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Chandan:
Thank you for the great site.
I had a glimpse of Tehelka. You may
call me dumb, but I did not know that Tehelka is actually is a Newspaper,
although I have heard the name before. Looking at the Newspaper, I could not
form any opinion, at least not to the positive side. At least I did not find any
attraction that I would like to go back unless some other time I see something
which Let me give my comments on 3 news that i saw.
1) The one on North East: I already
rejected as it does not contain any beef, just rhetoric. (May be Tehelka's some
other in depth news report might contain some real material. But that did not
help me.) I need the whole story like NPR would give me.
2) The one of Radio-Why Govt is afraid of:
Did not impress me at all. Seems Tehelka is trying to create News out of
something which is not news at all. Instead it would have made a great
story if Tehelka would have reported just as a story reported by NPR without
trying to show that govt is afraid of radio etc. I did not see anywhere
where govt is afraid of radio, Just tell the story. People are not dumb,
They will understand. Please don't do the thinking for me.
3) I saw another headline story- What is
wrong with Delhi males, and why 35% of rapes cases happen in Delhi etc etc.I
could not read the whole story, but the headline did not impress me at all. Is
Tehelka trying to show that Delhi males are somewhat different than other Indian
males in other cities? Again, I would have liked it just as a story showing rape
statistics in all the major cities, how these are reported, how many are being
not reported, how the authority is handling, which cities are inefficient, how
these statistics compare to new York, Bangkok, London, Los Angeles, Rio De
Janeiro etc. How many rapes are happening in the rural India which are not being
reported at all. - Now that I will call a in depth NPR type of reporting. Once
you read or listen, suddenly you are full of knowledge and you know that you
have been told the whole story.
Lot of time, you achieve more if you just
tell the whole story without trying to judge.
Long time ago, I saw a movie Salaam
Bombay. That movie has given us the whole story about Bombay prostitution
without trying to judge anybody. You as an audience be the judge. And that movie
was so powerful that I feel and remember the scenes even now. Now if Tehelka
would have tried to depict the same story with lot of punch lines, probably it
would not have impressed me much.
In my opinion reporting should leave you
room to think. If reporting try to do the thinking for you, and treat you as a
dumb audience, and try to tell you this is happening because of this this and
this, then I think the news paper control you. (Yes newspapers have Editorial
for that).
Moreover, I am not a newspaper man. I
donot subscribe to any news paper and do not read any news paper at all. I
simply try to keep track of the bigger picture. I don't want to know in details
what is exactly happening in Kolkata street. I already know it. The bottom line
is "India is a functioning anarchy" We know it already. Question is why and if
it is getting better or worse. If Tehleka's news report will give me clue to
that, then I would be impressed.
This is not to say that Tehelka type of
newspaper is not serving any purpose. Yes in de,ocracy we need all these. It
will make the people involved. But the same can be done by subtle reporting the
whole story. That will give more creditabilty to the newspaper in my
opinion.
Anyhow, may I wrote more than I wanted to
Anyhow thank you for that great site. All
the worlds newspaper at your fingertip.
We should feel so good that we are living
at such a great age.
Thanks
Rajen
---- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, May 22, 2005 5:03 PM
Subject: Re: [Assam] Again, from
Tehelka
My question is not about Tehelka -the IJ outfit, but IJ of the kind
that Tehelka produces. IJ, which, by its nature, cannot be NEUTRAL as I
showed, just like garden variety journalism as BBC 's or NPR's or NY
Times'.
I still would like to see examples of NEUTRAL journalism.
But to read the major articles you will need to subscribe to it. Fee is $
49.00 per year or $ 10.00 per month.
At 4:26 PM -0500 5/22/05, Barua25 wrote:
Frankly
speaking, I never commeneted on Tehelka's reporting. I was simply commenting
on what you are saying about Tehelka's reporting as your response
to Ganesh Bor'a comment.
To comment
on Tehe;lk'a reporting, I will have to have some experience about
Tehelka's reporting like I have for some other media like BBC. NPR, CNN, ABC
and others.
Where do
I find their reporting ?
May be I
will read if I find that they are honest and stick to the truth without any
spin.
May be I
will be a fan even.
Rajen
----- Original Message -----
From: Chan
Mahanta
To: Barua25 ;
assam@pikespeak.uccs.edu
Sent: Sunday, May 22, 2005 3:46 PM
Subject: Re: [Assam] Again, from Tehelka
Just one question :
Is the kind of IJ that Tehelka is providing meet RB's approval
as one of the saviors of desi-demokrasy?
At 1:31 PM -0500 5/22/05, Barua25 wrote:
>In a
typical tribal district where the literacy rate among women is less than
20 percent, the government will give you a license >to run a
newspaper, but if you want to transmit the sound of drums, or your songs
to more people, you will not be allowed to >do so legally by a modern
scientific technique. Ten years back, the Supreme Court decided that
radio waves are >public property and the government has no exclusive
rights over them - but the decision is gathering dust. No
>institution of the civil society has filed a contempt plea against
the government.
Very difficult to
understand what exactly the reporter is trying to say. Too much
NOISE.
All I could get is
:
(1) GOI is not giving
license to private Radio Stations against the Supreme Court Law
and
(2) Nobody is
complaining.
Without knowing the source,
I am assuming that this is a FACT.
My question is WHY to
both.
I did not know that Supreme
Court has given that positive verdict in India.
Good for democracy. Imagine
this in Saudi Arabia, China, Iran or even Egypt. Do they allow
private Radio Stations?
Any follow
up?
We need more VOICE with
more punch please.
We need private Radio
Stations to popularize Talk Show so that the public can participate in
democracy. The guiding principle for Radio Stations (like News Papers)
should be that they must speak the TRUTH to earn creditability.
Otherwise they will not get public support and eventually will die
down.
Rajen
----- Original Message -----
From: Chan
Mahanta
To: assam@pikespeak.uccs.edu
Sent: Sunday, May 22, 2005 9:19 AM
Subject: [Assam] Again, from Tehelka
Another BIASED story against Indian Democracy :-).
Highlighting is mine.
cm
******************************************************************************
Why is the government afraid of free
radio?
Community radio stations in India could be the new
chaupals, the shared public space, the collective decision-maker and
grassroots problem-solver of the day, writes Shubhranshu
Choudhary
Radio Democracy: parking attendant in south Delhi
with a transistor
Photo Dharmender Ruhil
You accept TV channels,
newspapers, but not radioŠ Does this not remind you of Dronacharya and
Eklavya?
We cannot be part of any institution of your civil
societyŠ Because historically we are not part of the civilised worldŠ
For that matter the civilised world has been at war with the 'savage,
uncivilised tribals'Š and we do not even wish to be a part of the
civil society."
This was the voice of a friend who works with
the tribals in India, and we were discussing the contributions that
civil society institutions can make for legalising community radio.
Like the others participating in the discussion, I too was
shaken.
We have often acknowledged that the tribal society is
more refined than the rest. I remember my exchange with a woman
activist in the Narmada Bachao Andolan. She used to work in the deep
interiors in the forests among tribal communities, and I had asked her
if she was not afraid to move around on her own. She was quite
surprised, "I feel afraid on the streets of Mumbai. Not here. These
people are more civilised than us. In their society there has been no
rape till this day." Although I recounted this story during the
discussion, I did feel that my friend's antagonism was not
unjustified.
Earlier, tribals used to transmit messages on
their drums; that was their own inherited technique of communication.
Modern science invented radio waves but the control on the new
technology was intentionally limited.
In a typical tribal district where the literacy rate
among women is less than 20 percent, the government will give you a
license to run a newspaper, but if you want to transmit the sound of
drums, or your songs to more people, you will not be allowed to do so
legally by a modern scientific technique. Ten years back, the
Supreme Court decided that radio waves are public property and the
government has no exclusive rights over them - but the decision is
gathering dust. No institution of the civil society has filed a
contempt plea against the government.
Vikram Krishna of Radiophony says: "Radio technique is
very economical. With the expense of only a few thousand rupees, every
village can start its own radio station. But our Union government,
which is allowing several TV stations to be set up, finds the radio a
threat to national security. It permits foreign security agencies to
use the radio technique, but not its ordinary rural
folk."
Recently, some tribal women associated with a
voluntary organisation in Vishakhapatnam set up their own radio
station. But the police confiscated their equipment because "they were
indulging in illegal activities".
In the jungles of
Kupwara in Kashmir, Indian army officials acknowledge that there is a
Mujahideen frequency which is operational. They listen to it regularly
on their fm radios, "because on their frequency the news and
information is more accurate". Even they can't understand how the
security situation can be improved by not allowing the common man to
have access to radio. They argue, "If radio is allowed in the far
flung areas it would change the life of the people. They can then be
part of the mainstream."
But the government seems paranoid.
The bizarre logic of allowing songs, entertainment and advertisements
and not news on commercial fm radio stations is incomprehensible. Why
is the government scared of the community radio
networks?
Statistics show that more than half the country
does not have access to electricity, leave alone TV. If they are
earning the so-called minimum wages, they are unable to afford
newspapers either. These figures also tell us the probable reason for
this fear of non-governmental news on radio. A radio can be purchased
for only Rs 50. And a radio station can be set up for about Rs
10,000.
So why am I surprised when my tribal friends say, "We
find this just like the film Lagaan, where the Englishman invites the
'uncivilised Indians' to play cricket, or when the civilised world has
open tournaments for hockey, wrestling and archery on astroturf, or if
they use technically advanced expensive equipment which is out of our
reach. You accept TV channels, newspapers, but not radioŠ Does this
not remind you of Dronacharya and Eklavya?"
I once saw an
'illegal radio station' operating in an open meeting of a voluntary
organisation. Around 250 tribals had gathered from different parts of
the country. They did not share one universal language and any
meaningful communication would have been well nigh impossible. So four
fm stations were set up, one for Oriya, another for Telugu, a third
for Hindi and the fourth in English. Simultaneous translations were
available on radio sets. People spoke in their own language and every
adivasi could listen in his own language on his Rs 50 radio with a
pair of headphones.
This was the true realism of democracy. Everyone
had something to contribute because they could all understand what was
going on and say what they wanted to. I could actually see how
democracy can be decisively weakened by not allowing freedom of
_expression_ to people in a language they are comfortable
with.
It is no longer necessary to look at success
stories in the western developed countries. They abound in smaller,
poorer neighbouring countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh
where the radio has shown people the way to talk to each other, and
solve their own problems through interactive, creative communication.
Surely, the radio stations could be the new chaupals, the shared
public space, the collective decision-maker and grassroots
problem-solver of the day. It can also be a joyful endeavour,
preserving folk and oral traditions, breaking casteist stereotypes,
bridging gaps among religious communities, helping build a truly
secular, egalitarian and pluralist society.
So why is it
dangerous for people to talk to each other?
The writer
was formerly with the BBC
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