------------------------------------------------------- CONVENTION OF THE GOAN DIASPORA FROM GOA INTO THE WORLD Lisbon, Portugal June 15-17, 2007 Details at: http://www.casadegoa.org -------------------------------------------------------
In our democratic society, the media is the most important resource for all news concerning the government and politics. But to what extent does the media influence public opinion? It is an accepted fact that the opinion expressed by the media influences the opinion adopted by the people. Unfortunately, the media generally adopts a negative stand towards politics and the government which is reflected in the increasing number of people who sit at home on election day. The press generally expresses raw data, coupled with the opinion of that particular publication, which is then formed into opinions. Of late, specially in Goa, the media influence on the public is reached such a limit that the public are no longer capable of critical thinking. The results of the 2007 polls, which were supposed to be the most important in Goa's History, can be blamed squarely on the media. I strongly feel the Media shirked it's responsibility of providing 'politically correct' news by provided heavily biased reports. The loss of several worthy candidates can be blamed on a series of newspaper advertisements which strangely and closely resembled normal articles. People like Mathany Saldanha, Floriano Lobo who have Goa's best interests at heart were sidelined in the media as huge write-ups were coming daily about Mauvin Godinho's macabre achievements, or Narvekars few achievements, sidelining all his environmentally destructive projects. For any neutral observer, it would seem like several Goan media stalwart organisations like Goa Plus, Herald, And Goan Observer, were financially backed by the Congress. The way the press attacked BJP leader Manohar Parrikar is very unbecoming of what the press should be like. I hate to be repititive, but the duty of the press is to provide news which enables the public to form opinions, not to form opinions themselves and shove them down someone's throats. All the efforts of the GBA and other NGOs were laid to waste as the same scoundrels and dragons responsible for the scams in the past came back to power. Infact, I'm inclined to believe that whatever anyone says, certain people (you know who they are) have booked and reserved their Assembly seats for a long time to come by distributing money and liquor to the less privileged. The fact that the same people were re-elected can also be blamed on some organizations consisting of people who call themselves 'public spirited citizens and NGOs', who even made lists of whom they wanted elected (Without giving reasons) and distributed them. (Nothing wrong with that, but they ignored a lot of really honest and dedicated people because of reasons best known to them). Also, another group from Margao which is famous for the large and visually attractive campaigns against Manohar Parrikar and the BJP, is allegedly funded by the Congress. Where else would an ordinary citizens group get the funds to publish page length advertisements on newspapers, which I've found out cost Rs.45000 each? Certain people in Cortalim, Navelim, Aldona and St.Cruz, in their selfishness, sowed the evil seeds of alcohol among the youth, in exchange for their votes. None of this was brought to the notice of the press. NDTV investigations which showed that Babush Monserrate accepted humongous bribes during his tenure as TCP minister, was also blissfully ignored by the print media. The Jeedendra Deshprabhu episode, wherein he had a rave party in his courtyard with free flow of drugs, as revealed by NDTV, also escaped the attention of the print media. It's a shame for us goans that a National media broadcaster like NDTV is more concerned about our land than our own Goan media companies are. Shame on us....!!! And a few random lines about Babush Monserrate's re-election in Taleigao. After all the things he's done, destroying Goa and selling it to the mafia, that he still gets re-elected proves that either the Taleigao electorate is exceptionally brainless or that he's got the Election Commission in his back pocket. Same with Dayanand Narvekar, many of who's shady projects blatantly flout environmental norms. He too gets re-elected, after a lot of fights started by him and his supporters in Aldona constituency (Read Gomantak Times). So here we are, in 2007, after the massive GBA movement and a lot of awareness campaigns, but we are stuck with the same people, along with some Congress invitees, like Vishvajeet Rane, and Mauvin Godinho. Maybe the Goan electorate is getting rid of the scoundrels in batches, as a friend remarked, but as we see, we are getting new scoundrels in the fray, worse than the ones who we knocked out. Unfortunately Goa is back in the hands of the same irresponsible people. But now we cannot blame the government. If as expected, the new corrupt Congress led government screws up yet again, we don't blame them. This time we blame ourselves. --- Nigel Britto, Porvorim -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/attachments/20070605/5a075043/attachment.html ------------------------------------------------------- Goanet recommends, and is proud to be associated with, 'Domnic's Goa' - A nostalgic romp through a bygone era. This book is the perfect gift for any Goan, or anyone wanting to understand Goa. Distributed locally by Broadway, near Caculo Island, Panjim & internationally by OtherIndiaBookStore.Com. 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