instead of first
setting up the regulatory body mandated by the court, they seem to
have opted to enable the State to take over the legitimate function of
the proposed public institution.

Unfortunately, the debate sparked off by the controversial broadcast
Bill and the equally problematic draft code and guidelines to regulate
television content, which is also on the anvil, has so far barely
focussed on the public interest issues involved in the matter.
Instead, the controversy has been framed primarily as a tussle between
the government and the media, as if it has no relevance or role for
citizens. At the same time, civil society appears content to stay out
of what is essentially a struggle over who is to determine what news
and entertainment is available to the public through the airwaves, and
on what basis. Yet citizens have a major stake in this question,
especially in today's world, where the mass media, in general, and the
electronic media, in particular, are not only omnipresent but
apparently omnipotent.

The media have traditionally played a central role in the working of
democracies, contributing to the creation of the "public sphere,"
where events and issues of importance to a political community are
discussed and debated, and where information and ideas are exchanged
that are essential to citizen participation in community life at the
local, national and, increasingly, international levels. As historian
K.N. Panikkar wrote in this newspaper in 2004, "Among the institutions
that contribute to the make-up of a public sphere in society, the
media perhaps perform the most critical function."

According to American media scholar Robert McChesney, since the public
sphere works most effectively when it is institutionally independent
of both the State and dominant economic forces in society, the point
of democratic policy-making in the area of media and communication is
to strive towards the challenging but necessary goal of autonomy.

Contrary to what one might expect in a world where the media occupy
such commanding heights, and especially during a period that has
witnessed incredible, fast-paced developments in new media and
communications technologies and forms, the public sphere has been
shrinking rather than expanding over the past couple of decades.
Various trends in the media are believed to have contributed to this
erosion of the public sphere — a worldwide phenomenon. One of these is
the movement towards greater concentration of media ownership that is
evident in many parts of the world.

The minority opinion in the Supreme Court's 1995 ruling was quite
explicit in its opposition to media concentration. Pointing out that
diversity of opinions, views, ideas, and ideologies was essential for
citizens to develop informed opinions on issues of public importance,
it stated that such plurality could not be provided by any medium
controlled by a monopoly — whether of the state or any other
individual, group or organisation. The court as a whole endorsed the
notion that the broadcast media should be under the control of the
public, as distinct from the government.

There is, at present, little to prevent media concentration in India
other than the linguistic and socio-cultural heterogeneity of Indian
society, which has so far ensured some diversity in both ownership
patterns and organisational forms. There is evidence that the process
of consolidation is well under way. As South Asia and media scholar
Robin Jeffrey has pointed out, the 2001 figures of the Audit Bureau of
Circulation indicated trends towards market domination, if not
monopolies, within the press. And several media houses already have
stakes in print, radio, television, and the Internet, as well as cable
operations.

Curbs on ownership

The draft Bill aims to prevent media monopolies through what it calls
"restrictions on accumulation of interest." Although the relevant
section mentions the need to prevent monopolies across different
segments of the media, the present provisions are confined to the
broadcast sector, with some of the restrictions relating to equity and
others to the reach or subscriber base of television channels.

Not surprisingly, these clauses have been strongly condemned by
several groups representing the media industry, which have variously
described such measures as anti-consumer, anti-choice and anti-market,
not to mention "against the spirit of free enterprise." Organisations
representing "India Inc." have also registered their disapproval of
such restrictions, suggesting that they would result in fragmentation.
At the same time, the proposed restrictions on ownership patterns have
been welcomed by several serious and disinterested commentators who
oppose other provisions of the Bill as anti-democratic.

Restrictions on ownership have been important features of media
regulation in most mature democracies, including the United Kingdom,
the United States, France, Germany, and Australia. In the experience
of several countries, every move towards deregulation has intensified
concentration of ownership. Many media-watchers, as well as informed
sections of the public, in many parts of the world are concerned about
this growing trend, which is understood to be a central aspect of the
ongoing process of media globalisation. Over the past two decades the
number of major corporations that dominate television, movies, music,
radio, cable, publishing, and the Internet across the globe has
dwindled from 50 to less than two dozen, with much of the control
concentrated in fewer than ten massive conglomerates.

According to German media economist Manfred Kops, the disadvantages of
economic concentration are especially high in the media industry:
"Concentration in the media sector ... not only impairs economic
competition, but also journalistic competition" (or competition
between alternative ideas and opinions). He suggests that such a
situation affects the public both directly and indirectly: it curtails
freedom of opinion, reduces political and cultural diversity in media
content, and impairs the media's ability to promote political
competition and balance of power, as well as social integration.

Referring to the increasing concentration of media ownership in the
United States, American journalist Bill Moyers said not long ago, "The
very soul of democracy is at stake." That message obviously got across
to a substantial section of the American public. In 2003, when the
Federal Communications Commission sought to further deregulate the
U.S. media, at least three million Americans protested against the
possibility of even more concentrated ownership. With the FCC now
revisiting its stand on the issue, a broad-based coalition of public
interest groups has again launched a campaign to urge it to put public
service before the self-interest of large media corporations.

According to Mr. McChesney, the democratic solution to "the problem of
the media" is to increase informed public participation in media
policy making. The flawed broadcast Bill may still serve some purpose
if it awakens public consciousness here about citizens' stake in the
media.

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3. Law to regulate broadcasting media: Dasmunsi
Posted by: "Tarun Udwala" tarun.udwala@gmail.com tarunudgir
Mon Jul 31, 2006 10:33 pm (PST)
http://www.chennaionline.com/colnews/newsitem.asp?NEWSID=%7BC7A580B1-8656-46F4-90E7-E8768970E713%7D&CATEGORYNAME=Entertainment

Law to regulate broadcasting media: Dasmunsi
New Delhi, July 31: Terming as "uncalled for" apprehensions that
fundamental rights of the media will be encroached upon, the
government today told the Lok Sabha that a meeting with stakeholders
will be held on August 14 on a proposed law to regulate the
broadcasting media before going to the Union Cabinet.

"The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is considering a
comprehensive legislation to regulate the broadcasting media in
consultations with the media and the ministries concerned,"
Information and Broadcasting Minister P R Dasmunsi said during
Question Hour.

"The proposal is still at the consultation stage and details have yet
to be finalised," he said replying to queries from Ravichandran
Sippiparai (MDMK), Rewati Raman Singh (SP) and Mohammad Salim (CPM).

On whether the government was taking any step to check "emerging
monopolies" in the media sector, Dasmunsi said the proposed bill "is
now under process at the drafting stage...(We are) consulting
ministers and stakeholders".

"I do share the concern of the member that monopoly control on FM
station, electronic media and newspaper has become very prominent in
Indian scene...Therefore, I am having a meeting with the stakeholders
on August 14, before I proceed to the Cabinet (for the bill's
approval)," Dasmunsi said. (Agencies)

Courtesy: [ZESTMedia] Digest Number 493

Competition vs cross media monopolies

2006-07-22T06:16:00.000+05:00

When the media voices within communities are in the hands of the same people, the spectrum of opinion, political or otherwise, tends to become narrow.

Hammer and Tongs

ALOKE THAKORE

Even as The Economics Times reported a further concentration of media with Bennett & Coleman, which owns The Economic Times buying Vijay Times, Business Standard reported that a new bill (Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill, 2006) dealing with among other things cross-media ownership would be put up for the approval of the Union Cabinet. Intriguingly, the Business Standard report said that the cross-media restrictions would apply to the broadcasting sector and would be extended to the print media at a later date. But whence this delay, why at a later date?

Cross-media ownership, as the very term indicates, is an issue that concerns ownership across media channels or forms. Issues of ownership of content production, delivery mechanism, and within-broadcast media are undoubtedly important, but not as crucial as the regulation of newspaper and broadcast cross-ownership. One can see that Indian media owners who despite being great votaries of free-market are fiercely protective of their interests, recall the motley Indian Media Group desiring to restrict foreign participation in media, will try subtle and not-so-subtle ways of subverting the cross-media regulation. Only recently a senior media executive told me about the wish to own the city where the group has operated for a long time. The usual terms of leveraging, building upon, data, archive, strengthening market presence, creating barriers to entry, and others were trotted out. Fair and rational as far as I can see, and only too fully free-market blooded. The problem is that the logic of the free-market is predicated on the idea of liberty and not vice-versa.

As Friedrich Hayek pointed out it is intellectual freedom that is the basic tenet of liberalism. He wrote: "The central belief from which all liberal postulates may be said to spring is that more successful solutions of the problems of society are to be expected if we do not rely on the application of anyone's given knowledge, but encourage the interpersonal process of the exchange of opinion from which better knowledge can be expected to emerge." The point that he was making is that it is intellectual freedom, the freedom to express and allow for diverse kinds of opinions, the classic liberal battle-ground of ideas that is necessary for individual freedom and liberty. It is not surprising to see that during the battle over the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) decision to relax cross-media ownership in the United States, traditional free-market conservatives (in the American sense) were also opposed to these moves and joined hands with left (liberal in the American sense) groups.

When the media voices within communities are in the hands of the same people, the spectrum of opinion, political or otherwise, tends to become narrow. Notice that even when the ownership is diversified, groups have pointed to biased coverage because of the caste composition of the journalists. The problem can only be exacerbated when even the purse strings are in the hands of a few. After all A.J. Liebling's dictum that the freedom of the press belongs to the person who owns it, is axiomatic. One can say that without going into a history of editorial easing from the days of Pothan Joseph to B.G.Verghese, Arun Shourie, and many others. One needs to recall the just concluded election campaign in Tamil Nadu. In other words, the control of management matters to what is published or what is aired. Anybody who thinks that this is a recent phenomenon should only read the lament of the first Press Commission, which with hindsight one might say naively declared that even the editorial has been taken over by management.

And concentration not only affects political speech, it affects commercial speech, too. The sense of relief among media buyers when DNA began in Mumbai or the relief of those who wanted to insert classifieds when Divya Bhaskar started in Ahmedabad point to the problems that monopolies or near-monopolies pose to even those who pay for the media's bread and butter. Witness the litigation over publication of readership figures for Chennai post the launch of Deccan Chronicle. What such competition does for journalists is another matter. Anyone with a mild acquaintance with the eager faces of even the youngest journalists as they flitted from one newspaper office to another will attest to those cornucopian moments.

But the most visible defence of competition comes from the way The Times of India improved its Mumbai edition once DNA entered the market. Even the most charitable view cannot ascribe this change to an editorial determination for providing a better newspaper to its loyal readers. Or else, we would have witnessed changes many years before it took place.

We may all agree that competition is good, but why desire government intervention to ensure regulation. This turns on the vital importance of the media not as an adjunct of free-market, but as a guarantor of liberty, which is ensured by free-markets. Such curbs on cross-ownership are needed to ensure diversity of local voices, marginalized voices, and generally of different voices in a community. That engenders liberty.

There is a reason why I have ignored to appeal to the left intellectual traditions for such curbs. Such restrictions are par for the course for those on that green. It is those who are not on the road to serfdom who have to be alerted not to confuse free-market with liberty because such confusions can be dangerous, and in the case of the media downrightly self-destructive. This is one policy measure where the entire political spectrum can join hands and ensure cross-media regulations include newspapers, and do it right now.

Aloke Thakore is a media consultant, journalist, and teacher. He is completing a manuscript on newspaper coverage of ethnic violence. He can be reached at hammerntongs@fastmail.in
__._,_.___

Rich but mixed fare

2006-07-22T06:14:00.000+05:00

In an event as big as the World Cup is worldwide, there is a lot more to cover than just the sport alone.

FROM THE STANDS

S R Khelkoodkar

There is a growing understanding amongst sports journos, it seems, that the problems with the Indian cricket team lie in the bowling. Partly this has to do with the fact that the batting has been the relatively more consistent of the two in recent times. It comes as no surprise, therefore, to learn that our chances in the third test against the West Indies depend - yet again - on the bowling.

Says the Indian Express, 'the only way forward now for Team India is for the bowlers to come up with a supreme effort on a pitch that's already beginning to lean towards the batsmen. But that will be a huge challenge.'

The Indian Express, however, continues to be surprised by the balance between playing the best team with the policies of resting and rotation. 'Of course, the bowling line-up did create a buzz, but that was well before the first ball was bowled, when the team sheet in skipper Rahul Dravid's hands was officially released. No Irfan Pathan and no VRV Singh, while Harbhajan Singh got his first Test ticket in this series and Sreesanth returned from a heel injury that has, hopefully, healed completely.' No one who has followed the methods of selection that the team has employed in recent times would be unduly concerned about this.

The article ends on a bit of a confused note, though.

'Team India had once again stuck to their XI-of-the-moment policy, but the curious case of Irfan Pathan needs some serious questions to be asked and answered. The team feels he's been hit by loss of rhythm and confidence. But all the symptoms so far — the unsettled run-up, the delivery moment, the dip in speed and length — point to a burnout after almost a year of continuous cricket. And this, considering the wealth of talent the 23-year-old holds, is what should be the big worry for tomorrow, much more than the rain clouds of today.'

Not only are loss of rhythm and confidence related to playing a year of almost continuous cricket, but also the solutions to both are the same. As all armchair experts recommend, he has been dropped from the team. Hopefully that will provide him a bit of a rest from active play as well, as desired. He is only more likely to return better off for it. The Indian Express doesn't appear to have grasped this.

The Telegraph continues its coverage of the World Cup. Many of their articles on the football are written by local reporters as opposed to merely being reproductions of agency articles . The Indian Express too has articles written by Indian journalists in Germany. Does all this make a difference?

Yes, it does. In an event as big as the World Cup is worldwide, there is a lot more to cover than just the sport alone. Of course, all leading newspapers have comprehensive reporting on scores and match analyses, but that is not all there is. The Indian Express has run an article which reads more like a travelogue. One of their reporters is in Germany and has written about the weather and the problems of overbooked hotel rooms.

But, he says, 'however small the hotel, even in a Paharganj-Sudder Street kind of area, you can take two things for granted: the high levels of hygiene and the breakfast room.'

The point may be irrelevant to anything, but the reference is good to see. Too many articles are written - and read - that are taken from agencies and are for a market completely different from ours. We're not in the World Cup, but we would certainly like to imagine ourselves there.

khelkoodkar@gmail.com

BBC chief tops media power list

2006-07-20T06:40:00.000+05:00
BBC director general Mark Thompson has come top of the Guardian's list of the most powerful figures in the UK media.
Three people in the top 10 come from technology companies, including Apple boss Steve Jobs at number two.
Google creators Sergey Brin and Larry Page share fourth place, while Bill Gates from Microsoft ranks ninth.
Rupert Murdoch is at number three with Channel 4 chief executive Andy Duncan at five in the survey, which recognises achievements and potential success.
The newspaper said Mr Thompson, 48, could "reflect on a job well done" over the past year.
He had seen "the licence fee secured for the next 10 years, external regulation of the BBC rejected, and the government's largely favourable white paper" on the corporation's future.
But it added that with more than 1,100 job cuts in the past 12 months, the BBC "might be a lean operation, but that doesn't make it a happy one".
Mr Jobs had "transformed the music industry and in the process created a whole new demographic - the 'iPod generation'", the Guardian said.
His company had a turnover of $17.3bn (£9.5bn) in the last financial year.
Rupert Murdoch, who controls The Sun and The Times newspapers and satellite broadcaster BSkyB, is in third place for the second consecutive year.
Having purchased community website MySpace and spoken of the importance of emerging digital technologies, he is describesd as being "one of the biggest media moguls to predict such radical change".
It claims he "virtually ignored the web when it first flourished in the late '90s", however, so now "it is catch-up time" for the American citizen.
Also on the list is ITV chief executive Charles Allen at number six, with BBC chairman Michael Grade one place below him.
The top print editor is the Daily Mail's Paul Dacre at 10. Jonathan Ross is the highest-ranked presenter at number 19.
Mr Thompson's success on the survey contrasts with that of his predecessor as BBC director general, Greg Dyke.
Now chairman of media company Hit Entertainment, he is at number 100.
Six judges chose the final list, including Guardian Unlimited editor-in-chief Emily Bell, former Walt Disney Television executive Paul Robinson and ex-BBC One controller Lorraine Heggessey.

MEDIA GUARDIAN 100

1. Mark Thompson, BBC director general

2. Steve Jobs, Apple chief executive

3. Rupert Murdoch, News Corporation chairman and chief executive

4. Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Google co-founders and directors (above)

5. Andy Duncan, Channel 4 chief executive

6. Charles Allen, ITV chief executive

7. Michael Grade, BBC chairman

8. Jana Bennett, BBC director of television

9. Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman

10. Paul Dacre, Associated Newspapers editor-in-chief

Source: The Guardian

Media Institute opens in Kilinochchi

2006-07-03T06:34:00.000+05:00
[TamilNet, July 02, 2006 04:54 GMT] "Today is a historic and joyous day marking an important milestone in the development of our national infrastructure as we inaugurate educational activities in the new Tamil Media Educational Institute. Our national leader's deep desire and dream has finally been realized," said Head of LTTE's Political Wing, S.P. Thamilchelvan speaking at the opening ceremony of the Media Institute in Killinochchi at 9:00 a.m., Saturday, sources in Kilinochchi said.
"Our National leader has been advising senior journalists, editors, and intellectuals to prepare a blueprint for such an institute. He had expressed the critical need to establish a media school to Mr.Gobi on several occasions. The media and communications area in the Northeast needs to be strengthened many fold and this Institute will serve as a strong base to embark on such an effort," Thamilchelvan said.
The event was presided by Attorney and Journalist Pon Poolokasingham.
Professor Shanmugathas, Director of National Television of Tamil Eelam (NTT), Mr S Karunakaran, Director Sithamparasenthinathan and Director of LTTE's Planning Secretariat, K. Ranjan, lit the ceremonial lamp. Thamilchelvan hoisted the Tamil Eelam national flag.
Journalist P Sathiyamoorthy welcomed the guests. Prof Shanmugathas, Editor Ruban Mariyampillai and Senior Political Analyst M Thirunavukkarasu spoke at the event.
"Those who assert control in the sphere of public opinion remain strong in their governance. Our national struggle should make gains in the area of media development to become an enviable force in shaping the sphere of public opinion," Thamilchelvan said.
"Our oppressors are working relentlessly to contain us within their sphere of influence and control. We are fighting in different fronts to break these shackles, and to progress and advance as free people. Media is an important tool in this struggle.
"Since the media field in the NorthEast has not reached its maturity, vital experiences of our people have not found full expression to outside world. One can see the importance of a strong press and media in international relations and development of the free world," Thamilchelvan said.
"Sinhala rulers are bent on destroying the progress we have achieved in the media field as a deliberate component of cultural genocide. Our senior journalists, Sivaram, Nimalarajan, and Nadesan were killed because occupiers of our land, and the collaborating paramilitaries were threatened by the skills of these journalists. They exposed the the atrocities committed on our people to the outside world, and advanced credible and logical reasoning in support of our national struggle.
"The Media Institute should create new generation of media experts by teaching them the principles of advanced journalism and media technology, and alternative ways to disseminate facts. Importance to details, factual correctness, and grasping the nuances should form the foundation to make stories credible to the readers. The Institute should spur the students to explore new ways to define and use relationships among politics, public and media.
"We have been mindful of the influence of foreign media whenever we travelled abroad on our political visits. We have witnessed an alarming tendency in the media culture that can be manipulated to lend support to Sinhala chauvinism. The Media Institute should study these issues that affect our people, identify practical strategies necessary to influence foreign media and to disseminate our message effectively in a global information space," Thamilchelvan further said.
VelliNatham editor, Sri IndraKumar, thanked the attendees at the conclusion of the event.

Source: http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=18693

Mumbai's pioneering Gujarati newspaper completes 184 years

2006-07-03T06:05:00.000+05:00
Mumbai: Asia's oldest newspaper, the Mumbai Samachar, a Gujarati language daily, will have much to celebrate tomorrow as it completes 184 years of uninterrupted existence.
Though two cultural programmes are being held exclusively for its readers to mark the occasion, the newspaper itself is an integral part of the growth of this metropolis right from the British Raj. The once Apollo Street in the Fort area was recently renamed after the famous paper as the Mumbai Samachar Marg.
Despite the challenges of running a paper through the years and facing up to stiff competition from TV channels, Mumbai Samachar (earlier known as Bombay Samachar) has held on its own.
"Today, it publishes a colour broadsheet plus a supplement 16 pages of hard core news and eight pages of features and can proudly claim to have the most modern technology available in the publishing field," Pinki Dalal, editor of Mumbai Samachar told Gulf News.
It is not merely a business-oriented paper but appeals to all segments of readers, she says.
On July 1 1822, a Parsi scholar and priest Fardoonji Murazban, a pioneer in journalism in western India, started publishing the newspaper as Bombay Samachar.
A weekly till 1832, it became a biweekly until 1855 and a daily after that, playing a significant role during India's struggle for independence. "It was respected by the British, too, for its fair, frank, objective and critical analysis of events," says Dalal. The paper passed through various hands before coming into the control of the Cama family, its present publishers since 1933.
"The paper still has its connection with the Parsis," she says. "We have a column called 'Parsi Tari Arsi' which is published on Sundays."
Enjoying a circulation of 150,000 in Mumbai, the paper, including its internet edition, is now read by Gujarati-speaking people here and abroad. "The newspaper reaches Dubai by 9am where many Gujaratis like to start their day with Bombay Samachar," she says.
HISTORYOldest newspapers still in circulation
Post och Inrikes Tidningar (Sweden) 1645
Haarlems Dagblad (Netherlands) 1656
La Gazzetta di Mantova (Italy) 1664
The London Gazette (UK) 1665
Wiener Zeitung (Austria) 1703
Hildesheimer Allgemeiner
Zeitung (Germany) 1705
Worcester Journal (UK) 1709
The Newcastle Journal (UK) 1711
The Stamford Mercury (UK) 1712
The Northampton Mercury (UK) 1720
Hanauer Anzeiger (Germany) 1725
The Belfast News-Letter (N. Ireland) 1737
Feuille d'Avis de Neuchâtel (Switzerland) 1738

- Source: www.wan-press.org

Courtesy: http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/06/06/30/10050432.html

IFEX COMMUNIQUÉ VOL 15 NO 24 | 20 JUNE 2006

2006-06-21T08:22:00.000+05:00
The IFEX Communiqué is the weekly newsletter of the International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX), a global network of 72 organisations working to defend and promote the right to free expression. IFEX is managed by Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (www.cjfe.org).The IFEX Communiqué is also available in French (www.ifex.org/fr), Spanish (www.ifex.org/es), Russian (www.ifex.cjes.ru/) and Arabic (http://hrinfo.net/ifex/).

-------------- Visit the IFEX website: http://www.ifex.org/ ----------------------
Read about the IFEX Tunisia Campaign: http://campaigns.ifex.org/tmg

---------- INDEX ------

FREE EXPRESSION SPOTLIGHT:
1. Africa: Free Expression Rapidly Deteriorating, Warns Coalition
REGIONAL NEWS:
2. Vietnam: New Rules Aim to Stymie Eager Press
3. South Asia: Missing Pakistani Journalist Found Dead; Indian Reporter Killed
4. Philippines: Two Journalists Gunned Down
5. Middle East and North Africa: Activists Form Free Expression Network

TAKE ACTION:
6. Burma: Nobel Laureate Under House ArrestREPORTS AND PUBLICATIONS:
7. RSF Documents Plight of Journalists Detained at U.S. Bases
AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS:
8. Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships
USEFUL WEBSITES:
9. Access Info
ALERTS ISSUED BY THE IFEX CLEARING HOUSE LAST WEEK
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FREE-EXPRESSION SPOTLIGHT

1. AFRICA: FREE EXPRESSION RAPIDLY DETERIORATING, WARNS COALITION

As African heads of state prepare to visit Banjul, The Gambia, on 1-2 July 2006 for the 7th African Union (AU) Summit, a coalition of African free expression organisations is warning that the state of free expression and press freedom is deteriorating rapidly across the continent.The Network of African Freedom of Expression Organizations (NAFEO) says there is a "marked increase in the arrests, detention, repression and general harassment of journalists, media and other communications workers." The coalition also notes that many governments have either introduced new legislation, or have intensified the application, of laws that criminalise journalistic work and free expression.Six countries stand out as leading violators of free expression, including The Gambia, which is hosting the AU summit, says NAFEO. In recent months, numerous local and international press and human rights groups have criticised the Gambian government for launching a crackdown on the country's independent press in the wake of an alleged coup attempt last March. Since March, four journalists, including staff members of the bi-weekly "Independent", have been detained by security officials. Three have since been released, including a journalist who was brutally tortured by security guards (see: http://www.rsf.org/IMG/jpg/Gambia-torture-2.jpg). Other "hot spots" listed by NAFEO included Eritrea, Ethiopia, Swaziland, Tunisia and Zimbabwe. NAFEO has urged Nigerian President Olusegun Obansanjo to use his influence within the AU to persuade leaders of these countries of the need to respect and protect free expression and freedom of the press. NAFEO says it is planning a campaign aimed at pressuring governments to repeal laws criminalising press offenses and to free individuals who have been detained or imprisoned for exercising their free speech rights. It has invited human rights groups, media organisations and other civil society organisations to join the campaign. Prior to the AU summit, African free expression groups will be participating in a forum in Banjul on 29-30 June to discuss how regional human rights mechanisms can strengthen freedom of expression. The forum will examine the main challenges facing free expression in Africa, and seek ways in which advocates can more effectively use the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights and the African Peer Review Mechanism to protect free expression in their countries. Participants will draft a list of recommendations that organisers aim to present to a number of African heads of state and key AU officials at the Summit, including the Chairperson of the AU Commission, Alpha Oumar Konare. The organisations hosting the forum include ARTICLE 19, the Media Foundation for West Africa, the Media Institute for Southern Africa and the West African Journalists
Association.

Visit these links:- NAFEO: http://www.misa.org/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?category=1&id=1150272690- NAFEO Founding Statement: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/70186- RSF Reveals Pictures of Tortured Journalist: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=17935- African Union Summit: http://www.africa-union.org/root/au/Conferences/Past/2006/July/summit/summit.htm- NGOs to Hold Free Expression Forum at AU Summit: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/74792/- BBC Profile of the African Union: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_profiles/3870303.stm

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REGIONAL NEWS:ASIA-PACIFIC

2. VIETNAM: NEW RULES AIM TO STYMIE EAGER PRESS

Vietnam's ruling Communist Party will introduce new press regulations in July 2006 that stiffen penalties for journalists who report on sensitive issues, including corruption, says the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA). The move is apparently aimed at stemming the rise of more aggressive reporting following the party's move in recent years to show more openness and transparency.Quoting a report by the German news agency Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA), SEAPA says the new Decree on Cultural and Information Activities, signed by Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, will take effect on 1 July. Under the regulations, journalists can be fined 3 million dong (US$190) for publishing stories with anonymous sources and up to 7 million dong (US$450) for refusing to allow interviewees to see articles quoting them before publication. The regulations forbid the dissemination of "reactionary ideology," including any articles that reveal "party secrets, state secrets, military secrets and economic secrets." Those who ignore the ban face fines of up to 30 million dong (US$2,000). The new rules also punish journalists who deny the Party's "revolutionary achievements."While the Communist Party is known for exercising an iron grip over the country's media, in recent years it has allowed journalists to do more aggressive reporting on corruption and governance issues as it seeks to deepen economic ties to the U.S. and to promote its bid to join the World Trade Organization, note SEAPA and Human Rights Watch. In response, journalists have been increasingly testing the boundaries of censorship by doing more investigating reporting on corruption and tackling other social issues such as public health and poverty. In August 2005, for example, investigative journalists for the state-run daily "Thanh Nien" revealed potentially dangerous lapses in the government's efforts to control the avian flu virus, prompting vows of reform from legislators, notes the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Human rights and pro-democracy activists have also become bolder in calling for political reform. Since April, more than 400 citizens, including writers, academics, former political prisoners and religious leaders have signed on to a Manifesto on Freedom and Democracy, says Human Rights Watch. The Manifesto calls for a range of demands, including freedom of information and expression, a multi-party political system and freedoms of assembly and association.Activists have also launched an independent newspaper "Tu Do Ngon Luan" ("Free Expression") and several journalists and bloggers have formed an underground organisation called the Free Journalists Association of Vietnam. Numerous activists have been harassed in response. Some have had their Internet access cut off, while others have been summoned by authorities for questioning. Visit these links:- SEAPA: http://www.seapabkk.org/newdesign/newsdetail.php?No=485- Human Rights Watch: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/05/11/vietna13346.htm- Text of the Manifesto: http://hrw.org/pub/2006/manifesto_040606.pdf- Freedom House Report: http://www.freedomhouse.org/uploads/PFS/DraftCountryReportsForPR27April06.pdf- CPJ Report: http://www.cpj.org/attacks05/asia05/vietnam_05.html- International Herald Tribune: http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/06/19/news/viet.php

3. SOUTH ASIA: MISSING PAKISTANI JOURNALIST FOUND DEAD; INDIAN REPORTER KILLED

More than six months after being abducted in Pakistan's North Waziristan province, journalist Hayatullah Khan has been found dead, report the Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Khan's handcuffed body was found on 16 June 2006 in the town of Mir Ali, from where he was kidnapped last December. He disappeared on 5 December after his car was stopped by five gunmen. A day before his abduction, Khan had reported that a senior al-Qaeda figure, Hamza Rabia, was killed by a U.S. missile on 1 December, notes RSF. Khan's photographs of the purported remains of a U.S.-made missile contradicted Pakistani army claims that Rabia died in an accidental explosion while making a bomb. Khan was a reporter for the Urdu-language daily "Ausaf" and a photographer for the European Press Photo Agency. He had received numerous threats from Pakistani security forces, Taliban members, and local tribesmen because of his reporting, according to CPJ. Last March, he told his family that Pakistani authorities reportedly pressured him to quit journalism or to take up a government job in another part of the country which would have effectively silenced him. On 18 June, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz announced that a judicial investigation headed by a high court judge had been opened and the government would award financial compensation to Khan's family. On the same day, more than 800 people took part in a peaceful demonstration in the tribal region of Bajaur calling for justice and urging authorities to provide more protection for journalists. Pakistan's Interior Minister, Aftab Khan Sherpao, said authorities "would do their utmost to punish those responsible for this barbaric act," reported RSF. Journalists who report in Pakistan's tribal areas work under increasingly dangerous conditions, says CPJ. In 2005, two journalists were killed when they were ambushed by men armed with machine guns. In May 2006, "Daily Times" correspondent Mujeebur Rehman narrowly escaped assassination in Wana when masked gunmen fired at him in a drive-by shooting. Security forces also make it difficult for journalists by systematically restricting access to conflict zones in tribal areas. Meanwhile, in India, police in Maharashtra state are investigating the death of Arun Narayan Dekate, a journalist for the daily newspaper "Tarun Bharat", report IFJ, CPJ and RSF. Dekate died on 10 June 2006 after being attacked two days earlier by four unidentified men in the village of Takalghat. A motive for the attack has not yet been determined. Dekate's murder may be linked to articles he wrote in "Tarun Bharat" exposing an illegal gambling racket in Takalghat, according to CPJ, IFJ and RSF. Dekate had also helped local police in their investigation, which led to several arrests. He was the second journalist killed in India since January 2006, according to RSF. Visit these links on Dekate's murder:- CPJ: http://www.cpj.org/news/2006/asia/india15june06na.html- IFJ: http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=3982&Language=EN- RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=17996- IFJ Report on India: http://www.ifj-asia.org/files/india_overview.pdfVisit these links on Khan's death:- RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=18050- CPJ: http://www.cpj.org/attacks05/asia05/pak_05.html- IFJ: http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=3993&Language=EN- BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5096008.stm- Frontline Report "Inside Pakistan's Tribal Areas": http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/search/tribal/

4. PHILIPPINES: TWO JOURNALISTS GUNNED DOWN

Philippine authorities have been urged to investigate the killing of a couple in Kidapawan on the southern island of Mindanao to determine whether both were killed because of their work as journalists. Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) report that George Vigo and Macel Alave-Vigo were shot and killed by unidentified gunmen as they were returning home on 19 June 2006. Vigo was a contributor to the "Union of Catholic Asian News", a news agency, and was executive director of the People's Kauyahan Foundation Inc, a non-governmental organisation that promotes dialogues on peace. He also presented a programme for youth on radio dxND. Alave-Vigo hosted a weekly programme, "Kalihukan sa Kongreso" ("Congress Affairs"), on radio dxND and worked for congressional representative Emmylou Taliño-Santos. The couple also helped create the Federation of Reporters for Empowerment and Equality (FREE). They had four children. The Philippines National Police has begun an investigation into the murders. According to IFJ, six journalists have now been killed in the Philippines this year. In 2005, only Iraq had more journalists killed than in any other country. Visit these links:- IFJ: http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=3995&Language=EN- RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=18065- CPJ: http://www.cpj.org/news/2006/asia/phil20june06na.html- CMFR: http://www.cmfr-phil.org/- National Union of Journalists of the Philippines: http://www.nujp.org/

MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

5. ACTIVISTS FORM FREE EXPRESSION NETWORK

The Tunisia-based Observatory for the Freedom of Press, Publishing and Creation (OLPEC) and the Cairo-based Arabic Network for Human Rights Information have joined advocacy groups from six North African countries to form an organisation to support regional networking, campaigning and monitoring on press freedom and freedom of expression.The Working Group on Press Freedom and Free Expression in North Africa was launched on 7 June 2006 at a conference hosted in Casablanca, Morocco, by OLPEC, the National Press Union of Morocco (Syndicat national de la presse marocaine) and the Moroccan Human Rights Association (Association marocaine des droits de l'Homme). Representatives of several international organisations attended the conference, including UNESCO, International Media Support, Index on Censorship and Reporters Without Borders. The Working Group's aims include coordinating regional campaigning and strengthening solidarity between rights advocates. It also aims to deepen ties with wider regional and international networks, including the Network of African Freedom of Expression Organisations, of which it is a member. The Working Group is comprised of 12 organisations from Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia. Its plans include documenting free expression violations and sharing the information among members, organising campaigns to support persecuted activists and journalists, launching a website, and sending fact-finding missions to countries of concern. The Working Group will be based in Casablanca and coordinated by three of its founders - Sihem Bensedrine, Gamal Eid and Aboubaker Jamai - until it holds its next meeting.The members of the working group are listed here: http://www.hrinfo.net/en/wgfena/2006/about.shtml

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TAKE ACTION!

6. BURMA: NOBEL LAUREATE UNDER HOUSE ARRESTPEN

Canada has launched a letter-writing action to help free detained Burmese pro-democracy activist Daw Aung Sun Suu Kyi, who celebrated her 61st birthday on 19 June 2006 under house arrest. Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and leader of the opposition National League for Democracy, has been under house arrest for most of the past 16 years. Last month, Burmese authorities extended her house arrest for another year despite widespread international calls for her release. Burma, officially known as Myanmar, has been ruled by a brutal military dictatorship since 1990. To write a letter in support of Suu Kyi, visit: http://www.pencanada.ca/media/ASSKfeature.pdfFor more information on Burma, see: - Human Rights Watch: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/01/18/burma12268.htm- Burma Campaign: http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/- IFEX: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/145/
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REPORTS AND PUBLICATIONS
7. RSF DOCUMENTS PLIGHT OF JOURNALISTS DETAINEED AT U.S. BASES

Among the 400 or so detainees being held at the U.S.-controlled army base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is a journalist who works for the Arabic satellite channel Al-Jazeera. Cameraman Sami Al-Hajj has been detained without charge since 13 June 2002. His lawyer says he has been tortured and has suicidal tendencies, and needs treatment for throat cancer. Al-Hajj is the only remaining journalist being held in U.S. custody in Guantanamo or in Iraq. Al-Hajj's plight is one of several cases documented in a report by Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF), which examines U.S. treatment of journalists who have been detained at army bases such as Guantanamo and Camp Bucca in Iraq. Other cases include CBS News cameraman Abdel Amir Yunes Hussain, who was held at Camp Bucca from April 2005 to May 2006; Majeed Hameed, a stringer for Reuters and Al-Arabiya; and Samer Mohamed Noor and Ali Omar Abrahem al-Mashadani, two Reuters cameramen. The report, "Where the United States Imprisons Journalists", can be downloaded here: http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/RWB_Iraq_USA_LR.pdf
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AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS

8. ALFRED FRIENDLY PRESS FELLOWSHIPS

The Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships (AFPF) invites journalists from developing countries to apply for the 2007 fellowship programme, which brings roughly 10 print journalists to the United States for an in-depth, practical introduction to the professional and ethical standards of the American print media.The programme runs from mid-March to September and is open to journalists between the ages of 25 and 35. Each fellowship covers travel expenses to the United States; all travel related to the fellowship; housing; insurance; a monthly stipend for living expenses; and assistance in obtaining visas. Fellows begin the programme in mid-March of 2007 with a two-week orientation session in Washington, D.C., after which they spend the next five months working as staff reporters in news rooms across the country. In September, fellows return to Washington, D.C. for four days before going back to their home country. To be eligible for the fellowships, applicants must have at least three years of professional experience as a journalist for print media, and must have an excellent command of spoken and written English. They must also be currently working with an independent print media organisation in the country of their citizenship.Applications are due on 1 September 2006.For full details, visit: http://www.pressfellowships.org/
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USEFUL WEBSITES

9. ACCESS INFO

Access Info is a human rights organisation that works to promote and protect the right of access to information in Europe. It campaigns for the adoption of access to information laws, provides legal expertise on court cases, and advices governments on best practices for access to information legislation and administration. Visit: http://www.access-info.org
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ALERTS ISSUED BY THE IFEX CLEARING HOUSE DURING THE PAST WEEK12 JUNE 2006

Democratic Republic of Congo - Radio presenter sentenced to three months in prison for defaming provincial police chief (RSF) - alert update http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75008/Nepal - Journalists assaulted and threatened (FNJ) - alert http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75010/Liberia - Journalist injured by bodyguards, prevented from interviewing president (CEMESP) - alert http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75011/Bahrain - Draft law on public gatherings threatens freedom of expression, says Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch) - alerthttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75012/India (Kashmir) - Kidnapping and attempt on newspaper reporter's life (RSF) - alerthttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75026/Argentina - News presenter dismissed following criticism of rally; radio programme cancelled following pressure from Santa Cruz province's deputy governor (RSF) - alerthttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75015/Costa Rica - Congress considering a bill that would further restrict press freedom (CPJ) - alert http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75017/Serbia and Montenegro - Interior Minister urged to reopen investigation into murder of journalist Milan Pantic (RSF) - alert updatehttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75020/Azerbaijan - Interior Ministry announces criminal investigation will be conducted into abduction and death of journalist Bahaddin Khaziyev (RSF) - alert updatehttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75021/China - Authorities allow opinion poll website back online (RSF) - alert updatehttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75023/The Gambia - "Independent" reporter Lamin Fatty released on bail (CPJ) - alert updatehttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75025/13 JUNE 2006Ecuador - WPFC urges President and other authorities to eliminate "insult" laws (WPFC) - alert http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75028/Colombia - FLIP declared a "military target" by paramilitary group; columnist receives similar threat (FLIP) - alerthttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75030/Peru - Journalist assaulted by civil servant (IPYS) - alerthttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75032/India - Journalist stoned to death in rural Maharashtra State (RSF) - alerthttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75034/United States - RSF calls for release of cameraman Sami Al-Haj as he completes fourth year in Guantanamo (RSF) - alert updatehttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75036/14 JUNE 2006Nepal - CEHURDES welcomes formation of new media commission (CEHURDES) - press releasehttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75062/Singapore - Blogger faces sedition charges for cartoons mocking Jesus Christ, according to reports (SEAPA) - alerthttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75063/Liberia - Presidential bodyguards detain and harass four journalists (CEMESP) - alerthttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75064/East Timor - IFJ concerned by reports of deteriorating situation for journalists (IFJ) - alert updatehttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75065/Argentina - Radio journalist threatened and assaulted (IPYS) - alerthttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75066/China - RSF calls for sanctions after beating of Three Gorges dam activist Fu Xiancai (RSF) - alerthttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75069/Burundi - Legal irregularities keep outspoken news agency reporter in prison (RSF) - alert updatehttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75070/ Rwanda - Authorities urged to explain why RFI correspondent was forced to leave the country (RSF) - alerthttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75073/Ghana - Another minister sues two newspapers (MFWA) - alert http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75074/15 JUNE 2006Algeria - Press freedom at risk despite release of editor, says Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch) - alert updatehttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75075/ Nigeria - Security agents raid private television station and arrest journalist (MRA) - alerthttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75077/Pakistan - Six journalists injured in attack on press club (PPF) - alerthttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75078/Democratic Republic of Congo - JED applauds provisional release of Pierre-Sosthène Kambidi, requests all charges against journalist be dropped (JED) - alert update http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75079/East Timor - Newspaper staff attacked; reporter briefly detained (RSF) - alerthttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75082/China - Journalist who denounced local corruption gets a year in prison (RSF) - alert updatehttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75083/ Colombia - IPYS condemns threats against various journalists' organisations (IPYS) - alert updatehttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75085/Pakistan - Two rural journalists receive threats for reporting on quasi-judicial decision of traditional feudal assembly (PPF) - alerthttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75087/Nepal - Maoist rebels threaten journalist (CEHURDES) - alerthttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75088/Egypt - May was the worst month for freedom of expression in last quarter century, says HRinfo (HRInfo) - alerthttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75089/16 JUNE 2006Venezuela - Protesting university students assault photojournalist, force another reporter to erase his photographs (IPYS) - alerthttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75090/Asia - Prime Minister Thaksin files another libel case against opposition, three newspaper editors (SEAPA) - alerthttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75092/Venezuela - Chávez threatens to block licence renewal for privately-owned broadcasters opposing his government (CPJ) - alerthttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75093/Pakistan - Missing journalist found killed (CPJ) - alert updatehttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75094/China - Yahoo! the worst offender in RSF's search engine censorship test (RSF) - alert updatehttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75096/India - Four journalists threatened in an e-mail (IFJ) - alerthttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75097/Belarus - RSF backs independent newspaper editor who has sought asylum in Ukraine (RSF) - alerthttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75100/Egypt - Blogger's life in danger after three weeks of detention and torture; Interior Ministry refuses to provide urgent medical care (HRInfo) - alert updatehttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75101/Democratic Republic of Congo - Vice president takes journalist to court for defamation (JED) - alerthttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75107/Vietnam - Government readies stricter press laws to rein in journalists (SEAPA) - alerthttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75114/ United States - IAPA protests expulsion of reporters from Guantánamo (IAPA) - alerthttp://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/75125/
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The "IFEX Communiqué" is published weekly by the International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX). IFEX is managed by Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (www.cjfe.org) on behalf of the network's 72 member organisations.The views expressed in the "IFEX Communiqué" are the responsibility of the sources to which they are attributed.The "IFEX Communiqué" grants permission for its material to be reproduced or republished only if it is credited as the source.Contact: "IFEX Communiqué" Editor: Geoffrey Chan: http://aa.f541.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=communique@ifex.org&YY=2661&order=down&sort=date&pos=0Mailing Address: 555 Richmond Street West, #1101, PO Box 407, Toronto, Ontario M5V 3B1 Canada, Tel: +1 416 515 9622; Fax: +1 416 515 7879; Website: http://www.ifex.org
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Schools for Scribblers

2006-05-22T06:20:00.000+05:00
Schools for Scribblers
By JONATHAN V. LAST
May 19, 2006; Page W19

Those of us saddened by the declining fortunes of the newspaper industry hadhoped that shrinking newspaper staffs would have at least one salutaryeffect: fewer journalism-school graduates. This has not proved to be thecase. In 2005, newspapers cut 2,000 jobs; this spring more people graduatedfrom journalism schools than ever before.On the education of young journalists, there has been much recent debate.There is one argument over whether or not journalists should aspire toobjectivity and another about the liberal bias that permeates journalismprograms. But the problem isn't that journalists are being taughtimproperly; it's that the foundations of journalistic education are faulty.The notion of a special program for journalists first surfaced at the turnof the century, when Joseph Pulitzer dreamed of founding a school ofjournalism at Columbia. In 1902, he offered the university $2 million toestablish one. The administration wavered; Pulitzer's peers thought the idealudicrous. As Michael Lewis once reported in the New Republic, a New Yorknewspaper editor "suggested that one might as well set up a graduate schoolin swimming."The University of Missouri took advantage of Columbia's dithering andestablished America's first journalism school in 1908. Prompted by thisupstart, Columbia took the plunge in 1912 and it's been off to the racesever since: Columbia has produced 10,423 journalism graduate degrees;Missouri's School of Journalism has expanded to grant not only master's anddoctoral degrees but a bachelor's, too. Today there are 930 juniors andseniors enrolled in Missouri's undergraduate course of study, 36% of whom,the university assures us, unassuringly, will graduate with honors.There are now some 450 journalism and mass-communications programs acrossthe country, although only 100 or so are accredited. These newswriterfactories have contributed mightily to the ranks of America's 116,000working journalists. According to the forthcoming book "The AmericanJournalist in the 21st Century," 36.2% of journalists with college degreeswere journalism majors. If you include journalism-related "communications"majors, the percentage jumps to 49.5. This far exceeds the percentages ofthe next most common major, English ( 14.9%). History, political science,math and physical-science majors -- combined -- total only 13.7%.So what do aspiring journalists learn in school? Undergraduate courses ofstudy vary, but if you survey course catalogs, there's a heavy emphasis onprocess and theory. At Ohio State, for instance, a student majoring injournalism might take some substantive core courses, such as introductoryAmerican History, Math and Microeconomics. But a large portion of hiscoursework will be taken up with classes such as Principles of CivicJournalism, Topics in Public Affairs Journalism or Industry ResearchMethods. An undergraduate at Missouri can take courses such asCross-Cultural Journalism, The Creative Process, Women and the Media --there's even a class on High School Journalism.At the graduate level, Missouri students get courses that are less about thetheoretical aspects of journalism and more about the tricks of the trade:Intermediate and Advanced Writing, Newspaper Reporting and Magazine Editingare all required. For its Master of Sciences program, Columbia's School ofJournalism offers Personal and Professional Style, Covering Ideas and TheDeadline in Depth. (As we say in the trade, the jokes practically writethemselves.)The running theme is an emphasis on process and the "craft" of journalism:nut grafs, ledes, kickers, inverted pyramids and the rest. Yet this seems awaste of time. Schooling is expensive. A four-year undergraduate educationcan cost anywhere from $50,000 to $150,000. Grad school is just as bad. Theone-year graduate program at Columbia is $38,500.Yet when it comes to learning about the style and craft of writing, aneducation can be had for much less. Amazon.com sells the complete archivesof the New Yorker on DVD for $63 -- it's hard to see how a classroomdiscussion of story structure could be much more valuable than reading andstudying the work of the greats, from Truman Capote to David Grann.Instead of educating future journalists on the nuts and bolts of journalism-- because let's be honest, it isn't rocket science or even carpentry -- itwould make more sense simply to teach them things. Facts, it turns out, areuseful.Most people can write a nut graf after 30 minutes of practice, butcomparatively few people can explain, say, econometrics, or fluid dynamics,or the history of the French Revolution. Aspiring journalists don't needtrade-craft -- they need a liberal-arts education that gives them a base ofmastery in actual academic subjects.Amazingly enough, some J-schools are recognizing this problem and trying toadapt. In May 2005, the Carnegie Corp. and the Knight Foundation partneredwith five journalism grad programs (Columbia, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, USCand Harvard) to launch a $6 million initiative to bring more academics toJ-school curriculums. The goal was to get subject-matter instructors fromother parts of the university -- say, economics professors -- and have themteach lessons in their areas to J-school students. The initiative,spearheaded by Carnegie President Vartan Gregorian, has been so wellreceived that last March four more schools signed up.Columbia's journalism school has embraced this notion so whole-heartedlythat it established an alternate degree, a Master of Arts, in which studentsselect a concentration in one of four disciplines: Politics, Arts & Culture,Business & Economics or Science. "We do the craft, or skills, in house,"explains Columbia J-school Dean Nicholas Lemann of the new program, "and wecontract out, or outsource, the substance to other units in the university."It seems likely that other graduate programs will follow this lead and thatthe new emphasis on facts-over-process will eventually filter down toundergraduate programs, too. But why go to journalism school to read, say,David Hume and Adam Smith? Why not just take philosophy and macroeconomicsin the standard liberal-arts programs and, with less effort and expense,pick up a course or two (at most) in how to interview a "source"?Even there, innovation is on the move. Last January, Steve and Cynthia Brillpledged $1 million to Yale to fund a program to train undergraduates whoaspire to journalism. Mr. Brill, who bristles at journalism studies, wantsto keep students pursuing academic majors. Instead, his program will bring ajournalism career counselor to campus and a visiting journalist to teach aseminar once a semester. It's the best idea yet.If America's universities were providing students with adequate academicinstruction, instead of pumping out degrees in pseudo-subjects like"communications," then J-schools wouldn't need to adapt at all. They couldsimply shut down.Mr. Last is the online editor of the Weekly Standard and a weeklycommentator for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

PESHAWAR: Illegal radio stations boosting extremism

2006-05-21T13:12:00.000+05:00
By Sadia Qasim ShahPESHAWAR, May 15: Illegal FM radio stations, mostlyrun by clerics, fuelling extremist views about women’srights and reinforcing conservative social values andextremism in many districts in the Frontier province.According to the Pakistan Electronic Media RegulatoryAuthority (Pemra), there are some 62 illegal FMstations in settled areas while 49 others are beingoperated from the Federally- Administered Tribal Areasand Provincially-Administered Tribal Areas (Fata andPata).“Almost all illegal FM radio stations are run byclergymen from Madressahs and mosques,” officialssaid.Most of the FM radio stations were being run byclergymen, propagating controversial views in their‘Dars-i-Quran’. These clerics also give sermons onwomen-related issues and other day-to-day affairs onair, officials and local listeners said.“Women’s problems must not be discussed publicly onradio. It goes against our cultural values,” said aresident of Dir district.But these illegal FM radio stations were heard“appealing” to their audiences to discuss theirproblems. According to listeners, these radio stations“receive letters and people even discuss theirproblems by making telephone calls” to the peoplerunning these radio stations.“Women in rural areas are mostly restricted to theirhomes and do not care much about their rights butdespite this, they are the target of sermonstransmitted by these FM radios. The sermons conveynothing but conservative ideas,” said a resident ofUpper Dir, a conservative district with many illegalFM radio stations.Several of the illegal radio stations were operatingfrom various seminaries and mosques in Wari, UsheriDarra, Jabar and Barawal Banday areas while a women’smadressah in Upper Dir was transmitting sermons onissues ranging from jihad to day-to-day problems ofwomen, a local resident told this correspondent.“Once, an FM radio station indoctrinated peopleagainst the anti-polio campaign that led to an attackon a polio vaccinator. The clerics, who operates theFM stations, say that they are just preaching‘Dars-i-Quran’ but they cannot help speaking upagainst the United States or promote jihad and localreligious political leaders,” a resident of Dir said.Rakhshinda Naz, a women’s rights activist, said thateveryone had a right to preach his views and no onecould put a check on it.She said that if Pemra could not shut down these radiostations, it should issue licenses to run legal radiochannels for propagating progressive ideas to counterthe ultraorthodox views propagated by these illegal FMradio stations.Illegal FM radio stations operated by two clericsbelonging to different schools of thought — MuftiMunir Shakir and Pir Saifur Rehman — created a law andorder situation in the Khyber agency.Sources said that illegal FM radio stations were notrestricted to conservative tribal areas, adding thatthe phenomenon was spreading fast to settled areas.According to data gathered by the NWFP chapter of theHuman Rights Commission of Pakistan, there were some67 illegal FM radio stations operating in Upper andLower Dir, Swat, Malakand, Buner, Shangla and Swabi.AN HRCP official said that the growing trend ofextremism in parts of the NWFP was negating thegovernment’s efforts to portray a soft image ofPakistan abroad.There have been incidents of torching CDs andtelevision sets in Swat and Tank districts, indicatingthat extremists were taking hold of affairs in theseareas.The clerics were prpopagating political ideas in thename of Islam while banned organisations, like theTehrik Nifaz-i-Shariat Muhammadi, fuelling jihad andpreaching against the US policies on their illegal FMradio stations, an HRCP activist and a resident of Dirsaid.Pemra’s spokesperson Mohammad Salim told thiscorrespondent from Islamabad that the trend of settingup FM radio station in seminaries and mosques existedonly in the NWFP. He also said that Pemra had raidedand closed down 17 of the 28 illegal FM radio stationsin Swabi district alone.Pemra, he said, was taking action against illegal FMoperators with the help of the provincial government.The reason it was difficult to completely close downall illegal FM radio stations was that localtechnicians could manufacture the equipment for onlyRs10,000 or Rs15,000.The number of illegal FM radio stations operating inPeshawar was one while there were 11 in Chrasadda,four in Mardan, 28 in Swabi, 13 in Buner, four inHangu, one in Karak, two in Mansehra and two inBatagram. In Pata, there were eight FM stations in theLower Dir while three more were operating in the UpperDir, 14 in Malakand and six in Swat.“Pemra has so far arrested only one local technicianfor illegally manufacturing the equipment,” sourcessaid.Ends

WACC Photographic Competition 2006

2006-04-21T07:13:00.000+05:00
For photographs reflecting the media and people...Deadline: May 1 2006Organised by the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC), this annual competition is inviting submissions of photographs interpreting the theme of The Media and People. The competition winners will be announced on World Communication Day, May 8. A selection of entries will be exhibited in London and will be used in the WACC publications such as the website and the journal “Media Development.” There will be one first prize of USD $500 and five commendations of USD $200 each. The competition is open to all men, women and children, of all ages and from all countries. Entries from amateurs and professionals are welcome.

There is no limit to the number of photographs that a person may enter, but no entrant may win more than one prize in the contest. Photographs should be loaded to the WACC Flickr website. Entries must be licenced under 'Creative Commons' licence. Entries should have a short description of what the image shows and why it is relevant. If the photographer has no access the web, the photographs can be sent by email to ec@wacc.org.uk with the subject: “WACC Photographic Competition”.

The email should include 1) Your name 2) A caption of the image 3) A paragraph explaining why the photograph is significant and giving details of what it shows 4) An affirmation of being the copyright holder and that the photographer makes the image available under the protection of a Creative Commons licence. Contact:Erick Collec@wacc.org.uk Click here for previous winners.

‘Free media a big lie fabricated by West’

2006-04-10T17:49:00.000+05:00
By Nada S. Mussallam 8 April 2006
ABU DHABI — The expression ‘free media’ is a big lie fabricated by the ‘West’ and believed by millions of people around the globe, blasted a famous Arab TV channel presenter.
“There is no free media. It is, in fact, a big lie. Both ‘democratic’ and ‘dictatorial’ systems do not believe in the free media. Everywhere, the media has become a tool for political mobilisation. It is used to serve political, economic and commercial interests of those who control it,” said Dr Faisal Al Qassem, anchorman of Opposite Direction one of the most popular interactive programmes amongst the Arabic-language satellite channels.
Dr Qassem of the Al Jazeera satellite channel, which is the Arab world’s only independent, professional news and information television channel voiced his opinion during a lecture held in the capital on Thursday evening.
Titled Unveiling the Truth of Media, the lecture was hosted by the Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation as part of the cultural programmes marking the 16th International Abu Dhabi Book Fair being organised in the capital. Opposite Direction programme that sheds light on daring and controversial topics continues for the fifth year in a row with Dr Al Qassem moderating every week a debate between two personalities with opposing views on vital issues.
Citing an example of the deteriorating condition for freedom of expression in the West, Dr Qassem said that in the US, certain influential families and gigantic companies control most of the media organs. “For example, the ‘General Electric’ company — which is involved in manufacturing military and nuclear equipment — owns the NBC channel. Therefore, the NBC will never touch on subjects related to the perilous impact of nuclear weapons.”
“The media in the West is factional and serves certain parties or systems. The Times newspaper, for instance, cannot dare oppose the Conservative party as since its foundation, it was known as a conservative paper while opposing the British Labour party is one of its duties. The Daily Telegraph, on the other hand, is known as the paper of the rightists, so it is prohibited from favouring the leftists," said Dr Qassem. He said no journalist or reporter from the West could ever indulge in the issue of Holocaust without getting into trouble that might land him or her in jail. “Journalists in the West are only free to design editorial plans for their papers and attack other opposing factions,” he added.
He blasted the US and Britain for exploiting globalisation to influence and hence dominate other cultures, including the European culture, while protecting their culture against the impact of external media. “In other words, it is an ‘intellect war’ that targets the culture of other nations. The Americans think they can brainwash people and inspire other cultures to adopt their morals,” said Dr Qassem.
He noted that anti-campaigns launched against Islamic and Arab media was part of the ‘intellect war’ that also aims at “tailoring an Islam that absorbs the West’s values and directives,” he said. “This is actually ‘terrorism of the media’. They do not want to listen to others’ opinions, but others should adopt their traditions and values as if our views are not worth it, and if we spread our concepts and values, they consider it ‘terrorism’, said Dr Qassem.Al Jazeera is the largest and most controversial Arabic news channel in the Middle East, offering news coverage 24 hours a day from around the world and focusing on the hottest regions of conflict. Founded in 1996, and based in Qatar, the Al Jazeera news network is the fastest growing network among Arab communities and Arabic speaking people around the world. With programmes focusing primarily on news coverage and analysis, the station has earned the loyalty of a large audience. It has also earned the enmity of various critics who argue that Al Jazeera is overly sensational, with a bent on showing bloody footage from war zones as well as giving coverage to violent groups. Criticism from varied governments has helped the channel garner credibility from an audience that is used to government imposed censorship and biased coverage.

Portraying Politics – A Training Toolkit for Journalists, Broadcasters, Media Managers and Trainers

2006-04-08T12:18:00.000+05:00
Portraying Politics is not simply about politics and politicians interpreted as 'high politics' - the political decision-making processes of parliament or government. It is concerned with political issues and political representation in a broader sense. For instance the place of politics in everyday life, the relationship of citizens to the political process, the role of journalists in portraying politicians and in interpreting political issues - all these are touched on in the toolkit.
Journalists and programme-makers working on politics and current affairs wrestle with at least two fundamental challenges. On the one hand, there is the question of professional definition. What precisely is political journalism, or what should it be? What are the salient issues? How should they be prioritised? Who do they most affect? How should they be tackled - from a top-down, or a bottom-up perspective? On the other hand, there is the question of professional approach. How is the audience to be addressed? What is the best way to encourage people's interest in politics? What should be the mode of address - expository, entertaining, authoritative, interpretative?Who is the audience - or who should it be? How can broadcasters ensure that their treatment of political issues is inclusive, in the sense of reaching out to women, young people, ethnic minorities? The toolkit provides some points of departure for detailed discussion of these and other professional questions.
The project began with a review of research on gender, politics and media. Its conclusions guided the selection of issues that are covered in the toolkit. As a specific contribution to the project, ZDF carried out a study of women and men in its own newscasts in the summer of 2005 . We also had access to the findings of a 76-country study of women and men that was carried out in 2005 . With the findings of these studies as a starting point, the project partners researched and contributed programme examples from their own output and that of some other interested broadcasters. The video clips form the core of the toolkit. They illustrate some of the main patterns and tendencies in television's portrayal of women and men in politics and public life today.
In some respects the toolkit is a sequel to Screening Gender, a training toolkit produced in 2000 by six European broadcasting organisations . However, with its specific focus on the world of politics and public life, Portraying Politics enters new and, in some ways, more complex territory. As the research and examples in this toolkit demonstrate, unravelling the inter-relationships between gender, media and politics presents challenges that have until now been relatively unexplored.
There are few non-white faces among the people who appear in these video clips. This is largely a reflection of the low representation of ethnic minority groups in the political life of most European countries. For instance in the United Kingdom, where 8% of citizens are from a non-white ethnic background, only 2% of politicians are of black or Asian ethnic origin. But it is not solely a matter of political representation, or the lack of it. There are also questions to be raised about media representation of ethnic minorities in the broader political process. So in the final module of the toolkit we address the issue of diversity in its widest sense, and the need to take a comprehensive approach to the representation of all groups in society.
Portraying Politics is therefore intended to stimulate reflection and debate among journalists, programme-makers and media managers about the many inter-connected factors that link journalism, politics and representation. We hope it will challenge some taken-for-granted aspects of journalistic practice and, above all, that it will provoke creative thinking about how things could - and should - be done differently.

Click Below to place orders:
ORDER FORM http://www.portrayingpolitics.org/order.php

IFEX COMMUNIQUÉ VOL 15 NO 13 | 4 APRIL 2006

2006-04-05T07:51:00.000+05:00
The IFEX Communiqué is the weekly newsletter of the International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX), a global network of 72 organisations working to defend and promote the right to free expression. IFEX is managed by Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (www.cjfe.org).The IFEX Communiqué is also available in French (www.ifex.org/fr), Spanish (www.ifex.org/es), Russian (www.ifex.cjes.ru/) and Arabic (http://hrinfo.net/ifex/).

Visit the IFEX website: http://www.ifex.org/
Read about the IFEX Tunisia Campaign: http://campaigns.ifex.org/tmg

INDEX
FREE EXPRESSION SPOTLIGHT:

1. Australia: New Spying Law Poses Severe Threat to Press Freedom

REGIONAL NEWS:
2. Thailand: Media Outlets Attacked by Pro-Government Protesters

3. Philippines: Journalist Shot Dead

4. Mexico: Newspapers Unite to Fight Impunity in Murders of Journalists

5. Chile: IPYS, ARTICLE 19 File Brief to Defend Access to Information

REPORTS AND PUBLICATIONS:

6. Access to Information Vital to Improving Reproductive and Sexual Health: ARTICLE 19

JOB NOTICES

7. Internews Seeks Manager for Indonesian Community Radio Project

AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS:8. Anna Lindh Foundation Journalist Award for Cultural Diversity

9. PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Awards Honour Algerian Journalist, Turkmen Writer

USEFUL WEBSITES:

10. Foundations of Freedom of Expression

11. International Libel and Privacy Handbook

ALERTS ISSUED BY THE IFEX CLEARING HOUSE LAST WEEK
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FREE-EXPRESSION SPOTLIGHT

1. AUSTRALIA: NEW SPYING LAW POSES SEVERE THREAT TO PRESS FREEDOMThe Australian Senate has approved a bill that would give authorities powers to intercept phone calls, e-mails and text messages of citizens, a move seen by the Media, Arts and Entertainment Alliance (MEAA) and Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) as a serious threat to press freedom. Spies, police and other security agencies will be able to use warrants to tap phones belonging to a suspect's family, friends, colleagues and lawyer, says MEAA. Other agencies, such as the Australian Tax Office, Customs, and the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), will have the power to access stored communications such as e-mail and SMS text messaging. MEAA argues that the legislation targets anyone who interacts with suspects of serious crimes, even though they are not themselves suspected of anything. It also says the law poses a threat to journalists. "Journalists who contact terror suspects for a story may have their phones tapped, giving authorities access not only to conversations with the suspect but also those of other, innocent sources," says MEAA. This would jeopardise the ability of journalists to maintain source confidentiality. RSF notes that existing laws already place undue pressures on journalists. Australia's Anti-Terrorism Act, adopted in December 2005, provides for sentences of up to five years in prison for contacting a terrorism suspect. Journalists investigating terrorist activities could be arrested by the police, especially if they publish the names of suspects. Reporters do not have the right to refuse to reveal their sources in terrorism cases, and security forces can raid news organisations in order to search for evidence in such cases. Visit these links:- MEAA: http://www.alliance.org.au/content/view/172/52/- RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=16920- New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties: http://www.nswccl.org.au/news/show_pr.php?relNum=1&relYear=2006- Australia's Anti-Terrorism Laws: http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/forumy/2006/03/strengthening-counter-terrorism-laws.php

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REGIONAL NEWS:ASIA-PACIFIC

2. THAILAND: MEDIA OUTLETS ATTACKED BY PRO-GOVERNMENT PROTESTERSIn Thailand, a series of attacks on critical media outlets in the days leading up to the 2 April 2006 elections prompted calls of concern from the Thai Journalists Association (TJA), the Southeast Asia Press Alliance (SEAPA), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). On 30 March, some 3,000 demonstrators besieged the offices of "Kom Chad Leuk", a newspaper owned by the independent Nation Group after it published remarks by Sondhi Limthongkul, a prominent media tycoon, that were perceived as insulting to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and to Thailand's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, reported TJA and SEAPA. Another 2,000 demonstrators surrounded the Nation Group's head offices and threatened to use violence against the company's staff. "Kom Chad Leuk" had published an article on 24 March quoting Sondhi as saying that Thaksin's lengthy stay in power obliged the King to take action. The newspaper's chief editors apologised for the story and fired the reporter and editor responsible for the article. On the same day, supporters of Thaksin attacked Prachuab Wangjai, an editor at the Nation Channel television network, at Chiang Mai University while he was covering a political rally held by the opposition Democrats Party. Prachuab was punched in the head as he and his team were getting ready to leave the rally."Kom Chad Luek" has been harassed by the Thai government in the past. More than 20 criminal defamation suits have been filed by government agencies, officials, and their related business interests since Thaksin came to power in 2001, CPJ notes. In 2002, after the paper published many critical news stories, the government ordered a probe into the financial accounts of several senior Nation Group editors, including chief editor and company founder Suthichai Yoon and senior editor Thepchai Yong. A court later ruled that the government probe was unlawful.In response to the attacks, the TJA has called on the country's media associations and outlets to join forces to counteract attacks on the press. Visit these links:- TJA: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/73356/- SEAPA: http://www.seapabkk.org/- CPJ: http://www.cpj.org/news/2006/asia/thai31mar06na.html- IFJ: http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=3811&Language=EN- Thaksin to Step Down: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4876326.stm

3. PHILIPPINES: JOURNALIST SHOT DEADThe Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) is investigating whether a journalist shot dead on 2 April 2006 in Tarlac City, the Philippines, was killed because of his work. Orlando Mendoza, a columnist who wrote for several local newspapers, was ambushed by unidentified gunmen while on his way home, and sustained fatal wounds to his head and body.Mendoza, 58, wrote for the "Tarlac Profile" and acted as the editor-in-chief of another newspaper, "Tarlac Patrol". Mendoza was also the vice president of the Camp Marabulos Press Club and a director of the Tarlac chapter of the Central Luzon Media Association (CMLA).He worked at the local municipal office as a "documentation consultant" on land disputes, according to CLMA. Mendoza used to work in the local office of the Department of Agrarian Reform, a government agency tasked with implementing and managing land reform in the country.As a journalist, Mendoza wrote columns which did not attack specific individuals or organisations, according to local journalists. However, Mendoza was charged with libel last month by a local faction of the Philippine Guardian Brotherhood, a military fraternity, for vilifying them in his columns. The charge was dismissed by a local court in late March.The Philippines is widely considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists. In 2005, nine were killed, according to the International Press Institute (IPI). Visit these links:- CMFR: http://www.cmfr-phil.org/- CMFR Analysis of Journalist's Killings: http://www.cmfr-phil.org/fffj1.htm- National Union of Journalists of the Philippines: http://www.nujp.org/- Southeast Asian Press Alliance: http://www.seapabkk.org/- IPI: http://tinyurl.com/hpd9c- International Federation of Journalists: http://www.ifj-asia.org/page/philippines.html- Committee to Protect Journalists: http://www.cpj.org/attacks05/asia05/phil_05.html- Reporters Without Borders: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=13437AMERICAS

4. MEXICO: NEWSPAPERS UNITE TO FIGHT IMPUNITY IN MURDERS OF JOURNALISTSMore than 100 newspapers in Mexico have published the first of a series of investigative articles aimed at breaking through the mystery surrounding the unsolved murders of journalists in the country, reports the Inter American Press Association (IAPA). On 3 April 2006, newspapers simultaneously published a report on the disappearance of Alfredo Jiménez Mota, 26, who covered drug trafficking for "El Imparcial", a daily newspaper in Hermosillo, Sonora, which is near the U.S. border. Jiménez Mota has not been seen since 2 April 2005. At the time of his disappearance, he was investigating drug traffickers and organised crime, who are responsible for the majority of journalists murdered in recent years.The report named and described familes in Sonora state who have ties to drug trafficking, and pointed to evidence that Jimenez's likely abductor was Raul Enriquez Parra, an alleged smuggler whose tortured body was found in November 2005 after being thrown from a plane.Dubbed the Phoenix Project, the collaboration between Mexican newspapers comes in response to worsening violence against the press and lack of government will in solving the murders of journalists. Since March 2004, 11 journalists have been killed in the country, according to IAPA. With support from the Knight Foundation, IAPA has been supporting efforts to fight impunity in Mexico. Last August, IAPA organised a meeting of publishers and editors from northern Mexico, where a declaration was signed by 40 news executives who pledged to work together to fight impunity. The Phoenix Project is made up of a team of eight reporters from various newspapers who are tasked with investigating crimes against journalists. IAPA says it hopes other journalists, including those from radio and television, will participate in the project to widen coverage of the investigations. Visit these links:- Report on Jiménez Mota: http://www.impunidad.com/toplevel/fenixEn.htm- IAPA Report on Mexico: http://www.sipiapa.com/pulications/informe_mexico2006.cfm- RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=16921- CBS News: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/04/04/ap/world/mainD8GORNP81.shtml- IPI Report on Mexico: http://tinyurl.com/meded- "Not One More" Campaign: http://www.cepet.org

5. CHILE: IPYS, ARTICLE 19 FILE BRIEF TO DEFEND ACCESS TO INFORMATIONFive civil society organisations, including the Institute for Press and Society (Instituto Prensa y Sociedad, IPYS) and ARTICLE 19, have filed an amicus curiae brief with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, urging it to rule that the American Convention on Human Rights guarantees the right to access information held by public bodies.This week, the Court is holding a hearing in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on the case "Marcel Claude Reyes and Others v. Chile". Claude Reyes and two colleagues are challenging Chilean court rulings that have denied them the right to obtain information from the government about a controversial logging project known as the Condor River project. The environmental activist had requested information about the environmental record of Trillium Ltd, the U.S. company backing the project.IPYS and ARTICLE 19, along with the Open Society Institute Justice Initiative, Libertad de Información Mexico, Asociación Civil (LIMAC) and Access Info Europe, argue in their brief that the Convention - to which Chile is a signatory - guarantees citizens the right to access information held by public authorities. In its 27-year history, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has never ruled on whether the Convention provides for the right to access government-held information. If it rules in favour of Claude Reyes, Chile will have to change its laws to reflect that right. Other countries in the region that have signed the Convention will also need to re-assess their laws. A decision on the case is expected in three to four months.The brief is available at: http://justiceinitiative.org/index_files/Claude_v_Chile Visit: - Inter-American Court of Human Rights: http://www.corteidh.or.cr/- American Convention on Human Rights: http://www.cidh.oas.org/Basicos/basic3.htm- IPYS: http://www.ipys.org/- ARTICLE 19: http://www.article19.org/pdfs/standards/righttoknow.pdf

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REPORTS AND PUBLICATIONS

6. ACCESS TO INFORMATION VITAL FOR IMPROVING REPRODUCTIVE AND SEXUAL HEALTH: ARTICLE 19

Access to information is a vital component of any serious strategy to promote and protectthe right to reproductive and sexual health, argues ARTICLE 19 in a new report published in collaboration with the Institute for Press and Society (Instituto Prensa y Sociedad, IPYS) and the Flora Tristán Centre for Peruvian Women. "Time for Change: Promoting and Protecting Access to Information and Reproductive and Sexual Health Rights in Peru" examines how Peru's access to information law, enacted in 2002, has benefited women, particularly those living in poor areas. The report reveals that one of the most vulnerable groups in Peruvian society is women. "Reproductive and sexual health choices are impacted by the large gap between women and the health system caused by differences in socio-economic conditions, culture, language, education and religion. With decisions about family planning policies being taken by politicians and heavily influenced by religious hierarchies and pharmaceutical companies, the views of women's groups are often overlooked," the report finds. The report is available in: English: http://www.article19.org/pdfs/publications/peru-time-for-change.pdfSpanish: http://www.article19.org/pdfs/publications/epoca-de-cambio.pdf
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JOB NOTICES

7. INTERNEWS SEEKS MANAGER FOR INDONESIAN COMMUNITY RADIO PROJECT

Internews Europe is seeking to hire a Project Director to manage a community radio initiative in Indonesia for a 12-month term. Reporting to the Internews Country Director in Indonesia, the Project Director will be responsible for managing a local staff of seven and guiding the development of a new organisation called Pro Media Indonesia. He or she will also lead and participate in the development of a community radio training curriculum at three universities; supervise the development of Community Radio Support Centres at several local universities; manage a basic technical and journalism skills training programme for 30 community stations; and develop management and intermediate journalism training programmes for these stations.The closing date for applications is 30 April 2006. For full details, visit: http://internews.fr/documents/Jobs/Project%20Director%20ID%20radio_March06.doc

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AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS

8. ANNA LINDH FOUNDATION JOURNALIST AWARD FOR CULTURAL DIVERSITYThe Anna Lindh Foundation and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) are accepting entries for a new award aimed at promoting better understanding of the diversity of cultures in the Euro-Mediterranean region. The Anna Lindh Foundation Journalist Award for Cultural Diversity is open to journalists between the ages of 25 and 35 who work for print or online media in the following countries: Algeria, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Morocco, Netherlands, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom. Applicants must submit one article or a series of articles that have been published between 1 June 2005 and 1 June 2006 in any print or online media in the above countries. The articles should depict cultural diversity and inspire exchange and intercultural dialogue among citizens of the Euro-Mediterranean region. Award winners will be invited on a guided tour of four countries to explore and report on important issues of cultural dialogue and diversity. The tour will include meetings with high-level government officials and representatives of non-governmental organisations. They will also have their prize-winning articles published in a booklet.The awards will be presented to the winners at a ceremony on 10 September 2006 - the day the late Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh was assassinated. The deadline for submitting entries is 1 June 2006. For more information, visit: http://www.euromedalex.org/Prize/index.html

9. PEN/BARBARA GOLDSMITH AWARDS HONOUR ALGERIAN NEWSMAN, TURKMEN WRITERAn Algerian newspaper publisher serving a two-and-a-half year prison sentence for criticising senior government officials and a Turkmen novelist whose books have been banned for offending the president have been named winners of the 2006 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Awards.Mohammed Benchicou has been imprisoned since 14 June 2004 on charges of libel and illegally bringing money into the country. His newspaper, "Le Matin", was closed in August after it was ordered to pay a fine of 20m dinars (US$280,000). There are also 50 pending cases against Benchicou for charges dating back to 2002. According to PEN American Center (PEN), the charges are aimed at silencing Benchicou and "Le Matin" after the newspaper accused a government minister of being involved in the torture of prisoners in the 1970s. Benchicou also published a book in 2004 that called Algerian President Bouteflika a "fraud."PEN says Benchicou's prison conditions are harsh, with 50 prisoners to a cell. Benchicou's health has reportedly deteriorated since his imprisonment and he is now seriously ill.Rakhim Esenov, 78, is a novelist and historian in Turkmenistan who also works as a correspondent for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. He faces a four-year jail sentence on charges of "inciting social, national and religious hatred using the mass media." Esenov says the charges are related to his novel "The Crowned Wanderer", which was banned in 1997 by President Saparmurad Niyazov. He also faces charges for speaking to a former government minister who is now a key opposition figure and critic of the President. The PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Awards recognise international literary figures who have been persecuted or imprisoned for exercising or defending the right to free expression. In the 20 years since the award was launched, 28 of the 30 award winners who were imprisoned at the time they were honoured have been released.For more information, visit: http://www.pen.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/632/prmID/172
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USEFUL WEBSITES

10. FOUNDATIONS OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSIONPEN Canada has produced an online tool for high school teachers to introduce freedom of expression concepts into the classroom. The reference guide explains what is meant by the term "freedom of expression", highlights international standards set out by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and lists case studies of censorship in Canada. Visit: http://www.pencanada.ca/freedomofexpression/

11. INTERNATIONAL LIBEL AND PRIVACY HANDBOOK

"International Libel and Privacy Handbook" offers a country-by-country, user-friendly guide to navigating laws and customs worldwide for researchers, reporters and editors.. The handbook is written by Charles J. Glasser Jr., media counsel for Bloomberg News. Visit: http://www.ordering1.us/bloombergbooks/product.php?pid=244

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தேர்தல் ஊடகக் கண்காணிப்பு 2006

2006-04-02T17:43:00.000+05:00

"சட்ட மன்றப் பொதுத் தேர்தல் குறித்த செய்திகளைத் தமிழ் நாளிதழ்கள் வெளியிடும் விதம் குறித்த பல்கலைக் கழக இதழியல் மாணவர்களின் விமர்சனப் பதிவு"

Source : http://tnmeidawatch.blogspot.com/

இதழியல் மாணவர்களின் பதிவு

மனோன்மணியம் சுந்தரனார் பல்கலைக் கழகத்தின் இதழியல் துறையில் முதுகலைப் பட்டப் படிப்பை இன்னும் ஓரிரு மாதங்களில் நிறைவு செய்யவிருக்கும் மாணவர்களாகிய நாங்கள், எமது பட்டப் படிப்பின் ஒரு பயிற்சியாக இந்த வலைப்பூவைத் தொடங்குகிறோம்.

தேர்தல் பிரச்சாரத்தை முக்கிய தலைவர்கள் தொடங்கி விட்டார்கள். இன்று தொடங்கி தேர்தல் முடிவுகள் வெளியிடப் படும் வரை இந்த வலைப் பூவைத் தொடரத் திட்டமிட்டிருக்கிறோம். எங்களின் பட்ட மேற்படிப்பில் ஊடக ஒழுக்கங்கள் குறித்து கற்று வருகிறோம். இதில், அற ஒழுக்கங்கள் குறித்தும், ஊடகச் சட்டக்னகள் குறித்தும் படித்து வருகிறோம். தேர்தல் வேளையில், தமிழ் நாளிதழ்கள் எவ்வாறு செய்திகளை வெளியிடுகின்றன என்பது குறித்து ஆராய்வதே எங்களின் முக்கிய நோக்கம். குறிப்பாக, துல்லியம், பக்கம் சாராமை, நியாயமுடன் செய்திகளை வெளியிடுதல் போன்ற அடிப்படை விஷயங்களில் தமிழ் நாளிதழ்கள் என்ன விதமான போக்கினைக் கையாண்டு வருகின்றன என்பதைக் கண்டுணர்வதே எம்முடைய அக்கறையாக இருக்கும். இது, தமிழ் நாளிதழ்களைப் புரிந்து கொள்ள எமக்குப் பெரிதும் உதவும் என்று நம்புகிறோம்.
திருநெல்வேலி மாநகரிலிருந்து வெளியாகும் தமிழ் நாளிதழ்களில் அதிக எண்ணிக்கையில் வெளியாகும், தினத்தந்தி, தினமலர், தினமணி, தினகரன் ஆகிய நான்கு நாளிதழ்களையும் ஆய்வுக்கு உட்படுத்துவது என்று தீர்மானித்திருக்கிறோம்.

எமது விமர்சனங்கள் குறித்த, தமிழ் சமூகத்தின் எதிர்வினையை மிகுந்த ஆர்வமுடன் எதிர் நோக்கிக் காத்திருக்கிறோம்.

ஆர்வமுடன்,

தேர்தல் ஊடக விமர்சனக் குழுவினர்

________
செய்தியை இருட்டடிப்புச் செய்யலாமா? மேற்கோள் இல்லாமல் செய்தி எழுதுவது அறமா?
ஏப்ரில் 01 2006 அன்று வெளியான செய்திகளில் 3 செய்திகளை ஆய்வுக்கு எடுத்துக் கொள்வோம்.

1. ஜெயலலிதாவின் தேர்தல் பிரச்சாரம் ஆரம்பம்
2. விஜயகாந் வேட்பாளர் பட்டியலை வெளியிட்டார்
3. கலிங்கப்பட்டியிலிருந்து வைகோ பிரச்சாரத்தைத் தொடங்கினார்

இதில், ஜெயலலிதா பிரச்சாரம் தொடங்கியது பற்றி தினத் தந்தி, தினமலர், தினமணி, தினகரன் ஆகிய 4 நாளிதழ்களும் செய்தியை வெளியிட்டுள்ளன.

விஜயகாந் வேட்பாளர் பட்டியலை வெளியிட்ட தகவல் தினமலரின் லீட் ஸ்டோரியாக வெளியாகி உள்ளது. இதில் எந்த நபரையும் மேற்கோள் காட்டாமல், பொதுவாக ரசிகர்கள் என்று மட்டும் மேற்கோளாகக் காட்டி சில தகவல்கள் வெளியிடப் பட்டுள்ளன. தினமலர் செய்தியில் இடம் பெற்றுள்ள தகவல்கள் கீழே தரப் படுகின்றன:

"இப்படி இரு பெரிய அணிகளுமே வலுவாக உள்ள இந்த தொகுதியை விஜயகாந்த் தேர்வு செய்தது அனைவருக்கும் ஆச்சரியத்தை ஏற்படுத்தி உள்ளது. ஆனால், வன்னியர் ஓட்டுக்களை இரு அணிகளின் வன்னியர் வேட்பாளர்கள் பிரிக்கும் பட்சத்தில் இதர ஓட்டுக்களை பெற்று வெற்றி பெறலாம் என்ற கணக்கில் விஜயகாந்த் இந்த தொகுதியை தேர்வு
செய்திருக்கலாம் என பா.ம.க.,வினர் கருதுகின்றனர். உண்மையில் வன்னியர்களின் ஓட்டுக்களை பெரிதும் நம்பியே விஜயகாந்த் இத்தொகுதியில் போட்டியிடுவதாக கூறப்படுகிறது.

பா.ம.க.,வுக்கு சவால் விடும் வகையில் அவர்களது கோட்டையிலேயே போட்டியிட்டு வெற்றி பெற்று காண்பிக்க வேண்டும் என்பதே விஜயகாந்தின் திட்டம் என்று அவரது ரசிகர்கள் கூறுகின்றனர். விஜயகாந்துக்கு இப்பகுதிகளில் அதிகளவு ரசிகர்கள் உருவாகி வந்ததால் தான் அவருடன் மோதல் போக்கை ஆரம்பத்திலேயே பா.ம.க., துவக்கியதாக
கூறப்படுகிறது. மேலும், கட்சியை துவக்கி தமிழகம் முழுவதும் பிரசாரத்தை விஜயகாந்த் ஆரம்பித்த போது விருத்தாசலத்தில் தான் அதிக அளவிற்கு கூட்டம் கூடியுள்ளது. இதன் காரணமாகவே இந்த தொகுதியை அவர் தேர்வு செய்ததாக அவரது ரசிகர்கள் தெரிவிக்கின்றனர். மேலும், இந்த தொகுதியில் இவருக்கு அதிகளவு ரசிகர் மன்றங்களும் உள்ளன. இதில், அதிக அளவிற்கு வன்னியர்கள் தான் உறுப்பினர்களாக உள்ளனர். இங்கு விஜயகாந்த் போட்டியிட வேண்டுமென 15 பேர் மனு கொடுத்துள்ளனர் என்பது குறிப்பிடத் தக்கது. எனவே, இரண்டு நாட்கள் இந்த தொகுதியை விஜயகாந்த் சுற்றி வந்தாலே அவர் வெற்றி பெறுவது நிச்சயம் என ரசிகர் மன்றத்தினர் கூறுகின்றனர்".

இவ்வாறு செய்தி எழுதுவது, உள்நோக்கம் கொண்டதாகக் கருத இடமுண்டு அல்லவா? செய்தி வேறு, எண்ணம் வேறு அல்லவா? இது அறமா?

இன்று வெளியான தேர்தல் குறித்த செய்திகளில் முக்கியமான ஒன்று வைகோவின் பிரச்சாரம் கலிங்கப் பட்டியில் தொடங்கப் பட்டதாகும். தேசிய ஆங்கில நாளேடான தி இந்து நாளிதழ் இது குறித்து 3 பத்திகளில் விரிவாகச் செய்தி வெளியிட்டுள்ளது. இந்தச் செய்தி தினகரனில் இடம் பெறவில்லையே ஏன்? இதை உள்நோக்கம் கொண்டது என்று கருத இடமுண்டு அல்லவா? இது இருட்டடிப்பு ஆகாதா?

_____________
Day 2 April 2 2006
தொடரும் இருட்டடிப்பு ... ஒரு பக்கம் சார்ந்து எழுதும் போக்கை உறுதி செய்யும் ஆதாரம்
இன்று ஆய்வுக்கு எடுத்துக் கொள்ளப்படுபவை 4 செய்திகள்:
1. வைகோவின் சன் டி வி - தினகரன் தொடர்பான பேச்சுக்கு, தினகரனின் தன்னிலை விளக்கம்
2. ஜெயலலிதாவின் விழுப்புரப் பிரச்சாரம்
3. வைகோவின் நாசரேத், திருச்செந்தூர் பேச்சு
4. கருணாநிதி குறித்து நெல்லை கண்ணனின் பேட்டி

1. வைகோவின் சன் டி வி - தினகரன் தொடர்பான பேச்சுக்கு, தினகரனின் தன்னிலை விளக்கம்:
இன்றைய தினகரனின் 8ஆம் பக்கத்தில் தினகாரன் ஒரு முழுப் பக்க தன்னிலை விளக்கத்தை வெளியிட்டுள்ளது. தினகரனின் வெப்சைட்டில் இதை முழுமையாக வாசிக்கலாம். வைகோ என்ன பேசினார் என்பதையே வெளியிடாமல், அவர் பேச்சுக்கு இவ்வளவு பெரிய மறுப்புரை வெளியிடுவது சரியா? அவர் என்ன பேசினார் என்பதை பேசிய அன்றே வெளியிட்டிருக்கலாமே? இதை எழுதியது யார்? தினகரன் ஆசிரியரா? சன் டி வி யின் அதிபரா? பத்திரிகையாளரா? எந்தக் குறிப்பும் இல்லாமல் ஒரு செய்திக் கட்டுரையைப் போல வெளியிட்டிருப்பது அறமா?

2. ஜெயலலிதாவின் விழுப்புர பிரச்சாரம்: இன்றைய தினகரன் இந்தச் செய்தியை முழுமையாக இருட்டடிப்புச் செய்து விட்டது. தினமலர் அரை குறையாக வெளியிட்டுள்ளது. தினத்தந்தி விரிவாக வெளியிட்டுள்ளது. தினமணி விழுப்புரத்துப் பிரச்சாரத்தைப் பதிவு செய்துள்ளது.

3. தினமலர் திருநெல்வேலி பதிப்பு 2 4 2006 பக்கம் 20ல் "அ தி மு க வுடன் கரம் கோர்த்தது ஏன்? திருச்செந்தூரில் வைகோ ஆவேசம்", என்ற செய்தி 33 செ மீ நீளம், 4 காலம் அகலம் 3 காலம் படத்துடன் வெளியிடப் பட்டுள்ளது. அதே நாளிதழின் 19ஆம் பக்கத்தில் "மதிமுகவினர் என்ன கொத்தடிமைகளா.. கருணாநிதி மீது வைகோ பாய்ச்சல்", என் ற செய்தி 13.5 செ மீ நீளம் 8 காலம் அகலத்தில் படத்துடன் வெளியிடப் பட்டுள்ளது. இச்செய்தி தினமலர் வெப்சைட்டில் இடம் பெற வில்லை.

தி மு க கூட்டணி பிரச்சாரம் ஆரம்பித்ததும் பிரச்சர செய்திகள் எவ்வளவு வெளியிடப் படுகின்றன என்பதைக் கவனித்து தான் இது குறித்த விமர்சனத்தை முன் வைக்க வேண்டும்.
தினமணி வைகோவிடம் பிரத்யேக பேட்டி கண்டு வெளியிட்டுள்ளது. தினகரனில் இந்த 2 உரைகள் பற்றி எந்தக் குறிப்பும் இல்லை.

4. கருணாநிதி குறித்து நெல்லை கண்ணனின் விரிவான பேட்டி இன்றைய தினமலரில் இடம் பெற்றுள்ளது. கருணாநிதியைக் கடுமையாக விமர்சிக்கிறது இந்த பேட்டி. இதே போல பிற தலைவர்களையும் விமர்சிக்கும் பேட்டிகள் தினமலரில் இனி வரும் நாட்களில் இடம் பெறுவதை வைத்துத் தான் இந்த பேட்டியின் உள்நோக்கம் குறித்துச் சொல்ல முடியும்.

JOURNALISM ONLINE NEWSLETTER Issue No: 74 April 2006

2006-03-31T05:07:00.000+05:00
+-------------------------------------------------------+
JOURNALISM ONLINE
http://www.angelfire.com/nd/nirmaldasan/journalismonline
NEWSLETTER, April 2006EDITOR: N. Watson Solomon (aka Nirmaldasan)EMAIL: nirmaldasan@hotmail.com
Issue No: 74
+-------------------------------------------------------+
Dear subscribers,
It is a great pleasure to note that one of my old students at the Madras Christian College, Narrendiran, has become an editor of India's first monthly PR ezine. Journalism Online wishes this new venture GOOD LUCK! Regards. Nirmaldasan, from ChennaiIN THIS ISSUE...* thought for the month* editorial: media economy* feedback* report: 'PResence' launched * interview: with Prof. Y.S. Rajan of CII* creative pulse* site update
THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH
---------------------
In 'Economy of Permanence', J.C. Kumarappa writes: "It is now well recognized that these global wars are in no small measure due to different nations seeking to get control over oil-fields. Hence the coal and oil economies lead to conflict amongst nations. Unlike them the cow and horse economies are comparatively peaceful economies. Therefore, in a wider sense, we may say that when we break-up a cow-centred economy, we are really causing cow-slaughter; in other words, when our actions are inimical to the existence of the cow-centred economy, we are not on the side of the protectors of the cow.

"EDITORIAL: MEDIA ECONOMY
-----------------------
J.C. Kumarappa, author of 'Economy Of Permanence', believed that there was such a thing as Gandhian economics and E.F. Schumacher in his book 'Small Is Beautiful' presented a study of economics as if people mattered. There are others, as this editorial writer, who believe that 'the moral and social implications of economic activity cannot be considered apart from Economics'. Kumarappa tells us how England drifted from a horse-centred economy to a coal-centred economy, and from a coal-centred economy to a oil-centred economy. India also drifted from one economy, a cow-centred economy, to another. An economy that is dependent on non-renewable resources is based on the philosophy of exploitation, conflict and greed. Though the economies of the world are now oil-centred, it can be argued that what we really have is a media economy. You stop the media, and you stop the world. All human activity revolves around the media. If you wish to eat good food, that is because a food critic has kindled your appetite; if you wish to see the world, that is because of travelogues; and if you wish to buy something, that is because of advertising. Print, radio, television and the Internet offer nothing short of a Barmecide feast. Small wonder that our appetite is ever increased and never appeased.Kumarappa identifies five types of economy: parasitism, predation, enterprise, gregation and service. Any partisan newspaper that thrives on Government advertisements is of the first type: parasitism. A monopolistic media is based on the economy of predation. Competitive media that work out strategies by honest sweat to maintain profits are an economy of enterprise. Newspapers, such as Mahatma Gandhi's Indian Opinion, that work for the welfare of a community belong to an economy of gregation. The economy of the highest type, say public service journalism, exists only in textbooks. What type of media economy should we strive for? That is a leading question. Media economy is incompatible with human culture. An unmediated celebration of life is what we must seek. Aldous Huxley wants us to play the game and not be passive spectators. But at the moment there appears to be neither a feasible nor possible alternative to media economy.

FEEDBACK
--------
Referring to the editorial 'Fit Audience' in the February issue of this newsletter, Mr. Chandrashekhar Vishwanathan (vcshekhar@yahoo.com) writes: "What a fantastic editorial. I am sure the feedback must have been terrific. The Hindu I am sure is feeling guilty about running rough shod over the readers in its single-minded pursuit of the advertising revenue. News is now the filler between the advts. By doing this The Hindu has alienated millions of readers who have now gone to better alternatives like regional dailies, Deccan Chronicleand the Indian Express. The Hindu is digging its own grave and the new design only hastens the process. Now it is too late to reverse the trend. Dear Editor, please start writing the obituary of The Hindu.

"REPORT
------
India's first monthly PR ezine 'PResence' launched Prof. Y S Rajan, Principal Advisor to Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has launched the India's first monthly PR ezine "PResense" on 6th March 2006 electronically to the groups. This ezine is being brought out by Prime Point Foundation and Chennai PR Club jointly. Its Chief Editor & Publisher is K. Srinivasan (Prime Point); and its Editor, Narrendiran (Blue Lotus PR). This ezine will provide information on the PR and Corpcom industry. This ezine will create PR and communication awareness amongst the corporates in developing countries like India. "PResense" will carry Editorial, an exclusive interview and Guest Column (both from CEOs), Indian and International PR events, workshops, awards, Review of books, and all other relevant information. Information on the meetings, seminars, workshops by PR associations, clubs and any PR awards are welcome. Those who are publishing new books on Public Relations and Corporate communication may send a copy for review. There has been a tremendous response to the first issue, according to its Editor Narrendiran. In a note circulated to members of the Chennai PR egroup, he writes: "We have been getting numerous responses from members appreciating the e-zine. We thank you for all the support and encouragement. In order to maintain high quality of the contents, we seek your support in the following areas :"1. PR eXCLUSIVE : This is an interview with a high profile CEO or anybody connected with Corporates at very senior level. Since the purpose of the ezine is to take the PR and Corpcom to the Corporates and to other user industries, we are involving the CEOs through this column. They should speak about the importance of corporate communiation in internal, external and other areas. They should be achievers and should have used communication for their success. We request you to kindly suggest such names to us with their e mail ids and contact details."2. PRestige - CEO column - This is also a column for Corporate CEOs, who have been recognised by various industry bodies, Government, etc. They will be requested to contribute around 250 words Guest Column on the importance of communication. We request you to kindly suggest the names and contact details to us."We want to maintain panel of such eminent people, so that they could be featured one by one in the forthcoming issues. After receiving your suggestions, editorial committee will select them. Since this ezine is getting circulated globally amongst thousands of corporates, opinion makers, Communication and media professionals, we would like to maintain highquality contents."Members may suggest persons from any country. Though it is India's PR ezine, we believe achievers are there in every part of the world and we need to learn from them."3. Other Columns like PR eVents, PReTTY tit bits, cartoons, etc. Members are requested to send their information, with photographs. before 20th of every month."We shall be grateful if members send their suggestions about CEOs immediately within three or four days. Email: ezinepresense@gmail.com.

"INTERVIEW: WITH PROF. Y.S. RAJAN OF CII
---------------------------------------
"Building a good image is as crucial as doing a good business plan or technology strategy"The Corporates should touch the hearts of the ordinary people, through communication strategies to avoid any backlash against their growth. Besides they should prioritise Image building along with Business Plan and Technology strategy, according to Prof. Y.S. Rajan, Principal Advisor to Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Prof. Rajan is also the co-author of the book â€œIndia 2020â€ along with Indian President Dr. Abdul Kalam. As a scientistturned, academician turned Advisor to Industry bodies of India, Prof. Rajan has shared his views with Ms. Meera for an exclusive Interview to PResense. Please read on for his views.Q: How do you assess the prevailing environment in the communications industry (PR / Corpcom), particulary in India? How has it evolved in the last five years? A: In terms of utilisation of technological tools in India corporate communication (CC) have picked up well. In terms of soft skills much more can be done, especially if our communicators can attempt to draw from our cultural ethos and use the forms of native creativity. As for the contents CC has to go a long way. Presently their audience base appears to be very narrow.The message has to reach various segments of the society not merely in the form of advertising for a product or service but also how a particular corporate or group of corporates are reaching out to the real life concerns of ordinary people. Along with rapid economic growth, if our corporate cannot touch the heart of ordinary people, there can be a danger of backlash against their growth Q: What role should the communications industry play in realising the Indiavision 2020?A : Communication (CC or otherwise say plain media) has a crucial role to play forrealising India 2020 Vision. That is to create confidence in people; to spread positive feelings and by celebrating the real performers. But this is to be done carefully. Unnecessary and unreal hypes will boomerang. If we do not bring forth real performers and go by old times icons, faith and confidence will be eroded. Also mere celebrity chasing has limits.Therefore there is a plenty of scope to break new grounds of communications making it (a) democratic dialogue and (b) developmental disseminator.Q : How can communication help the giant Indian corporate sector achieve global leadership?A : For giant Indian corporate sector (even for smaller ones as ICT helps a global presence for trade, service and supplying â€" chain-presence) already there are many successes. However there are many misconceptions and worries about India whether it is for cleanliness of products sold or reliability as a partner. Therefore it is only through Communication we canovercome the barrier. Strength, uniqueness and relevance of Indian companies need to be projected in foreign countries to make them feel relevant for others -- their communities as well. e.g. â€œWe are not here for marketing alone but to also make our efforts to improve yourquality of lifeâ€ etc. There is an IBEF (India Brand Equity Foundation), a joint effort ofMinistry of Commerce & CII. It helps build image of India. Each Communicator, andCorporates have to do it daily. Building a good image is as crucial as doing a goodbusiness plan or technology strategy.â€œCorporates should touch the heart of people through communicationâ€-- reproduced from the first issue of PResence with the kind permission of its Chief Editor K. Srinivasan
http://www.primepointfoundation.org/presense/presense1.htm

--CREATIVE PULSE--------------
Wherever You See â€¦-- translated from the Tamil of Bharathidasan
--By Nirmaldasan(nirmaldasan@hotmail.com)Wherever you see,There's Goddess Shakti.And all the seven seasAre her hues and harmonies.And galaxies, at her command,Roll on like a ball from her hand.It is but her laughter -- hark --The clouds that thunder in the dark!And what is the forked lightning?It is but her ornaments shining.With thoughts to feel and measureA youthful poet's treasure,She strides across the blueAnd inspires ancient wisdom new.Should you wish to cleave the world indeedWith a keen sword's whirling speed --Be that thought for long your penanceAnd in shoulders feel her puissance.

SITE UPDATE
-----------
1. March Editorial: The Law Of Contempt
http://www.angelfire.com/nd/nirmaldasan/editorials/march2006.html
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******************* NEWSLETTER APRIL 2006 ******************
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3rd International CICT Conference	Mobile and wireless content, services and networks
3rd International CICT Conference	- Short-term and long-term development trends
		Introduction
	Introduction Call for Papers Important Dates Organisation Venue Registration Program Program Committee Online Participation Contacts Useful Links Previous CICT conferences	On November 30th to December 1st 2006, the Center for Information and Communication Technologies (CICT), Technical University of Denmark, holds its third international conference on Mobile and wireless content, services and networks - Short-term and long-term development trends. The diffusion of 3G networks has taken far more time than anticipated. The primary reason is that operators have found it difficult to develop profitable 3G business cases. From an operator point of view, the additional average revenue per user from new data and content services does not seem to warrant fast build up; from a user point, there are not sufficient relevant new features to shift technology. Meanwhile, other wireless technologies have appeared, including Wi-Fi, WiMAX and technologies using the vacated 450 MHz frequency band. Furthermore, new P2P, mesh or ad-hoc network technologies are also being developed. The conference focuses on issues related to the short as well as the long-term developments in mobile and wireless technologies, the services and content enabled by these technologies, and the relations between the development of technologies and services/content. User requirements and how they are met by technology and service solutions are examined. The two main themes of the conference are: The direction and development of networking technologies. What characterizes the future of 3G? Which technologies are likely to supplement or substitute for 3G technology in the development beyond 3G? The diffusion of new services and content How will the adoption process of the new features develop? What are the potentials in, e.g., the developments in mobile broadcast and the new communicative services enabled by higher capacity mobile and wireless networks? What characterizes the communicative and informational user needs and requirements that potentially can be served by mobile and wireless networks, applications, services and content?
	Center for Information and Communication Technologies Technical University of Denmark Building 371 2800 Kgs. Lyngby Denmark Phone: +45 4525 5178 Fax: +45 4596 3171 E-mail: cict@cict.dtu.dk