I say, laugh we may at the Indian Press, but I commend your ability to disect the press in the aftermath. i doubt many western media ( powerful enough to create the watergate and clinton affairs breaking news) would apologize any more ferverntly. kudos to the indian media!!! now, can you bring down the laughable politicians? anthony
----- Original Message ----- From: "Goanet News" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Goanet" <goanet@lists.goanet.org>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 5:41 PM Subject: [Goanet-News] COMMENT: Stories that are too good to check(Siddharth Varadarajan, in The Hindu) > http://www.hindu.com/2008/07/01/stories/2008070152221100.htm > > Stories that are too good to check > > Siddharth Varadarajan > > Several Indian newspapers fell victim to a hoax about the arrest > of a supposed Nazi war criminal. Apart from the media's alarming > ignorance, the episode also reveals our fascination for > unconfirmed news from 'intelligence' sources. > > On Sunday, an email message from 'Hamman Smit,' press officer from > 'Perus Narpk' from Shede Road in Berlin arrived in the inbox of > several journalists in Goa and Bangalore. The message identified > 'Perus Narpk' as the "intelligence wing of the German Chancellor's > core" (sic) and claimed credit for the arrest on the > Karanataka-Goa border of a fugitive Nazi war criminal named Johann > Bach who was responsible for the killing of 12,000 Jews in the > 'Marsha Tikash Whanaab' concentration camp. The email contained a > press release full of outlandish details about the operation, > including the claim that the octogenarian Bach had revealed his > identity to a holidaying Israeli couple during a rave party in > Goa, and had stolen an 18th century piano from a museum in 'East > Berlin' which he was trying to sell through a local newspaper. > Suggestive clues > > The email was literally full of clues suggesting it was a hoax. > The author revealed he was "hamming," his office was on 'Shady' > road and the rather un-Germanic 'Perus Narpk' was an anagram for > 'Super Prank.' Even if the journalists did not know there was no > concentration camp with the name 'Marsha Tikash Whanaab,' a quick > search on the Internet might have at least triggered a warning > light. And yet, a number of hacks and their editors rushed to > print with this sensational story without bothering to check any > of its hilarious details. > > The Telegraph ran the story on Monday under the headline "Goa > piano 'thief' found to be Nazi war fugitive." It quoted > "Intelligence Bureau officials" saying that Mr. Bach had come to > India via Argentina, Bulgaria and Canada. The story was > accompanied by a world map showing how Mr. Bach crisscrossed the > world before ending up in Goa. The word 'unconfirmed' was inserted > parenthetically next to Yemen, suggesting that the newspaper had > confirmed all other aspects of the story. > > And how was this terrible criminal caught? The newspaper provided > this breathless account: "Goa's beaches are frequented by young > Israeli couples, most of them seeking leisure after a term of > compulsory military service in their country. Bach, mistaking the > couple for Americans, told them he had 'managed' a Nazi > concentration camp during the war. The German authorities put two > and two together when they realised that the museum from where the > piano was stolen was located close to a concentration camp in > Berlin. They already knew that the camp was run by a young man > named Bach, who was never caught after the war." > > The Indian Express went one step ahead of its competitors with an > exclusive detail, noting in its headline that the "Nazi war > criminal" had already been "airlifted to Berlin." Clearly, if the > story was too good for journalists to check, it was too good for > the police to deny: "Though local police and intelligence agencies > in Karnataka said they were 'unaware' of the operation," the > Express noted, "Karnataka Additional DGP for Intelligence Shankar > Bidari said his office had received information of the arrest on > Saturday morning. He also said the alleged war criminal had been > moved to Germany." The only saving grace in the newspaper's > account was its attempt to cross-check the story with the German > authorities: "Officials at the German embassy, when contacted, > said they had received no information of the arrest in Goa." > > The Deccan Herald, which had all the usual details, also informed > its readers that the arrested Nazi was "a brilliant musician like > his illustrious 18th Century namesake" and later ""rose high in > the Nazi hierarchy." The newspaper also said that Mr. Bach's > whereabouts "have been kept a secret" and that he would be put on > trial ""at the International Court of Justice, The Hague." > Rediff.com complained about the unhelpful attitude of the Indian > police. "Although so much information regarding Bach has > surfaced," it wrote, "both the Karnataka and Goa police continue > to opt for the denial mode… The Belgaum police, when questioned as > to what Bach was doing in the jungles at Khanapur, said they were > unaware of any such arrest." > > This brilliant hoax was the handiwork of 'Penpricks' a > journalists' collective in Goa whose blog, penpricks.blogspot.com, > is dedicated to discovering "the rotund flanks and the shaggy > underbelly of the Goan media. And of course, the rare honest rib." > One of its more celebrated exposes was the debunking of a story > run by CNN-IBN about the Russian mafia taking over land in Goa. > Penpricks also criticised The Herald for offering to strike a deal > for the sale of lead editorials after it posed as a business house > interested in positive coverage. > > But even if the immediate target of Penpricks was the Goan media, > it has succeeded in exposing the underbelly of the Indian media as > a whole. Indeed, there is nothing surprising about the hoax > receiving such widespread play in the national press. For though > the 'Johann Bach' story was outlandish, it was no more so than the > reports regularly put out by Indian police departments about the > arrest of terrorism suspects. > > It is easy to laugh at the gullibility of reporters and editors in > the 'Bach' case but is our profession any less gullible when it > uncritically regurgitates improbable, unverified and unverifiable > details provided by the police in virtually all terrorism cases? > Do any of us ever stop to ask how the police is able to reveal > intimate details about a suspect's prior movements and > associations within hours of arresting him? One of the country's > worst kept secrets is that the police admit to having arrested a > suspect days and sometimes even weeks after first taking him into > custody. During this period of custody, the suspect is worked over > and only after there is nothing more to extract is his "arrest" > announced to the media. More often than not, the suspect will be > paraded before photographers and journalists who will faithfully > note down every 'fact' provided to them by the police. Some of > these 'facts' may well be true; but in accepting them at face > value, that too from a source whose tendency to distort and > mislead is legendary, are we really all that different from the > victims of Perus Narpk? >
