Page 2 The Fourth Estate Thursday, May 26, 2011 SWEET INNOCENCE Technology enables Manorama Online to reach worldwide

By Shruti Karthikeyan The website has more than one billion page views KOTTAYAM:“The Malayala a month. Manorama group follows a Mrs Mathew is a member principle of ‘anytime, any- of the governing council where’ access with any device of the Internet and Mobile available that can deliver con- Association of India. tent,” said Mariam Mammen Manoramaonline.com Mathew, chief operating offi- was launched in 1997 and cer of Manorama Online. relaunched as a compre- She pointed out that hensive portal in 2002 when Malayala Manorama has Mrs Mathew took over as its adopted new technologies CEO. to help its readers and is Although Manorama now reaching out to them Online offers a localised with iPad, a tablet computer, coverage, the medium aims comparatively bigger than a Courtesy: Manorama to further localise stories and cellphone. semination of news faster and cater to the interests of the Malayala Manorama has easier, Mrs Mathew said. people in remote areas too, a major presence in the "News updates and special she added. online medium as well as stories can be shared with the Mrs Mathew explained that in the mobile space due to help of these websites," she there are plans to expand the the successful techniques explained. English version of Manorama adopted, that has contributed Mrs Mathew noted that Online by making it more to the success of Manorama Manorama Online has "visi- user-friendly. Online. tors” from all over the world Conceding that "print jour- Photo: Amelie Benoist Most newspapers have and is especially popular in nalism will always be there", CHEEKY CHILD: A boy is all smiles as he squats on a table and stares into the camera in a school in Dolkha district bazaar, Nepal. In a country, where most linked with social network- the Gulf, the United States but Mrs Mathew insists that private schools are being re-opened after they were forced to shut down by the Maoists, this boy serves as an example of hope for this strife-torn nation. ing sites such as Twitter and of America and the United the role that print format plays Facebook making the dis- Kingdom. will change. Former students reminisce about MASCOM experiences By Chinnu Rajan est a student could get to the Delhi-based senior Asianet an actual actual process in the newspa- reporter Deeju Sivadas, who newspaper. KOTTAYAM: This July per industry. switched to television after If you can will see the inauguration of Business Line senior sub- his train- survive 10 the 10th postgraduate print editor Ram Mohan, who ing in print months of journalism training course was in the third batch said journalism at MASCOM, Photo: Amelie Benoist at MASCOM (Manorama MASCOM focuses on the M A S C O M you can IMPROVING SKILLS: Sandra Oommen teaches Spoken English at MASCOM. Mrs Oommen stresses that as most newspapers School of Communication), basics. said, "A stu- work any- receive news in English from agencies, vernacular journalists have to translate the items before publication. an institute that many jour- “Though many deride such dent trained where.” nalism professionals consider a teaching process, being here is con- Srinivas Ramanujam, a to be one of the best in the strong in the basics is the only sidered to senior copyeditor with The country. way to become a better writer be a proper Times of India, Chennai, said Malayalam students improve English Students who underwent or editor,” he added. journalist.” going out training at MASCOM agree Sanjay Shankar Pandey, a A fifth-batch student and and looking that the training has prepared sixth-batch student, currently a subeditor at The Hindu, for stories for them for newspaper work in the senior Bangalore, the lab paper at MASCOM and add to their skills the best way. s u b e d i t o r S h a l i n helped the By Shilpy Bisht which makes them less to improve her accent and "Moreover, I tell the Shubhankar Adhikari, an with the T h o m a s students the exposed to the outside world," pronunciation and this has students to translate their eighth-batch MiD DAY s a i d , “ T h e most. KOTTAYAM: Considering Mrs Oommen said. made her confident in speak- own articles of 'Jalakam' student now in Mumbai, best people “If you can most vernacular newspapers “I try to improve their ing English. (Malayalam Weekly lab jour- with The said, “I have of the indus- find stories like Malayala Manorama English-speaking skills, For two years now, nal) into English.” Te l e g r a p h no hesitation try come as in Kottayam, you can find receive news from agencies in accent and vocabulary by MASCOM has been focus- Another student, Jaison in Kolkata, in saying I guest lectur- them anywhere in the world,” English, Sandra E Oommen, holding discussions and mak- ing on improving the English Thomas, noted translation is said that didn’t know ers to teach quipped the fourth-batch teaches spoken English to ing them read aloud excerpts writing skills of Malayalam an important element in Mrs bringing out how to put words together and and the guidelines they give student. Malayalam stream students at from books in English. students . Oommen’s training. MASCOM's form a sentence before com- certainly help.” The editing guidelines also MASCOM so they can handle "This will help them inter- “I don’t teach grammar "Each student translates lab newspa- ing to MASCOM. But now I Nirmala Nair, subeditor helped him a lot, he added. copy in English. view people in English." like in the fourth grade but I Malayalam news stories per, The Fourth Estate, was make a living out of it. Your with DNA Mumbai and a “For instance, when I wrote Mrs Oommen has been Ansu Baby, who is a help them construct sentences into English, which helps gruelling training in editing entire career depends on what sixth-batch student, said the 'per acre of land', KTO (as training students, since the Malayalam stream student of using the right tense and idi- us to cope with job tests as and page-making and the you learnt over there and not training given in MASCOM director K Thomas Oommen is inception of the institute in the ninth batch at MASCOM, omatic expressions,” said Mrs translation is one of the main rigid deadlines were the clos- what you were taught.” . is "exactly like working in widely known) told me, ‘You 2002, to improve their spoken said these classes have helped Oommen. requirements,” he said. can’t have acres of water, can and written English. you?'" For aspiring Malayalam Mr Adhikari was nostalgic journalists, Mrs Oommen when he recalled the frantic said exposure to English is Apathy, escalating costs stall Indian media gives short shrift timetable at MASCOM. But important in today’s world. he said, "Though the schedule Most of the students have is punishing, the newspaper studied English as their sec- Rs 60-crore waterways project to science, technology reports world is much tougher. ond language in school and (Continued from Page 1) (Continued from Page 1) science correspondent of The very often science stories get "It was while working with college, but they lack expo- Indian Express. killed, however good they my colleagues who are from sure to English. It has been found that since Science reporting in India But, it is unfair to suggest may be. other institutes, I realised the “Even if they major in the West Coast Canal is being can be compared to a simple that all the blame lies on the Illustrations play a major difference the MASCOM English they do not use the developed for movement of food chain, say, of a tiger. other side of the table. role. Due to lack of backup training makes." language outside the class, bulk carriages, the necessity The tiger, which is the final After all, in communica- photos and graphics, science to develop feeder canal sys- consumer, doesn’t get the tion, the medium plays the stories get buried in one of tem and navigable stretches same amount of energy that most important role and the the inside pages. Hence, of rivers from isolated areas the deer gets from the plant, problems and the solutions science coverage is affected to the main artery of water due to the energy loss in every lie in the hands of the media in every step and ultimately routes has become impera- step. itself. readers are provided with tive. Similarly, there is an infor- Most reporters don’t fol- limited number of stories. Hence, Government of mation loss in every step of low the scientific jargon. This In order to carry the ben- Kerala had undertaken a making a science report. It either leads to misinformation efits of science to the public, programme to improve feeder starts with the scientists, as or misconception. scientists at the 23rd Kerala canals and modernisation of Photo: Shruti Karthikeyan some journalists blame them “If inexperienced reporters Science Congress, suggested boat jetties. MAKING WAY: A temporary bridge opens to let through a for not providing enough meet scientists, they won’t be ideas such as good communi- However, by August 2005, boat plying through Kodoor River. The bridge was constructed information. able to understand what the cation between reporters and Bhageeratha could complete by local residents of Kanjiram in Thiruvarppu panchayat. “Research institutes in scientists are talking about scientists, depicting stories in Amelie Benoist Nadia Fazlulhaq only 12.43 per cent and the India do not have a system- and the information published an attractive way, avoiding contract was terminated on The construction of According to Water atic method to publish their will be factually incorrect,” technical writing, localisation Nov 14, 2005. Kanjiram Bridge and Resource Minister NK work,” said Gopal Raj, sci- said The Hindu science cor- of science news and revival MASCOM welcomes According to former Kottayam Boat Jetty terminal Premachandran, the work on ence correspondent of The respondent R Prasad. of traditional methods used in Member of Legislative was included in Phase One of these routes got delayed due Hindu. “And, it is not easy to And, if scientists are quoted rural areas through writing. Assembly VN Vasavan, the the feeder canal pilot project. to inter-departmental prob- talk to scientists.” wrongly, their reputation can According to science France and Sri Lanka feeder canals pilot project Construction of Kanjiram lems. But, the amount of research be affected. So, they are journalists, there is a healthy By Rakendu Leo French cuisine, Amelie under Phase One was re-ten- Bridge was executed through Kottayam IWT engineer done in foreign countries is reluctant to talk to reporters, competition among Indian said she has grown to like dered and the pending works KSTP and the original Binoy (who uses only one significant and most scientists Mr Prasad added. newspapers, which increases KOTTAYAM: It would not Malayalee dishes, of which were handed over by KSTP proposal was to construct name) refused to comment publish their work as there are Politics, crime and sex the chances of an improve- be easy for someone born appam is her favourite. to Messiers Piltech on Dec the bridge with the central on the delay. It is not clear several reputed international shape today’s newspapers. ment in science coverage. and brought up in France and Nadia Fazlulhaq, a Sri 22, 2007. span of 37m and two land whether all the work will be journals. So, most journalists want to Science journalism goes whose staple food is pasta, Lankan national, also trained The contract included con- spans of 37m on either side. completed as the remaining So, Indian newspapers pub- advance to political or crime well beyond the mere com- to switch to a daily diet of at MASCOM for six months. struction of approach road Bhageeratha Engineering amount of Rs 47 crore is lish many stories about the reporting and science is left in munication of data. The logi- rice and sambar. But, for She said her mother’s fish to Arpookara Road Bridge, Limited carried out only the likely to have lapsed. discoveries and inventions at the hands of relatively young cal and rational interpretation 23-year-old Amelie Benoist curry is what she missed most. Thiruvatta Road Bridge, piling works of the central A RTI response stated that foreign research institutes . and inexperienced reporters. should come to the fore and the change was inevitable as Nadia was reporting at the Boat terminal building at span of 37m and left the work the remaining amount of the The number of stories in This leads to a number of enable the readers to shape she came all the way from Sunday Times in Colombo, Changanacherry, four steel incomplete. project has been earmarked some branches of science, problems, the most important their lives, ideas and think- France to study journalism at when she was nominated for foot bridges and 12 boat jet- This bridge connects both for different works in Phase carried in The New Indian being that of reporters repeat- ing. MASCOM. the Lakshman Kadirgamar ties at different locations on the Mallarickal and Kanjiram One of the project. But, as per Express (TNIE) and The ing technical jargon due to And, the importance of Opting for a journalism Foundation scholarship the Alappuzha-Kottayam, wards. For 20 years, the information gathered from Hindu during March, was their lack of understanding. science can be established by school in India gave her an for specialised training at Alappuzha-Changanacherry Thiruvarppu panchayat offi- KSTP and other sources, it is estimated. While TNIE had Young reporters fail to inter- Albert Einstein's quote: “Yes, opportunity to explore South MASCOM. and Kottayam-Vaikom cials had been promising evident there is no remaining 38 stories based on foreign act with scientists and do not we have to divide up our time Asia, said Amelie, who also “The training that I received routes. the local residents of con- work in Phase One. sources and 31 on Indian cover spot-events. Reporters like that, between our poli- worked as a photographer in here is definitely priceless. It The new contract was for structing a concrete bridge Although waterways is sources, The Hindu had 22 also plagiarise as they depend tics and our equations. But Nepal for a few months. has really helped me in my Rs 6.5 crore and the deadline connecting both these wards. an an economical and eco- and 55 respectively. on foreign sources. to me, our equations are far “I like to travel, meet new job,” commented Nadia. for completion was June Public Works Department friendly way of mass trans- Scientists “treat the media Finally, the role of editors more important, for politics people and learn about differ- Language was a barrier 2009. (PWD) assistant engineer portation, it is neglected by as a necessary evil that creeps come into play. Editors con- are only a matter of present ent cultures,” she added. that both, Amelie and Nadia, Piltech civil contractor CS Bindu Kumar said one the government and neither into their workspace,” accord- sider science a “soft” topic concern. A mathematical But travelling comes at faced in carrying out their Abraham said the IWT gave reason for the delay in the the minister nor government ing to Pallava Bagla, a former that doesn’t boost sales. So, equation stands forever.” a cost and Amelie, who assignments. only the remaining work of construction of the bridge is is likely to take the respon- took two years to save the “It is tough to communi- Phase One to the company. the objection by the Irrigation sibility. money she needed to study cate with local residents, if Out of the four steel bridges department citing ecological During the inauguration of Food Chain of a Tiger (energy loss) at MASCOM, advises, “We you don’t know Malayalam,” only Maniyamparambu foot- issues. KSTP had submitted a the Kollam-Alappuzha boat should be ready to sacrifice remarked Nadia. bridge is complete and the new estimate of Rs 19 crore service in January, Transport everything for our passion,” Nadia returned to her job as other three proposed bridges to the government, but the Minister Jose Thettayil said, In Kerala, it is much a reporter at Sunday Times, are at Karapuzha, Prapuzha contract was finalised for Rs “We utilise only 20 per cent easier to contact officials to while Amelie, who has a and Pathinaril Chira. 14 crore and handed over to of our inland navigation gather information for her degree in photography from Mr Abraham said the work PWD in December 2010. potential.” stories whereas in France, it one of France's prestigious on these three bridges were The construction of this It is the responsibility of is almost impossible to get institutes, will join Agence terminated as the people in bridge and other works will the government to strive to even the contact numbers of France-Presse as an intern these places wanted bridges, begin only after the Assembly develop inland navigation Science Journalism (information loss) the ministers, she noted. with the goal of becoming a which would enable the polls are over, said the PWD for the economic and social Even though she misses photojournalist. movement of line boats. engineer. benefits of Kerala. Art; Saradha Mohan Kumar