----- Original Message ----- From: Sachin Phadte <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, October 16, 2003 11:36 AM Subject: [Goanet]BEN ANTAO: Free Goa's First Elections...
> I hope I am not paranoid, but I found the first chapter in the book 'Behind > The News: Voices From Goa's Press' somewhat disturbing. This refers to the > article "Sixties' stories: Free Goa's first elections" by Ben Antao................. ...................... So, I wonder at the relevance of the media in fulfilling the needs of the society. I wonder if the lesson is that the society has a mind of its own which cannot be manipulated. And perhaps this is what Rajan Narayan should keep in mind in his new venture. COMMENTS: If I may say so, I too was taken aback to hear what Ben had to say in his e-book article. It was sort of daring and being completely honest. It shed a lot of light as to what goes on behind the scene at the table of the editor of a newspaper. I am told that Press makes or breaks people, organisations, political parties et al. And as Sachin has said, after all said and done, the mighty clout of the newspapers might not necessarily see the concerned necks severed altogethr, bruised may be. (relevance) All this talk of the role of a Free Press or what goes behind the making of a Free Press which has generated into a debate as a result of the attempts made by Goa's CM to gag the Press in Goa can be advantagious to the IGO that Rajan Narayan is planning to come out with. As a participant in yesterday's smallish but very high profile meet, (re IGO) a very relevant question was asked. "Is this weekly going to be the Parrikar and/or the BJP basher?" Associating Rajan with any paper would automatically give that picture. But I hardly think Rajan will be able to do that, specially when unlike in the case of Herald, he will have to think of the paper's circulation. And Parrikar and or BJP bashing and/or druming the communal and saffronisation beat over too excessively would be disastrous, economically. One must realise that as far as Goa is concerned, the vacuum for good things and orderliness for over 40 years has made people realise that if the government has the will, things can be done. They see things done and they like what they see. Telling them that they are dreaming or telling them that it reeks of saffron tinge is not going to get results. Even those who are conscious of the happenings will tend to get bored to death to hear the record being permanently stuck on playback mode. Sometimes people are just plain adamant rather than ideologically inclined. Any one who can perform better will be the Sikandar. I think we need a more balanced weekly that can last for a few days rather than a few minutes. For most readership, it is the obituary section or the sports page that justifies spending a couple of rupees to purchase the newspaper. For others it would be the sensational headlines like rape. Very few will go through the editorials and editorial page articles. And what is worst, for people like myself, it becomes next to impossible to hold the yesterday's newpaper in hand even if it was lying on the table immaculately folded and unread for some reason or the other.And it is definately forgotten the day after. Therefore, a weekly has a chance of being looked at again because it comes once a week. Therefore, balancing it so that it finds favour with all types of readership becomes important. And I am sure, Rajan Narayan and the people associated with him as his advisors and helping friends will realise just that. By no means this weekly should be cowardly to come out with authenticated facts, no matter who it might hurt. And by no means it should fall in the trap to make or break a person, an organisation, a political party and such others. If someone needs to be broken let it be broken, if something needs to be built-up let it be built-up on its own merits. And if someone needs to be neglected or passed over, let it be passed over without fear or favour. The weekly must do its job of keeping its readership well informed, alert and satisfied. The weekly should , in other words, not be the mouth piece of any one person, organisation or a political party etc. If this is the case, then I tend to believe that IGO has a future in Goa and will be able to change Goa's destiny, of how Goans think and act to better their own selves rather than be taken for a ride by selfish ideologies and manipulations. I believe that people by nature are selfish and will want better thing for themselves more than they will want thing be done as according to someone else's ideologies and preferences. Viva IGO, Viva Goa. Floriano goasuraj. PS All said and done, I do not mean to say that the dailies can be dispensed with. They are the necessary part of our lives. ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
