Soumya Viswanathan TV Reporter Killed in Delhi

She was from Kuttipuram in Malappuram, Kerala


NEW DELHI: She was young, vivacious, liked by all and good at her job. Now, she is dead. Mystery shrouds the murder of a 25-year-old producer, from an English news channel early on Tuesday morning at Vasant Kunj in south-west Delhi. Soumya was found dead in her white Zen car with a bullet in her head around 3.40am, about half-a-kilometre from the Vasant Kunj police station on Nelson Mandela Road. She was headed home to C-9 block in Vasant Kunj.  more 

Media Coverage a Passionate appeal by B. S. Raghavan

Media Coverage: "Wanted a balanced Approach" by B. S. Raghavan 

Originally published by Rediff news

Media is Unfair to Azamgarh, a place known for Hindu-Muslim unity

For God’s sake, please stop this madness



Azamgarh is shocked, even angry, at the way the police and the media have labelled it a “nursery for terrorists” ever since the Jamia Nagar encounter in which the police gunned down two boys hailing from this district. In Sanjarpur village, which was raided by the Delhi ATS and UP Police, every journalist is eyed with suspicion.
“A news channel is frequently referring to Azamgarh as ‘aatank-garh’ (haven for terrorists). This is ridiculous. For God’s sake, please stop this madness,” frets a visibly upset Zahid, elder brother of Sajid, one of the two boys gunned down in Jamia Nagar.

What upsets them most is that this “historical place known for its Hindu-Muslim unity is getting a bad name just because of some misguided youngsters. Is it justified?” They ask this to every journalist visiting Azamgarh.

 “Because of its name, most people even think Azamgarh is Muslim-dominated, when actually Muslims form only 15 per cent of the population,”  said Islahi who was president of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) Student Union in the mid-60s.

In fact, Azamgarh, founded around 1665, is named after prince Azam, who was the son of a Rajput ruler.  Vikramajit, a descendant of the Gautam Rajputs, had embraced Islam, and Azam was one of the two sons he had from a Muslim wife. A large section of Muslims here were originally Thakurs or Rajputs who embraced Islam.

“The media and outside world are being unfair,” laments Chunnan Rai, a social worker and poet. “Even the forefathers of Allama Shibli Nomani (secular theologist) were Rajputs who converted to Islam,” he says. He also reminisces of Pandit Nehru’s visit to Azamgarh. “He stayed at the Shibli College guest house.” Shibli College principal Md Iftikhar Ahmed says half the 14,000 students there are Hindus. “Azamgarh has never witnessed any communal violence or major crime. Suddenly it is seen as a terror haven,” he says.

“Azamgarh was peaceful even during the post-Independence communal riots,” says former MP Santosh Singh. 

 ... full story  

M.F. Husain's Controversial Paintings

M.F. Husain's Controversial Paintings 

Media Today by B. R. Haran in News Today: Hindutva perspective

Media-people and ‘we’ the people

B. R. Haran

Letters@newstoda net.com

Monday, 22 September, 2008 , 03:30 PM      The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers. - Thomas Jefferson In general, the 'Media Ethics' or 'Journalistic Codes'comprise the principles of truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, fairness, public accountability and limitation of harm. Of late in India, it has become hard to find even one newspaper or one TV channel, which abides by these principles. Patrika Dharmahas become a thing of the past in this great land ofSanatana Dharma. Here space is 'sold' and news is 'marketed'. Selling and marketing are a part of business and quite naturally 'profit' becomes the objective. Nothing wrong! It is not fair to expect a newspaper or a TV channel to work as a non-profit organisation. But at the same time it is certainly fair to expect them to stick to the fundamentals of Patrika Dharma attributed to the above said principles and it is imperative that the media lives up to that expectation. India is a great Hindu nation, which has seen the evolution of world's greatest and oldest Hindu civilization spanning to thousands of years. In the last one thousand years, it has been subjected to foreign invasions and persecutions leading to the establishment and further growth of Abrahamic religions resulting in deterioration of its cultural heritage and religious traditions. The religious onslaughts of the Islamic invaders and the 'divide & rule' policy adopted by the Christian invaders have played havoc on the unity of the society making it stand divided along caste lines. The imposition of new educational system and distortion of the glorious history of the nation have also played their part in upsetting the behavioral patterns of the society within itself.  Unfortunately post independence too, the damaging systems continued, thanks to the grand old political party, which has truly betrayed the nation, which genuinely trusted and looked upon it for evolution and empowerment. The intellectual space has been allowed, by the powers that be, to be filled in by Marxists, Minorities and Pseudo-secularists and the same happened in the field of journalism too. The influx of foreign mercenaries and their influencing the intellectual field with their money power and also their capturing the media space with the collusion of Marxists and the pseudo-secularists has led to the devaluation of nationalistic principles. Now, India is flooded with Print & Electronic media houses that allegedly owe their allegiance to foreign masters, who deal with pseudo-secular political parties with a sole aim of de-Hinduising this great Hindu nation. If India still stands as a 'Hindu Nation' without losing its core values of religious tradition and cultural heritage despite the devastation perpetrated by the Abrahamic religions for more than thousand years, it is purely because of its spiritual strength and the basic principles of Sanatana Dharma. As the two Abrahamic religions are not true religions per se, but purely politico-religious concepts, or rather political concepts in the garb of religions, they operate with the aim of capturing this nation. To accomplish this aim, de-Hinduisation of India becomes a necessity, which can be realised only by capturing or influencing the four pillars of democracy. On the one side, they have slowly and steadily infiltrated into the political, bureaucratic, educational and health care systems and to some extent in judiciary also. On the other side, they indulge in expanding their land holdings, educational and health care institutions and infrastructures, increasing their domination even in entertainment industry, preaching & propagating their faith and converting the gullible masses. Their political influence helps them to increase their covert activities through their missionaries and NGOs and the media power extends huge support by projecting those activities as genuine.    If you don't read the newspaper, you are uninformed.  If you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed   - Author unknown   The present media industry in India is controlled by the unholy 'Marxist-Minority-Atheist' nexus showing scant regards to nationalistic principles. Extremely small section of the media works with patriotism, but sadly, it could not match the reach of the other side. The people are left with no other choice and they are unable to get to know the 'other side' of any story, which is projected in an identical way by all the newspapers and TV channels. In this kind of a scenario, the people easily get influenced by the distortion of facts and ultimately believe them as truth. This poisonous media operates with different strategies. While the main objective remains as de-Hinduisation of India, the strategies applied are, onslaught on religious tradition, attack on nationalistic principles, assault on cultural heritage and influencing the psyche.   Onslaught on religious tradition includes belittling Hindu Swamijis & Gurus, demeaning their institutions and ridiculing the customs, rituals & traditions. The media's attack on Sabarimala, Guruvayur, Amarnath, Kanchi Mutt, Puri Jagannath, etc, etc, are apt examples of this strategy. Assault on cultural heritage includes debating the goodness of Hindu festivals, concepts & traditional practices and destroying the Hindu cultural organisations by presenting concocted stories on them. Debating the festivals like Deepavali, Durga Puja & Janmashtami, etc, concepts like Kumbamela & Ramlila etc, practices like Ganesh Visarjanam & Aiyappa Makara Jyothi etc and activities of socio-cultural organisations like the RSS, etc and projecting them in bad light are best examples of this strategy.  Attack on nationalistic principles includes questioning the sanctity of the national song Vandemataram, encouraging the abuse of national flag& tricolour in the name of sports and games, supporting the habitual offender M F Hussain's nude depiction of Bharath Matha & other Hindu Deities in the name of creativity & freedom of art and insulting the Armed Forces & Police by presenting them in bad light for their strict actions against the terrorists and insurgents in the name of human rights. Consistently campaigning against the scrapping of Article 370, hanging of Afzal Guru, introduction of Common Civil Code and enacting of stringent anti-terror & anti-conversion laws is also a part of this strategy. Portrayal of perpetrators as ‘victims’ has been the worst strategy adopted by the media.  Influencing the psyche is a dangerous & venomous strategy, which is focused on the youth and student community. The so-called secularism, liberalism and freedom of expression are absolutely abused by the media for this purpose and it is indeed taking a heavy toll on the psyche of the generation next. Westernisation through vulgar pop music & dances, Fashion parades and Page-3 columns etc, 'liberal' columnists writing in support of pre-marital sex and homosexuality and TV channels promoting them through debates, presenting film personalities as 'cultural' icons, telecasting documentaries & serials denigrating Hindu culture and promoting western cultures, releasing supplements full of third rate movie masalas and shady pub-discothèque activities and carrying sleazy advertisements have horrifying influence in the minds of youngsters.   The one function that TV news performs very well is that when there is no news we give it to you with the same emphasis as if there were - David Brinkley  Apart from this, almost all newspapers and TV channels are either owned by political parties or others who owe their allegiance to them and hence the people are fed with only biased and distorted news & reports. Also there is this squalid concept called 'sting operation', which is normally used to help their political & communal affiliation by victimising the opposite parties through fraudulent ways. If, in a rare show of conscience, the government attempts to control the media, it protests against such steps and talks of 'self regulating mechanisms', but only a small section adheres to such a practice.  Strong measures need to be taken to rectify and streamline the mainstream media. Political parties or personalities must not be allowed to own either a newspaper or a TV channel. Sting operations must be banned and the so-called investigative reports must be authenticated with evidences. The so-called reality shows must be banned and the mini & mega serials must be subjected to censorship and the duration of mega serials must be fixed. TV commercials and Press advertisements must be censored and certified. Communally sensitive reports must be balanced and any deviation or distortion must be punished. 'Adult' contents must not be allowed in mainstream media.     Reports, which degrade the Indian culture, must not be allowed. Any reporting that deviates from the law or specified code of ethics, and, any reporting that harms an individual or an organisation must be punished. Courage, conviction and will are needed to bring in the above said measures and as things stand at present, it is highly unlikely that any government will do it. So, the onus lies on the people to regulate themselves and stay away from this mendacious menace, so that, they do not get influenced and feel free, think clear, breath fresh and stay united.  If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.  - Malcolm

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Kuwait to block YouTube

Kuwait plans to block YouTube over Islam content

Mon Sep 22, 2008 5:47am EDT

 

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KUWAIT, Sept 22 (Reuters ) - Kuwait has ordered local Internet service providers to block online video-sharing website YouTube over clips that could offend Muslims.

"Since the website displays the Koran in the form of songs sung with the oud (stringed instrument) ... and displays disrespectful pictures of the Prophet Mohammad ... please proceed with immediate effect in blocking the website www.youtube.com," read a copy of a memo obtained by Reuters.

The Ministry of Communications was not immediately available for a comment. The website could still be accessed in Kuwait on Monday.

Islamist and tribal groups managed to increase their grip on parliament in the pro-Western Gulf Arab state's May elections with some deputies demanding Kuwaiti broadcasters show more religious content.

YouTube is a unit of Internet search engine Google Inc (GOOG.O: Quote,Profile, Research, Stock Buzz

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Sir Tim Berners-Lee Founder of WWW, inaugurates a new World Wide Web Foundation

Internet is fostering disinformation, says web's creator By Jon Swaine The Telegraph.co.uk Last Updated: 12:01am BST 15/09/2008 Berners-Lee warns that culture of web is fostering disinformation Have your say: Do you believe everything you read on the web? False internet rumours: recent highlights The internet risks becoming a platform for cults, rumour and disinformation, according to Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the man credited with creating the web. He said that a new system needed to be put in place that would differentiate between reliable websites that use trusted sources and those that do not. "On the web, the thinking of cults can spread very rapidly and suddenly a cult which was 12 people who had some deep personal issues suddenly find a formula which is very believable," he told the BBC. "A sort of conspiracy theory of sorts and which you can imagine spreading to thousands of people and being deeply damaging." He said that he was especially concerned by the way the web had been used to stoke fears that the switching on of the Large Hadron Collider would destroy the earth, and to spread rumours that the combined MMR vaccine was causing harm to children. Sir Tim Berners-Lee is backing a new project, the World Wide Web Foundation, which aims to accelerate the progress of the internet and make it more easily available and accessible in developing nations. "The web is a tremendous platform for innovation, but we face a number of challenges to making it more useful, in particular to people in underserved communities," said Sir Tim Berners-Lee. "Through this new initiative, we hope to develop an international ecosystem that will help shape the future web. A more inclusive web will benefit us all." He said that the foundation's three main objectives were to advance "one web" that is free and open, expand the capability and robustness of the internet, and extend its benefits to all people on the planet. In a speech to mark the launch of the World Wide Web Foundation, Sir Tim observed that just 20 per cent of the world's population had access to the internet. "When you think about how the web is today and dream about how it might be, you must, as always, consider both technology and people," he said. "The web has been largely designed by the developed world for the developed world. But it must be much more inclusive in order to be of greater value to us all." Sir Tim singled out mobile phones as one area in which the web community needed to pull together to create a truly mobile internet, accessible to all. "The role of mobile technology in the poorest regions of the world merits particular attention. Numerous stories illustrate how mobile technology can help people meet their most basic health, nutrition, and education needs," he said. "Mobile banking and SMS used to communicate news of weather or crop prices or weddings are just a few examples of how empowered communities have begun to use information technology to overcome the lack of institutions (such as banks) or other infrastructure (such as roads). "We must listen to these stories. Grassroots innovation is what makes the web great." Link