Ms. Margaret Mascarenhas in her posting 'Censoring the Censors' puts up a very well written explanation for her reason to discontinue her column 'Wake up and smell the coffee' from Gomantak Times. I wish her the best of luck and hope we on these Goa related discusion forums will benefit from her fine writings. A few points though I would like Ms. Mascarenhas to clarify for the benefit of us who are not much in the know.
1) Ms. Mascarenhas says the Editor has no right to censor a columnist's writing. I strongly disagree. A part of the Editor's job is to give direction to the newspaper's identity. This can be done only by censoring and editing as required. The Editor is better qualified than the columnist in predicting the far reaching consequences of any written material. The Editor also has a responsibilty to his readers and his publishers to stick to certain norms. For example if you had to explicitly describe a sexual act, or incite youth to violence - would the Editor not be justified in censoring, or even rejecting, such objectionable material? It is a family newspaper and he will be held responsible. Even the topmost columnists in the world have to go through some editing / censorship process. Why should Ms. Mascarenhas think that she is an exception? 2) Letters to the Editor are routinely edited all over the world for the sake of clarity and brevity. I do not know what 'law' Ms. Mascarenhas refers to. 3) Ms. Mascarenhas objects to Gomantak Times giving CM Parrikar a regular front column to place his views before the public. What's wrong with that? Just because he is in power should he be denied his right to be heard? Would Ms. Mascarenhas have objected if the leader of the Opposition had been given such an opportunity? If Mr. Pratapsinh Rane wants a weekly column I am sure Gomantak Times will oblige. As long as readership increases. Mr. Parrikar is a writer too. If the readership of Gomantak Times would like to see his column every week on the front page what is Ms. Mascarenhas' problem? A publisher and editor has to deal with issues like improving circulation, readership etc. - which a columnist is cocooned from. So a publisher does whatever meets his objectives within reasonable limits. And so what if such a CM column is unprecedented. Kudos to Gomantak Times for thinking beyond the ordinary. 4) Ms. Mascarenhas chooses to post her war cry against censorship on GoaNet. Is she aware that GoaNet has a filter in place that automatically rejects posts which have any 'adult' words? Does she know that GoaCom, who earlier claimed they only hosted GoaNet, now admit that they maintain this 'adult' word filter and refuse to disclose what words are deemed unfit by them? Does she know that the Internet (unlike a printed publication) is all about freedom and GoaNet's filtering policy is the antithesis of all this? Will she use her masterful language to question this stupid censorship on GoaNet or will she just abide by the rules? It makes no sense to complain that Gomantak Times censors - stuff and accept the fact GoaNet does. =============== =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet =================================================================== For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Help support non-commercial projects in Goa by advertizing!! * * * * Your ad here !!
