[Goanet] Goa CM's Rs 32.68-Crore (Rs 326.8 million) Advertising Largesse Ensures He's in Firm Control of Media (Devika Sequeira, The Wire)
Pramod Sawant's bloated budget has helped sugar-coat media coverage around his person and leadership. Recently, the Goa edition of Lokmat ran over 14 pages of his birthday ads Goa CM's Rs 32.68-Crore Advertising Largesse Ensures He's in Firm Control of Media Pramod Sawant. Photo: Twitter/@DrPramodPSawant Devika Sequeira 22/May/2023 Panjim: Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant turned 50 on April 24. The personal milestone fetched him "special" interviews in almost all the local newspapers with some exceptions. In the English daily O Heraldo, Sawant's birthday interview made it to the top of page one, as it did in the Marathi newspaper Navprabha. Preceded by full-page ads that glorified him to almost cult status à la Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the chief minister's golden anniversary interview found space on page three in the Navhind Times and Lokmat. The Goa edition of Lokmat scored over 14 pages of Sawant's birthday ads -- there were six full-pagers in Pudhari -- gushing in fawning admiration for the once backbencher BJP MLA who has quickly picked up the art of self-projection and media management. Goa's print media were not the only ones obsequiously falling in line to cover the non-news event of a politician's birthday. Homegrown digital players, most of which exist only on social media, went a step further to provide live feed of Sawant cutting his birthday cake at his home in Sanquelim. The "enterprising" Goa News Hub even managed an "exclusive" interview with the chief minister's father, Pandurang Sawant who welled up over his son's childhood and his unlikely climb to the top after the former defence minister Manohar Parrikar's death in March of 2019. Till last year, O Heraldo which claims to be "the largest selling English daily" in Goa, had hitched its media group to almost exclusively promote Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress party in the state's February 2022 legislative assembly election. When that partnership sank with the TMC's zero score in the Goa election, the newspaper did not hold back its punches. With stinging and editorialised reporting it blamed TMC for not holding its end of the bargain and for "forcing" Luizinho Faleiro to give up his Rajya Sabha seat. Faleiro who had moved from the Congress to TMC in September 2021 with an eye on the Goa February 2022 election was elected to the Rajya Sabha in November 2021 from a seat vacated by a TMC MP. Goa's print and broadcast media have a long-standing reputation for peddling promotional content as "news" with little compunction, particularly during elections. The regional media's notoriety as purveyors of "paid news" has found a smart investor in the chief minister who is proving to be far more hard-nosed and wily than his critics had given him credit for. While the Union government has cut down drastically on its media advertising expenditure in the last few years, with most legacy media brought to heel, Sawant has given himself a bloated budget to sugar-coat media coverage around his person and leadership. Between April 2020 to February of this year, the Goa government spent over Rs 32.68 crore on advertisements to media organisations big and small, according to documents tabled in the state's legislative assembly on March 27, 2023. In response to a question from Aam Aadmi Party MLA Venzy Viegas, Sawant said no agency had been appointed to "publicise" government schemes, but this was being done directly through government ads released by the state's department of information and publicity (DIP), which of course is one of the chief minister's portfolios. Also read: India's Overt and Covert Chilling of Press Freedom Among the big ticket beneficiaries of the government's media ad spends are The Goan group which cornered a bonanza of Rs 5.15 crore over the last three years, the Navhind Times group which got Rs 3.17 crore, the Sakal-owned Gomantak group (Rs 2.67 crore), Tarun Bharat (Rs 2.58 crore), O Heraldo group (Rs 2.2 crore), Lokmat (Rs 2.26 crore), Pudhari (Rs 1.83 crore), Times of India (Rs 1.48 crore) and Republic Media (Rs 1.19 crore). Sawant's publicity splurge also extended to those with connections to the BJP and Sangh-affiliated publishing houses. Mirchi Republic Media Productions an events management company run by one Bansi Balbhim Khedekar got Rs Rs 3.31 cr in ad support as a "radio agency". Among the Sangh publications, Bharat Prakashan, which brings out Organiser and Panchjanya, and Kovai Media which publishes Swarajya and a handful of others got Goa government ads worth over Rs 1 crore collectively. Even the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) souvenir managed a generous Rs 10 lakh. While hardline right-wing publications like Sanatan Prabhat (which got Rs 21.64 lakh) have been generously supported by Pramod Sawant, India's public broadcaster Pras
[Goanet] Plan to get historical papers from Portugal put on hold: Minister
Minister for archives and archaeology Subhash Phal Dessai told TOI that when the state decided to send a delegation to Portugal to bring back the documents, “some people tried to create controversy” saying that the delegations wanted to go on a trip to Portugal. https://epaper.timesgroup.com/article-share?article=21_05_2023_003_004_toigo_TOI -- FN * +91-9822122436 * 784 Saligao 403511 Bardez Goa --- YouTube Channels --- FN https://www.youtube.com/c/FrederickFNNoronha/videos or https://bit.ly/FNOnYouTube FN1 https://bit.ly/FNVideos1 FN2 https://bit.ly/FNVideos2 --- ---
[Goanet] Schedule for Thursday 25th May 2023
CCR TV GOA Channel of God's love You can also watch CCR TV live on your smartphone via the CCR TV App Available on Google PlayStore for Android Platform. Click the link below. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ccr.tv4 Email ID: ccrgoame...@gmail.com Schedule for Thursday 25th May 2023 12:00 AM Rosary - Luminous Mysteries 12:28 AM Fatima Saibinnichie Vinovnnem Devachim Svotontr Fr Edson Fernandes 12:44 AM Povitr Atmeachem Noven - Satvo Dis 1:00 AM Mass in Konkani for Wednesday 1:45 AM Novena to the Holy Spirit - Day 7 2:00 AM Saibinnichi Ruzai - Uzvaddache Mister 2:26 AM Devachem Utor - Stotram - Avesor 43 -Vachpi Orlando D'Souza 2:30 AM Concert - Mhozo Tallo Aikar 2022 - Part 2 3:33 AM Activists of Goa - Dr. Fr. Bolmax Pereira interviewed by Daniel F. de Souza 4:24 AM Literally Goa - Leonard Fernandes interviewed by Frederick Noronha 4:50 AM Ximpientlim Motiam -Bhag 247 - UDAR MON - Fr Pratap Naik sj 4:59 AM Kolakarachi bhett - Celeste Pereira interviewed by Meena Goes 5:21 AM Hymns - St Thereza's HS , Raia 5:25 AM Career Guidance - Training for Civil Service Examinations 5:48 AM Our Father - in Punjabi 5:50 AM Devache Dhonniponn amchea Jivitant - Talk by Orlando D'Souza 6:16 AM Bible Project - Gospel of Luke - Ch 9 - 19 6:21 AM Dev Amkam Kiteak Pekhoita - Dominic Rodrigues 6:50 AM Music - Quando, quando - Jazz Goa 6:55 AM Sokalchem Magnnem - Eastertide 7:00 AM Praise and Worship - Magno Menezes - SJVRC 7:33 AM Morning Prayer - Eastertide 7:36 AM Devachem Utor - Stotram - Avesor 44 -Vachpi Orlando D'Souza 7:43 AM Music - From Jazz Goa - 3rd Anniv 8:00 AM Advertisements 8:05 AM Abundant Life - Peer Pressure - Prof Nicholas D'Souza 8:54 AM Our Father - Kannada 9:01 AM LSS - Holy Spirit and Baptism in the Holy Spirit - Dr Brenda Nazareth Menezes 9:36 AM Maria Sangata Synodachea Provas - Benjamin Monserrate 9:45 AM Dev Amkam Kiteak Pekhoita - Dominic Rodrigues 10:16 AM Devache Dhonniponn amchea Jivitant - Talk by Orlando D'Souza 10:41 AM Wisdom Reflections -14 - Rachol Professors 11:08 AM Novena to the Holy Spirit - Day 7 11:21 AM Intercessions - English 11:28 AM Regina Caeli (English) 11:30 AM Mass in English 12:15 PM Jivitacho Prokas 12:18 PM Consecrated Life - Precious Blood Missionaries 12:41 PM Hymns - Mae de Deus H.S. Corjeum 12:51 PM Literally Goa - Maria Do Ceu Barreto interviewed by Frederick Noronha 1:19 PM Ximpientlim Motiam -Bhag 247 - UDAR MON - Fr Pratap Naik sj 1:26 PM Entrepreneurship - Audrey Menezes interviewed by Basil D'Cunha 1:50 PM Bhokti Lharam- Bhag 6 1:59 PM Creative Strokes - Wilfred Goes 2:23 PM Hymn - Teri Upasthiti - Savina & Leon Gonsalves 2:30 PM Kolakarachi bhett - Jerson Fernandes interviewed by Meena Goes 2:52 PM Pope's Intention in English 2:57 PM Ask Dr Sweezel - Should I get a Massage? 3:02 PM Holy Spirit - Aditi Silveira 3:26 PM Saint Claire of Assisi 3:27 PM Atmik Ekchar 3:28 PM Bhurgem Zaunchem Asa Team Avoiancher Bhagevont Zuze Vazache Mozotin Magnnem 3:30 PM Divine Mercy - English 3 3:50 PM Tell Me a Story - Eps 115 - The last few Kings of Israel 4:00 PM Rosary - Luminous Mysteries 4:27 PM Prayer : Benedictus 4:30 PM Senior Citizens Exercises - 17 4:56 PM Magnificat (English) 5:00 PM Career Guidance - Veterinary Science 5:29 PM Catholic Quiz - St.Francis Xavier conducted by Mysticka Deniz 5:44 PM Povitr Atmeachem Noven - Satvo Dis 6:00 PM Mass in Konkani 6:45 PM Vaittovea Ani Vaitta Add Zhuzunk Dev Amkam Adar Dita - Fr Edson Fernandes 7:00 PM Spirit of Truth - Talk by Adv. F.E.Noronha 7:30 PM Saibinnichi Ruzai - Uzvaddache Mister 7:56 PM Bhurgeanchem magnnem aplea avoi-bapaik 8:00 PM Purumentachem Fest 8:30 PM Pentecost - Talk by Fr Alexandre Pereira 8:56 PM Devachem Utor - Stotram - Avesor 45 -Vachpi Orlando D'Souza 9:00 PM Advertisements 9:05 PM Adoration 8 - St Anthony Church, Siolim 9:34 PM Ratchem Magnem 9:46 PM Play - When the day was young 10:58 PM Activists of Goa - Dr. Fr. Bolmax Pereira interviewed by Daniel F. de Souza 11:48 PM Synodal Journey with Mary - Benjamin Monserrate 11:58 PM Poem - Jezuchem Ponn by Sandhya Fernandes Donations may be made to: Beneficiary name : CCR GOA MEDIA. Name of Bank : ICICI Bank Branch Name: Panaji Branch RTGS/NEFT Code : ICIC015 Savings Bank Account No : 262401000183