A Journal of the press Institute of India ISSN 0042-5303 January-March 2016 Volume 8 Issue 1 Rs 50 Are we forgetting the CONTENTS • Do you get the reports that matter to you? / Sakuntala Narasimhan basic rules here? • Our right to write / Annapurna Sinha and Kanchan K. Malik The first 20 months of the BJP-led government at the Centre has • A publication with a shown us a media more interestingly divided than perhaps the difference / Sakuntala Ram Janmabhoomi movement revealed in the late 1980s, says Narasimhan Ranjona Banerji • Media monopoly and pluralism in India / Sarita Bose n the late 1980s, journalists were perceived as being what was colourfully called jholawallahs: that is, people of a leftist bent identifiable by the cloth • Is advertising eating into news space? / Ibags they carried around, like the Communists of Calcutta.Jholawallah. This J.V. Vil'anilam term is still used today in a derogatory sense but in fact it makes no sense in 2016. • Despite glass ceiling, Until the advent of television news, journalists were as a rule so badly paid women journalists make a mark / Ashish Kumar that the government had to set up commissions to ensure some bare minimum Dwivedy and Jyoti Prakash wage for newspaper employees. I can use my own case as an example. In my Mohapatra first job in journalism for a major magazine group, I had a monthly salary of • Do our farmers really Rs 2500 and an annual increment of Rs 75 for my grade. If I worked extremely matter? / Sakuntala hard, I was entitled to two increments. At the end of my five-year stint in the Narasimhan job, my salary had just about reached Rs 3000. The editor earned about Rs 15000, so margins were very small. All of us in • Raising the demand for public conveniences / those days could not really afford to buy more than a clothjhola (bag) and we all Vibhuti Patel greatly benefitted from the wage commissions, in my case the Bachawat Award. (Just as a counter example, an editor of a newspaper can earn an average of Rs • Fighting a pitched battle 60 lakh a year these days and much more in some cases. Of course, as a contrast, against child sexual abuse / Pushpa Achanta those in newspaper management earn in crores.) The reason for this rather boring walk into nostalgia land is only to emphasise • Looking for a breakthrough that much has changed in journalism since the liberalisation of the economy, to address sex selection / the advent of TV news and the arrival of the ‘career’ journalist. At a Rs 75 rise Amrita Nandy in salary a year, only a committed or mad person would choose journalism as • Are FTA channels now a career. It was not all good though. Such criminally low salaries meant that losing credibility? / Nava many did resort to blackmail and worse to survive. Corruption was perhaps Thakuria inevitable as also the truth of that old dictum that if you pay peanuts you will • A master of his craft / get monkeys. Shoma A. Chatterji Therefore, without an attempt to make excuses for the past or to pretend • Remembering Saeed that all was perfect in those days, what is it about journalism today that is so Jaffrey / Bappaditya frightening to some of us? That the editor of a financially daily, in charge of the Bandopadhyay (Continued on page 3)

January-March 2016 VIDURA 1 From the Editor

Let’s be objective always and let facts speak for themselves

Journalists may leave newspapers is a relatively new development. certainly not how to handle sensitive or magazines for varied reasons. Whatever be the form of ownership, issues. They do not even refer to Usually, the reasons trotted out it is clear that somebody has to own the style sheet. In the mad scramble are not being able to cope with a newspaper. Even a corporate for news and bytes, ‘checking’, work pressure or gaining a better entity is backed by a human mind. ‘condensing’ and ‘clarifying’ have opportunity, status-wise and So, owners are entitled to have taken a back seat. How many salary-wise. One young journalist opinions and a newspaper’s policy young reporters today thoroughly I bumped into a while ago said he is normally charted out by the know the subject they are covering, was wanting to quit because the owner(s). Editors and journalists are or even make an honest attempt to management of the newspaper expected to follow the policy and if understand it? The record of our he was working for had come for some reason they disagree or news media on accuracy even at under a cloud. I told him if he was are unhappy following such policy, the most basic level of journalism – happy with his work and as long they have the freedom to leave. reporting on a routine event – is not as the newspaper had a sizeable Generally, the owner does not very inspiring. readership there was really no interfere in the day-to-day running A lot of all that is manageable, reason for him to contemplate of a newspaper and the editor is but a mainstream news publisher quitting. But, of course, public given a free hand. There have of repeatedly driving only a highly perception plays a major role in course been numerous instances of subjective point of view and trying many of the things we do, even if pressure being brought to bear on to influence the opinion of readers or it has to do with a job. Even as a editors to change course or editors viewers by not presenting the other reader, for instance, being seen with being fired because they did not side of the story can be disastrous a particular newspaper matters at follow the policy laid down by the for journalism and all that it stands times. newspaper or ran an article or a for. The onus is on us to steady the In journalism classes, everybody series of articles to considerably ship before it is too late. talks about following good editorial upset the political dispensation. Here’s wishing all of you a Very practices, adhering to ethics, the However, what Ranjona Banerji Happy New Year! qualities a reporter should have, says (lead article) caught me by etc. There is not much focus on some surprise. According to her, Sashi Nair the ownership of a newspaper and an editor today can tweet about [email protected] how a newspaper needs to be run his preference for a political party well commercially for it to be a and some senior journalists and successful product. ‘Commercially’ columnists are setting themselves up doesn’t just mean the economics of as spokespersons and defenders of running something, it also means the ruling party or others. So, what adopting the latest technology about objectivity and ethics? What (printing presses and sundry), even is quite disturbing is that all this sourcing the right newsprint so that could set a dangerous precedent. the ink looks good on paper. The fact is (and Ranjona has Many of the newspapers in mentioned it as well), many of our India are family-owned, there are reporters and sub-editors, including very few that are run by trusts. those who work for top newspapers, Corporate ownership of the media do not know the rules enough and

2 VIDURA January-March 2016 (Continued from page 1) edit pages, can declare on Twitter put out false stories only to suit the Mixed signals were coming out that he “roots for the BJP” without party in power? What about editors of government. How would any feeling that he is compromising his who do not even bother to check the normal journalist or editor respond objectivity? That senior journalists authenticity of a story, as long as it to such a news story? and columnists have set themselves makes the party of their choice look Oddly, even those editors and up as spokespersons and defenders good? journalists who are usually very of the government and the ruling The attack on the Air Force Base anti-Pakistan and very cued in on party without any backward wave at Pathankot on the second day of defence matters, did not react quite to the ethics of their profession? 2016 is a case in point. Terrorists as expected. Some tried to deflect One may argue that this has been apparently from Pakistan entered a attention to rising crime figures in done before, that there are some secured facility and started shooting. Bihar. Others attempted to shift journalists who wear their political The Union Home Minister declared the focus to communal strife in alignments on their sleeves. Or the incident was over when it was Bengal. The first was a non-starter; that there are editors who bend still ongoing. The prime minister the second is an ongoing effort. But whichever way the wind blows. Or was giving speeches on Hindu without being facetious, is there that there are editors who are happy sages and the importance of yoga. anything more important than a to agree with whatever political He had just made a surprise visit terrorist attack on a defence base? view their bosses take. All these to Pakistan to eat birthday cake Is a rally in Bengal with no deaths three situations are true. But what with the Pakistan prime minister. and a few instances of arson and about journalists who deliberately The death count for India crept up. injury more important? Or is this a Illustration: Arun Ramkumar Illustration:

January-March 2016 VIDURA 3 total dereliction of duty by sections discuss it within the newsroom and the post. But I have rarely seen as of the media in their tremendous use its institutional memory. More many paid agents, pressitutes and hurry to protect the government of than anything else, you attempt to newstraders twisting their small their choice? use your brain and your common grasp on ethics quite so much as

The same attempt to ‘save’ the sense. Plainly, these are no longer with this BJP government at the government at the Centre was the basics of the new journalism as Centre. Someone somewhere needs < evident in the responses to the it is being practised in India. to send out a wake-up call. suicide of the research scholar Instead, in the first month of Rohith Vemula on January 17, 2016. 2016, we have seen popular and (The writer comments on media, Immediately we saw journalistic famous journalists forgetting every political and social affairs. She has rage that the vice-president of the rule of their profession to try and been deputy editor of Mid-Day, Congress had reached Hyderabad help the government in power. It is deputy resident editor of The Times to show solidarity with Vemula’s very fashionable to call journalists of India, Ahmedabad, and senior family and friends at Hyderabad who do not support the BJP “paid editor, edit page, with DNA, Mumbai. University where Vemula was agents” of the Congress and worse, She lives in Dehradun. Her twitter treated so badly. We also saw to tag them as “presstitutes” as our handle is @ranjona.) condemnation of other political former chief of army staff and now parties supporting Dalit issues a minister in the Union Government from news channels. has done in such a gentlemanly And then there were the columns manner that the defence forces are and opinions and tweets about famous for. how Vemula was not a Dalit, about The prime minister of India had how he was an anti-national and preferred the term “newstrader” explanations on why the HRD when he was campaigning for Ministry responded to what was clearly an issue of student politics. This defence lost its sting somewhat when the prime minister said he had wept at Vemula’s death. But attempts to rake up that rally in Malda instead have continued. Similarly, just as documents on 110 journalists killed in 2015 freedom fighter Subhas Chandra India was among the three most dangerous countries for Bose were declassified on his journalists in 2015, with nine reporters losing their lives during birthday, January 23, we saw two the year, according to the annual report of Reporters Without senior journalists of two prominent Borders released on Tuesday. The media watchdog said the news channels circulating a letter deaths confirmed “India’s position as Asia’s deadliest country for purportedly written by Jawaharlal media personnel, ahead of both Pakistan and Afghanistan”. Only Nehru to Clement Attlee, calling war-torn Iraq and Syria recorded the deaths of more journalists Bose a “war criminal”. Both than India. Four of the nine Indian journalists murdered in the journalists – and others – went past year were killed “for still undetermined reasons”, Reporters ballistic in their attack on Nehru. Without Borders (RSF) said. This would have been totally Besides India, the eight other countries where the most journalists justified if the letter was not so were killed were Iraq (11), Syria (10), France (eight), Yemen obviously fake. No matter how (eight), Mexico (eight), South Sudan (seven), the Philippines much you hate Nehru, you have to (seven) and Honduras (seven). A total of 110 journalists were concede that he would at least have killed in connection with their work or for unclear reasons in known how to spell his own name 2015, and at least 67 were killed while reporting or because of and that of Attlee. their work. “These 67 deaths bring to 787 the total number of One of the first rules of journalism journalists killed in connection with their work since 2005,” RSF which we learnt – even at our said in its report. Indian journalists “daring to cover organised miserable salaries of a very few crime and its links with politicians have been exposed to a surge thousand rupees a month – was in violence, especially violence of criminal origin, since the start< that you corroborate information of 2015”, the report said. before you make it public. You use whatever research facilities there are at your disposal and you

4 VIDURA January-March 2016 MAINSTREAM MEDIA AND WHAT IT CONSIDERS IMPORTANT Do you get the reports that matter to you? Does a minister’s birthday bash interest you, or his name appearing in a business deal? If the chief information commissioner has said something that would benefit thousands of students, doesn’t a mainstream newspaper have the responsibility to publish it? If you are an LPG subscriber wouldn’t you be keen to get news relating to the Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme? Why does the so-called mainstream media in India shy away from reporting on matters that concern the common people? Sakuntala Narasimhan provides a broader picture with examples inister Sha-rad Pawar of all details from official records), to verify that there has been no was in the news recently, no mainstream newspaper focused mistake or oversight in assessment. Mwith a 75th birthday bash on the curious deal involving a And yet, mainstream papers did at New Delhi’s Vigyan Bhavan mind-boggling amount (perhaps ET not report on, or project adequately, which was attended by a clutch does not even count as ‘mainstream’ the ruling as something important of high profile VIPs including because the average middle-class to thousands of readers. Why the president of India, the vice- reader does not subscribe to ET). didn’t they? Many newspapers president, the prime minister, Sonia And yet, which was the news that come out with a weekly education Gandhi, chief ministers, political citizens would have preferred to supplement. But the precedent party leaders and industrialists know – the minister’s birthday -setting order against the CBSE did like Mukesh Ambani, Rahul Bajaj party or his name appearing in a not receive the spotlight it merited and Sunil Mittal. Most mainstream business deal of such a size? and was not broadcast widely. papers carried the story about the If mainstream newspapers did Even if mainstream means catering bash. However, Pawar made news not carry the story, what do we to the interests of a large number of in another publication, in quite mean by ‘mainstream’? In what readers, the news item qualified – a different context that ought to sense? In terms of circulation but it was left to Moneylife to report have been of far more interest to figures? In that case, if a film or on it. the Indian middle-class than his gossip magazine sells more copies Yet another example – the Union birthday party. than a daily newspaper, does that Government has carried out huge A month before the birthday make it a ‘mainstream’ publication? publicity programmes regarding celebration, the online news The Times of India, Indian Express the LPG (cooking gas) subsidy magazine Moneylife (www.money. and The Hindu (all with multiple that costs the exchequer thousands ife.in) reported on the curious editions) constitute what we refer of millions of rupees. To unearth goings on, in a UK-based business to as mainstream – but look at some bogus LPG connections, the Direct venture involving the whopping more examples of important news Benefit Transfer Scheme was put sum of 70 billion pounds. Pawar items that the so-called ‘mainstream’ in place, with the subsidy amount was listed as one of the directors media failed to note. going only into users’ Aadhar- of the company. In a meticulously In December 2015, the chief linked bank accounts. Savings researched piece of investigation, information commissioner (CIC) under the initiative was expected Moneylife reported that the huge made an important ruling in a to be around Rs 12700 crore. It was sum had come into the company complaint that came before him, Moneylife which unearthed the fact in a matter of two months, soon which was of interest to lakhs of that the actual savings at the end of thereafter the company was students and parents. For denying a year was a miserable 1.13 per cent mysteriously dissolved. information to the aggrieved of the figure – meaning, a shortfall Where did the moolah (money) complainant (parent of a student of 98.87 per cent. come from? Where did it vanish? who sought access under the RTI This again, was news of interest What kind of transaction was it? Act) the CIC slapped a penalty of to millions of gas users, who Who benefited from it? Apart from Rs 25000 on CBSE (Central Board of had to go through the hassles of a report in The Economic Times Secondary Education). This was a the Aadhar link, bank account carrying Pawar’s denial about valuable piece of news that would registration, etc. I know of families his association with the company benefit thousands of students whose subsidy reimbursement did (despite Moneylife carrying copies who seek access to answer sheets, not come through for months, with

January-March 2016 VIDURA 5 weeks”). It was a vindication of good investigative journalism, and yet, again, this did not make it as news in the mainstream media. One last example of news that did not make it to the mainstream, which is nonetheless of great interest to the public, especially the 130 million-odd senior citizens of the country. Following a public interest litigation filed by S. Krishnamurthy, an 80-year-old resident of a retirement home in Coimbatore, the Madras High Court had asked the government to take note of the need for proper regulations of such homes. Currently, there is no mandatory audit or supervision, or redress options for aggrieved residents. With more and more old Illustration: Arun Ramkumar Illustration: people, even among the affluent, preferring homes for the aged rather the banks denying responsibility, the online edition is more broad- than becoming dependent on their but why did this go unreported in based, covering a variety of issues children (especially when the latter the mainstream newspapers? of relevance to readers of all strata. are NRIs), the court directive calling What was the whole exercise It also offers legal advice on issues for regulations is of great relevance. (the largest unconditional cash raised by its subscribers, which Again, it was left to Moneylife to

transfer programme in history, makes it a valuable ‘mainstream’ report on it. Mainstream media did < as Moneylife puts it) of making media initiative – except that no one not. Aadhar registration and bank thinks of media like Moneylife while details compulsory, for millions discussing ‘mainstream’. We do not, (The writer, based in Bengaluru, of households about? If one adds it turns out, have a clear definition gave up a job with The Times of administrative costs incurred in of mainstream, certainly not in India, Mumbai, to write her columns, the cash transfer programme, even terms of the value or relevance of acquire two PhDs and become an the one per cent ‘savings’ would the contents, research and reports. activist for consumer rights. She is a perhaps vanish. This was truly Perhaps, as Sucheta points out in recipient of the Media Foundation’s news that merited wide coverage a recent piece, increasing corporate Chameli Devi Award for Outstanding in ‘mainstream’ media. ownership of the media has resulted Woman Journalist (1983), the PUCL Journalist Sucheta Dalal who in a skewed editorial perception National Award for Human Rights is managing editor and founder- of what is, and isn’t, ‘important’. Journalism, and other awards. Her trustee, Moneylife, brings to the Sales and profits dictate content fortnightly columns on gender issues news reports she puts out in the (or pressure from powerful vested and consumer rights ran in the news letter, her expertise that interests, political or business), so Deccan Herald for 27 years.) she used to break the infamous mainstream does not necessarily Harshad Mehta story. Moneylife mean more comprehensive or also includes information unbiased. regarding a variety of areas of When Moneylife published concern to citizens (how to file a a report on the National Stock complaint under the Consumer Exchange (NSE) it was promptly Protection Act, the pros and cons slapped with a court case claiming of savings and insurance schemes Rs 100 crore as damages. The offered, for instance) and conducts Bombay High Court decided in frequent seminars and workshops Sucheta’s favour, and slapped a Rs in Mumbai and other cities. 50 lakh penalty on NSE, of which The print edition, which is a Rs 3 lakh was to go to Moneylife fortnightly, focuses mainly on and Rs 47 lakh to two hospitals as personal finance issues, while donations (“to be paid within two

6 VIDURA January-March 2016 COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS SCORE Our right to write A recent story on India Today’s website reported about the “world's unique newspaper for and by street and working children”. Balaknama (Voice of Children), is a newspaper run by a group of street children from the slums in Delhi. The newspaper is an effort by the NGO, Chetna, which works for the rehabilitation of street children. Annapurna Sinha and Kanchan K. Malik describe how community newspapers such as Balaknama are becoming a way of self-expression for the less privileged communities and are enabling them to discuss critical issues

recent story on India publishing. They are showing that rests in the hands of community Today’s website, based on publishing a newspaper is not members. It is accepted worldwide Aa BBC report, mentions the privilege of only educated, that community newspapers work that the Bala-knama (Voice of professionally trained and skilful on the three core non-negotiable Children), a newspaper run by a hands. With a little enthusiasm and principles of alternative media: group of street children from the inclination, anyone can write stories access, participation, and self- slums in Delhi, has the 18-year-old that concern them. management. They are structured Chandni as its editor, 14 reporters, Community newspapers are one as alternative media platforms and covers Delhi and neighbouring of the genres of community media and their resolve is to be accessible states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh that are seeking to make media to the community, providing and Madhya Pradesh. The team platforms more democratic in community members, especially comprises street children or others many liberal democracies across the women, a participatory platform who have worked as child labourers world. The most important aspect to give them a voice in a significant in Delhi and neighbouring states. about community media is their manner. Alternative or community It also quotes Chandni as saying accessibility to the people at the media allow for the participation of that the paper writes about other grassroots and how they mobilise the members of the community in children who are going through a community to come together and both the produced content and the similar tribulations – who go participate in media making that content producing organization. hungry, beg, have been abused and gives them a voice and represents It involves people directly in forced to work. their issues and concerns. production, administration and Community newspapers such There are various varieties policy activities. as Balaknama are becoming a and structures of such small For instance, Namaskar, a way of self-expression for the newspapers in India. The frequency community newspaper published less privileged communities and of community newspapers also in Konark, follows the concept of enabling them to discuss the ranges from a daily newspaper to ‘Each reader, a reporter’. Here, issues which are critical to their weekly and monthly publications. a group of women community communities but are generally But here, the focus is on those members takes charge of official ignored by the mainstream media. newspapers which are owned work, while news boxes are Community newspapers bring out and run by the members of the placed in each gram panchayat the unheard voices in the public community themselves and are headquarters and public places sphere. They work towards the published as a not-for-profit to collect the news. Anyone from empowerment of the rural poor as initiative. People from a community the locality can contribute with well as the urban underprivileged come together and publish the information. The community by providing them access to news newspaper in a participatory newspaper aims to promote the and information, and making them manner where they do all the tasks voice of the voiceless community aware of their rights and resources. needed for newspaper publishing, and to develop an environment Such newspapers are catering to a including, collecting reports, in the community where access small locality focusing mainly on writing the news stories, editing, to information and reach to the local news and events. designing of the paper. They authorities are ensured. Through community newspapers, themselves distribute the paper, Many of the community people from remote villages in too. Experts and professionals newspapers in India are run India as well as other marginalised do have a role to play in such by a collective of rural women sections of the society are defying ventures – but only as facilitators journalists, who commonly belong the set norms of newspaper and advisers. The actual power to marginalised communities. Many

January-March 2016 VIDURA 7 Each week 6000 copies are sold across these villages. Started as the only Bundeli newspaper in India from Chitrakoot, the community newspaper has six editions now, from Banaras, Faizabad, Mahoba, Banda and Chitrakoot in Uttar Pradesh and Sitamadhi in Bihar, which are published in four different dialects: Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Hindustani and Bajjika. Most of the community newspapers seek to harness Source: http://kmvs.org.in people's knowledge and give voice to the unheard. Another Rural women in Kutch reading a newsletter. Ujjas aims to promote literacy plus to community newspapers is and disseminate information about women's issues across Kutch. that the reason adduced against publishing of the newspapers, that of the women have obtained little literacy, and disseminating is, low literacy in India; could be or no formal education. Hands-on information about local issues, NGOs used in their support as one major training is carried out during the gather members of the community function that these newspapers process of production to ensure and motivate them to form a team perform is the promotion of more and more participation. to start the community newspapers. ‘literacy’. Community newspaper Women themselves train each They are given support in form of production is in itself a learning other in the basic skills required preliminary capacity building till process and it works well in the for the writing and publishing the the members of the community direction of promoting multiple newspaper. Some of the members get the confidence of running the forms of literacies. who have a little more knowledge community newspaper on their Ujjas can be seen as a leader in of writing and reading coordinate own. The NGOs usually take a this direction. It is a community the training process. backseat after that to encourage the newsletter published by Ujjas Navodayam is a community community to work independently. Mahiti Kendra in Kutch. Ujjas has newspaper in Chitoor District of A Delhi based NGO, Nirantar, backing of the local NGO, Kutch Andhra Pradesh which is published initiated a literacy intervention Mahila Vikas Sangathan, which by women’s groups only. The programme in Chitrakoot District works for women’s rights and aim of publishing the community of Uttar Pradesh. empowerment in Bhuj, Gujarat. newspaper is to bring out the issues But when that programme was KMVS claims that the aim behind of poor and vulnerable community reaching its final phase, women who publishing the community of that area. Navodayam is being were ‘learners’ in the programme, newsletter is to promote literacy published since 2001. It was started expressed their wish to continue and disseminate information about as a government initiative but writing. They also wanted to fill women’s issues, specially, among now rural women themselves the information gap created by the rural women across Kutch. own and manage this publication. absence of mainstream media in the The core objective of the NGO Navodayam currently has ten staff remote villages of Chitrakoot. is to spread awareness on socio- reporters and 20 contributors and Nirantar decided to start a cultural, economic and political is in the form of a 24-page monthly community publication using the issues in even the remotest corners news magazine. The magazine newly acquired skill of those women. of Kutch. prints 30000 copies and has a In this way, Khabar Laharia began as The members of the editorial team readership of more than two lakh. a handwritten single broadsheet have not studied beyond primary Majority of the community in May 2002. The initial team school, but for the production of newspaper initiatives in India comprised six women only. Owing the newsletter, they learnt to write have been conceptualised and to the community demand, Khabar simple colloquial Gujarati. Ujjas facilitated by NGOs working with Laharia grew to become a four-page began in 1995 with an editorial the communities on developmental monthly newspaper and gradually team of five women. issues and for their empowerment. into an eight-page weekly. Today, It has a circulation of 3000 Community newspapers for them, a team of 40 women is involved in copies in over 600 villages of Kutch act as a tool to mobilise people to the publication of Khabar Laharia District. Most of the readers also participate in the processes of social and it reaches 600 villages of Uttar come from low literacy areas. The change. With the aim of promoting Pradesh and Bihar.

8 VIDURA January-March 2016 Statement about ownership and other particulars about“VIDURA” the English Quarterly Newspaper, Chennai, as required to be published under Section news stories are illustrated with drawings 19-D Sub-Section (b) of the Press and Registration of and cartoons. Books Act read with the Rule 8 of the Registration of There are some other community news Newspapers (Central Rules) 1956 sharing initiatives which have emerged from social grassroots movements. One Form IV such interesting endeavour is Bahini Darbar VIDURA - Quarterly – a community newspaper published in Bagheli dialect, by a group of marginalised 1. Place of publication : Chennai women in the Dabhoura Block of 2. Periodicity of Publication : Quarterly Rewa, Madhya Pradesh. It is a monthly 3. Printer’s Name : V.B.S. Mony handwritten newspaper, photocopies of Nationality : Indian which are distributed since 2008 with the Address aim of informing members of the tribal community about their rights. No. 10/2 Second Loop Street The community newspaper was started Kottur Gardens by 15 women members who organised Chennai 600 085 themselves to speak against injustice 4. Publisher’s Name : Sashi Nair they faced in their everyday lives. Now Nationality : Indian around 700 members from 25 villages of the Dabhoura Block contribute to the Address newspaper. At present, one hundred Flat 3C, GRN Akshara copies of the paper are distributed. For D112, Sangeetha Colony the members who are illiterate and cannot Ashok Pillar Road read, the paper is read out in groups so K.K.Nagar, Chennai 600 078 that all get to know about the content and 5. Editor’s Name : Sashi Nair information. There is more experimentation taking Nationality : Indian place in the practices of the community Address newspapers to enhance their role in the Flat 3C, GRN Akshara development and for promoting freedom D112, Sangeetha Colony of expression. More than anything Ashok Pillar Road else, when people from marginalised communities produce their own K.K.Nagar, Chennai 600 078 newspapers, discuss and find solutions to 6. Names and addresses of individuals who own

the issues which concern them most, their the newspaper/magazine and partners or sense of confidence and self-reliance gets< shareholders holding more than one per cent enhanced. of the total capital: The Press Institute of India - Research Institute (Annapurna Sinha is a PhD scholar at the Department of Communication, University of for Newspaper Development Hyderabad. Kanchan K. Malik is an associate RIND Premises, Taramani, CPT Campus professor and faculty fellow, UNESCO Chennai 600 113 Chair on Community Media, in the same Shareholding of more than one percent of the capital department.​) does not arise as the The Press Institute of India - Research Institute for Newspaper Development, is a non-profit society registered under the Societies Act No. XXI of 1860.

I, Sashi Nair, hereby declare that the particulars given above are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Sashi Nair Publisher 03.02.2016

January-March 2016 VIDURA 9 A publication with a difference Think of a publication for teenagers, and your mind conjures up images of news about pop stars, music albums, pinup centerfolds and young fashion trends; that’s the stereotype. Teen Voices is different, and probably a one-of- its-kind initiative. Sakuntala Narasimhan has more ith a global reach of concern half the population.For the “I learn so much about the life nearly 100000 readers, same reason, Teen Voices focuses of teenagers in other countries, Wit is a news service, on perspectives, issues, problems on issues that my school texts online magazine, and ‘mentoring and aspirations that concern teen- do not cover; it is an enriching platform’, linking teenage girls (13- age girls around the world, by experience,” says Veda M., a 19) around the world, for sharing offering them a platform “to share Bengaluru-based Indian teenager, and disseminating information experiences and views”. who has written for Teen Voices pertaining to girls’ lifestyles in What does it feel like to have to about issues such as “the per- different cultures. The focus is wear a hijab? What does a teenage vasive preference for fair skin on enriching and empowering girl in West Asia think? What is life among Indians – do dark skinned tomorrow’s generation of female like for a girl of mixed race in the girls face humiliation?”, and the young adults, but through US, when she doesn’t belong, either dilemmas faced by teenage girls narration and comments from teen- as black or white? How does she caught in a society in transition like agers themselves, so it becomes feel when she is excluded from both ours (grandmothers who grew up interesting, not didactic, and groups? What do teenagers have to with traditional values, now facing eminently readable. Am referring say about the pressures of dating protests by granddaughters who to a publication called Teen Voices. (in the West), or conforming to the need to conform to the demands of Teen Voices began as a Boston- ‘desirable’ physical attributes of modernity, in dress, pastimes and based print magazine in 1988, with fashion models and stars? perspectives, while living in joint a readership of 45000 and a website While teens outside the US get families with three generations of seen in 204 countries, but had to to understand the preoccupations females). close down in 2012 due to financial of American girls through such Teen Voices under Women’s problems ; soon thereafter it was articles, girls in the West get to read eNews not only continues the taken over by the New York- about problems of teenage girls in focus on the world of teenage based Women’s eNews (WeN), other parts of the world (In Nepal, girls through the media but also the popular Internet-based news for instance, while post-disaster seeks to fashion it into a mentoring service that grew from discussions aid from outside consisted largely initiative for girls aspiring to in 1996 on the need for a media of food, clothing and medicines, become journalists. outlet “to focus on news of concern few donors remembered to include Fighting stereotypes and to women and provide a voice to supplies of sanitary napkins for authentically portraying teens’ women” – a voice that, even today, females, and teenagers in particular life experiences, through the use despite two decades of ‘progress’ got traumatised by the fear of of their own voices, is high on around the globe, is at best feeble. ‘staining’). the agenda as is training the next Women's eNews' audiences While the world celebrates generation of activists-journalists. stretch from New York to New Malala’s guts and offers her the Support for both Teen Voices Delhi and all points in between, Nobel Prize, what is life like for and Women’s eNews comes from reaching an estimated 1.5 million other teenage Afghan girls? What foundations, public donations readers. Says Rita Henley Jensen, is life like for adolescent girls in (from “women and their allies”, editor-in-chief of Women’s eNews, Africa? Or in conflict situations? of both sexes) and reprint fees. “WeN exists because other news What are the issues uppermost in Although the current staff of ten media don’t serve women.” What their perspectives? Why are dress is all-women, men have also been do women voters think of Hillary codes applied more for adolescent part of the production team in the Clinton’s chances in the forthcoming girls than for boys of the same age? past. US elections? And why? What How do teenagers deal with sexual Katina Paron, who is managing would women like to see on the harassment in schools, in different editor of Teen Voices in its new agenda of the candidates? countries? avatar, is now looking forward These are topics tied to current Teen Voices offers a global trip, no to exciting projects for widening news that do not figure adequately less, in the girls’ own voices, almost global connections in 2016 in mainstream media even if they as if they were conversing. -- among them one called Girl

10 VIDURA January-March 2016 Illustration: Arun Ramkumar Illustration:

Forward, an editorial initiative for graphers from five countries. Who of the dilemmas and dreams of producing content by and about said teenagers can only be frivolous youngsters, who will, after all, soon < girls with physical and develop- and can’t add to our understanding take over as tomorrow’s adults? mental disabilities, and sharing these first person stories with a wider audience – another first-of- its-kind initiative. Changes at TOI, The Wire Katina used to be an intern with Rahul Kansal has stepped down as president, Brand Function, BCCL. He Teen Voices at Boston during the is joining the Future Group. Kansal had worked with JWT, O&M, Mudra 1990s, and subsequently became DDB and Leo Burnett before joining Times of India (BCCL). He was elevated director of a High School Jour- from chief marketing officer BCCL to executive president in April 2012. nalism project in 2009. M.K. Venu has stepped down as executive editor of Amar Ujala. Venu In turning round submissions will now be associated with the online publication, The Wire, as its founding from teenagers, she adds meticulous editor and director. Prior joining to Amar Ujala, Venu was has worked with

editorial instructions that add up as its executive editor. Venu has worked with The Hindu The Financial < to a free lesson in journalism, no Express, Economic Times and Hindustan Times. less. Teen Voices now has a growing database of 160+ racially diverse (Courtesy: exchange4media) teen writers, reporters and video-

January-March 2016 VIDURA 11 TRAI REPORT ON MEDIA OWNERSHIP Media monopoly and pluralism in India Political parties have always been dependent on the media for their image. Media magnates go all out to leverage the situation to gain more power. It is for this reason that media regulation in India seems to come to a dead end every time the subject of media ownership comes up, at the expense of source diversity, says Sarita Bose

n 12th August 2014, the that media is both a “witness” and of the Congress” was a major Telecom Regulatory “commentator” on the activities of reason behind the party’s defeat. OAuthority of India the government and of society at This gives an idea of the perceived (TRAI) released a report on large. power of the media and shows that ‘Recommendations on issues Political parties have always been media magnates will go all out to relating to media ownership’ dependent on the media for their leverage that perception to gain emphasising the importance of image. After the results of the 2014 more power. It is for this reason that the media in a democratic country General Elections were declared, a media regulation in India seems to and describing it as a watchdog of Congress spokesperson said the come to a dead end every time the public interest. It stresses the fact media “painting a negative image subject of media ownership comes Illustration: Arun Ramkumar Illustration:

12 VIDURA January-March 2016 up. The chit fund scams in West norms. When interlocking owner- on) which pick up high stakes in Bengal and Odisha over the past ship occurs where an organisation media companies. few years show how the media was owns a certain percentage of the Thus, the real problem lies in the used to amass enormous amounts equity of another, which in turn fact that a reader of newspapers or a of money. Though the matter is sub- owns a known share in yet another, television viewer will receive news judice and under CBI investigation, the degree of control could be that is controlled due to internal

involvement of political parties assessed by multiplying the first stake holding. So where is diversity and how they use the media run shareholding percentage by the of news, or in other words, ‘source < by these chit funds to win elections second2. Equity of more than 20 diversity’? have often made headlines. It is per cent will represent the degree perhaps due to this nexus that of control and measures should be (The writer is a lecturer at the the TRAI report recognises the taken. Department of Journalism and Mass takeover of media space by “non- Any organisation with voting Communication, Rabindra Bharati media corporate” entities in order rights of 50 per cent or more in the University, Kolkata. She had earlier to “alter the business environment appointment of board of directors lectured at the Department of Film to [their] advantage” as a threat to will be considered to be controlling Studies, Loreto College, Kolkata.) democracy and pluralism. It has interests. An organisation that gives called for “increased transparency” a loan of 51 per cent or more to a in media ownership. media organisation’s total valued But, whereas mainline news- assets will be considered to be papers give considerable place to controlling its operations. Sanghamitra policy papers by TRAI and other TRAI recommends the Herfindahl bodies, the recommendations on Hirschman Index (HHI) as a Chakraborty media monopoly were relegated method to compute the market to an insignificant corner of the share of a media organisation is editor, inner pages. The Fourth Estate’s and suggests that it be used response to the report was as as a standard measurement. It Reader’s Digest expected. The owner of The Times of also suggests 1800 points as the The India Today Group India questioned TRAI’s eligibility standard figure of market share, has announced the appointment to comment on policy space in the with anything above this figure of Sanghamitra Chakraborty as print media. All media verticals to be brought under restrictions. the new editor of Reader’s Digest (print, Internet, television, etc) of But the recommendations on magazine. Formerly editorial the group lashed out at TRAI for not media ownership are easier made director of Prevention India and taking account of more important than implemented. It is almost Women’s Health, two of the issues such as malpractice by wage impossible to pass a bill in this group’s properties, she has taken boards for newspaper employees. regard in Parliament, especially in over the editorial leadership of the News is a product which is light of the fact that it is proposed magazine from Mohan Sivanand, different from toothpaste and to ban political parties and religious who retired on October 9. cream. It is important for public bodies from entering the news Chakraborty joined the India good and vitality in a democracy. domain. Today Group as the founding News cannot be compared to other A dissection of the media editor of Prevention India in goods and products, as it is meant monopolies in India will reveal that 2006. She brings to the table a for society. there are two major ways by which track record in news and features, Hence, when non-media cor-

organisations are funding and both daily and long form, from porate bodies take equity shares fuelling media bodies: One, chit Outlook magazine, The Times of < in media organisations, questions fund companies like Saradha and India and Sunday magazine. arise. Pluralism is the end that one Sahara which run various media tries to achieve in a democracy, outlets to establish their power but is it achievable when media and authenticity to the public and organisations are under the control to gain support from politicians. of complex equity holdings? Second, multi-business behemoths TRAI has tried to streamline the such as Reliance (which bailed out complexities by putting forward a Network18 for Rs. 3800 crore in few recommendations that can be early 2015, Birla Group’s Hindustan easily achieved. Times and TV Today or Jindal Ownership should be transparent group’s Focus TV or NE Television and there should be strict disclosure where it has a stake... the list can go

January-March 2016 VIDURA 13 Is advertising eating into news space? There seems to be an overdose of advertisements and commercials that is threatening the very purpose of the media in Kerala, says J. V. Vil’anilam. The result of the heavy dependence on ads and commercials is the depletion of time and space for serious issues concerning the people, he says, adding that such dependence amounts to using the channels of communication to promote goods and services at the cost of important sociological goals he two giants in the Kerala nearly 3.5 crore, there are nearly promote democratic traditions in a media scenario are Malayala 200 newspapers (big and small), young nation? TManorama and Mathrubhumi, 500-odd magazines (including The media units seem to be headquartered in Kottayam and small magazines, cyclostyled and simply competing as huge Kozhikode, respectively. There cyber), 20 TV channels and 10 business establishments, vying are half a dozen other Malayalam radio channels. This is high media for viewership, readership and newspapers that are enjoying a saturation. No wonder Kerala has political clout by overloading fairly high circulation. Deshabhimani, the highest media diffusion rate in users with information and established in the 1940s, Kerala India. entertainment that appeals to Kaumudi (1911), Mangalam and Nor can the role and presence of their eyes, ears, buying habits Maadhyamam (1980s and1990s, the giant TV network – Asianet – and narrow sociological interests. respectively) all have a growing with five or six channels including There is also heavy localisation of number of editions and quickly a Trivandrum City Cable Vision news because of the phenomenon ascending circulations. All have (CV) channel be forgotten. It has called ‘editionalisiation’. In one sister publications specialising in captured the hearts of Keralites all way, it is a healthy trend because matters of interest to select groups over the world. Asianet and Kairali a large number of people living such as children, women, movie- TV channels are functioning in the in the plains, the hills and the goers, employment seekers and UK, Europe, the USA and especially mountainous areas of the state business establishments. in West Asia – in Bahrain, Dubai, have access to news, information Some of the newspapers Doha and other cities of the UAE and entertainment pertinent to have television channels too, and Saudi Arabia. them. However, it also promotes especially, Manorama, Mathrubhumi, But most of the circulation, some dysfunctional trends such as Deshabhimani (Kairali), Kaumudi popularity and acceptance of the excessive focus on ethnic and local and Maadhyamam (Media One TV different arms of the media come issues, for instance. channel). Radio stations run by All from regular readers of their What is the most significant India Radio and private channels main publications – the daily aspect of communication in Kerala such as Radio Mango and Radio newspaper. And the competition today? It is nothing but advertising Mirchi owned by media giants among the private media owners in the print media and airing of which also run TV channels assure with conglomerate and cross-media commercials in the electronic media, media presence in thousands of ownership is going strong. including Internet-based ones such Kerala homes on a daily basis. Undoubtedly there is severe as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. Besides, there are new TV channels competition among media When somebody asked Mahatma such as those belonging to India companies to top the list in Gandhi about the nature and quality Today and Times of India, India circulation and spread, but of his newspapers (Young India Vision, Reporter, Flowers and sometimes some media users and Harijan), Gandhiji replied that religious channels belonging to wonder if all this competition is his newspapers were not strictly Hindu missions, Catholics and healthy socioeconomic, political, newspapers, but “viewspapers”. other Christian groups. cultural and information needs. In Modern newspapers in Kerala Certain TV channels such as other words, is the competition are neither newspapers nor Kiran of Sun TV and Asianet for the people or for the economic viewspapers; they are merely telecast movies throughout the prosperity of the media owners? ‘adspapers’. To some extent they day and night. For a small state Above all, is the media functioning are viewspapers of a narrow kind like Kerala, with a population of as the Fourth Estate and does it because most of the time they spout

14 VIDURA January-March 2016 political views, either their own or and services for almost half their a selective (and politically biased) of certain politicians who have an telecasting time. manner? Is truth suffering? axe to grind and interests to protect. The most important consequence A recent comparative study of In that process, they mislead users of this heavy dependence on ads news coverage in Kerala’s giant Most newspapers and gossip rags and commercials is the depletion news media with that of The Hindu propagate negative ideas about of the time and space for serious showed that many vital events and certain issues, forgetting the larger issues concerning the people. Such issues of national and sociological interests of society. Media owners dependence amounts to using the importance were left out from the have special interests to protect channels of communication to choice of matter covered in the state. and promote. They are big business promote goods and services at the Is parochialism good in the long

people and have links with national cost of important sociological goals. run? An overdose of advertising and international businessmen Are newspapers and media can defeat the very purpose of a < and manufacturers. They will be channels so starved of money that newspaper. happy, naturally, if people in the they have to rely so much on ads administration help them and do and commercials? And what is the (The writer is a former vice- their bidding. And they will be the effect of advertising material on chancellor of the University of Kerala, happiest if a government protects the audience? Are people buying Thiruvananthapuram, and a former their particular interests. Basic products solely on the basis of head of its Communication and needs of the people, especially information absorbed from ads Journalism Department.) those of the large majority in India and commercials? Or are ads and who are poor and miserable, are commercials actually putting them often forgotten, deliberately or by off? Many media users mute the chance. TV when commercials appear in Sanitation, garbage disposal, succession ad nauseam. pure drinking water supply, Have we reached saturation point? higher agricultural production Is the media in Kerala covering the and cleaning the environment day’s events comprehensively or in should be high priority throughout India, including Kerala, a densely populated state. Is the media in Kerala (newspapers and television channels) doing all it can to highlight these issues, or is it simply trying to Bastiat Prize for BLink columnist fill its own coffers by increasing the size of the audience? Amit Verma, columnist with BusinessLine’s weekly supplement BLink, has A reader picks up a newspaper or won the 2015 Bastiat Prize for Journalism. He had previously won the a viewer switches on the TV set to prize in 2007. The prize, given by Los Angeles-based Reason Foundation, get the latest news and information, recognises the efforts of “journalists who are advancing the principles of not to wade through ads and free minds and free markets by educating their readers about individual commercials. Why should the liberty, free markets, and the rule of law”. media user suffer several minutes Mumbai-based Verma also blogs at indiauncut.com. In Lighthouse, his of commercials featuring gold column in BLink, he regularly dissects the dynamics of a free market and and diamond products before he the evolving role of the consumer in it. “The Bastiat Prize is special for me can have access to what he wants because I have always held Frederic Bastiat’s writing as a model for me. to know? A reader is similarly He is remembered for spreading classical liberal ideas, and the values chagrined at having to negotiate of a free society, in lucid and compelling prose, often using humour as a advertising wrappers before surgeon uses a knife. reaching the day’s news. “His ideas are relevant in India today, where personal and economic Even newspapers such as The freedoms have been denied to us since Independence,” Verma had said

Hindu which is owned by an on making the shortlist. He was shortlisted for the prize along with four establishment that confines itself journalists from the US and one from the UK, and was announced the< to journalism-related activity, does winner at an event held in New York City on Tuesday. not think twice about covering the product in an ad-wrapper on some (Courtesy: BusinessLine) days of the week. Such newspapers are not very different from the TV channels that advertise products

January-March 2016 VIDURA 15 Despite glass ceiling, women journalists make a mark The Press, the fourth pillar of democracy, has traditionally been reluctant to accept women in its fold. Even as women push their way into the payrolls of media organisations, they often fail to live up to their full potential as journalists. Their struggles and achievements in the world and in India are captured here by Ashish Kumar Dwivedy and Jyoti Prakash Mohapatra, making special mention of the trials and tribulations of women journalists in Odisha

omen have been integral levels, in most media organisations. Review, Mysore Review, Behar Herald, to the development of Studies have shown that though the The Bengalee, East & West, Sindh Wprinting and journalism lower ranks of media organisations Journal, Hindu, Balbharti, Amrit in North America and elsewhere. accommodate a growing number of Bazar Patrika, Statesman, Advocate, Elizabeth Glover founded women, there is no evidence that Tribune, Maratha, The Times of India America's first printing business. the upper echelons do the same. and Bombay Chronicle. From her arrival until 1820, more Women journalists in developed Indian women took to than 25 American women owned nations such as Germany, Spain professional journalism during and operated printers. In the 1700s, and the UK often complain of glass the first half of the 20th Century. women edited approximately 16 of ceilings that block their chances of Prominent among them were the 78 small, family-owned weekly promotions. Glass ceilings are also Asha Devi, Bhagwan Devi Pallival, newspapers circulating throughout noticeable in USA and Canada. In Kamala Tai Lele, Madhavi Verma, the British colonies. Women worked the Indian media too, there is a near and Radha Devi. Bombay was the as publishers, printers, typesetters, absence of women at top positions. first to open its doors to women and journalists. Women engravers The proportion of women finding journalists. Homai Vyaravalla created letterheads, drew political employment in mass media does became the first woman on the cartoons, and made fashion plates not match their share of training. staff of a mainstream publication for many papers. A study coordinated by the Asian when she joined The Illustrated Today, more women are working Mass Communication Research and Weekly of India in the 1930s. She is in mass media than ever before. Information Centre (AMIC) reveals also known as the first female news Also, in learning institutions in that in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, photographer in the country. many countries, more women Malaysia, Philippines, and Sri Lanka, In the 1960s, there were very few are enrolled in academic and there is a gap between the number of women in daily newspapers. Their professional courses for journalism women who receive communication biggest challenge was the kind of and communication. Yet studies education and those working in the work assigned to them. While their by media scholars have repeatedly media. senior male colleagues covered hinted at the under-representation political parties, Parliament, Prime of women in various media Scene in India Minister’s Office, ministries like professions. In the United States Since the 1850s, several Home, Commerce, Finance and for instance, women constitute Indian women have edited Foreign Office, women were less than a quarter of those in women’s journals. In April 1870, initially asked to cover soft beats top management positions. Men Mokshodayani edited the first such flower shows, fashion shows, outnumber women in media issue of Banga Mahila, dedicated health and education. On the organisations in many countries to women’s issues; Swarnkumari reporting side women were not across the world, including South Devi was the sole editor of Bharti asked to do night duty. If the women America, Japan, the Asia and from 1885 to 1905, and from 1909 who entered the mainstream press Oceana Region and Western Europe. to 1915; Hemant Kumari Devi in the 1940s and 50s can be viewed Though Eastern Europe and Nordic edited Sugrihini from Allahabad. as a first, small wave of female Europe show strong tendencies Sister Nivedita (Margaret Elizabeth journalists in the modern era, the toward gender egalitarianism, yet Noble) regularly contributed to New next and bigger wave occurred in men in these countries outnumber India, Dawn, Indian Review, Modern the 1960s and early 1970s. women at senior professional Review, Prabuddha Bharat, Hindu Prominent among these women

16 VIDURA January-March 2016 were Usha Rai, Prabha Dutt, Razia shifts bringing out the early Delhi editors and deputy editors, several Ismail, Jyotsna Kapoor, Neena Vyas, editions of The Times of India. chief editors and chiefs of bureau, Modhumita Mojumdar, Zeenat The appointment of the first a large number of senior and Imam, Rami Chhbra, Rashmi women chief sub-editor was a special correspondents, a few news Saxena, Madhu Jain, Coomi Kapoor landmark in the same newspaper. editors and deputy news editors, and Tavleen Singh, Olga Tellis, The period also saw many women as well as a number of chief sub- Zarien Merchant, Fatima Zakaria, scribes like Anita Pratap, Seema editors, who were women. These Elizabeth Rao, Bachi Karkaria, Guha, Tavleen Singh, Shiraz Sidhwa, were unprecedented statistics in Dina Vakil, Carol Andrade, Anjali Coomi Kapoor, Neerja Choudhury, the history of journalism in India. Sirkar, Gita Aravamudan, Rima Vidya Subramaniam, Neena Vyas, Women have multiplied as scribes Kashyap, and Kalyani Shankar. Sevanti Ninan and Kalyani Shankar since then. The period from late 1970s onwards finding their way into reporting of In the euphoria, however, some came to be referred to as the Third hard news, political reporting and vital aspects are often overlooked. Wave in the history of women in analysis. An ideal representation of women at journalism in India. As women The 1990s marked the Fourth the workplace, a non-discriminative topped the journalism courses Wave, where there was widespread and healthy atmosphere, a of the country and their writing recognition of journalism as career supportive marital and domestic skills got recognition, they began option for women. In fact, every environment, and above all a to storm into the field of active newspaper could boast of one safe and secure work culture still journalism. By the mid-1980s, on executive editor, a joint editor, a remain distant dreams for most some days there were all woman- few resident editors, several senior women scribes. Initiated by the Illustration: Arun Ramkumar Illustration:

January-March 2016 VIDURA 17 National Commission for Women of Matrubhasa, Sairendhri Sahu is houses of the state. Also, women (NCW) in 2004, the study on ‘Status the editor of Dhwani Pratidhwani journalists feel that, despite a rise of Women Journalists in India’, and Binapani Dash is the editor of in numbers, they are yet to be presents a disturbing picture of Dinalipi. Sulochana Das, who was given much responsibility. They women journalists in our country. bureau-chief of ETV, now runs are asked to handle social features Executed by the Press Institute of an Odisha-news centric website - and soft stories rather than the India (PII), the report was the first kalingatimes.com. prime beats in any newspaper. attempt in the country to look at Another indicator of growing Moreover, very few are members

the harsh reality for women in this presence of women in journalism of the journalists’ associations or often-glamorised profession. is the increasing number of girl press clubs in Odisha. < Major concerns that emerged students in journalism courses. from the study were job insecurity, At the Indian Institute of Mass (Ashish Kumar Dwivedy is under-payment, contract system of Communication (IIMC), Dhenkanal, assistant professor, Department employment, neglect of maternity the Masters in Journalism and of Humanities and Social Sciences, and child-care provisions, dis- Mass Communication course in Institute of Technical Education and crimination and sexual harassment. Berhampur University, the Centre Research, Siksha 'O' Anusandhan The survey demonstrated that for Development Education and University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha. women journalists have learnt Communication, Bhubaneswar Jyoti Prakash Mohapatra is a research that hard work, a supportive and in other institutes of the state, scholar in the Journalism and Mass management, and a positive the number of girl students has Communication Department in the attitude can be keys to success. gradually increased over the years. same university.) However, they have also learnt that Until the early 1990s, opportunities within the newsroom, resentment, for women were confined to the exclusion and hostility are print media, mainly the English inescapable truths. language newspapers. Even Samaja, From a historical perspective, the leading Odia daily, which had a however, women journalists have woman editor, hardly encouraged made great advances in the last two the entry of women into its fold. decades, their share of jobs in the It was only after Odia television media has increased, they are not channels such as OTV and ETV restricted to fashion, cookery, art came into being that women made and culture, but are also reporting significant entry into the media from battlefields, the stock market and Parliament’s press gallery. In fact, women journalists are radically changing the media and giving it ABP launches matrimony site a broader base by mainstreaming health, environment, social Anandabazar Patrika Patra-Patri, synonymous with matchmaking, concerns and women’s issues. has now gone online with the launch of ABPWeddings.com. D.D. Purkayastha, MD & CEO, ABP, says, “Our matrimonial portal ABP Scene in Odisha Weddings is built upon the trust and credibility of ABP among the In Odisha, although there Bengali diaspora. Our unique differentiator will be the photo ID were women editors in the pre- matching.” Independence era, there were The marketing taglines of the online wedding portal are Ashol Porichoy, hardly any women reporters Safal Porinoy or Real People. Real Relationships. Additionally the covering hard news. There was just matchmakers are further verified through a Trust Score’ concept. a handful of women in journalism, Profiles receive Trust Score by the submission of valid documents like mostly at the desk. Women address proof, educational qualification certificates, employment/

reporters or photographers were income proof and other relevant documents. However, to maintain a rare sight. However, things privacy the documents will not be displayed online. < have changed since then. Several mainstream daily newspapers (Courtesy: exchange4media) in the state have had women editors. For example, Manorama Mahapatra was the executive editor of Samaja, Trupti Nayak was editor of Janavani, Salila Kar is the editor

18 VIDURA January-March 2016 THE DELHI PRESS GROUP Making an impact on the publishing scene With a basket of 36 publications in 10 languages and two associate companies, the Delhi Press Group is upbeat about the future, given the growing literacy rate in India. Som Nath Sapru dwells on a bit of history and about how the Group has developed a highly integrated distribution network with more than 3000 distributors, as also its own state-of-the-art print plants in Delhi, Faridabad and Ghaziabad

he Delhi Press has been Grihshobha, Woman's Era, Alive, stage to the finished product – in a pioneer of sorts in the Suman Saurabh and Saras Salil to the interests of cost-effectiveness, Tmagazine scene in India. name a few. Today, it publishes quick turnaround and international Surprisingly, it was founded, not by a total of 36 magazines in 10 quality. He introduced the flow-line someone with roots in Journalism, languages. With its corporate office (for centre-stitched publications), but by a qualified chartered at New Delhi, the Delhi Press has the gathering-machine and the account – Vishwa Nath. Set up in 12 regional offices in various state 3-knife trimmer. As of now, an 1939, the first magazine to come capitals that serve as distribution estimated 315 machines from out of the Delhi Press stable was centres and as regional language Pramod Engineering are installed Caravan, a literary publication in editorial and advertising offices. in various parts of the country and English (1940). It enjoyed a steady The publications can be described as overseas. Pramod Engineering readership throughout the country ‘consumer magazines’; advertising is currently managed by Naresh and, five years later, was joined by revenue is much more than Nath’s elder son, Divesh Nath. Sarita, a Hindi monthly magazine. circulation revenue. The group has During a recent inter-action, From the very first issues, Sarita always maintained the price tag of Paresh Nath, publisher and became a favourite with the Hindi- the magazines at affordable rates editor-in-chief of the group, while speaking population, especially using cost-effective methodology expressing concern over the since at the time there was only to turn out products that have a dwindling readership of magazines, one family-type Hindi magazine, pleasing appearance. said part of the problem was Sarswati (started in the year 1900 The group has developed a highly because newspapers had eaten into by Indian Press, Allahabad). Sarita integrated distribution network magazine readership by penetrating continues to be the product that and reportedly is in direct contact deep into markets through multiple, best captures the ideology of the with more than 3000 distributors. It localised editions of their products Group. prints and publishes more than 4.6 at low cover prices. Newspapers Over the years, the group has million copies of the 36 magazines also had the advantage of higher launched a number of magazines each month from its own revues from advertising and highly that have been just as popular ultramodern state-of-the-art print advanced systems of distribution, and successful: Mukta, Champak, plants based in Delhi, Faridabad when compared to magazines, he and Ghaziabad. pointed out. The Delhi Press has been a pio- Elaborating on the distribution neer in adapting the latest printing aspect, he said newspapers usually technology. An associate company, paid contractors to handle the Pramod Engineering, was started service, while magazines had to by Vishwa Nath’s eldest son, the rely heavily on postal services, and late Naresh Nath, a visionary who there were never-ending battles felt that if post-press (binding) between magazine publishers and operations were slow and time- post offices about the extent of consuming besides being labour- postal subsidy and concessions.

Photo: SNS oriented, the enterprise would never Nath was, however, quite be cost-effective. He envisioned confident about maintaining the Paresh Nath (right), publisher and automating all the steps of binding dedicated readership of his own editor-in-chief, Delhi Press Group, operations – from the printed form magazines. He stressed that his talking to the writer.

January-March 2016 VIDURA 19 Photos: Internet

Over the years, the Delhi Press Group has launched a number of magazines that have been popular. Covers of some of the better known titles are pictured here. The Caravan, for example, is known for its high quality of long- form journalism and can easily rank amoung the best magazines in the world. group did not allow any stagnation the list. Another associate company, On the whole, the growing in the content of the periodicals and Vishv Books, named after its founder literacy rate augured well for the that it made it a point to keep up Vishva Nath, has published over publishing industry, Nath felt. with fast changing social patterns. 1500 titles so far, both fiction and While people with English- Caravan, which was discontinued non-fiction, focused on children up medium and public school in 1988, was revived in 2009, and to Standard 8. education were less interested in

is being handled by a group of “Our books are marketed and reading magazines and periodicals, dedicated journalists, headed by distributed across India and in other the neo-literates held out hope for < Nath’s son, Anant Nath, a graduate countries in South East Asia, Europe, the industry, he said. of Columbia University. USA, Africa and Mexico, Nath said, The growing literacy rate in the adding, “Keeping pace with the (The writer has a master’s degree in country has encouraged the Group growing and changing technology, Print Technology & Management. He to expand its basket of periodicals we have created e-books out of a few served 33 years with the United States – it bought over BS Motoring titles, compatible for all varieties of Information Service at the American magazine from Business Standard tablets and mobile phones.” Embassy in New Delhi as chief of in 2013 and publishes Manohar However, as far as the magazine Publications. During 2005-2011, he Kahaniyan and Satya Katha, two business is concerned, he was of was editor of the IPAMA Bulletin. popular crime fiction magazines the opinion that the ‘digital fever’ He is now general manager, Pramod belonging to Mitra Prakashan, an would be short-lived, and the Engineering, part of the Delhi Press Allahabad-based publishing house. digital conversion of his long list of Group.) Recently, two Kannada magazines magazines would not be as popular -- Buttiand Manasa -- were added to as their print versions.

MaXposure Media Group to publish Rail Bandhu MaXposure Media Group, a corporate publishing company with over 30 titles in its portfolio, has been awarded the contract to publish Rail Bandhu, the on-board magazine of the Indian Railways. The organisation won the contract to publish the magazine for three years following an open tender. The magazine is distributed free of cost in all full-service trains - Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto. According to the release, Rail Bandhu, a bilingual (English and Hindi) magazine published every month, reaches 21 state capitals and more than 119 cities, and is distributed in 129 trains every day. This includes 24 Rajdhani Express trains, 23 Shatabdi Express trains and the air-conditioned coaches of 41 Duronto Express trains. With a readership of over 49 lakh per month, Rail Bandhu has a higher readership reach than any travel

or news magazine in India. Launched in 2011, Rail Bandhu is also available in waiting rooms, lounges and VIP visiting rooms at railway stations. <

(Courtesy: exchange4media)

20 VIDURA January-March 2016 ‘Audience’s habits changing dramatically’ Audience preferences are changing. On the other hand, technological innovations are creating issues which have to be resolved by editors vigilantly. One of the innovations is Apple announcing the option of ad-blockers in its latest version of mobiles. Thomas Jacob, chief operating officer of WAN-IFRA, in an exclusive interview with RIND Survey, says that the association is in the process of bringing together like-minded editors to solve the new problems faced by the newspaper industry. Gayatri T. Rao interviewed him in Mumbai

How do you view the journalism When the breaking stories are over? scene in the developed world? important stories, they come back I mean many newspapers What have been some of the more to news sites. The problem is that have not made the transition fast recent developments there? they are not coming back that often, enough. There have been seven There is a huge transformation in which means that newspapers major changes in newspapers – the newspaper business, especially need to engage them in their from print to desktop, text and in the mature markets. What we environment, in their social media photo to multimedia storytelling, find is the audience’s habits are channels and depending on the desktop to mobile, from search to changing dramatically. Media news, the type of media needs to be social, linear TV to streamline video consumption patterns are changing decided. For example, Twitter uses on demand, traditional ad sales to fast. Now we see that both mobile breaking stories. Facebook uses programmatic and native; and and tablet account for roughly about long form of the stories. Each story, anonymous Internet to identified two hours of media time in a day. depending on the relevance, has Internet. Comparatively, for newspapers it is the lifecycle of one week. So you Out of the seven major changes, 30 minutes. So you can see that the need to understand the different six have occurred in the last five time spent has shifted dramatically. forms, different audiences, and years. Tech-based media companies And especially for the Millennials, tailor your news content according like Buzz Feed, Elite Daily, etc use the younger generation, say 15- to them. So I think this is where the technology most efficiently. They 35, they consume news via social newspapers are struggling quite a are in the forefront of using these media, via referrals, which means bit. We had been struggling with technologies. traditional newspapers’ credibility, the old business model. Once print Newspapers have lagged behind the trustworthiness, is not relevant was the centre of our lives. It has in understanding and making to this generation as it was before. changed now. these changes. A lot of the entrance They would trust their friend rather cultures and the big newsrooms than the mainstream media. This is You mean this is not just the are in the process of changing. But one big change. problem in India, but the world not many have managed that shift completely. At this time we do not have an issue with the audience. Newspapers have a large audience. They have a much larger audience than the old print models. But the engagement is lower. That means less monetisation. That means the business models in the news environment are not robust enough. Newspaper companies have not adapted that fast. Schibsted, the famous Norwegian Photo: WAN - IFRA Photo: WAN newspaper group, is an example of very progressive media companies. Thomas Jacob (right) engaged in conversation at the Goss International booth They get 50 per cent of their revenue at the WAN-IFRA Expo in Mumbai. from digital media. But even they

January-March 2016 VIDURA 21 say that they have not been able use social media, how do you train These issues are emerging, right to cope with the digital onslaught. people for social media, how do now. That is why we need to discuss They say the changes are so fast you get people to tweet, to write quite a few things associated with that by the time they react, other short stories and long stories for the them. And our think-tank will be companies are one step ahead. “It’s social media, and how do you do on it soon. Some of these issues can tough competition … and we are storytelling on the social media. definitely get controversial. That’s not sure our choice works or not,” • Then comes the revenue issue. for sure. But our role is to bring they say. How to you address the revenue forward the facts. In the old newspaper culture, shortfall in digital advertising? everybody had a defined role. • The fourth challenge is, how How do you see digital wave On the other hand, a start-up do you extend the life of the print? transforming news reading environment like Buzz Feed has a That’s where the bulk of the revenue, habits? very innovative culture. Elite Daily as much as 80-90 per cent, is still It’s already changing. For started as a blog for Millennials. coming from. . example, today eight out of ten And now there are 74 million These are the areas we are people will reach for their mobiles paid consumers. This was because planning to focus on. We are trying first thing in the morning after they could address the millennial to make ourselves a knowledge waking up, for news or WhatsApp audience in the best way. They centre for the industry. From each updates, etc. Previously, they knew how to target them. They of these four we have made forums would have a coffee and read a were so good that Daily Mail just which address the issues of the print paper. That is the first change. bought them. Tech companies have industry. We have the World Editors’ Second is the rise of social a culture and a mindset which is not Forum (WEF), which addresses the networking sites. People read news easy for the newspapers to replicate. issues of the journalistic community referred by friends. If a friend So the question is, what do you do? inside WAN-IFRA. There is a lot finds a story worth sharing, they One of the major challenges is to of dialogue between them and share it on the social networking change the mindset and culture we are starting to shortlist the key sites. That’s where we really need to make it more innovative and issues. We will not be able to focus to look at doing our job right. For entrepreneurial. on everything. So we will pick up example, Buzz Feed and Elite Daily three or four key issues for each of are two of the sites, disrupting our What are some of the initiatives these vertical segments. Then we industry. It is for us to learn from taken by WAN-IFRA in the field will research and have think tank them. They use technology and of training and research? meetings. We might invite all the have a particular way of telling their We are taking a lot of steps. Now players to discuss the issues. stories, which pushes them out of after the merger of WAN and IFRA, I will highlight one issue - ad- the crowd. Many of them have also there was a few years of disconnect blockers. Right now in India, it’s used a lot of native advertising. So within the industry. not big. But it will soon have a huge if you have ad-blockers, then native There were a lot of internal impact on the revenue. Apple has advertising is a much better way to issues. A few years ago, we got a announced that its new version of get into mind space. new CEO. We have now put in a mobiles will have ad-blockers. So Another issue is the reason why new structure and a new strategy. imagine what effect it will have people use ad-blockers. They do so As an international organisation on revenue. If that happens, what because the ads are either clogging for newspapers, our role is to do we do? This technology will go up loading time or generate an assist media companies in this up, and our industry will react too experience. If you have the right transformation. slowly. WAN-IFRA’s think-tank is experience on your side with How do we accompany them in working on these kinds of issues. the right ads, then you have an this journey? They are not used to it. After deciding what to do, we will advantage. Native advertising They have no experience. What we incorporate the action plan in our has an advantage – this type of have done is – we have identified training modules. So for each of the advertisements are not an intrusive the key challenges of the industry. challenges the industry is facing, ads, but are content itself, though These are mainly in four areas: we will have a specific response. sponsored. • One is leadership and Some newspapers are using anti-ad- transformation; blocking software. What is your impression of the • Content is another – how do we media scene here now in India? get on to the right platforms to get This could get a little controversial, I would say Indian newspapers the right audience? right? If there is ad-blocking and are in a good situation for one • Then there are the sub- a newspaper uses an anti-ad- reason - you can surely see what’s categories of this – how do you blocking software. coming. You can see what is

22 VIDURA January-March 2016 happening in the UK, the US and happened to newspapers in the a chance to see what’s happening. the other mature markets. So you mature markets? The changes came That is why we had this conference. have time to prepare. You still have so fast that they did not have time to Indian newspapers are in a much

robust revenue from print. That react or adapt in the given amount better situation compared to some means you have the cash flow to of time. That’s why they were of the mature markets. < make the right investments. What caught unprepared. But India has

Freelance journalists score at PII-ICRC Awards you imagine life without a toilet?’. an exposé of the condition of Priyanka Borpujari had written in The women and children in emergency Times of India on ‘Longing for home, situations—issues that are often and a clean toilet’. Her article also ignored by mainstream media. included gender-insensitive ways of The huge number of entries aid agencies. Saurabh Yadav’s story and high quality of the content in The Hindu BusinessLine opened submitted understandably made Photo: ICRC readers’ eyes to being ‘Bloodthirsty the job of the judges rather tasking in Bodoland’. and challenging. The jury members Mary Werntz, head of the ICRC New Delhi regional Biju Boro’s picture showed a dead included Seema Mustafa, senior delegation, along with Seema mother with a dead child clinging journalist and author; Dr Jaya Mustafa (right), presents the to her body in the floods where 91 Shridhar, journalist and health first prize for best article on a people were killed in Goalpora, adviser; Srinivas Burra, assistant humanitarian subject to Neha Assam. Rishab Jain’s picture with professor, South Asian University; Dixit, independent journalist, the caption, ‘Life swings on waves and Wasbir Hussain, political at the 2015 Annual PII-ICRC for seven hours’, had two girls and commentator and strategic analyst. Awards held on 2 December their parents who had got struck in Kick-starting proceedings at the in New Delhi. the floods and were saved by a diver awards ceremony on December 2 at Nandeshwar, Sisarma, Udaipur, at the India International Centre in Independent journalists from Rajasthan). New Delhi, Surinder Singh Oberoi, different parts of India bagged Congratulating the winners, Mary Communication and Political all the awards in the PII-ICRC Werntz, head of Regional Delegation, adviser at ICRC, New Delhi, Awards 2015 Best Article on a International Committee of the Red introduced the speakers, including Humanitarian Subject category. Cross (ICRC), New Delhi said, “I am Murali Krishan, senior journalist. While Neha Dixit from New Delhi hoping that our winners today will re- Neha Dixit received her award bagged the first prize, Shazia dedicate themselves to their profession from Mary Werntz and Seema Yousuf based in Kashmir won and see the awards being given to Mustafa, ShaziaYousuf from Seema the second. The third prize was them as a call to greater service not Mustafa, and Saurabh Yadav from jointly shared by Gawahati-based just for their profession but in the Adebayo Olowo-Ake and Seema Priyanka Borpujari and New service of humanity.” She added, Mustafa. Seema Mustafa and Delhi’s Saurabh Yadav. “The power of the media cannot be Srinivas Burra presented the joint In the Best Photograph category, over-emphasised and there can be third prize for Best Photograph to photojournalist Biju Boro of no greater service than leveraging Rishabh Jain and Biju Boro. The Asomiya Pratidin and Rishabh that power for the good of the human awards ceremony was preceded Jain of Dainik Bhaskar, Udaipur, being, especially those caught up in by a panel discussion on ‘Reporting jointly received the third prize. The the throes of conflict, violence and in on the fate of victims of natural / first and the second prizes in the some cases, natural disasters.” man-made disasters’. Photograph category were not For both the categories, 85 entries Sashi Nair, director, Press Institute awarded this year. The awards were received and they covered a of India, and Dr Jaya Shreedhar presented all related to print. wide variety of humanitarian issues, were unable to attend the awards Neha Dixit’s story, ‘Anyone ranging from the floods in Kashmir to function due to unprecedented here been raped and speaks the earthquake in Nepal and reflected rains and floods in Chennai and English’, had appeared in on how the natural disasters impacted flights being cancelled. Priyanka

Outlook. Shazia Yousuf’s piece for the lives of communities caught in Borpujari, joint third prize winner, Women’s Feature Service focused their path. Some entries provided was also not present. < on the post-Kashmir floods, ‘Can

January-March 2016 VIDURA 23 Internet bandwidth, a technical challenge in India Ever thought that there could be a separate publication for devices such as mobiles and tablets? That is one of the innovations happening currently and Ulrik Cramer from CCI Systems elaborated on the novel idea. He and his team were exhibiting at the WAN-IFRA Conference and Expo in Mumbai recently. In this exclusive interview with RIND Survey, he tells Gayatri T. Rao that Internet bandwidth is one of the challenges faced by his team in bringing the new technology to India What are you showcasing at would be a huge benefit for them to Norway, the Springer in Germany, WAN-IFRA India? Is it something have all users and all content in one the Telegraph in Holland and in new or is it a first? system. England. So, all high-ranking media We are showcasing innovative houses use this system. solutions. We are working with Can you tell us something about Today, roughly 30000 journalists three partners in India – The the features of the product? are working on this system. So it’s Times of India, The Hindu and The system has basically two key now in a very mature stage. It has ABP News. So we are showcasing features – one feature for editors, been in development for 15 years an enterprising solution for an that is, navigation cockpit. We call it and now we are bringing a robust integrated newsroom. In our the radar system, where the editor system to the Indian market. Also, system, all journalists and editors can see from various views his news now we have two successfully have access to all content, all list, his assignments. He can see what running installations – one in The people and all publications. We his journalists are doing. He can see Times of India and the other at The have expanded this system with the the content. And he can forward the Hindu. ABP News is using only the support of local Indian languages in content to any publication online or online mobile version of the system. partnership with The Times of India over mobile. That is an overview of They don’t use it for print, but and The Hindu. The Hindu will the application for the editors. merely for the digital publications. go alive first with this, supporting For the journalists we have the English-speaking publications developed a very sophisticated What are some of the challenges as well as Tamil publications. This publishing tool that is cross media you are facing in India? And how so that the journalists can now have, similar or different are these from you could say, a digital typewriter. the challenges in the developed The journalists can now work world? with text, images, online stories and There is no huge difference. video material in a very intuitive There are still some technical application. These are the two challenges in India with Internet highlights of the system to make it bandwidth, which is not the same productive and easy to use. in all places. With media houses having many local branches, they What is the name of the need to have Internet capacity out product? there, which is still relatively costly. It’s called News Gate. This system is based on one system, which everyone is using and it is How popular is the CCI editorial dependent on wide area network system worldwide? over the Internet. That is a challenge It is in use in large media on the technical side. organisations. In the (United) States On the other hand, where the use there are many installations – The of the industry is concerned, we see New York Times, USA Today, the that the print publications in the US McClatchy Group, The Hearst are under much higher pressure

Photo: CCI Europe Group and the Tribune Group. than that in India. There, this In Europe also, most innovative system is being used to consolidate Ulrik Cramer. media groups like the Schibstead in much harder and to alternate much

24 VIDURA January-March 2016 harder. So that is probably just the publications that maybe faster, difference in the use of the system. easier and cheaper to develop a Tinaz Nooshian is exec But we don’t see any difference unique publication for these devices. in the skill level, the education level Currently, most publications take editor, Mid-Day and the usage level. It is more, which the minimum time of three weeks piece of the system is taken into to modify an app because that is Tinaz Nooshian has been use. We do see in India, especially the time it takes to change the app. promoted as executive editor of Mid- in mobile publishing, India is very So we developed a concept where Day. She takes over from Sachin much in the forefront of using this they can do this in 24 hours. They Kalbag. Her tenure at the paper technology. There are a lot of print can develop an app, execute it and owned by Jagran Prakashan began publications in the local languages modify it. They can have the same last July, when she was appointed and this even works for the mobile flexibility as they had in the print deputy editor on the daily and editor platform. So there are two sets publication before. That is pretty of its weekend product, Sunday of tailwinds coming for them (a unique and The Hindu is the first Mid-Day. Starting her career at The metaphor for positive support). to go live with this. The next will Asian Age, Nooshian has 15 years be ABP News. So that’s the two of experience in the print industry,

Is any new product being innovations that we have brought and has worked in various senior developed? here. < positions, including that of national Yes, we are presenting two features editor at Mumbai Mirror. frameworks for digital tablet (Courtesy:exchange4media.com) publications and mobile app

Publishers call for task force on ad blocking The world’s leading news publishers are calling for an international task force to respond to the increasing use of ad blocking technology, and for the adoption of on-line advertising principles and guidelines that respect users and help sustain independent news publishing as an essential component of democratic society. "The growing use of ad blocking software by Internet and mobile users around the world is severely jeopardizing the digital advertising ecosystem, but they also threaten the open Web in open societies," said the publishers during the meeting of an international task force convened by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) in Paris, France, on Friday 11th December. The Task Force -- comprised of publishers in Europe, North America and Asia – supported by the WAN- IFRA will operate as a knowledge center for publishers to share best practices, and facilitate discussion among other international trade bodies, stakeholders. It will act as a unifying voice, with the task of supporting the industry on both global and local levels. For more information, or to join the initiative, please contact Ben Shaw, Director of Global Advisory, WAN-IFRA, [email protected]. The significant rise in ad blocking over the past year has highlighted a substantial threat to advertising revenue for news sites, both on desktop and mobile. This has become a technical, legal and PR battleground in recent months for European and US publishers. The WAN-IFRA initiative addresses the need for global coordination to address the threat to news publishers' capacity to provide the independent and credible news that is crucial role to open societies. If ads continue to obscure content, slow websites, pry into data and break the audience’s trust with publishers and editors, then any global technology platform company will have the opportunity to step in and set rules that need to be defined by the publishers and their advertising partners. Publishers’ most precious asset is the trust and goodwill of their audience. If publishers allow the technology platform companies to become the

gatekeepers of news content, then they will find themselves relegated to the role of commodity producers rather than trusted brands. <

January-March 2016 VIDURA 25 BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT WITH WAN-IFRA

Your Guide to the Changing Media Landscape World News Publishing Focus

FROM EDITORS FORUM IN WASHINGTON Key quotes and takeaways Speakers at last year’s World Editors Forum in Washington, DC, discussed the trends, challenges and advantages of running a modern newsroom. In this article, WAN-IFRA research fellow Julie Posetti offers her top takeaways from the WEF sessions as well as a preliminary look at some of the findings of a study on source protection in the digital age, which the WEF has undertaken for a UNESCO report t’s hard to be first today,” “They’re our quality control. People television anchor Brian Williams’ said Bill Nichols, editor- remember our mistakes a lot longer story led to his suspension. “Iat-large of Politico. “It’s than our successes.” e) But audiences can help only if Twitter, Facebook, or Reddit that are journalists listen to them. usually first. So we have diversified Valuing and listening to our our journalism and made it deeper, audiences The evergreen analytics debate and smarter, and more issue-based,” Deeply understanding audience James Robinson, director of he said. members as people, not just numbers, Analytics Innovation at The New Tom Rosenstiel, executive director and involving them in journalistic York Times, said he often fields of the American Press Institute, coverage is a key element of building this question from newsroom staff: noted that media organisations have reader-informed news. “How well did my story perform?” traditionally acted as general stores, Greg Barber, director of Digital And they often focus too much on having content that spans a range of News Products at The Washington quantitative measurements, such topics. Post, told the WEF audience that as assuming that more page views But the Internet rewards “readers” are news production mean a better performance, Robinson specialisation – a better source on partners: said, instead of qualitative factors. a topic is just a click away. To build a) Audiences have been starting “Trying to measure engagement by audience, media companies should conversations for decades, ever since looking for a number is like trying thus develop a few pillar topics, the beginning of the letters to the coverage areas they can become editor section. known for. Then, readers can find b) They’ve helped tell stories. NPR additional content once they’re in the USA asked its readers which there. lobbyists were in the room during the early health care debates, which The challenges of leading a helped the news company identify newsroom in 2015 people who influenced conversations “The biggest challenge is that we and, potentially, policy. WNYC asked are just being asked to do so much,” its readers to track cicadas on the East said Martin Baron, executive editor Coast, including the submissions on of The Washington Post. a map. “We’re doing audio, we’re doing c) They’ve funded journalism. video, we’re having to do such a Readers not only receive the news, wide range of things and resources but also give support through are fewer. We’re asked to do more Kickstarter campaigns and other – constantly more. It’s a huge solicitations. challenge.” d) They’ve even challenged “It’s a huge mistake to think we journalism. Facebook comments from don’t need editors,” he added. Iraq War veterans questioning NBC

26 VIDURA January-March 2016 to measure how much I love my wife by how many flowers I buy her every week,” he said. ”Numbers alone cannot describe the value of factors such as emotions.” Baron checked The Washington Post’s analytics just before hitting the stage at the World News Media Congress, but reminded editors that they have deeper editorial responsibilities: “We’re not just followers, we have to be leaders. Don’t be a slave to the metrics.”

Objectivity 2.0 Politico’s Bill Nichols differentiated between object-ive journalism and non-partisan journalism: Photos: WNPF “I sometimes refer to ‘Objectivity Greg Barber, director of Digital News Products at The Washington Post, gave 2.0,’ he said. “I don’t believe in the several examples of how the audiences of various news organisations have helped notion that was prevalent 20 years improve journalism. ago that journalists are somehow different from other human beings, data retention and handover of • Jeopardised by mandatory that we don’t have personal or material connected to confidential data retention policies and pressure political views, and that we are sources. applied to third-party intermediaries able to shield ourselves from those. That’s a key finding of a study of the (such as ISPs, telcos, search engines, That’s ridiculous. What is integral state of journalistic source protection and social media platforms) to for the Politico brand is that we are in 121 countries undertaken for release data; and non-partisan. When we started a few a UNESCO report by the World • Outdated when it comes to years ago, that was viewed as idiotic, Editors Forum. regulating the collection and use of old-fashioned, and archived. No one The report (cover page pictured digital data. wanted non-partisan journalism.” below), edited by WAN-IFRA Examples include the admissibility, Research Fellow Julie Posetti, is in court, of information recorded Platform neutrality titled Protecting Journalism Sources in without consent between a journalist Today’s news audiences consume the Digital Age. Launched at a Pew- and a source, and the extent to news across platforms on multiple Research sponsored breakfast in which existing source protection devices. There are not separate Washington during Congress, the laws also cover digitally stored groups of print readers and social- report will be published by UNESCO material gathered by journalistic media readers. “Technology is a this year. actors. The study also found that behaviour, not an audience,” said The legal frameworks that protect source protection frameworks are API’s Rosenstiel. ”Organisations confidential sources of journalism challenged by questions about that accept that and work to better – essential to reporting information entitlement to claim protection, such distribute content across platforms, in the public interest that may as: “Who is a journalist?” and “What along with better tracking of it, will otherwise never come to light – are is journalism?” do well.” Baron added, “We have under significant strain around the When source protection is to recognise that the vast majority world in the digital era. There’s now compromised, the impacts can of people are getting their news a need to revise and strengthen them include: digitally – and most of them access it – or introduce them where they don’t • Pre-publication exposure of through mobile. The big challenge is exist. In many of the 121 countries journalistic investigations which that we still have a newspaper, and examined in this new study, it was may trigger cover-ups, intimidation, that print product represents the found that legal source protection or destruction of information; biggest portion of our revenue.” frameworks are either actually or • Revelation of sources’ potentially: identities with legal or extra-legal Protecting our sources in the digital • Eroded by national security and repercussions on them; age anti-terrorism legislation; • Sources of information running Acts of journalism should be • Undercut by surveillance – both dry; and shielded from targeted surveillance, mass and targeted; • Self-censorship by journalists

January-March 2016 VIDURA 27 and citizens more broadly. Many and use of such data being consistent 10. Criminalise arbitrary, journalists are now adapting their with the general right to privacy). unauthorised and wilful violations work in an effort to shield their 6. Shield acts of journalism from of confidentiality of sources by sources from exposure, sometimes targeted surveillance, data retention third-party actors. even seeking to avoid electronic and handover of material connected 11. Recognise that source devices and communications all to confidential sources. protection laws can be strengthened together. However, while such 7. Define exceptions to all the above by complementary whistleblower tactics do help, they may be very narrowly, so as to preserve the legislation. insufficient if legal protections are principle of source protection as the How does your country’s source

protection framework shape up weak, encryption is disallowed, and effective norm and standard. < sources themselves are unaware of 8. Define exceptions as needing to against this model? the risks. conform to a provision of “necessity” The study concludes that and “proportionality” — in other (This article was originally editors and publishers can play an words, when no alternative to published in the July-August 2015 important role in promoting public disclosure is possible, when there is edition of World News Publishing understanding of these issues, greater public interest in disclosure Focus, the bi-monthly magazine and in advocating for change at all than in protection, and when the published by WAN-IFRA.) levels. terms and extent of disclosure still preserve confidentiality as much as 11-point framework for assessing possible. source protection 9. Define a transparent and A major output of the study is the independent judicial process with following 11-point assessment tool appeal potential for authorised for measuring the effectiveness of exceptions, and ensure that law legal source protection frameworks enforcement agents and judicial in the digital era. A model source actors are educated about the protection framework should: principles involved. 1. Recognise the value to the public interest of source protection, with its legal foundation in the right to freedom of expression (including press freedom), and to privacy. Ajay Shukla joins Hindustan as editor, These protections should also be embedded within a country’s Multimedia constitution and/or national law Hindi daily Hindustan has appointed Ajay Shukla as editor, 2. Recognise that source protection Multimedia. Shukla joins with experience in both print and TV should extend to all acts of news reporting. He was previously the group editor for Aaj Samaj journalism and across all platforms, and India News Channel where he worked for approximately five services and media (of data storage years. In his role as group editor, Shukla was in charge of creating and publication), and that it includes content concepts for the newspaper and channel. digital data and meta-data. He also oversaw administration of the editorial staff. Prior to that, 3. Recognise that source protection Ajay Shukla was with Amar Ujala for three years. He has also worked does not entail registration or with Dainik Bhaskar, Dainik Jagran, Swatantra Chetna and Kuber Times licensing of practitioners of and Aaj. Shukla holds an LLB as well as a PG Diploma in Journalism. journalism.

Hindustan is considered the second most popular Hindi newspaper

4. Recognise the potential in India and is spread across Delhi, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh< detrimental impact on public and Uttarakhand. interest journalism, and on society, of source-related information being caught up in bulk data recording, tracking, storage and collection. 5. Affirm that state and corporate actors (including third-party intermediaries) who capture journalistic digital data must treat it confidentially (acknowledging also the desirability of the storage

28 VIDURA January-March 2016 Time to ride the smartphone wave and experiment Dushyant Khare of Google India advised delegates at the WAN-IFRA India Conference 2015 to gear up, not only to make the most of the smartphone wave, but also to experiment with what they felt would be the next wave. Most of the millions of users who would come online in the coming three years in India were going to be mobile-only users, he added. Gayatri T. Rao reports he transformation of the think the next wave is?” he asked. “We have to start thinking with the media landscape and Pointing out that over 50 per cent of mindset of one screen and the only Tpublisher business through the world’s smartphone users are screen for all kind of consumption,” mobile phones was the focus of the in Asia, he said it was also a ‘mobile he said. address by Dushyant Khare, head - first’ region – a term for users who Talking of some differences Strategic Partnerships, South East connect to the Internet first via between the Asian experience and Asia & India, Google, India, at the their mobile phones. Khare quoted learnings from the West, he said WAN-IFRA India 2015 Conference statistics to show that Asia was that unlike in the West, in Asia users and Expo. Referring to the rapid also the world’s first ‘mobile only’ actually preferred longer videos adoption of new technology by a region. “This fact changes the game over shorter ones for viewing on growing number of users, Khare because a user only has a mobile their mobile screens. Surprisingly said the telephone took 110 years to phone as an entertainment device in countries like Indonesia and touch the milestone of one billion and a news consumption device, India the band-width was a major users, television took 49 years to he doesn’t have a TV, a tablet or issue. But users still liked to view achieve the same level, but the a laptop,” he told delegates at the video content on mobiles. smartphone took just eight years. conference. Also, chat apps and chat software “Users are adopting new technology Most of the millions of the users had been revolutionised in Asia, twice as fast as before,” he said, and who would come online in the he said, and cited the examples of challenged the participants to ask next three years in India are going Line in Japan, WeChat from China themselves whether they and their to be mobile-only users, Khare and India’s Hike, all of which were organisations were geared up to told the conference, adding that, much more than just chat apps. face this change head on. despite the fact, most designs for “You can consume news. You can “Are you already riding the latest the Internet were still being done buy products and services. You can wave that is the smartphone wave? for the desktop, the tablet and the order taxis. You can buy financial Are you experimenting on what you smart TV. products. These are becoming platforms, where users are spending more and more time,” he pointed out. Outlining the typical progression of consumption of online content, Khare said when users came online, they would be using a social networking site. They would use some chat applications. Then they might play some games or send e-mails. After that, they might look at some entertainment news and then go on to serious news. From there, they might proceed to research some technology, gadgets, books, etc. with a view to buying Photo: WAN-IFRA them. The peak would be when they start transacting online and Khare (left) engaged in a discussion with delegates during the tea break. then paying for some products or

January-March 2016 VIDURA 29 services. “It may also be that this is advertisements. This is where we, as partnering with the Central News the way they prioritise content.” Of partners in this whole eco-system, and Journalists Association to see late, even this pattern had become come in to accelerate,” he said, how they could work together to disrupted, Khare said. Even adding, “one of the things we have figure out the digital phenomenon before accessing social networks, done is to form an Internet alliance and understand what new products

people were making payments with the local language content they could come up with to help for things like phone re-charge providers.” Google has started off the sustainable eco-system around < and conducting transactions like with Hindi and will soon move to news. money transfers through mobile other Indian languages. Another phones.“The good news for the debate is that of multi-screen versus news content providers is that news the mobile. “So you need to make consumption is not low priority for sure that your content is seamless the mobile Internet,” he said. across the different screens,” he The question that is uppermost advised. Rohit Saran is on stakeholders’ minds relates to Yet another aspect that Khare money, especially at a time when focused on was the issue of space. executive editor, TOI print subscribers have dwindled. Most android phones had only 512 In an internal communication Multiples of present subscribers MB of space, and they came with sourced by exchange4media, of mobile Internet are required pre-installed apps, which could The Times of India announced to get the same revenue. “So how not be uninstalled. The user would restructuring which included various do we do that?” is what everyone have space for just three or four elevations and the appointment of wants to know. And Khare has the more apps and he would typically Rohit Saran as executive editor. answer. “It is really simple,” he told download a payment app, a social Saran has held a string of delegates at the conference. “You network chat app and games. “As leadership positions over the past grow users and you grow revenue. a news organisation, your app is decade – executive editor of India So to increase the users, you will up against a space constraint. Thus Today, editor of Money Today and have to go mobile app way. Most the way to go is the mobile web. Get Business Today, executive editor people consume content through your mobile web perfected before of The Economic Times, editor-at- shares and not by going directly to going to the mobile app and when large with the India Today Group, the site.”Further, mobile users liked you do that you need to make sure and editor of Khaleej Times. visual content and, so, this had to it occupies less space.” As executive editor of ET, he be designed to be as interesting as In terms of driving revenue and launched ET Wealth and re- possible, and to ensure that content usage, media organisations could launched ET on Sunday, and was easily sharable across the social opt to partner with digital ones helped drive several value- media platforms, he said. like Google, he said. He suggested enhancing changes in the main Most Asian countries have gone working with third parties such paper. local in terms of language. But as news aggregators and video in India, the Internet has largely aggregators to give exposure to Saran will, to begin with, oversee been in the medium of English so content, while partnering with the business and features sections, far. However, Khare expressed the search companies like Google would work closely with the design and view that a large proportion of the ensure that app content surfaces in graphics team, as well as seek millions of users who would come searches. A specific technology was technology solutions to further online in the coming three years required for that, he cautioned. enhancing coordination between

would actually be non-English In terms of revenue, many editions. He will be involved in the speakers. Already, at least 40 per companies had their own sales overall operations of the paper as < cent of the 310-odd million Internet teams, ad networks and ad well. users in India consumed some kind exchanges for advertising, Khare of local content. That was another said. He felt subscription was not (Courtesy: exchange4media) area he advised stakeholders to really working, especially in the focus on. emerging markets. Innovation In Khare’s opinion, one problem was needed in the sector, he said, was that the digital local ad spend adding, “technology will help you was a very small part of the total maximise the revenue impression digital spend. “This is slated to across the different sources.” go up by six times over the next In conclusion, Khare touched five years. That may not be fast upon the digital news initiative enough for some of you to run that started in Europe with Google

30 VIDURA January-March 2016 BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT WITH WAN-IFRA

FOR PUBLISHERS Micropayments emerge as online revenue source In their continuing search for digital revenue, many news publishers have implemented online paid-content strat- egies. Models include hard paywalls, metered paywalls, and so on, all based on subscriptions – but recently per-article payment has emerged as a viable option. Most interestingly, pulishers are starting to see micropay- ments as a supplemental revenue source to online subscriptions and advertising. WAN-IFRA managing editor Anton Jolkovski has more n Canada, the Winnipeg Free Press • Individual articles on the site don’t want people making purchase has become the first newspaper can be purchased for $0.27, decisions – we want them to read Iin North America to launch a and purchasers are entitled that one-paragraph story and go micropayment system, according to to a refund if they are not ahead and hit the refund button Nieman Lab. The paper launched satisfied because it’s way too short,” Panson its redesigned website (www. Some six weeks after the launch, told Nieman. He said the low refund winnipegfreepress.com) in May, few purchasers had requested rate is an indication that readers do with a three-pronged strategy: refunds, Christian Panson, the not yet really understand how the • Free site access is included in paper’s vice president for digital system works. subscriptions to the printed content and audience revenue, told All together, the site has about newspaper Nieman. The rate was under 1 per 150000 registered users. Of those, • Subscriptions to the site are cent. He said the reason for the offer 1300 people have signed up for available for C$ 16.99 per is that many articles on the site are the micropayment option. After month (approximately 11.44 very brief, as is the case on many they sign up and enter payment euros) large newspaper websites. “We details, they are charged monthly for the articles they have read that month. A widget on the site shows them the total amount to date. The paper introduced the micropayment system to try to earn revenue from readers who visit the site regularly but are loath to commit themselves to a monthly subscription. Panson said the goal is that micropayment users should represent 30 to 40 per cent of the subscriber base. But he says there are no benchmarks, no other markets the paper can look at for reference. About 2200 people have purchased monthly digital-only subscriptions (the second option mentioned above). The paper’s goal is 5000 Photo: WNPF subscribers, which it anticipates

January-March 2016 VIDURA 31 70 per cent of sales revenue. Articles range in price from about 15 to 89 euro cents. Users purchase credit via bank transfer, PayPal or credit card, and then buy articles. If a user purchases multiple articles from a single issue of a publication, he or she pays a maximum of the price of the full issue. Users can get their money back for an article if they are not satisfied and click an option that describes why not (“I clicked the article by accident” and “The price is too high” are among the options). Blendle says the refund rate among Dutch users is about 5 per cent. If a user claims too many refunds, the function is deactivated for him or her. Like the Dutch service, the reaching early next year. Emphasis magazines and newspapers, or German service is far more than is being given to persuading print locked up behind paywalls. But many just a supermarket for articles; subscribers to register for full access people don’t have a subscription, so curation plays an important role in to the website. So far, about 21000 they are missing all these amazing the editorial model. A team of five subscribers have done so. stories.” young journalists combs the latest The NiemanLab story can be Based in Utrecht, the Netherlands, articles every morning for the most found here: http://tinyurl.com/ Blendle launched its Dutch service interesting and important ones. Their nieman-winnipeg-freepress. in April 2014. In the meantime it has recommendations are highlighted attracted 400000 users, mostly under on the site and in a newsletter. And Blendle set to launch in Germany the age of 35, “without spending of course social media are closely Also on the pay-per-article front: a single euro on marketing,” co- integrated. Blendle is set to launch in Germany, founder Alexander Klöpping Further expansion to Switzerland, its second market, in September after wrote on the company’s German- USA? a beta phase that started in June. language website. He continued, Nearly all major publishing houses “In the last 12 months we proved in One of the questions surrounding in the country are on board: Gruner the Netherlands that there is a new Blendle from its beginnings has + Jahr, Springer, Spiegelverlag and market for publishing houses, apart been whether the concept will work DuMont, among others. from subscriptions and advertising.” in larger markets. After all, the The service will offer contents Blendle is generating more revenue Dutch-language market for online from 39 German newspapers and for publishers than Apple is, he journalism is relatively small (as an magazines, including national titles continued, and, “more importantly: indication, Wikipedia says Dutch Die Zeit, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Bild It is revenue from people who is the first language of 23 million am Sonntag, Spiegel, and Stern. Also formerly did not pay for journalism.” people). So it will be interesting to available will be several regional titles, In Germany, Blendle will compete see how the service in German, the including Mannheimer Morgen, with a few other independent online native language of nearly four times Leipziger Volkszeitung, and some kiosk services such as Pocketstory. as many people, evolves. special-interest magazines. At press German publishing giant Axel After the announcement of the time, a contract with Frankfurter Springer, which together with The German service, Medienwoche, a Allgemeine Zeitung was expected New York Times has invested a Swiss-based journalism site (http:// to be signed shortly. The Wall Street total of US$ 3.8 million (about 3.4 medienwoche.ch), asked leading Journal, The Washington Post and The million euros) in Blendle, offers media companies in that country Economist also will be available. content both via Blendle and on the whether they would be interested Blendle CEO Marten Blankesteijn basis of subscriptions to its paywall- in joining Blendle. The Ringier and said in June in a news release, “The protected sites. As in the Dutch Tamedia groups and az-medien, a very best articles in the German service, publishers determine the leading chain of regional dailies, language are published in print prices of individual articles and keep all said they are not interested,

32 VIDURA January-March 2016 and NZZ, the leading national technology news site, “Continued subscriptions. Klöpping explained daily, called Blendle’s offer “very use of paywalls by publishers will that in the future, when reading an interesting” and declined to support a marketplace approach as article, users will be able to sign up

comment as to whether negotiations a lower friction alternative to allow with one click for unlimited reading with the company are going on. readers to gain access to quality in that publication, according to < The real test of the Blendle model, content. More and more content TechCrunch. of course, would be posed by the from publishers goes behind hard US and/or UK market, because of paywalls (WSJ, FT, Time Magazine, (This article was originally the availability of massive amounts etc.) or metered paywalls. And we'll published in the September-October of English-language online content only launch if we have the majority 2015 edition of World News free of charge. Would the platform’s of publishers on board," he told the Publishing Focus, the bi-monthly convenience, ease of use and curation site. magazine published by WAN-IFRA.) strength be sufficient to attract a “We think it can be great for critical mass of users in the USA, for the U.S. market,” said Klöpping. instance? He said Blendle’s micropayments Co-founder Alexander Klöpping system holds promise for publishers told TechCrunch in June that he not only as a revenue stream is confident it would. He told the but also as a gateway to selling

India sees 5.8 per cent rise in print According to data released by the Registrar of Newspapers in its 59th Annual Report, ‘Press in India - 2014-15’, on the print industry, India had 105443 registered publications in 2014-15. This includes 14984 newspapers and 90459 other periodicals. The report said that 5817 new publications were registered during the year; a rise of 5.8 per cent over the previous year while 34 publications ceased operations during the year. There were 42493 publications in Hindi; the highest for any Indian language, while there were 13661 English publications (the second highest for any language). UP had the largest number of registered publications (16130) followed by Maharashtra (14394). Total claimed circulation of publications stood at 510521445 in 2014-15 as against 450586212 copies per publishing day in 2013-14. In terms of circulation, the report said that Hindi publications had 257761985 copies, English publications had a reported circulation of 62662670, while Urdu publications reported a circulation of 41273949. The largest circulated daily was Anand Bazaar Patrika with 1178779 copies. The Delhi edition of Hindustan Times (English) was the second largest circulated daily with 1018367 copies. The largest circulated Hindi Daily was the Punjab Kesari, Jallandar with 742190 copies. The largest circulated multi-edition daily was The Times of India, English (33 editions), with 4630200 copies. The second largest circulated multi-edition daily was the Dainik Bhaskar, Hindi (34 editions), with 3694385 copies. The largest circulated periodical was The Sunday Times of India, (English/Weekly edition, Delhi) with 885201 copies. The largest circulated periodical in Hindi was the Sunday Navbharat Times, Weekly edition, Mumbai with 704257 copies. The Annual Report ‘Press in India - 2014-15’ was prepared on the basis of analysis of annual statements filed by the registered publications. It was launched in New Delhi by Arun Jaitley, minister of Information & Broadcasting, Finance and Corporate Affairs and Rajyavardhan Rathore, minister of State for Information

& Broadcasting. The registered publications were required to file annual statements giving details including circulation figures under the Press & Registration of Books Act 1867. The report provided broad analysis of< the general trend of the Indian press based on the claimed circulation.

January-March 2016 VIDURA 33 Do our farmers really matter? December 23 is observed as Farmers Day. A month later is January 26, Republic Day, when we adopted a Constitution mandating equality for all citizens. And then January 30, Martyrs Day, in memory of Mahatma Gandhi. Sakuntala Narasimhan recalls the annual observances in the context of the plight of Indian farmers who make news regularly, with suicides caused by debt, distress and dehumanising marginalisation hat,” says Venkat, write his real name. The seminar I am them dependent on income from stopping the car along returning from, was on ‘Investment small farms. According to the caste “Tan elevated stretch of priorities for developing economies’, census of 2014 in Karnataka, 74 per the highway leading to Bengaluru, with scholarly paper presentations cent of rural households survive “is my village, where I grew up.” on GDP growth, FDI, and statistical on less than Rs 5000 a month The small cluster of huts along the models for infrastructure allocations. (below Rs 3000, according to horizon, far away that he points to The human dimension, I realise later some estimates by NGOs ), while looks picturesque, quintessentially as I travel around to talk to farmers for government employees there pastoral – vast open spaces, tall in different districts, has been is a move to mandate Rs 18000 trees towering over small dwellings, lost sight of in all these academic monthly as ‘minimum wage’. If peace and quiet. “Pretty,” I say, discussions. Completely. you grow food, you are punished , and he gives me a look that is more India is now the third largest with less-than-subsistence returns. eloquent than a thousand words. economy in the world, the seminar Why? No one asks. “Pretty, yes, but ugly for those noted; we have the fourth largest Under the Five Year Plan for 2012- living there,” Venkat says as he number of billionaires – but heat and 17, Rs 41271 crore were allocated resumes our journey and tells me farmers are starving, committing for “centrally sponsored rural his story. He, his father and uncle suicide by the thousands due to development schemes”. There used to farm a small piece of land, intolerable burdens of debt caused exists a National Farmers Policy, an and grew enough to feed the family by advice to “change to cash crops Agrochemical Policy Group, and a and sell some surplus for profit. and use new pesticides, for better National Mission on Agricultural No longer. Two droughts followed returns” – and what they end up Extension and Technology, with by unseasonal rains plunged the with is ruin and destitution, after an allocation of Rs 13073.08 crore family into heavy debts. The uncle paddy fields get converted to “to provide quality services to drank pesticide and died, leaving cotton (which need higher inputs , farmers”. All very grand and his wife and two children behind. of fertilizer, water, insecticides, all impressive. On paper. Farmers, of “We were content, though not of which cost money). While food course, do not ask what happened rich , but he could not bear the crop land gets appropriated for to the allocations, because only 23 humiliation of being harassed and company showrooms (as in Odisha). per cent of rural households have a threatened by his creditors. We lost Progress? Says who? literate member in the family. everything – sold our two cows, During 1995-2012, over 285000 According to experts, two-thirds my mother’s and wife’s jewellery, farmers committed suicide of villages in the country are “not to feed the children, even the land (National Crime Records Bureau getting extension services”. NSSO got commandeered for building a data). More than 15000 a year, or surveys show that 71per cent of highway… after waiting for the two every hour. Cotton farmers farmers are not aware of minimum promised compensation which in Vidarbha (the ‘farmers suicide support prices, and 81per cent never came, I moved to the city six capital of India’); sugarcane farmers “do not know how to make use of months ago, and have become a in Karnataka; Bundelkhand in UP; it”; middlemen (including those driver.” and Haryana, once a prosperous, buying produce for retail sale in With Venkat’s meager salary and high per capita income model urban markets) pocket the profits shared room lodgings, he cannot showpiece of the Green Revolution. while farmers, who slog under the bring his family to the city. His The list keeps expanding. Reports of sun to raise crops, starve or commit younger son, back in the village, farmer suicides get tucked into an suicide. needs medical treatment but there inner page of newspapers as single- Driving along the highway from is no money. All he has left, now, is column items, in type smaller than Kolar to Bengaluru one morning, a sense of self-respect and dignity. for reports about the hit-and-run I find the road suddenly covered “We may be poor but we are case against film star Salman Khan. with mounds of ripe red tomatoes, also human beings,” he points out. Over 60 per cent of our 1.2 billion tonnes of it, dumped by farmers Which is why he asks me not to citizens live in rural areas, most of distressed by crashing prices. They

34 VIDURA January-March 2016 Illustration: Arun Ramkumar Illustration: were getting one rupee per kilo What used to be a pond nearby, is shoes repaired these days, they from the middlemen, while in the now dusty, dry, hollow. throw it and buy new ones,” he city we pay Rs 30/kg or more. Sampati Bai, from rural rues, as he waits for customers. On In Andhra Pradesh, I saw a Maharashtra who now lives in days when he doesn’t make enough woman in labour being carried by a mud-and-tarpaulin hut in a to buy provisions for the next meal, four men on a cot, from her village crowded slum in Mumbai, says, he gets drunk to forget his misery. to the nearest clinic in a town six “My children used to enjoy Which adds to the family’s misery. km away. The dirt track they were swimming in the cool water of the The World Bank sees increasing walking along, was slushy and river in our gaon (village). Here, I urbanisation as an index of slippery, so progress was slow. It carry home two pots of water, one ‘progress’ and ‘development’ – was a scene that will remain etched on my head and one on my hip, the Bank suggested that we move in my mind forever. She was a from the bungalow one km way, 40 crore rural people to urban farmer’s wife. where I work as a servant, one areas, by 2015 -- but migrants like Near Nelamangala in Karnataka, for cooking and another for our Sampati Bai and her family suffer I visit another farmer. His wife and washing (for a family of five). My a deterioration of their lifestyle, son help him on tend to the crops sons used to pluck and gorge on when they move to the metropolis but a factory is coming up nearby, bananas, raw mangoes, and fresh and settle in slums, without water, their bore well runs deep and his jamun from trees in the village, sanitation facilities, or even clean own access to the water table has here I can’t afford to buy them air. Because farming doesn’t pay. now shrunk, which means his fruit… ” Her husband, another Far more farmers are dying of earnings will drop. His ancestral indebted farmer, had to sell his one destitution, debt and distress, than dwelling, I notice, is dilapidated, acre zameen (land) and now sits by the numbers claimed by the Twin falling apart, reflecting the erosion the roadside in the city, eking out Towers attack on 9/11. So why of the family’s economic viability. a living as a cobbler. “No one gets aren’t we shocked enough to insist

January-March 2016 VIDURA 35 that the government attend to this allocations would bring multiple approach paper from a National crisis? In the meantime, our netas bonuses – less migration (and the Commission for Farmers headed (leaders) play politics, seeking distress and dislocations caused by by Prof M.S. Swaminathan calling brownie points even in farmers’ it), increased food security (what for farmer-centred policies, lies deaths -- a Congress member of could be more important than “in cold storage”. No one is asking the Karnataka Legislature declared food security?) and a decent life why – not the media, not activists, in June last year that the opposition for millions of those who toil in let alone politicians. was “instigating farmers to commit the fields. Are their entitlements to In Wardha district of Maharashtra, suicide” to give the ruling party a basic needs any less than those of farmer Dhyaneswar Lokhande bad name. How insensitive and urban populations, manufacturers decided to sell his kidney in 2013 crass can one get? That a survey of and VIPs? because he did not get compensation November 2015 found 40 per cent The government that pays out for crop losses. If he gets a good of farmers interviewed, wanted to Rs 40000 as export incentives price for his kidney, other villagers quit farming, comes as no surprise. and subsidies to manufacturing said, they would also consider And finally -- on November 15 last undertakings, marginalises those selling theirs. What happened? We year, at a gala event in Bengaluru, who grow our food and pampers the do not know. Because this was not the Governor of Karnataka well-off businessman. Power supply important enough as news. honoured 12 citizens for their to important industries is prioritized, At the impressive Machkund lifetime contributions to different but not for farmers who cannot Dam Project in Andhra Pradesh, the fields, ranging from education, run their pump sets for irrigation, rustic woman I spoke to described drama, and music, to literature, which means their toil, in rain and how the security protocol around health and rural development. shine, over months gets wiped out the dam site had blocked her access The awardees, included a farmer when crops wither. Highways to the to water from the river. She now has from the rural areas who spoke on international airport are designed to trudge several kilometers round behalf of the awardees, thanking ‘signal free’ so that the rich will not the site to fetch water for her daily the jury and the organisers of the waste time travelling to board their needs. Her life has become harder, event. Addressing a large gathering flights. Roads connecting villages thanks to ‘progress’. Dams are the that included eminent persons do not even exist, in thousands ‘temples’ of modern India, said our – a former judge of the Supreme of rural habitations, so farmers first prime minister. But aren’t we Court, film and TV personalities cannot access markets easily and forgetting that the Father of the – he said (in Kannada), “Despite quickly. Heritage buildings in the Nation advocated “transformation the diversity among those present city get lit up to attract tourists from a dehumanising civilization to here, you all have one thing in while the farmer’s son has to do an agriculture based civilization”, common – everyone has to eat. If his school homework by kerosene adding that “industrialism after

farmers stopped work, became light; over 10000 villages in India the manner of the West (under the daily wage labourers in the cities, are still without electricity, or have spell of giant machines) would < can the nation survive?” severe power cuts to facilitate strip the world bare like locusts”. He was a rustic, he probably industrial production. The late L.C. couldn’t speak English, he was clad Jain pointed out in 2007, that an in a simple cotton dhoti – but his remark hit home like nothing that any VIP ever said. “Food is basic to everyone’s needs, rich or poor, young or old, rustic or sophisticated; Subscribe to if industrial workers struck work, their grievances are addressed and resolved. But we farmers, do not, cannot strike work.” There was dead silence in the audience. A National Sample Survey Organisation Study of 2015 showed that 40 per cent of farmers are “ready to quit agriculture” but “where will we go?” says one farmer pathetically. “This is our ancestral land, memories of generations are Only Rs 180 for 12 issues soaked into the soil, what else do we have?” Increasing farming sector

36 VIDURA January-March 2016 Raising the demand for public conveniences Mumbai has the largest number of working women in India and they play a critical role in the city’s growth story. The number of girls and women staying out of home for extended hours and regularly travelling long distances, whether for work or education, has increased exponentially – informal sector women workers, in fact, are out for an average of 16 hours in a day. Among the numerous difficulties that women encounter as they go about their already tough work life is that of access to a toilet, says Vibhuti Patel

n Mumbai, toilets for women, public issue in every region. In toilet facilities for changing sanitary particularly in public spaces, Mumbai, public urinals for women napkins during menstruation. Lack Ihas been a perennial problem – emerged as a major cause for of access to a restroom, therefore, whether at railway or bus stations, concern. Today, the Right to Pee puts them at risk of developing highways, industrial estates, is everyone’s campaign – from bladder infections, reproductive educational institutions, public women fruit vendors to doctors tract infections and cystitis. parks, tourist spots, public hospitals and educationists, to town planners Moreover, going out in the open or markets. Added to this apathy is and gender experts.” or using toilets that have male the ramshackle state of the existing Why is the demand for public attendants greatly increases their public conveniences – they are toilet facilities for women an vulnerability to sexual violence. dirty, stinking and without running absolute need of the hour? For Of course, what hits working water. Poor infrastructure combined starters, there are serious health class women the hardest is the fee with an insufficient deployment of issues involved. Besides relieving charged. Sunita (name changed), a cleaning staff, creates a nightmarish themselves and attending to their fruit vendor at the Bandra Station, experience for those who are forced small children, they need to use speaks for many city women when to visit such a facility. In a city of more than 18 million, whereas there is a requirement for 50000 public toilets, only around 200 are in operation. To address the critical issue, more than 35 community-based organisations in the city joined hands to mount the Right to Pee campaign that has been putting pressure on the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to provide more women's toilets and refurbish the ones that are run-down in the 27 wards of the city. According to Supriya Sonar of the Committee of Resource Organisations (CORO), the organisation that initiated the movement sometime in 2011, “It all started when, as part of CORO’s grassroots leadership advocacy fellowship programme, which is run across Maharashtra with the support of 106 organisations, we Apte Alka Photos: decided to look at public advocacy. Instead of providing training Among the numerous difficulties Mumbai's womenfolk encounter as they go around different issues there was a about their tough work life is that of access to public conveniences. To address the critical issue, 40 community-based organisations joined hands to mount consensus on taking on one burning the Right to Pee Campaign.

January-March 2016 VIDURA 37 she says, “I barely earn Rs 70-80 Sonar elaborates, “We have Firstly, the issue was per day. Yet, when I need to relieve stated that separate, free, clean, acknowledged in the Maharashtra myself I have no option but to go safe public urinals for women be Policy for Women 2013, which to a public toilet where I end up constructed at a distance of every states that a public toilet block for paying Rs 10 per day as I take my two kilometres, particularly keeping women should be constructed every three kids along too. How can I the needs of disabled women in 20 kilometres. Secondly, finally afford it?” mind. Information boards should there was a financial allocation Adds Sonar, “This is absolutely be placed at the entrance clearly made by Municipal Corporation unfair. The few toilet blocks that are indicating that the facility is free. of Greater Mumbai in the form of a there are charging a fee even though We also want the management of document, entitled ‘Gender Budget there is a BMC circular directing urinals and toilet blocks be handed for Sanitation 2013-14’, which in that toilet facilities should be free over to organisations working its preface, mentions constructing for women and men. There are on women’s issues with financial toilets for women in crowded places. boards outside that state the same assistance from the BMC. We In fact, since 2013, the budgetary and yet a fee, which is arbitrary, is understand that this cannot happen allocation for building women’s charged. Depending on the area, it all at once, so one demand is that urinals has been rising steadily – can go up to even Rs 5.” such separate urinals for women be from of Rs 75 lakhs in 2012-13, Rs 1 Based on the observations, the made available on an experimental crore in 2013-14 to Rs 5.25 crore in Right to Pee campaigners came basis and then be included in city 2015-16. Moreover, the Right to Pee up with a concrete plan of action. planning of Mumbai.” team and BMC officials have jointly An RTI petition to get the definite Over the last four years, a lot of identified 96 sites across Mumbai number of public urinals for women advocacy has been done - from street for constructing new facilities. and men in the city was filed, plays to encourage greater public Sheetal (name changed), a followed by a survey of 129 toilet participation, to rallies to catch the newspaper vendor, who has been blocks done between February and attention of the administration. associated with the campaign, May 2011. Gynaecologists have been roped hopes that things will get better Simultaneously, activists and in to explain the health hazards; soon, “I start from home at 5 am local volunteers, including women independent planning experts have and from that time until noon every like Sunita, conducted an extensive shared their insights on suitable day I am on my feet. I have to give signature campaign at 16 railway locations to construct toilets. money to use a public toilet, a cost stations. A final report was Understanding the budgetary I cannot afford. The government submitted to the BMC along with allocations has been a major part of has to realise that we need this free 50000 signatures supporting the the exercise. All this resulted in two facility.” demands of the campaign. significant developments. The new central government has been actively promoting its ‘Smart Cities, Safe Cities’ initiative – something that cannot be done Fast facts about right to pee without ensuring that women and * Budgetary provision of Rs 5.25 crore has been made in the gender girls have access to clean, safe, free budget of BMC - 2015-16 for building women’s urinals urinals. If Mumbai, a city where * 96 sites across Mumbai have been identified for construction by women make crucial contribution team RTP and BMC officials to the local economy, has to be * Maharashtra State Women’s Policy now has a chapter on the gender-friendly, it needs to respect issue women’s Right to Pee. “After all,

* Municipal commissioner of Mumbai has set up a 10-member the lack of toilets violates women’s committee, including five committee members are from team RTP, to the right to live with dignity, right < work on the issue of toilets in the city. The committee has mandate to health and human rights.” to monitor progress. Checklist for monitoring the toilets has been prepared by the committee. Existing toilet blocks will be repaired and (Courtesy: Women’s Feature Service. improved using RTP recommendations The writer is director, Centre for * The proposed draft of the Development Plan of Mumbai (2013-34) Study of Social Exclusion & Inclusive states that every new construction site should construct a toilet block Policy, and heads the Department for women not only within the building but also along with every other of Economics, SNDT Women's construction coming into existence. University, Mumbai.)

38 VIDURA January-March 2016 China-India Dialogue launched, Chinese team visits PII

The Press Institute of India played host on January 11 to a visiting editorial team of China-India Dialogue on their maiden visit to India. ​ The inaugural issue of China-India Dialogue was ​launched the previous day at a well-attended event at the New Delhi World Book Fair. China- India Dialogue, a monthly, is wholly supported by the China International Publishing Group (CIPG). Present at the informal meeting at the Press Institute of India were Wen Zhihong, editorial director of China

Pictorial and China-India Dialogue ; Photo: PII Liu Haile the English editor; Qiao Zhenqi, executive chief editor, China- L-r: Wen Zhihong, editorial director of China Pictorial and China-India Dialogue; Liu India Dialogue; D.S. Rajan, former Haile the English editor; Sashi Nair, director-editor, Press Institute of India; Qiao Zhenqi, director, Chennai Centre for China executive chief editor, China-India Dialogue; Commodore R. Seshadri Vasan, who retired Studies, Chennai, and an expert after serving the Indian Navy and headed the Strategy and Security Studies, Centre for on China; Commodore R. Seshadri Asia Studies, India, and is now director Chennai Centre for China Studies; and D.S. Rajan, Vasan, who retired after serving the former director, Chennai Centre for China Studies, Chennai, and an expert on China, at Indian Navy and headed the Strategy the meeting. and Security Studies, Centre for Asia in cultural, economic and academic online content in nine languages Studies, India, and is now director circles in China and India. We plan including Chinese, English, French, Chennai Centre for China Studies; to publish the China-India Dialogue Korean, Russian, German, Italian, Magdoom Mohamed, managing both in India and in China,” said Japanese, and Arabic. The English director, WAN-IFRA South Asia; Zhihong. Later, after her return to edition of China Pictorial, which and Sashi Nair, director-editor, Press China, she pointed out that the Chinese caters to educated readership in Institute of India. team had gained much by visiting English-speaking countries, has a Zhihong said the journal had India from January 8 to 12. “Besides monthly circulation of 50000 copies. been well received​ and the

a successful launching ceremony, we Zhihong mentioned the inaugural

feedback was positive, appreciative were deeply inspired by the adequate print run for China-India Dialogue < and encouraging. She and her acceptance of China-India Dialogue as being 5000 copies. colleagues introduced the China- in India. I do believe that China-India India Dialogue project and discussed Dialogue will lead to the blooming of the prospects of cooperation with dialogues between China and India interested Indian publishers. What thanks to your support and help.” followed was a fair exchange of ideas Founded in 1950, CIPG is China’s and experiences about India’s media earliest and largest international industry and the kind of articles that communications group. Presently, might find favour with readers of the it has 20 subsidiary book and newly launched journal, as well as periodical companies as well as trends in India’s media industry and 22 overseas branches, with its the practical aspects of China-India products distributed in more than media cooperation. 180 countries. China Pictorial, also “We envisage China-India founded in 1950, publishes four Dialogue as the first-ever magazine print monthlies in Chinese, English, that will feature prominent people Russian, and Korean, as well as

January-March 2016 VIDURA 39 Fighting a pitched battle against child sexual abuse More often than not, child sexual abuse (CSA) is a crime that takes place within the four walls of a home, in school or in spaces that are otherwise considered safe havens for a child. In fact, as per the last available government figures, a 2007 nationwide survey undertaken by the Department of Women and Child Development, Government of India, over 50 per cent children in the country face sexual abuse. For the young victims, Pushpa Achanta points out, it’s not just traumatic to deal with the violence but also to later try and overcome the deep emotional scars to lead a normal life

hild sexual abuse. Writer, activist and CSA survivor, CPinki Virani has poignantly tackled this grave issue in her book, Bitter Chocolate. Yet, it’s not often that families in India address this painful reality, as notions of honour as well as the physical, psychological and financial powers of the offender take precedence over any move to put the perpetrator behind bars. That’s what makes Bengaluru-based Suja Jones Mazurier a true exception. In 2012, she did the unthinkable when she publicly reported her husband, a Frenchman, for subjecting their three-year-old to the heinous crime. Did this brave mother get a pat on her back for shattering the silence? Unfortunately, Suja has Photos: WFS had to endure her share of trials to prove a point. Child rights campaigners in Bengaluru support Suja Jones Mazurier’s efforts to put her husband, a Frenchman, behind bars for sexually abusing their Despite the fact that two three-year-old daughter. government hospitals in the city, Bowring Hospital and the National comes to dealing with CSA. A month Mazurier in a lower court, the Institute of Mental Health and after Suja filed her complaint, human Karnataka High Court ordered his Neurosciences (NIMHANS), rights defenders in Bengaluru had release in October 2012 on bail as confirmed the abuse after examining come together under the banner of there was no prima facie evidence. the child, Pascal Mazurier, an Women in Black to highlight that How did that happen? Evidently officer in the Consulate General of Mazurier's act “constitutes a grave the initial medical samples were France, was not imprisoned until crime to which the legal provisions supposedly tampered with as the the Ministry of External Affairs of the Vienna Convention on samples available with the court (MEA) issued a written clearance Consular Relations, 1963 gives an did not match those submitted after taking its time to confirm exemption”. Disturbingly, just a at the time of the filing of the with the French Government that few days before the group made this complaint. In addition, even as the offender lacked diplomatic statement, child rights campaigners Suja faced continued defamation immunity. protesting at the French Consulate online, most mainstream news The sequence of events that has in the city were incarcerated for reports seemed to favour Mazurier. unfolded since June 2012 points to an entire day. Then, although a Indeed, during the period, the a serious systemic apathy when it criminal case was pending against Frenchman gave several interviews

40 VIDURA January-March 2016 in order to portray himself as a the agency ascertained that Suja is approach the police only when victim who was betrayed by his treating her children well. their ordeal becomes unbearable own spouse. With his mother by But the challenges have never and they cannot find other means his side and the support of an ceased. In February 2013, and of support. organisation that fights for the again in July that year, when the Contrarily, men usually receive rights of battered husbands, he family court in Bengaluru granted backing from their families and claimed his innocence. permission to Mazurier’s mother, others even if they are guilty. Of course, the developments are Jacequeline Maille, to meet the According to certain reports, not really surprising considering children in the presence of the Mazurier’s mother had supposedly the power equations between the presiding judge, Suja and the written to her son to remedy his perpetrator and the complainant. lawyers of both parties, it was a behaviour towards his wife and Questions on whether the harrowing experience for them. children. Importantly, an item of nationalities of the individuals While Mazurier had been ordered similar correspondence between can impact the outcome of such a against meeting the victim and the two has now been accepted as a case or how Suja would have been the complainant, he was present vital piece of evidence by the court. treated if she was a French citizen at the time of visitation and Today, Suja’s tireless perseverance do come to mind. apparently created a scene. And has paid off – her husband has finally Amidst all the unfolding drama, then in December 2013, the police been formally charged with sexual however, Suja’s only worry has apparently accompanied him to assault and sodomy, which are been the well-being of her three the building where Suja and her punishable offences under Sections children, including the abused children reside with a request to 376 and 377 of the Indian Penal child, who is now four years old. She meet them. Suja naturally did not Code. And although it was passed has been protecting and providing allow it. after Suja's original complaint, the for them single-handedly, having The determination with which Protection of Children from Sexual received no financial support either Suja has been talking about the Offences (POCSO) Act 2012 shifts from Mazurier and his family or bitter truths of her situation and the burden of proof to the accused the French authorities, ever since her firm stand despite the false and mandates child-friendly the incident was reported. That insinuations being made about procedures for reporting offences, she has been managing on her her character, is admirable. Sadly, recording evidence, investigation own just fine was proven when sexist attitudes towards women, and trial. It’s still a long way before Mazurier wrote to the Karnataka who are bold and feisty, are Suja can get the justice her child State Commission for Protection common. Many, who have raised deserves. However, she does hope

of Child Rights (KCPCR) about questions about why Suja did not that her case will encourage more his concerns for the welfare of his report the misdeeds of her husband people to speak up against this< children and suggested that their previously, probably do not realise terrible crime. care be entrusted to the Department that it is tough to come to terms with of Social Services in France and his such a reality and discuss this on a (Courtesy: Women’s Feature Service) request was turned down after public platform. Typically, women

For more stories such as this, visit the website of the Press Institute of India

It’s not often that families in India address the uncomfortable truth of child sexual abuse in society, as notions of family honour and the physical, www.pressinstitute.in psychological and financial powers of the offender overcome any move to put the perpetrator behind bars.

January-March 2016 VIDURA 41 Looking for a breakthrough to address sex selection Any initiative that aims to address skewed sex ratios and low female literacy cannot afford to ignore other intertwined issues of poverty, social ills and gender discrimination. There are many initiatives against gender-biased sex- selective abortions. However, despite such interventions on the illegality of sex selection as well as periodic raids on doctors’ premises, the practice seems to have substantive social acceptability, says Amrita Nandy

omestic worker Laxmi, 35, saw the Beti Bachao, Beti DPadhao (Save Daughter, Educate Daughter) campaign’s full-page advertisement in the newspaper and burst out: “Beti bachao, beti padhao… aur baaki ka kya? Beti khilao. Shaadi karao. Dahej lao. Uske dukh uthao (Save the daughter, educate the daughter, and what about the rest? Feed her. Marry her. Give her dowry. Share her miseries…).” Although Laxmi’s remark mimicked the campaign slogan, the similarity ends there. What she is basically trying to point out is that any initiative that aims

to address skewed sex ratios and Photos: Breakthrough low female literacy cannot afford to ignore other intertwined issues In Haryana, deeply entrenched patriarchy and a strong son preference has of poverty, social ills and gender lead to the state registering one of the lowest sex ratios in India - only 879 discrimination. women per 1000 men. Laxmi’s holistic analys is of the issue is quite conspicuous 879 women per 1000 men. This, NGO, has been reaching out to in Haryana, a state with one of incidentally, is also the state picked anganwadi (nursery) workers, the lowest sex ratios in India – by the government to kick off its ASHAs (accredited social health massive movement in “support activists), village health workers, of gender equality and girls’ besides other stakeholders, to empowerment”, with a slew of advocate against gender-biased high-decibel messages – on walls, sex-selective abortions. But bus stop billboards, radio waves, despite the policy and discursive television screens, electric poles, interventions on the illegality of rickshaws, and so on – against the sex selection as well as periodic dismal demographic numbers. raids on doctors’ premises, the Of course, in the last decade or practice seems to have substantive so, Haryana has been the base for social acceptability. several such social campaigns, from There are many social perceptions state and non-state actors. Among and practices that play their part others, Action Aid’s Beti Zindabad Any initiative that aims to address in devaluing the girl child. For the issue of skewed sex ratio and campaign has been working with instance, whereas the chhati, or the low female literacy in a state like community leaders, organising sixth day after the birth of a baby, Haryana cannot afford to ignore other signature campaigns and using is marked with a huge celebration, intertwined issues of poverty, social sports among the youth as a medium complete with songs and sweets, ills and gender discrimination. to sensitise families. PRIA, another

42 VIDURA January-March 2016 for a boy, a daughter’s chhati is a low-key affair. In fact, for some locals in Haryana, it is guided by the popular belief that festivities for a girl may be misread by the gods as the family’s wish for more daughters. What is most worrisome is that sex selection has slowly spread from the north towards the southern parts of India as well. Dr Tulsi Patel, professor of Sociology at the Delhi School of Economics and author Engaging with women in discussions to enable them to speak up for their rights of Sex-Selective Abortion in India: and entitlements. Gender, Society and New Reproductive Technologies, states, “In the south, across girls named Antim (last) and was reprimanded for being out parts of Tamil Nadu have had a popular beliefs such as “women’s of the house. Given similar local contemporary history of female are women’s worst enemies” or concerns about high dowry costs infanticide. The planned, small “investing in a girl’s education and male succession and lineage, families’ attitude of controlling is useless because they go away among others, that featured in its family size through technology to another family or education findings and experiences in the is behind it, besides economic corrupts girls”. state, Breakthrough figured out that rationality. After all patriarchy is a A perception-mapping exercise gender-biased sex selection was global phenomenon.” revealed that, among other things, not the real problem; it was merely Breakthrough, the global human the community expected women a symptom of the much larger rights organisation that works on to be less educated than their malaise of patriarchy and gender violence against women, is the husbands. A 55-year-old mother discrimination. Bearing this, it has latest to enter battleground Haryana said, “I keep my daughters away announced the launch of Mission to find a solution to its shameful from school because of the lack of Hazaar across four districts of reality of ‘missing girls’. After a women’s safety and security.” Haryana – Panipat, Sonipat, Jhajjar one-and-half-year-long research A young woman of 20 from and Rohtak. exercise conducted by around 10000 Jhajjar revealed that when The project, which aims to students, the Breakthrough team she sought support from her help change mindsets about son began by analysing the vast data family after a sexual harassment preference and discriminatory gathered from the field. They came incident at a public place, she attitudes towards daughters, is based on a wide-angle approach that addresses myths and norms and brings issues such as girls’ and women’s mobility into the fold. In fact, high on its agenda is organising a public walk with girls in Sonipat, besides other initiatives. According to Sonali Khan, vice- president and country director- India, Breakthrough, their approach is entirely “community- based”. She explains, “We did not use tried-and-tested formulae for our research exercise. There is much data on the issue already. But we wanted the conversation and approach to evolve from within the community, not thrust from outside, by outsiders. We engaged with Street theatre, to change mindsets about son preference and discriminatory students, teachers, school principals, attitudes towards daughters. bureaucrats, health workers,

January-March 2016 VIDURA 43 panchayat representatives, and so on. The results pointed to gender discrimination. We wanted it to be ‘Media coverage of Donald Trump a rights-based perspective.” What sets Breakthrough’s lacked seriousness’ ‘mission’ apart is its emphasis The challenges thrown up social media and corporate companies on the nature and content of might have rocked the boat for journalism as a profession in recent messaging and communication times, but its significance in the society is still irrefutable, said Steve Coll, on the issue. In collaboration with a two-time Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. Holding an optimistic view the United Nations Population of the role the profession has to play, Coll, who is dean of the Columbia Fund (UNFPA), it has developed University Graduate School of Journalism, said journalism was vital in a first-of-its-kind communication forging accountability and transparency. He recently took part in an guide directed specifically at each interaction in Bangalore on ‘Emerging frontiers in journalism’ organised target group and with attention to jointly by The Printers Mysore and Columbia Alumni Association. the message carriers. Its ideation While journalism’s role went undisputed, Coll felt there was a need for involved inputs from a crucial set “revitalisation of professional approaches” in the field. He observed that of people, who are strategically public purpose reporting could help regain credibility for the institution involved with the issue, such of journalism. Commenting on the media coverage of US Presidential as anganwadi workers, ASHAs, hopeful Donald Trump’s campaign, he said it was not a proud episode village health workers besides in journalism history. Media had a role to play in Trump’s rise, he other stakeholders who advocate opined, stating that there was a lack of seriousness with which the issue against gender-biased sex-selective was dealt. Calling Trump an “entertainer” who had understood the abortion. media dynamics well, he said the media “unfortunately walked into his In addition, a set of commercials strategy”. that link “missing girls” with the Emphasising the need for developing common standards and ethical issue of women’s safety via the approaches to journalism, Coll called upon journalists to develop an lack of women in public places interdisciplinary approach towards finance, accounts, technology and have been created after reviews of mathematics for efficiently reporting on issues of relevance. existing communication material The discussion was engaged and moderated by Rohini Nilekani, a and pre-testing of alternative former journalist and author, who raised several pertinent questions messages. These will be beamed in about the overbearing influence of corporate companies and search cinema halls across the state and on engine giants on media. She also expressed concern about the safety local television channels. of reporters, noting a trend that saw journalists as “disposable”. The One of the most fundamental discussion also focused on the need for philanthropy in upholding communication changes that journalistic values, dilemma faced by owners in the publishing, citizen Breakthrough, as well as other journalism and the need for setting up checks to regulate content. < activists and scholars working on the issue, is attempting to make (Courtesy: Deccan Herald) is the boycott of terms like bhroon hatya or female foeticide. Instead, it advocates the use of substitutes such as ling bhed, ling chayan or ‘gender-biased sex selection’. The Igniting minds: Steve rationale is that the words hayta and Coll, Dean, Columbia University Graduate School foeticide privilege the personhood of Journalism, speaks at of the child over that of the mother a seminar organised by as well as connote murder (through the The Printers Mysore its association with words such as and Columbia Alumini homicide, matricide, etc.). Since Association in Bangalore. the unborn child is a “potential” Rohini Nilekani, author and and not an “actual” person, such Photo: DH former journalist, is seen. terms end up jeopardising a woman’s choice and right over her body, including her legal right of abortion, which sadly continues to be a fatal practice for many. <

44 VIDURA January-March 2016 VIEW FROM THE NORTHEAST Are FTA channels now losing credibility? India’s Northeastern Region, inhabited by over 60 million people, hosts six privately-owned satellite news channels -- NewsLive, DY365, PratidinTime, Prag News, AssamTalks and NewsTimeAssam – apart from a few entertainment and localised cable news channels. All the channels, beaming programmes mostly in Assamese, English, Hindi and some regional languages, are free-to-air in nature. Burdened by increasing expenses and decreasing advertising revenue, should FTA channels opt to become paid news channels? Nava Thakuria provides a perspective n India, there are currently more ranging from production to owned television channels across than 825 satellite television distribution,” says M.K. Goswami, the country are also still deprived of Imedia outlets, and most face the chief editor of DY365. statutory wage board benefits which crisis of credibility. As the channels The Cable Television Operators’ their counterparts in newspapers carry the FTA (free-to-air) tag, they Association argues that they have enjoy. are not entitled to ask viewers to the right to receive money from More than 80 per cent of the pay. This implies that the news and channel owners as carriage fee (or journalists working for news other programmes they produce freight charge) every year. They channels have been compelled can be availed of free. Consumers say the carriage fee is lawful under to perform their duties in a have to pay only the distributors the guidelines of the Telecom vulnerable atmosphere with lower -- cable transmission agencies or Regulatory Authority of India and wages, clocking more than eight direct-to-home (DTH) operators. the Information and Broadcasting working hours in a day, without The operating costs of FTA news (I&B) Ministry. The cable operators an appropriate number of ‘off’ days channels are managed by the also point out that they are running or leave, and with no facility for revenues generated solely by the business with a lot of market life and health insurance coverage, advertisements. Sometimes, the risk and mounting troubles. For says Rupam Barua, president of channel managements may charge instance, they are upset over a recent Journalists’ Forum Assam (JFA), the organiser of an event to facilitate directive from the Assam Power adding that the news channels are live coverage. The channels depend Distribution Company, charging also yet to be placed under the on the Television Rating Points them for the use of roadside electric purview of the quasi-judicial Press (TRPs) that attract high rates of poles to draw wires to subscribers’ Council of India. advertisements. Indirectly, this establishments. JFA has been demanding due means that the advertisers, not the There is, however, no clarity on financial benefits to television merits or authenticity of content, how much money a private DTH employees. It has also been calling influence the selection of news. It is operator in India can charge FTA for reforms in the distribution thus safe to conclude that excessive channels. The satellite-to-home system of local news channels. In a dependence on advertisement signal providers -- Dish TV, Tata memorandum to the I&B Ministry, revenue can hardly help the FTA Sky, Airtel Digital TV, Videocon it argued that monetary transactions channels to pursue ethical, credible D2H, Sun Direct, Reliance between channel owners and the and impartial journalism. Digital TV and BIG TV -- select cable network operators as well as “An FTA channel based in channels motivated by financial the private DTH authorities should Guwahati has to pay around Rs 2 considerations and without be brought under the country’s crore to cable net work agencies considering the commitment of the income tax laws. every year for distributing selected television channels to the Doordarshan channels and DD the produced programmes to subscribers. Direct+, a free digital satellite millions of viewers. The channel Using the situation as an excuse, arrangement to telecast videos and managements have to pay similar the FTA channel managements broadcast audio programmes, are (sometimes larger) amounts continue denying basic minimum financially supported by the Union of money to privately owned facilities recommended by Government. Hence, any tax-paying DTH operators annually. The the country’s labour laws, to Indian citizen has the right to make FTA channel owners are thus their employees, including these channels accountable. JFA overburdened with expenditures journalists. Employees of privately also demanded space for free news

January-March 2016 VIDURA 45 channels in DD Direct+, saying to transform themselves into credible cut short, Mahanta continued this would dramatically reduce and pro-people media outlets. to keep in touch. Subsequently, the distribution costs of these Mahanta also left the channel to channels. Farewell, Mahanta join another one. His work took But the real threat to FTA news I was a novice journalist when my him to Jamugurihat in Sonitpur channels comes from the emergence editor, C.P. Saikia, assigned me to District of Central Assam. On the of Internet television that allows report on a theatre production by return journey to Guwahati with live television on a computer, tablet Dipak Mahanta in Tezpur. It was three colleagues, their vehicle was or smart phone. an Assamese adaptation of Arthur involved in an accident on the More and more people are now Miller's play, All My Sons. Mahanta midnight of Dec 2nd 2015. While opting for online news and other had done the adaptation, and was the other three escaped with minor relevant content. India is marching also directing the American classic, injuries, Mahanta was seriously towards 400 million Internet set in the post-World War II years. wounded and succumbed before consumers, most of them mobile- In time, I got to know Mahanta and reaching hospital. net users only (without having his family. An eloquent performer, Mahanta access to computers). Advertisers In due course, I was offered a job was a dedicated theatre activist who will certainly invest heavily in with a newly-launched satellite news conceived, penned and directed a this new avenue, which is free for channel as its roving editor, and number of plays including Ulanga viewers. I was pleasantly surprised to find Roja, Malati Mem, Holi, Pinhole The question is, should FTA that Mahanta was one of my new Camera, Gajapuria, Bhotaram channels change their registration colleagues. We had a stimulating Totaram, Aadipath, Dhaniramor and opt to become paid news time, debating topics, visualising Theatre, Kurma Avatar, Tejimola, channels? JFA has emphasised them and ultimately coming up Dhodar Alir Tender, Jadughar, the need for re-registration of FTA with some of the finest productions etc. He also scripted hundreds of channels as paid media outlets for the channel. documentaries relating to various to shift their dependence from Many promos and short features socio-cultural issues. advertisers to viewers. conceived and produced single- A passionate journalist as well, With a transparent and dedicated handedly by Mahanta turned out he was associated with newspapers management, these news to be instantly popular among like Mohajati, Agnigarh, Boodhbar, channels might, with sustainable millions of sensitive viewers. Even Natun Dainik and Asomiya Pratidin. contributions from viewers, be able after my tenure at the channel was Soft-spoken and gentlemanly, he was actively involved in the students’ movement against illegal migrants from Bangladesh and was even put behind bars for the cause. Mahanta is survived by his wife, Kalpana Sarma, and their son Prathadeep Mahanta. Hundreds of media and theatre persons joined Mahanta’s funeral procession, which made brief halts at PratidinTime (formerly NewsTime Assam), AssamTalks and Guwahati Press Club to allow

people to pay their respects. Biday (farewell), Mahanta. <

(The writer is a senior journalist based in Assam. He is the secretary of the Guwahati Press Club.) Illustration: Arun Ramkumar Illustration:

46 VIDURA January-March 2016 A master of his craft The NETPAC Lifetime Achievement Award comes as a fitting tribute to 74-year-old Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s rich contribution to Indian cinema. Low-profile and unassuming, he has never been a prolific film-maker. Over four decades of film-making, he has made comparatively fewer films than his peers because he does not begin work till his conceptualisation of the story, script and casting is complete and the film is ready to be shot. Over to Shoma A. Chatterji for more on the maestro door Gopalakrishnan’s off, his lifelong passion for the offers me more potential to be first film Swayamvaram performing arts. The short films creative. Through it, I can comment A(1972) came ten years and documentaries help keep the more effectively about the senseless after he graduated from the FTII, home fires burning while feature violence around us today. My Pune. It was the second Malayalam films are being “explored and objective is to draw the maximum film after Chemeen to win the thought about”, Gopalakrishnan out of the film medium. This National Award. Kodiyettam laughs. Jokes apart, he says his exploration does not presuppose (1979), Elipathayam (1981), documentaries on Kathakali and a signification, though it does not Mukhamukham (1984), Anantaram Yakshagana performers and dance exclude suggestions, gestures. If it (1987), Mathilukal (1989), Vidheyan styles evolve into a learning process renders itself to an identifiable social (1993), Kathapurushan (1995) for him. message, it is for the reader who and Nizhalkuthu (2002) followed. “This is one opportunity for me to may have read it. I did not mean After this, he made two more learn about them in depth and also it. If someone finds Mathilukal a feature films, each comprising get inspired by them. It is a great, plea for jail reforms, or Vidheyan a four short stories with a common refreshing experience. I get really critique of the brutality of feudalism theme. Both films, namely, Naalu charged for the next project that is at its naked worst, I cannot help it. Pennungal (Four Women, 2007) my feature film. In a very strange, In my way of looking at things, all and Oru Pennum Randaannum (A indirect way, it invigorates me. I I can say is that they often mistake Woman and Two Men, 2008), were get greatly enriched. It expands my the incidental for the essential,” he adapted from the stories of Takhazi understanding of my culture, my elaborates. Shivasankara Pillai. living and ultimately, myself.” Gopalakrishnan does not accept Add to this some 30-odd short “I do not approve of direct that Mukhamukham is a political and documentary films, most of political state-ments because they film. Viewers feel it is one, albeit them focusing on, and feeding are one-dimensional. A metaphor subtly handled, that it is a comment on the Marxist movement in Kerala. He, however, insists it is neither a political film nor a value judgement of the Communist Party of India. “It is about the search for the self by a revolutionary, his transformation into an image and the ‘demands’ made on that ‘image’ by the people. This is a common truism in Indian politics. In an important scene in the film, I have used Lenin’s quotation: ‘The proletarian movement passes through several stages of growth. At every stage, a set of people stagger, stop and are unable to continue the forward march.’ The film depicts one such movement. There is a revolutionary concealed within every individual. At some point of time, this spirit vanishes. I thought Supplied by: SAC it would be worthwhile searching A still from Adoor's A Climate of Crime dating back to the 1940s. for that spirit,” the film-maker said

January-March 2016 VIDURA 47 A still from Four Women. Mathilukal — a plea for jail reforms. Adoor Gopalakrishnan. in an interview. Kathapurushan expression of his intense emotional 29 countries, was founded in 1990 offers a deep insight into a period attachment towards his chosen by Aruna Vasudev at the request in Kerala which saw a series of medium backed by his mastery of UNESCO to promote greater socio-political changes unfolding over the craftsmanship it demands. understanding and appreciation of through the life story of a fictional There are no value judgements, nor Asian Films and filmmakers. < character named Kunjunni, brought moralising, no feminist slogans. up without a father-figure in a And it is precisely the softness of the (The writer is a freelance journalist, Kerala village, under the protective understatement and the whisperings author and film scholar based in affection of a strong grandmother. of gentle articulation that define the Kolkata. She writes widely on cinema, The mother is constantly ill, and so mellowing of the filmmaker called gender issues, media and human full of self-pity for the breakup of Adoor Gopalakrishnan. rights for print and online media. She her marriage that she fails to play His reluctance to identify himself has won the national award for Best her role as mother, let alone be both with an ideology, his explorations Writing on Cinema twice, the Bengal father and mother to Kunjunni. He of the individual, often on a one-to- Film Journalists Association Award, grows up in this woman-dominated one basis that spans several layers of and a Lifetime Achievement Award ambience (which includes the the human experience, his insistence from Laadly-UNFPA in 2010.) maid's daughter, Meenakshi) trying on the autonomy of the form in to create his own space within the cinema, distinguish him from most constraints life ordains for him. of his peers, and often make him the The four stories in Oru Pennum subject of controversy, principally Randannum, also known as A because he belongs to Kerala, Climate for Crime date back to forever a volatile political state with the 1940s and the setting is the polarised agendas preached and princely state of Travancore in practised by a segmented audience. South India. “The Second World What do awards mean to Adoor War being fought in England had Gopalakrishnan? “Awards are cast its shadow on colonial British important particularly in the early India. Daily necessities like food, days of one's career, because it tells clothing, kerosene, petrol, were you in some way that what you scarce. Unemployment grew are doing is worthwhile. If there Our Journals while hoarding of grains became is appreciation and substantial routine. Set against such times, the recognition, it helps a filmmaker. four stories in this film relate to Awards are a kind of understanding crimes committed by the deprived from others about your work. Yes, as well as the comparatively awards are very important. I was privileged landed gentry,” explains a little surprised to begin with Gopalakrishnan. because this award usually goes to a Four Women argues the cause veteran. I do not consider myself to of different but ordinary women, be a veteran. But it is a great honour who, even under pressure, are able and I look upon it as very satisfying to sustain control and discipline and gratifying,” he says, smiling. over their lives. In these films, NETPAC (Network for Promotion Gopalakrishnan’s mastery over of Asian Culture), a worldwide RIND Survey the medium of cinema is an organisation with membership of

48 VIDURA January-March 2016 Films in Indian Selection at fest fail to impress The 21st Kolkata International Film Festival featured 149 films from 61 countries in 15 categories screened across 12 locations. Shoma A. Chatterji writes about the films that were screened and those that took the top awards. The average quality of films in the Indian Selection was poor, she says

he 21st Kolkata International and begins to drive through the city. political statement on the forced Film Festival that took His interaction with the passengers marriage of very young girls to Tplace between 14th and 21st he takes in during the adventure much older men because the bride November last year paid a cen- makes for a very interestingly price they command is a way out of tenary tribute to Orson Welles by layered film with a hidden camera the abject poverty in their families. screening Citizen Kane. Few have fixed inside the cab so that when But life changes for the worse focused on the material universe people step out and begin to talk, for the child bride because she is Welles created in his film to flesh the soundtrack is silent. Like most turned into a slave in every sense out the character of his protagonist. of Panahi’s recent films shot from and her perpetual situation of rape The film is a text book model for political hiding, this too is very is legitimized by the marriage. filmmakers for all time on how personal and intimate but Panahi Others in the Jury for International to create a material universe takes every opportunity to make Competition Section were Chinese- with objects associated with the caustic comments on censorship American actress Bai Ling, protagonist. through the voice of a passenger Polish director Filip Marczewski, mong the international who turns out to be an old friend. Israeli filmmaker Samuel Maoz award-winning films was Colombian filmmaker Libia Stella and Sri Lankan actress Swarna AJafar Panahi’s Iranian drama Gomez won the coveted Golden Mallawarachchi. Blanka (Japan, Taxi which bagged the Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award for best the Philippines and Italy), the Bear and the FIPRESCI Prize this woman director for the film Ella inaugural film by Kohki Hasei, won year at the Berlin International which narrates the tale of an old the NETPAC award. It is a moving Film Festival, Tsai Ming-liang’s couple who become estranged and, tale about 11-year-old Blanka who Afternoon that was screened at later, the wife dies. Gomez who begs and steals on the streets of the Venice International Film received a cash prize of Rs 21 lakh Manila and suddenly decides to Festival and Alexander Sokurov’s along with the trophy, said there buy a mother who can give her a Francofoina that was part of the were only five women directors in good life, only to find that what she main competition at the 72nd Venice her country. The Hungarian film The gets isn’t what she expected. International Film Festival. Wednesday Child directed by Lili The Indian entry Phum Shang The special feature of Jafar Horvath won the Best Film Trophy directed by Manipuri filmmaker Panahi’s Taxi is that the director and a cash prize of Rs 51 lakh. It is Haobam Paban Kumar bagged himself borrows the taxi of a relative a moving, slow-paced account of the 'best documentary' prize. Set the struggles of a dysfunctional 19- around the picturesque Loktak year-old girl who is brought up in Lake, a unique freshwater water an orphanage and is forced to keep body, it depicts the tale of a her four-year-old mute child in the traditional fishing community same orphanage while she struggles which has lived for centuries on the to gain custody. The Wednesday floating phumdis (biomass) on the Child is the director’s first feature lake. The 52-minute film poignantly film. captures the sense of uprooting Yemen's I Am Nojoom, Age 10 that pervades people living on the And Divorced received special phumdis and areas adjoining the mention from the jury headed by lake. Randi Kuripukkal, also from veteran actress Sharmila Tagore India, was adjudged the best short

Supplied by: SAC who praised director Khadija film while Last Page in Kannada Al-Salami who, as a woman, took the Indian Film Critics’ A still from Ain. courageously makes a powerful Association Award.

January-March 2016 VIDURA 49 But the wife dies suddenly and the and struggles of Dr Bhubaneswar nagging husband changes forever, Barua, a physician and a freedom deciding to live by himself, drawing fighter. But the film is steeped happiness from the children in the in long sermons, amateurish neighbourhood. It is a beautiful screenplay and a theatrically film, well told, without overstating structured scenario worsened by the message of empathy for the poor performances. The doctor’s aged. supportive wife is so marginalised The average quality of the films in that she hardly has a line to say. the Indian Selection was lower than Many Indian films were focused that of previous KIFFs, which made on issues that are very relevant, judging easier. In almost all the such as Saankal (Hindi) directed cases, the issue dominated the form by Dedipya Joshi. The film deals A scene from Blanka. and the content so much and in so with an age-old custom in Muslim- amateurish a manner that cinematic dominated villages where, in order One section comprised films on language was lost in loudness and to sustain the community and sports featuring Bhaag Milkha crudity. prevent the marriage of girls into Bhag, Kony (Bengali) directed by The Bengali film Bhalo Meye another community, unmarried Saroj Dey, Peter Yates’ Breaking Kharap Meye by Tamal Dasgupta girls beyond marriageable age are Away, Hugh Hudson’s beautiful was one of the three nominees for married off to little boys within the Chariots of Fire, Martin Scorcese’s the citation in this section. The film community. The brides are then cult classic Raging Bull, John was obviously inspired by the Park subject to rape by the elder males in Huston’s Escape to Victory and Street gang rape case but gives the the family, such as the boy’s father, Barry Levinsos’s The Natural. story a different twist by drawing uncles, older brothers and so on. The top prize in the Indian parallels with the life of the wife of The subject lent itself to wonderful Selection went to Last Page directed the lawyer who defends the rape exploration of a little-known issue, by Nikhil Manjoo Lingiah for “its victim without a fee. The director, but has been spoilt by bad acting,

delicate balance among form, however, takes his time to come to wrong casting, loud music and bad content and technique to narrate a the point and leaves much of the technique. < story that is a powerful metaphor script dragging. pleading empathy for the aged.” The other nominated film, Ain (The writer chaired the jury for the The 60-minute film told the story (Malayalam), directed by Sidhhartha Indian Selection at the festival.) of an old couple who live alone, Siva, has a very interesting story with the man refusing all help from somewhat damaged by a rambling their son living away from them. script and a dragging narrative. The He is suddenly struck by a severe opening film Lokabandhu, (Friend heart ailment and this motivates of the People) directed by Dhiraj him to settle his financial matters Kashyap from Assam unfolds the life so that his wife does not suffer.

About a legend and an enigma

Suchitra Sen - The Legend and the Enigma, published by Harper Collins, and authored by senior journalist and film historian Shoma A. Chatterji, was launched at Starmark, Quest Mall, Kolkata on 20th January. Suchitra Sen, the queen of Bengali cinema who held almost a monopoly over the box office and the audience, with or without her screen partner Uttam Kumar, passed away in a Kolkata nursing home on January 17, 2014 after a long illness patiently borne. Sen became Supplied by: SAC a nationally renowned actress with a few meaningful Hindi films Suchitra's daughter Moon Moon Sen towards the end of her voluntary retirement from cinema. Two such speaking, as granddaughters Raima and films were Gulzar’s Aandhi, based on a short story by Kamleshwar, Ria, and the author of the book, Shoma A. and Mamta, directed by the late Asit Sen. Chatterji (second from left), listen.

50 VIDURA January-March 2016 NOSTALGIA Five women and a recipe book I believe it is important to know where you come from, what kind of family you have been born into and so on, says Jenny Mallin in her book A Grandmother’s Legacy. Shoma A Chatterji meets the author in Kolkata and finds that the book is a treasure trove on Anglo-Indian culture

n a world where people might connoisseurs and gourmand cooks Anglo-Indians who lived in the have to think hard to recall the on a weekday evening, with the Southern part of India and slowly Inames of their grandparents, chill setting in after sundown. The began to migrate to Australia, Jenny Mallin’s tribute to her combination was just right – on the England and other countries when grandmothers reaching back five one hand, a monument, a legacy India gained Independence and generations comes as a refreshing the British left behind for us to they began to feel marginalised change. Jenny migrated from experience and, on the other, an despite being Indians. This was India to England to settle there Anglo-Indian lady born in India brought across through touching with her parents many decades and residing in Britain, talking moments in the life of Violet ago. Yet, she dug into her past about her five grandmothers and Stoneham in Aparna Sen’s cult and retrieved documents, letters, their culinary gifts. classic 36, Chowringhee Lane recipes from scrapbooks and The beautifully composed (1981). More than three decades archival photographs of different PowerPoint presentation began later, Jenny Mallin has picked up branches of her family that have with a slide showing a feather- where Violent Stoneham left off. yellowed with age, to resurrect a holder pen which Wilhelmina, her Jenny’s grandmothers are – past that shaped her present and great, great grandmother used to Wilhelmina, born in 1828 in Vellore; will define her future. The result is write her recipes in her scrapbook, Ophelia, born in 1855 in Mylapore; A Grandmother’s Legacy – A Memoir now yellowed with age and frayed Maud, born in 1879 in Madras; of Five Generations who Lived Through at the edges. Recipes were added Irene born 1899 in Madras; and the Raj. to this book by Wilhelmina’s Cynthia born in 1927 in Calcutta. Jenny, who visited India 30 times descendants, till the buck stopped Jenny has dedicated the book to “all over the past several years to search at Jenny’s mother, Cynthia, who my grandmothers but especially for her family, her old school, her used and old key typewriter to type my darling mother who gave me teachers and friends, Jenny was in out her recipes. The typewritten life and taught me how to believe India recently to launch her book pages are included as an annexure in myself, my principles and most at the historic Victoria Memorial, in the book. The presentation importantly, inspired me to go after an architectural and historical ended with a blue sky dotted with my dreams”. In a lucidly worded milestone of the city of Kolkata. It a cloud shaped like the feather in foreword, Cyrus Rustom Todiwalla was built between 1906 and 1921 the opening slide. Jenny explained writes: “In this book, Jenny manages dedicated to the memory of Queen how she saw this feather-like wispy to bring her grandmothers to life, as Victoria (1819-1901) and, over time, white cloud after her book was over though they are still there standing has become a museum and tourist and she was holidaying with her with their hands on their hips spot under the Ministry of Culture. husband Stewart. “My journey with giving orders and directions to get Jenny addressed a niche audience and through this book has been things right and the perfection of of food critics, restaurateurs, art filled with strange coincidences preparing food for the patriarchs that cannot be explained away just of the family is all so familiar to us like that because they are quite who grew up in India.” uncanny,” she said with a smile. “The five grandmothers mean City-based restaurateur and everything to me. I believe it is writer Rakhi Purnima Dasgupta important to know where you who, like Jenny, has inherited come from, what kind of family the legacy of all kinds of culinary you have been born into, and so creations from her grandmother on. I was naturally drawn to them and mother, asked her about some even more when I was working

Photos: JM of the recipes she had never heard through their recipe book. I spent about such as Maratha Curry. years meticulously researching Jenny Mallin poses in front of the This is not just any book that can through each grandmother, via her magnificent Victoria Memorial in be shrugged off with a long review. marriage records and other public Kolkata. It reveals the cultural history of the documents, I gained real insight

January-March 2016 VIDURA 51 grandmother tended to cook,” says Who is an Anglo-Indian? Jenny, who worked with the BBC in The Victoria Sandwich London before giving up her work Historically, the term Anglo in order to research the book. Ophelia has noted down two Indian refers to people who are of “I consider A Grandmother’s Legacy popular tea time treats – a Telegram British descent but were born and a special heritage book which should Cake and a Victoria Sandwich. raised in India, usually because find place on every library shelf in the The Telegram Cake may well have their parents were serving in the world so that every child can walk been so called as it was a quick colonial administration on armed up to the shelf, pick this book and cake to bake (and telegrams were forces. However, the definition has understand and appreciate all that a fast method of communicating), become looser in recent decades the Anglo-Indians stood for,” she Note how Ophelia suggests the and can now denote any mixed says. “I had kept two readers of my Victoria Sandwich is baked in British-Indian parentage. But for book in mind. One is an eight-year- a quick oven too! The Victoria many, its primary meaning refers old boy from Nairobi and the other Sandwich was created when one to people of longstanding mixed is an elderly grandmother reflecting of Queen Victoria's ladies-in- lineage, dating back up to 300 on her memories and wanting to waiting suggested an afternoon years into India’s colonial past. cook them again and again. I have tea service which could consist They dress like the British, their tried to make the book an easy- of small cakes, bread and butter mother tongue is English and read with large fonts with each sandwiches, assorted sweets and, they are Christian. They began page having a colour photograph of course, tea, in order to avoid leaving India in droves in the so that it is not just a read but it is “that sinking feeling” at about four 1950s and 1960s, dispersing real fun reading it. I am thrilled o'clock in the afternoon. – Jenny throughout the Commonwealth about the British Council Library Mallin. countries of Canada, Australia having placed an order for my book and New Zealand and their in each of its libraries in India and ‘motherland’ – the UK. They had throughout South East Asia. I hope who have left Indian shores to live a distinct cuisine – Jalfarezi was other libraries follow suit. I have in other countries. a staple, and Country Captain plans about marketing my book Food in the book opens a window Chicken and Railway Lamb Curry once I am back in England.” to knowledge about a cuisine we were associated with India’s The book also has household know very little about – a cuisine Railways, on which many Anglo- hints, a list of ‘doctor’s vegetables’ that resulted from the marriage of Indians worked. But the younger with tips on the medicinal qualities two cultures, Indian and British. generations are no longer cooking of different vegetables and even an The marriages – Jenny keeps away these dishes, the unique hybrid analysis of the handwriting of the five from unions where marriage was culture and overarching Anglo- grandmothers. All the five women conspicuously absent – between Indian identity is expiring, diluted portrayed are strong women, but British officers and women of through intermarriage the stories of their husbands who Indian descent were encouraged supported them in every endeavour by the then empirical governors in into where they lived, the history while they pursued their respective order to integrate two cultures and that ran parallel to their lives, and professions also comes through. The perhaps also to make a small slice of course what kind of food each women are matriarchs who passed of Indians feel more aligned to the on the heritage of ethnic cooking and British way of thinking, eating and traditional Anglo-Indian recipes to living. their descendants, including those Jenny Mallin’s book is a treasure of knowledge about the culture of an ethnic group unique to both India and England. Sadly, the price of the book, pegged at Rs 3500,

might force many to keep away from buying it. <

Recipes for brown bread and 'telegram cake' neatly handwritten and passed down the generations.

52 VIDURA January-March 2016 Why children’s films are so important Children’s films are important, especially now in the age of the Internet and social mediawhen children have easy access to almost unlimited kinds of visuals. Mrinal Chatterjee explores the genre and says creating a buzz around such films will help make them more attractive for children

hat do we mean by Children have fertile minds. children’s films? The Their curiosity quotient is much Wph-rase refers to films higher than that of adults. They that are made specifically for want to explore, know more, and children. They may appeal to a give free rein to their imagination. general audience, but their target Stories, songs and visuals partially is children. Children’s films may fulfill this curiosity and create a or may not have child protagonists. craving for more. Films help shape They may not even have a child- children’s aesthetic sensibility, hone centric theme or storyline. The basic their questioning ability, and subtly premise of a children’s film is that help to build value systems. it is for the children. It could be for What is the scene in India? entertainment, for education or even India has had a long tradition of for information, or a combination storytelling and theatre. But for of all the three in an aesthetically children, there have been more pleasing and satisfying way. stories than theatre. There could Children's films come in several be several reasons for that, the major forms, such as fantasy, primary concern being financial musicals, literary adaptations and (children make excellent audiences, contemporary tales. The theme but one needs a paying audience A poster for Kakka Muttai, a Tamil may be lofty, but the treatment, to put up performances, and for film. presentation and language should that a general audience is a better mainstream cinema producers be appealing and palatable to bet). Considering that India is the in India is commercial. They do children. largest producer of feature films in not yield the sort of income other the world (over 1000 films a year), kinds of cinema do. There could be Why children’s’ films? the number of children’s films it exceptions, but that is the general Children’s films, like stories or produces is woefully low - just perception. There are other reasons plays for children, are primarily about a dozen or so per year. as well. Though India does not have for the entertainment of the young Why is the scene not encouraging? a dearth of stories, there is definitely ones. However, they serve other The primary reason why children’s a dearth of good screenplay writers purposes too. films have not taken the fancy of and directors to translate the stories into entertaining films. Making a children’s film calls for a different kind of sensibility and skill on the part of the director, and of course courage on the part of the producer, both of which are in short supply. What has been done? The realisation that children’s films are important and should be encouraged dawned fairly early in India. The Children's Film Society India (CFSI) was founded soon Photos: Internet after Independence by Pandit

January-March 2016 VIDURA 53 Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, whose affection for children is well known. Nehru established CFSI with the hope that indigenous and exclusive cinema for children would stimulate their creativity, compassion and critical thinking. It started functioning from 1955 – producing, exhibiting and distributing quality content for children, ranging from feature films, shorts and animations to television serials and documentaries. Over the years, some of the brightest talents of Indian Cinema – Mrinal Sen, Satyen Bose, Tapan Sinha, K.A. Abbas, Shyam Benegal, M.S. Sathyu, Sai Paranjpe, Budhdhadeb Dasgupta, Santosh Sivan, Ram Mohan, Rituparno An arresting scene from Pasanga II. Ghosh and Pankaj Advani to name a few – have directed films course, like helping to conduct activities so that the fun quotient for CFSI. Since 2014, CFSI has more Children’s Film Festivals and increases and children are eager been organising the National supporting the making of more for more such festivals. Creating a Children Film Festival. CFSI also children’s films. However, we, buzz around children’s films will organises a biennial International ordinary citizens, members of civil make the genre more attractive

Children's Film Festival India society, can probably do more about for children and probably also for (ICFFI) popularly known as The this. adults - as the saying goes, there is < Golden Elephant, besides holding We need to encourage our a child in every adult. children’s film festivals across the children to watch good films meant country. Despite the efforts of the for them. In this age of Internet and (The writer, a journalist-turned- Government, the sad fact remains social media, they have access to media academician, presently heads that the children’s films scenario in unlimited kinds of visuals, many of the eastern India campus of the Indian India is not as bright and as vibrant which are not good for them. They Institute of Mass Communication as it should have been, considering need to be oriented to towards good located in Dhenkanal, Odisha.) the fact that India has 400 million films, which are entertaining and children (5 to 18 years of age). also useful for their development. Parents need to help their children What can be done? in choosing the films they should The scene could change watch. dramatically if we are aware of the Civil society organisations and importance of children’s films not educational institutions could only in providing entertainment organise small film festivals (it has but in the overall development become logistically and financially of children. The Government is easy to do so) for children and doing its bit. It could do more, of also conduct related hands-on

54 VIDURA January-March 2016 REMEMBERING SAEED JAFFREY (1929-2015) They just do not make them like him anymore Few actors born in India during his time have traversed the globe and utilised such a wide range of communication modes the way Saeed Jaffrey did, says Shoma A. Chatterji. His passing away at the age of 86 marks the end of an era filled with theatre, film and television actors who have also been scholars in their own right

aeed Jaffrey’s screen speaking announcers. He not only personality exuded an electric got the job but engaged in a lot of Scharm though we all saw him multi-tasking at a time when the with his hair generously dotted word had probably not entered the with salt and pepper and hardly English lexicon. He wrote stories, ever as a young man. monologues and plays and himself He had a most impressive track did all the 35 roles in one of them. record as an actor of many parts. He got noticed for his multi-layered His oeuvre covers nearly 200 film talents in communication and and television roles, the ones writing and he joined Unity Theatre

uppermost in public memory being that gave him major roles, followed Photo: SAC his portrayal of Vallabbhai Patel in by glowing reviews. Soon, he was Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi off to the US to study drama on a The versatile Saeed Jaffrey. (1982) and his performances in Fullbright Scholarship. My Beautiful Launderette, (1985), In New York, he took up acting two popular series The Gangsters A Passage to India and The parts in productions staged by (1976-1978) and Tandoori Nights Jewel in the Crown. These were Actors Studio. One of the roles (1985-1987). His career reached a matched with equally outstanding was that of Dr Godbole in the turning point when he was cast performances in radio plays. Broadway production of A Passage in Wilby Conspiracy (1975) and Jaffrey’s portrayal of Nasser to India (1962). In 1958, he met his friendship with Michael Caine Ali in My Beautiful Launderette and married Madhur Bahadur but while working on this film led to fetched him a BAFTA nomination. the marriage broke up because of a role in The Man Who Would He was born in an educated family Jaffrey’s frequent dalliances with Be King (1975) directed by John in Malerkotla, Punjab, and travelled other women and his fondness Huston. He worked with actors like around the north Indian cities with for the bottle. Jaffrey went away Sean Connery and his role of Billy his father who was a medical officer to England to carve a new future Fish made him a familiar name, in the Public Health Department. for himself and also to escape the face and voice in Western cinema. His parents wished him to join souring of his marriage, leaving In 1980, he married Jennifer Sorrel, the civil services, but he had no three daughters and Madhur, who his colleague in the BBC, and the intention of doing so. He struck a in time, became an internationally marriage lasted till Jaffrey passed compromise with his father and renowned culinary expert writing away. agreed to apply for the post of an books and conducting television Jaffrey’s first major role in Indian English teacher in an elite boarding shows travelling across the world. films was that of Mir Roshan Ali in school after his graduation from Because of the colour of his Satyajit Ray’s celluloid version of Allahabad University. skin, acting parts were not easily Munshi Premchand’s Shatranj Ke Planning to spend some time available to Jaffrey but his fluency Khilari (1977. This was followed in Delhi before taking up his new in Urdu, Hindi and English soon by a flourishing career in Hindi post, Jaffrey boarded a train to forced a rise in the demand curve, cinema mainstream, mid-stream Delhi. But fate had other plans especially when the BBC World and off-mainstream. His role as a for him and the course of his life Service asked him to do its Urdu close friend of the hero in Shekhar changed forever. He made friends programmes. He also had a great Kapoor’s Masoom was followed with some youngsters who invited voice which stood him in good by that of the lovable paan-seller in him to their favourite watering hole stead at radio programmes. Sai Paranjpye’s Chashme Baddoor. in Delhi. He heard that All India Television became an important Radio was looking for English- milestone with his performances in (Continued on page 57)

January-March 2016 VIDURA 55 REMEMBERING BAPPADITYA BANDOPADHYAY (1970-2015) He was gentle and always took criticism with a smile Bappaditya Bandopadhyay, a filmmaker in Bengali cinema who decided to tread a path less travelled at the young age of 25 and made each of his films unique, not only in comparison to his own work, but also to films by contemporary Bengali filmmakers, passed away at the age of 45 at a Kolkata nursing home. Shoma A Chatterji pays tribute appaditya Bandopadhyay, Bandopadhyay’s second film who carved a niche in Shilpantar, based on Potua Nibaran, Balternative cinema that by Sirsendu Mukhopadhyay, is steered away from commercial about an eccentric artist who paints compromise but won national and scary pictures instead of landscapes international acclaim, was excited and portraits. A young woman joins about his new film Sohra Bridge him for his performance. Her act is being in the Indian Panorama at devouring hens and snakes live as

the IFFI in Goa, both because of its ‘entertainment’. Debasree Roy won Photo: Internet subject matter and also because it the Kalakar Award for Best Actress was made on a shoe-string budget. for her performance in Shilpantar. Bappaditya Bandopadhyay. “I have made it with very little Kantataar, Devaki (Hindi and money to prove that good films English) and Kaal focussed on a film director who makes off-beat can be made on small budgets. varied dimensions of issues relating films that fail to draw an audience We worked with a mixed bunch of to women. While Kantataar (Barbed and watches the films by himself actors from Assam, from the Khasi Wire) deals with the identity crisis in empty theatres. Though it was a Hills and from Bengal,” he said of a homeless young woman who linear story narrated very poetically from his hospital bed. Sohra Bridge is caught in the midst of terrorism with surrealistic touches and is inspired by excerpts from a poem along the India-Bangladesh border starred Prosenjit as the filmmaker, by Ismail Kadare, an Albanian in India, Devaki demonstrates how it was a commercial disaster for author and poet. The line that two women from two disparate which Bappaditya placed the triggered the film is: “The memory backgrounds, one rural and one responsibility entirely on the lack of you dies in me day by day/ Now, urban, are victims of patriarchy of marketing and publicity, even I am looking everywhere for a place despite the surface differences saying Prosenjit did not help with to drop you.” in their lifestyles and their class. his marketing potential as the top Bandopadhyay’s first film Kantataar was screened at 17 film star. Sampradaan was made for a festivals across India and beyond. Kagojer Bou was also a satellite channel. With Indrani It bagged for Sreelekha Mitra celluloid adaptation of a Sirsendu Haldar in the lead, it is a bold film two Best Actress Awards and one Mukhopadhyay story. The out- which tells the story of a young girl Best Supporting Actor Award for standing quality of the film was who denies her father the right to Rudraneel Ghosh. the absolute lack of guilt among give her away in marriage at the Shilpantar was premiered at the the characters, each of whom, ceremony because he deserts the Sofia International Film Festival in except one, is fleshed out in several family when she is very young. Bulgaria, in the competitive section negative shades. Bappaditya rightly She insists that her mother give her of the Art Film Festival at Bratislava refrains from being judgmental away. in Slovakia in 2003. It was the only about his characters. Sampradan, based on a story by Indian film other than Devdas that Nor does he try to rationalise Ramapada Choudhury, won the was selected for screening at the their no-conscience approach to Best Supporting Actress Award, Helsiniki International Film Festival relationships. He took up Tagore the Best Supporting Actor Award in Finland in 2003 and Debasree for the first time when he made and the Best Female Playback Roy won the Kalakar Award for Elar Char Adhyay, a loyal celluloid Singer award at the Bengal Film Best Actress. Houseful, based on adaptation of Tagore’s political Journalists Association that year, as his own story and script, was the novel. His next film Nayika Sangbad, well as the Dishari Award for Best most autobiographical among all was a washout, aesthetically and Music. Bandopadhyay’s films. It is about commercially, because the script

56 VIDURA January-March 2016 was weak and the director seemed to lose control over the film. Kaal is about young girls from villages being trafficked to work in the flesh trade in the city but with Alok Mehta to return to Outlook time, they accept their profession as Industry veteran Alok Mehta is going to return to Outlook Group a reaching out point beyond Indian as chief editor of Outlook Hindi. Mehta will be relaunching Outlook shores. It has a confusing climax. Hindi, which he started in 2002. He will start his new journey with Bappaditya directed a television the Outlook Group in January 2016. It is a homecoming for Mehta, serial, Ananda Nagarir Kathakatha, who has more than 40 years’ experience in journalism and has on the architectural history of also served as president, Editors Guild of India. In the course of his Kolkata for a Bengali channel. His career, Mehta has worked in media houses such as The Times of India documentary on tribal masks was Group, he has also worked as executive editor of Hindustan, editor broadcast on Doordarshan. He of Dainik Bhaskar, and resident editor of Nav Bharat Times. Mehta was planning to make a lengthy was conferred the Padma Shri in 2010. documentary on renowned painter Hemendra Majumdar. Few know that he was also a poet of repute. His published work of poetry includes New roles for Kumar, Bal at ESPN Pokader Atmiyaswajan (Friends As ESPN expands its presence in India through the recently and Relatives of Insects) and his announced collaboration with Sony for co-branded Sony ESPN poetic sensibility was reflected in channels and digital media, Ramesh Kumar and Sambit Bal are taking his films. on expanded roles in the ESPN’s business in India and beyond. Bappaditya was gentle, soft- Kumar will take on the new role of VP, head of ESPN India and spoken and remained as unfazed by South Asia. He will oversee all day-to-day operations of ESPN’s failure as he refused to be surprised multimedia future in India and help drive the strategic growth of ESPN by success, critical or commercial. in India and the subcontinent. That includes oversight of ESPN’s The most humane and grounded leading digital properties including ESPNcricinfo, ESPN FC and the quality in this filmmaker was that forthcoming local edition of multisport ESPN site and app in India. He he could take the bitterest of his will report to Russell Wolff, executive VP, ESPN International and will

criticism with his wonderful smile. continue to be part of ESPN’s regional Asia Pacific leadership team. < Bal has been, arguably, the leading cricket journalist in the world for years, serving as editor of ESPNcricinfo since 2003. In his new, broader role, Bal will now serve as editor-in-chief, ESPN India/South Asia. He will continue to be responsible for all ESPNcricinfo editorial (Continued from page 55) content (written, video and audio) while also overseeing all editorial content for the new India multisport ESPN.com site and app (launching He did a superb job of fleshing out June 2016). He will report to both Kumar and Patrick Stiegman, VP the role of Raaz, the boatman in an and editorial director, Digital and Print Media. adaptation of Somerset Maugham’s The Razor’s Edge, which is about a (Courtesy: exchange4media) man traumatised by World War I finding spiritual solace in India and Nepal. Shyam Benegal’s Mandi and Ketan Mehta’s Hero Hiralal (1988) Y. P. Rajesh is executive editor, were two other films he acted in. Jaffery is the first Indian actor to The Print be awarded the Order of the British Senior journalist Y.P. Rajesh has been appointed executive editor of Empire. His narration of the Kama veteran journalist Shekhar Gupta’s new venture,The Print, which was Sutra titled The Art of Love (1996) launched last month in New Delhi. Rajesh has worked with leading was listed by Time Magazine as media organisations and has more than 23 years of experience. He "one of the five best spoken word was associated with The Indian Express as associate editor and has records ever made”. He voiced also worked with India Today, Reuters, Outlook and The Week. all 86 characters in the 1997 BBC World Service broadcast of Vikram (Courtesy: exchange4media.com)

Seth’s novel, A Suitable Boy. Alas! They do not make them like him < anymore.

January-March 2016 VIDURA 57 Book Review

Ringing memories

K.M. Mathew’s auto-biography, The Eighth Ring, recounts the evolution of the Indian media through years of political turmoil and technological challenges

Editors of every era have faced challenges, and yet upheld the cause of individual freedom of the journalist and institutional freedom of the publication. Malayala Manorama faced the biggest challenge when it took up the cause of Independence and was victimised Photo: The Week by the Dewan of Travancore, who got its offices locked up for nine President Pranab Mukherjee receiving the first copy of The Eighth Ring years. from Malayala Manorama Chief Editor Mammen Mathew, at Rashtrapati President Pranab Mukherjee Bhavan in Delhi. believes that the next challenge before editors and publishers will Mathew, who gave The Week its London and used his ingenuity to come from new technologies. But motto of ‘Journalism with a human get her an audience with Margaret then, the president is hopeful. touch’, wrote the book with not just Thatcher. But what seems to linger “Technology will pose a problem. human touch, but also a touch of longer in Nariman's mind is the But… I am confident that the humour. Full of anecdotes about taste of the coconut pudding that media will succeed in meeting the big and small people with whom he Annamma, an author of several challenge posed by technology,” he interacted, the book also recounts cookery books, made for him long said after receiving the first copy the evolution of the Indian media ago. of The Eighth Ring, the English through years of political turmoil NDTV president Prannoy Roy version of the autobiography of and technological challenges. described Mathew as a “towering Malayala Manorama's former chief At the function, attended by a host figure” of journalism, who won the editor K.M. Mathew, from the of dignitaries from various walks battles he had fought throughout his latter's son and current chief editor of life, including ministers, judges, life. He said Mathew was “fiercely Mammen Mathew. MPs, editors, publishers and other independent and tech-savvy” and The Malayalam version of the public personalities, Mukherjee he spearheaded “socially sensitive book had been a best-seller because, paid tribute to K.M. Mathew, whom and humane journalism”. He as Mammen Mathew pointed out, he had known personally. “I had said the situation seen during the the veteran editor wrote the book known K.M. Mathew since the early K.M. Mathew era had “intensified “not to display his war wounds or to days of my life, which is neither too today, regardless of which party trumpet the historic events he had long, nor too short—in the early is in power”. Roy talked about witnessed, but out of a childlike 1970s,” he said. ‘McCarthyism’, the practice of

desire to share with everyone Renowned jurist Fali S. Nariman, making accusations of subversion the tenderness of his parents and while paying tribute to Mathew, or treason without proper regard < the unshakable faith he had in who was also his personal friend, for evidence. Malayala Manorama's destiny. expressed happiness that there were But, as the narration progressed, it still people around who read books (Courtesy: The Week. Article by became a mellow commentary on despite the explosion of television R. Prasannan, chief of bureau, The Kerala's political undercurrents, and the internet. Nariman, too, Week, New Delhi.) which resulted in the shutting seemed impressed by the anecdotage down of Malayala Manorama by the in the book. He particularly recalled Travancore princely government the one in which Mathew took his for nine years in 1938.” wife, Annamma, to a gathering in

58 VIDURA January-March 2016 OTHER NEWS

Arindam Sen Gupta no more Jefferson fellow, he was a recipient of many journalism awards. Arindam Sen Gupta, managing Narayanan had served as the chief editor of Bhavan’s Ringing memories editor of The Times of India, passed Journal and also as the principal of HB College of away recently after a brief but brave Communication and Management of Bharatiya Vidya battle against cancer. Sen Gupta had Bhavan in Bangalore. Narayanan was the son of the a long and distinguished association late V.K. Narasimhan, the legendary editor of Indian with the TOI Group, which he Express. Arindam Sen rejoined in 1991 after a previous stint Gupta. from 1988 to 1990. He joined The (Courtesy: Deccan Herald) Economic Times as coordinating editor and later became editor of its Delhi edition before moving to TOI in March 2004. Addressing gender imbalance During a productive and memorable career, Sen in media Gupta wrote on, and keenly followed, a range of issues from national politics and international affairs Leading editors and publishers from Africa and West to popular films and music. With a warm and friendly Asia have been appointed to the WAN-IFRA Gender disposition, Sen Gupta was a much loved figure and Media Freedom Steering Committee, which will in TOI, where his colleagues looked up to him for contribute to the organisation's ambitious Women guidance and inspiration. in News (WIN) gender and media development After completing his MA from Delhi University activities. WIN is a four-year, multi-million Euro where he studied at St Stephen's College, Sen Gupta program conducted by WAN-IFRA in partnership taught at Delhi University. He then switched to with the Swedish International Development journalism. He worked with Probe magazine from Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the Norwegian 1982 to 1984, after which he joined the political bureau Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The program addresses of The Patriot, where he launched the first business the gender imbalance in media, while mobilizing the page in any daily newspaper. He later moved to The industry to collectively create an environment that Sunday Observer in 1986. He joined TOI for the first supports conditions for women in media, and their time in 1988. He returned to The Sunday Observer in organisations, to succeed. 1990 as chief of bureau. The Committee, which met for the first time in Sen Gupta then returned to Bennett Coleman and Paris on Tuesday (15 December) includes: Jumana Company in 1991 when he joined The Economic Times. Ghuneimat, chief editor of Al Ghad (Jordan); Wafa’ His rise in the Times Group was swift. He became Abdel Rahman, director, Filastiniyat, founder and political editor and editor of ET's Delhi edition and chief editor of Nawa (Palestine); Nadim Ladki, chief then moved to TOI as editor, Delhi, in 2004. He editor of the Daily Star (Lebanon); Fatemah Farag, became the executive editor of TOI in 2008. He was publisher, Welad el Baled (Egypt); Beata Kasale, re-designated managing editor recently. CEO and editor-in-chief, The Voice (Botswana); Egidie Bibio Ingabire: president of the Association of (Courtesy: The Times of India) Rwanda female journalists (Rwanda); Emelda L. Musonda, Sunday Mail editor, Zambia Daily Mail (Zambia), Vincent Kahiya, group editor-in- Veteran journalist Narayanan chief, Alpha Media Holdings (Zimbabwe); Tikhala dead Chibwana, former general manager, BNL Times Group (Malawi); and Larry Kilman, secretary general Veteran journalist V.N. Narayanan (75), who had of WAN-IFRA. worked for various national newspapers for over five decades, passed away in Singapore recently. His last rites were performed there. Narayanan was Malini Parthasarathy resigns editor-in-chief of The Tribune Group of newspapers, Malini Parthasarathy has resigned as editor Chandigarh, before he took over as the editor of The of The Hindu. Suresh Nambath, national editor, The Hindustan Times. He was also the resident editor of Hindu, has been entrusted with the responsibility of Indian Express in Bangalore and Chandigarh. He was managing the news and editorial operations of The known for his fearless reporting of the Khalistan Hindu until a new editor is appointed. The KSL Board movement. placed on record its appreciation of the contribution Narayanan was a prolific writer and his works of Malini Parthasarathy as editor of The Hindu. She include Tryst with Terror - Punjab’s Turbulent Decade, I will continue as a wholetime director of Kasturi & Muse, Therefore I am, and India at 50. He had a masters Sons. in economics from Madras University and a diploma in public administration from the Indian Institute (Courtesy: exchange4media) of Public Administration. A Fulbright scholar and

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