Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On 27 February 2011 00:30, Charles Haynes wrote: > On Sun, Feb 27, 2011 at 3:14 AM, Thaths wrote: > > > And the article that is mostly a rehash of a press release strikes again: > > > http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/article1492697.ece > > This is part of why newspapers are dying and wi

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Sun, Feb 27, 2011 at 3:14 AM, Thaths wrote: > And the article that is mostly a rehash of a press release strikes again: > http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/article1492697.ece This is part of why newspapers are dying and will die. The should be selling news and analysis and independen

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 9:13 AM, Thaths wrote: > Or take this other supposed food > review: > > http://beta.thehindu.com/life-and-style/metroplus/article428165.ece > > Would you call that a fair/unbiased review of a restaurant? I can list > many such infractions in reviews of shopping malls, theat

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 7:47 AM, Charles Haynes wrote: > Shoddy reporting. The Australian did not say any such thing. The > "attack crisis" came *after* the visa rules were tightened. The visa > rules were tightened because fly-by-night colleges were being used to > circumvent permanent residency

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack (Srini RamaKrishnan)

On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 1:37 AM, . wrote: somehow manage to get through the > 10 days, you'll definitely miss the silence on the 11th day. > Well, Svaksha, you've managed to be silent on this mailing list for a lot longer than that...and you seem to be thriving!

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack (Srini RamaKrishnan)

On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 10:01, Shoba Narayan wrote: >> >> Have you ever tried going a few weeks without consuming news or >> analysis or news media of any form - I mean cold turkey, no way to >> whet your appetite. No TV, no radio, no blogs, no podcasts, no >> magazines, no newspapers. It's remark

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

My 2-paise worth: About the food review bias in The Hindu There are quite a few restaurant reviews in The Hindu's Chennai's Metroplus that do talk about the things not so right. These are recent instances: http://beta.thehindu.

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

If you live in Bangalore (or any other Indian town/city) and you want information like when the SSLC and PUC exams will be held, when the results will be out, when application forms will be issued, what courses are offered by local colleges, details of sports news that TV does not deal with and

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 5:25 PM, Indrajit Gupta wrote: > --- On Fri, 14/5/10, Thaths wrote: >> Do you think the review-reading audience has similar >> expectations of >> film and book reviews? > I should imagine a good person to ask would be the lady handling Metro Plus > in Bangalore. Could for

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

--- On Fri, 14/5/10, Thaths wrote: > From: Thaths > Subject: Re: [silk] Writing with the pack > To: silklist@lists.hserus.net > Date: Friday, 14 May, 2010, 2:07 > On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 11:36 AM, > Indrajit Gupta > wrote: > > In Italia in Bangalore, the wine selec

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

--- On Fri, 14/5/10, Deepa Mohan wrote: From: Deepa Mohan Subject: Re: [silk] Writing with the pack To: silklist@lists.hserus.net Date: Friday, 14 May, 2010, 0:26 On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 12:06 AM, Indrajit Gupta wrote: >>That's why I think you were being unfair, because

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 On Friday 14 May 2010 02:07 AM, Thaths wrote: > Do you think the review-reading audience has similar expectations of > film and book reviews? FIlms? Yes. Books? Perhaps not. The consuming public has a lot to do with it. Nikhat Kazmi, for instance

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 11:36 AM, Indrajit Gupta wrote: > In Italia in Bangalore, the wine selections were excellent wine paired with > what I personally felt were inappropriate entrees. I remember getting into > a low-key but intense discussion on that with the F&B Manager, to H's > huge embarras

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 11:38 AM, Deepa Mohan wrote: > But Thaths, it's also bread-and-butter...when a young reporter is asked to > talk to a celeb...what is s/he supposed to do, draw hesself up to heights of > journalistic indignation? No. I am not asking for an angry interviewer. Surely a coupl

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 12:06 AM, Indrajit Gupta wrote: That's why I think you were being unfair, because the general theme of these > was information for the person planning an evening out, not a belles lettres > piece a la NYT. > Yes. I think reviews are of two types, one where the reviewed pl

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 12:06 AM, Indrajit Gupta wrote: That's why I think you were being unfair, because the general theme of these > was information for the person planning an evening out, not a belles lettres > piece a la NYT. > Yes. I think reviews are of two types, one where the reviewed pl

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 9:43 PM, Thaths wrote: > > I find the lack of separation between the advertising and editorial > > sections of the newspapers much more disturbing. I can't see a > > semblance of the journalistic ideal in these fluffy "articles" and > > celebrity interest "interviews". > A

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

--- On Thu, 13/5/10, Thaths wrote: > From: Thaths > Subject: Re: [silk] Writing with the pack > To: silklist@lists.hserus.net > Date: Thursday, 13 May, 2010, 23:11 > On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 10:22 AM, > Indrajit Gupta > wrote: > > Commenting on the quality of the re

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 9:43 PM, Thaths wrote: > I find the lack of separation between the advertising and editorial > sections of the newspapers much more disturbing. I can't see a > semblance of the journalistic ideal in these fluffy "articles" and > celebrity interest "interviews". I don't kno

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 10:22 AM, Indrajit Gupta wrote: > Commenting on the quality of the review is meaningless; I am so biased that > it would be laughable. The Hindu never ever interfered. My wife, too, used > to do pieces for the same Supplement (not when my daughter was working with > them; t

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

--- On Thu, 13/5/10, Thaths wrote: > From: Thaths > Subject: Re: [silk] Writing with the pack > To: silklist@lists.hserus.net > Date: Thursday, 13 May, 2010, 22:39 > On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 9:43 AM, > Pranesh Prakash > > wrote: > > On Thursday 13 May 2010 09:

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

Pranesh Prakash [13/05/10 22:13 +0530]: For all its various faults (including some of those that Suresh accuses N. Ram of) the Hindu is still much better than most, and ought not even be compared to the Times. Never done that. I HAVE compared the ToI to the Deccan Chronicle though. I remember

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

--- On Thu, 13/5/10, Thaths wrote: > From: Thaths > Subject: Re: [silk] Writing with the pack > To: silklist@lists.hserus.net > Date: Thursday, 13 May, 2010, 22:39 > On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 9:43 AM, > Pranesh Prakash > > wrote: > > On Thursday 13 May 2010 09:

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 9:43 AM, Pranesh Prakash wrote: > On Thursday 13 May 2010 09:43 PM, Thaths wrote: >> http://beta.thehindu.com/life-and-style/metroplus/article428165.ece >> Would you call that a fair/unbiased review of a restaurant? I can list >> many such infractions in reviews of shopping

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

Thaths [13/05/10 09:13 -0700]: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/catalyst/2010/05/13/stories/2010051350020100.htm City near Chennai to find out.." Would a left-leaning newspaper provide such unvarnished advertisement thinly dressed as an interview? Or take this other supposed food review: Ev

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 On Thursday 13 May 2010 09:43 PM, Thaths wrote: > Would a left-leaning newspaper provide such unvarnished advertisement > thinly dressed as an interview? Or take this other supposed food > review: > > http://beta.thehindu.com/life-and-style/metroplus/

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 8:27 AM, Suresh Ramasubramanian wrote: > I (and a few other silklisters) stopped subscribing to The Hindu > Doesnt make me think that N Ram is going to care, any more than he cares > about having run a decent paper into the ground with his favoritism, > communism and a bunc

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 On Thursday 13 May 2010 08:57 PM, Suresh Ramasubramanian wrote: > I (and a few other silklisters) stopped subscribing to The Hindu > Doesnt make me think that N Ram is going to care, any more than he cares > about having run a decent paper into the gro

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

I (and a few other silklisters) stopped subscribing to The Hindu Doesnt make me think that N Ram is going to care, any more than he cares about having run a decent paper into the ground with his favoritism, communism and a bunch of other isms, damn him Shoba Narayan [13/05/10 20:31 +0530]: On T

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Thursday 13 May 2010 10:24 AM, sankarshan wrote: Currently, ToI is too tempting a piece of entertainment to resist Entertainment that makes you cry and pull your hair out? I'll resist despite myself, thank you. Sankarshan: how can I persuade you to stop your subscription to TOI? Perha

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack (Srini RamaKrishnan)

might consume it. Herbert Simon ..1978 Nobel laureate in economics and the Turing prize From: Shoba Narayan To: silklist@lists.hserus.net Sent: Thu, May 13, 2010 9:46:12 AM Subject: Re: [silk] Writing with the pack (Srini RamaKrishnan) > > Have you ever

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack (Srini RamaKrishnan)

On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 6:16 AM, Shoba Narayan wrote: > This sounds fascinating even though I've never tried it.  I've tried being > away from cellphone for a month.  On a practical note, where does one go to > get away from the news though? It's not easy I agree. It's possible to be judicious ab

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack (Srini RamaKrishnan)

One way I serendipitously found was to live far away.when I read the newspaper online, I was struck by how much is quite irrelevant over a period of time...when I return to India, I find myself glossing over a lot of the newspaper. But I agree that the info about when I won't get water in my t

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack (Srini RamaKrishnan)

On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 01:26:18PM +0530, Abhijit Menon-Sen wrote: > > On a practical note, where does one go to get away from the news > > though? > > I think the idea is to choose not to consume it, not go somewhere where > there is none to consume. There's also a quality -- you can easily cho

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack (Srini RamaKrishnan)

At 2010-05-13 09:46:12 +0530, narayan.sh...@gmail.com wrote: > > On a practical note, where does one go to get away from the news > though? I think the idea is to choose not to consume it, not go somewhere where there is none to consume. -- ams

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 On Thursday 13 May 2010 11:05 AM, sankarshan wrote: > And I agree. The Sakaal Times does that too among other papers > available at Pune. For some reason, my newspaper vendor uses the ToI > to wrap all the other papers I read and, so it gets the pride

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 10:47 AM, Pranesh Prakash wrote: > On Thursday 13 May 2010 10:24 AM, sankarshan wrote: >> Currently, ToI is too tempting a piece of entertainment to resist > > Entertainment that makes you cry and pull your hair out?  I'll resist > despite myself, thank you. When the Asian

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Thursday 13 May 2010 10:24 AM, sankarshan wrote: > Currently, ToI is too tempting a piece of entertainment to resist Entertainment that makes you cry and pull your hair out? I'll resist despite myself, thank you. > given that they carry the schedules for water supply and power > outages, that

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Wed, May 12, 2010 at 7:22 PM, Srini RamaKrishnan wrote: > Have you ever tried going a few weeks without consuming news or > analysis or news media of any form - I mean cold turkey, no way to > whet your appetite. No TV, no radio, no blogs, no podcasts, no > magazines, no newspapers. It's remar

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack (Srini RamaKrishnan)

Have you ever tried going a few weeks without consuming news or analysis or news media of any form - I mean cold turkey, no way to whet your appetite. No TV, no radio, no blogs, no podcasts, no magazines, no newspapers. It's remarkably productive. This sounds fascinating even though I've never

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 1:27 AM, ss wrote: >>  The drop has been attributed ever since overseas student attack crisis >> erupted that prompted government to tighten visa rules and forced many >> private colleges to shut down, according to "the Australian'. Shoddy reporting. The Australian did no

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Wednesday 12 May 2010 7:03:23 pm Thaths wrote: > It has been almost 4 months since I wrote this. It looks like the pack > has decided to move on to other things. Since we don't read any more > about this it must mean the problem has been solved for good. Well there has been a 40% reduction I gu

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Wed, May 12, 2010 at 3:33 PM, Thaths wrote: > It has been almost 4 months since I wrote this. It looks like the pack > has decided to move on to other things. Since we don't read any more > about this it must mean the problem has been solved for good. Have you ever tried going a few weeks with

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Sat, Jan 30, 2010 at 2:16 PM, Thaths wrote: > You mean like the coverage in the Indian media that goes: "Minister > for External Affairs warned the Government of Australia to cease and > desist the attacks on Indian students in Australia"[1]. I have been > following the coverage and it is depre

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Sun, Jan 31, 2010 at 8:46 AM, Thaths wrote: > On Sun, Jan 31, 2010 at 7:09 AM, Udhay Shankar N wrote: >> Speaking for myself, most news I get is from online sources (I do read >> the ToI for entertainment value while having breakfast). A site like >> google news makes it quite easy to see if a

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Sun, Jan 31, 2010 at 7:09 AM, Udhay Shankar N wrote: > ss wrote, [on 1/31/2010 7:55 PM]: >> On another note - you (and I and I presume some others on silk) are freaks >> who >> read more than one paper. That is how you discover that the same news has >> appeared in all the media. No? I am a f

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

Thaths, Deepa, thanks :) If some of the 'lazy reporters' image could be repaired, am glad. :) > Slowly? Catching on? I recall reading excellent process reporting in > the 80's on issues such as what happened in Bhopal and how exactly the > money was kicked back in the Bofors scandal. > Don't get

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

ss wrote, [on 1/31/2010 7:55 PM]: > On another note - you (and I and I presume some others on silk) are freaks > who > read more than one paper. That is how you discover that the same news has > appeared in all the media. No? Speaking for myself, most news I get is from online sources (I do r

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Sunday 31 Jan 2010 7:04:05 am Thaths wrote: > But in this case there is no ur-story from PTI that was picked up by > the newspapers. The ur-story seems to have been the blog post and > three different reporters seem to have decided to write a story and > made pilgrimages to meet the auto driver

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Sun, Jan 31, 2010 at 9:02 AM, Sruthi Krishnan wrote: > > Why do reporters report in a pack? And this is not specific to India. > > My 2-paise worth: > Excellent analysis Sruthi! Thank youer...is this published anywhere? Or..is it not newsworthy? Deepa.

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

Thanks, Sruthi, for your insider insights. I found them very informative. On Sat, Jan 30, 2010 at 7:32 PM, Sruthi Krishnan wrote: > Given this, to remain relevant, newspapers have to fulfil your demand, which > is that of reporting the process, for instance, a wider picture of what is > happening

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

> Why do reporters report in a pack? And this is not specific to India. My 2-paise worth: In a given time period, there are only so many events considered to have news value. And so, all those events have to be covered to ensure the audience served knows about those events. If I didn't have an Int

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Sat, Jan 30, 2010 at 5:23 PM, ss wrote: > When a news story is served  up by a major news agency such as Reuters (or > PTI) - every news outlet picks it up and publishes it. But in this case there is no ur-story from PTI that was picked up by the newspapers. The ur-story seems to have been the

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Saturday 30 Jan 2010 10:48:26 pm Thaths wrote: > Why do reporters report in a pack? I suppose one could ask why Bing and Google might come up with the same web pages for a given query. When a news story is served up by a major news agency such as Reuters (or PTI) - every news outlet picks i

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Sat, Jan 30, 2010 at 12:09 PM, Deepa Mohan wrote: > There is often the matter of someone/some event feeding subtle "stories" to > the reporters. A story without having to search for itwith all the > "facts" providedtoo good to pass up. It arrives in your email a > ready-made news sn

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Sun, Jan 31, 2010 at 12:05 AM, Thaths wrote: > On Sat, Jan 30, 2010 at 9:54 AM, Sriram Karra wrote: > >> Why do reporters report in a pack? > There is often the matter of someone/some event feeding subtle "stories" to the reporters. A story without having to search for itwith all the "f

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Sat, Jan 30, 2010 at 9:54 AM, Sriram Karra wrote: >> Why do reporters report in a pack? > (a) laziness, and (b) publications catering to the same target population > are likely to have more or less the same criteria for what is considered > "news worthy" And I guess ensuring high return of inv

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

On Sat, Jan 30, 2010 at 10:48 PM, Thaths wrote: > Why do reporters report in a pack? And this is not specific to India. They can always see a trending topic very fast, localized to a region, to know the sensation of a story. Reporting in pack is pretty vibrant among celebrity gossip columns. Wi

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

> > > Why do reporters report in a pack? (a) laziness, and (b) publications catering to the same target population are likely to have more or less the same criteria for what is considered "news worthy"

[silk] Writing with the pack

A couple of days ago I came across a blog post about an Auto rickshaw driver in Madras who has an internet presence: http://churumuri.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/why-shout-for-an-auto-when-you-can-send-a-mail/ And a couple of days later I see thee separate newspapers covering the same thing: http:/