Media Newsletter

Gujarat Global
Issue 2
March 13, 2008
Editor Ga..Ga.

The first issue of the newsletter has got great response. It was sent to 285 media persons and others , majority of them in Ahmedabad.Till Wednesday evening I got e- mail response from 87 friends. There were phone calls from 13 and accidental greetings from another dozen or so when they stumbled upon me.

Reports of the Newsletter distribution from my service provider has another fantastic story. In all 1700 plus forwards by friends! In this issue I am presenting verbatim some of the responses in the article "Thank You  unedited uncensored".Some have made suggestions also. Of these many were quite particular about the colour scheme of the first issue. They found bright colours eyestraining rather than eye catching. Mihir Bholey of NID also drew my attention to space between News and Letter.

Friends, the newsletter has been conceptualised by me for you.It must have you at the centerstage. This is precisely I am trying to do. Changes in the format and presentation reflect my committment. A committment to make the newsletter a platform for my friends who craft voice and image  of others.

I was debating about the length of each article and the use of link to make the newsletter more appealing. In this issue I am trying to limit articles to four five paras.And if the matter is long ,the rest of the matter is put on the website or blog through  a link. You get an overview and if you want to read more you just click on the link. The matter opens up in a new window.

I am placing some matter on my blog http://www.medianewsletter.blogspot.com/. Here you can post your views and interact with others. Try this.

This issue has a piece on Karpoor Chandra Kulish Award. I want to clarify that the write up is here just because the Award is related to journalism.

Wish you happy reading.

With love, Yogesh Sharma 

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Media Roundup
 
Drunk or sober Kirit Rawal was a great crime reporter

This Saturday Kirit Rawal died. The man who dominated Crime reporting for more than two decades died working. He collapsed in his chair in Sandesh, the newspaper he served the most. In the later years , he was gradually fading away from the live scene. And if there is anything he is known for is his being wet in dry Gujarat.But it does not make any difference to the fact that he was a great reporter. Here, one of his former colleague and fellow crime reporter Bharat Lakhtariya talks about him and his passion of crime reporting and music.Though Bharat is not active in the field of crime reporting, his image of crime reporter and writer of popular column "crime file se " is the one which evokes his name in the mind of reporters and police both alike. Bharat writes Kirit took his last breath with his pen and paper on the desk of leading newspaper "Sandesh" Ahmedabad. That's the life of a journalist. He was basically a crime reporter and he remained a crime reporter all through his life. He was like a roaring lion in the field of crime jounalism  and his roars were heard in the police set up for decades.

Good height,broad chest and eversmiling bespectacled face was the identity of late Kirit Raval. His well built physique was probably a gift of his father's akhada in Patan.Kirit was a very good Sitar player. "Zanak, Zanak tore Baze Payalie Aaa,the famous song of film Mere Hoozoor was his favourite at "non crime" gatherings.
He started his carreer in 70s with Prabhat and Jansatta and worked for a shortwhile with Sambhav and Western Times. But he is known as reporter of Sandesh where he worked for more than two decades. He is still remembered for his reporting of sensational Mangadh killings.

He was one of the famous trio of crime reporters of Gujarat. Other two are Ambalal Patel of Jansatta and Jaidev Patel of Gujarat. Ambalal has withdrawn from the field after his retirement and can be seen in social functions. Jaidev is still very active with his old banner of Gujarat Samachar.
Story of Crime reporting of Gujarat can never be complete without the mention of the name KIRIT RAWAL.

 

Mediamen on the move

 

Praful Trivedi joins Sandesh

This Monday Praful Trivedi joined Sandesh for its city news gathering operations. Trivedi an old hand on Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation reporting was RE of the Anand edition of Divya Bhaskar. For long he was with the Gujarat Samachar, Ahmedabad.

 

Santosh Chaudhary is back in Gujarat

Kamlesh Trivedi informed that Santosh Chaudhary is back in Gujarat. He is the Chief of Bureau of DNA, White paper with pink supplement. Friends, Santosh has come back to Gujarat after almost nine years. His last assignment in Gujarat was in May 1999. In addition to Gujarat Bureau, Santosh is also to look after the city Bureau of DNA.

 

Nirnay Kapoor joins voice of India

Nirnay Kapoor SMSed his joining Voice of India as its Chief of Bureau. He was with India TV for long. He said that the Voice of India is in final stage of launch. They have plans for Gujarati channel also. But Gujarati channel is third on the agenda after national launch in Hindi and Luxory channel .

 

Vikas Upadhyay takes over as COB  of ETV Gujarat. This is his first assignment in the electronic media. Vikas was with Gujarati magazine Chitralekha for pretty eight years before taking up this assignment. His 11 year association with Mumbai based daily Samkaaleen includes five years in Mumbai. He has joined in place of Satish Mori..

Media Masaalaa
 
KCK Award in TOI and Patrika

Today's Times of India and Rajasthan Patrika have carried photo stories about the Karpoor Chandra Kulish Award. Patrika has instituted the Award in the memory of its founder, a great entrepreneur journalist. Patrika report tells that the first international Award has been jointly given to Dawn of Pakistan and India's Hindustan Times . Great for fostering bonehomie among people of India and Pakistan. It mentions what all former President Kalam said about journalism and the big guns of the media present at the function held in Delhi on Wednesday evening. Nothing else about the Award and others who were given the Award.

TOI here had a photograph of Rajasthan Chief Minister with TOI special Correspondent Radha Sharma who was given international merit award. After reading Patrika one wonders what kind of this award is.TOI report tells that another staffer a senior correspondent Prashant Rupera and illustrator Sameer Mahoolkar were also presented certificates at the function for their role in Radha's work. The photo caption ends with TOIs committment for the save girl child for which the Award was given to Radha and others. Poor Radha. Earlier an advertising Agency had claimed the credit of the campaign. The front page story had nothing about the Dawn of Pakistan and India's Hindustan Times and what else happened at the ceremony.

 So friends hell with the Cardinal principle of Five W's and H of journalism. Even if it costs one's own brand image. Patrika had news about its own award. It had been trying to publicise it lot for last couple of months.But its report itself did not have much about the persons whom it honoured with the Award. In the case of TOI, there is another interesting chapter. There is no mention of the Award in its own Ahmedabad Mirror.It is supplied as a seperate midloid along with the TOI. Both have many stories with common theme these days. But poor Radha was missing even in her own group's publication.

An insider explained the situation of TOI something like this.At the time of the launch of the Mirror, the management had told the editors and the staff of TOI and Mirror that the two should treat each other as rivals. Do not discuss stories even when you meet, this was the diktat. Whether it is the spirit of rivalry between the two or Mirror missing the Radha story, the fact is that Radha is missing in Mirror. Certainly it must be quite embarrasing for the lady who is being honoured for save the girl child campaign. Certainly, TOI must not have thought of such a shabby treatment to its own girl running its crusade of Save the Girl Child!!!! Or its all just a corporate style Social Responsibility concept of lip service.

Greetings!

This News Letter from the GujaratGlobal  brings to you the latest happening in the media particularly in Gujarat, whats hot and whats not , who's in and who's out , you want it and you get it here ! Its about people who craft voice and image of others.
Unedited, Uncensored
Thank You
 

I am really greatful to friends for the faith they have reposed in me and my talent . Here are some of the responses. Many more can be reached through the link at the end of the article.

Dear Yogesh,
Please accept my felicitations on the initialisation of this concept.It was sorely needed,is well thought,and highly appreciable.Ideally this is something that the Media Club  should have thought about.Good job,well done.My best wishes.
RKMisra
Misra is the founder president of the 120 plus member Gujarat Media Club. A veteran of English journalism, Misra does not need any introduction as such.
 
Yogesh, Hearty congratulations...You have unleashed your creative
power....Hope this could be used as "Precision Tool" by
Media....Hope in future you will give "High Quality Content" which
will give good "Professional Result"....God Bless You
All....Dhiren
This is the remark of Dhiren Avashia, who has been associated with media education for long and has many of his young students in the media.
 
CONGRATS  YOGESHBHAI...for this very pioneering venture...May it succeed in every possible way as you take a stand for information that is AUTHENTIC,TRUE and JUST..
warm wishes,
Fr Prakash
This is how father Prakash views the venture.
 
भाई योगेश जी सादर नमस्कार ।
आपका न्यूज लेटर मिला । काफी महत्त्वपूर्ण जानकारियां हैं इसमें । अपने कई मित्रों को भी फारवर्ड कर रहा हूं इसे । मेरे गुजरात दौरे में भी आपसे काफी मदद मिली । सदैव आभारी रहूंगा । गुजरातग्लोबल.काॅम अक्सर खोलता रहता हूं ।
These are the views of Om Prakash Tiwari,Special Correspondent of Dainik Jagran in Mumbai.
 
 
Dear Sharma ,
 
It is really a  great,   brilliant and every exciting  idea. Only someone like you could think  the way you think and work. I know you  a  workaholic . ...It is good to be one ....   I'm sure everybody likes the concept/ idea of your innovative newslater,  specially those newsmakers-  shakers and movers ( in Gujarati  journalism).
I dying to read something about` Bandmaster` and `Khakor` (  breed of journalists) in the newslatter.
All the best
 
basant .
 
Basant Rawat is state Chief of Bureau of Telegraph
 
dear yogeshbhai
 
was contemplating to write since a couple of days but was out.
read the media news letter. congratulations, its a refreshing change.
i am sure you must be ovtertaken by a flurry of messages and reactions. here , i add mine!
* good stuff! enjoyed reading it.
* the larning zone is really good but i found it a little too  long. i think a more crisper version everytime would attract more eye balls.
Deepal Trevedie, Group Editor Sambhav and Senior Editor Asian Age
 
Gujarat Media Club elections: A tame affair
 
 
The first elections of the corporate style Gujarat Media Club does not seem to invoke any interest among its over 100 voting members. Thursday was the last day for filing nominations. The replies of Club's Secretary General Brajesh Singh  about nominations are quite philosophical. Brajesh says its voluntary service. People have to spare time from their busy schedule in fixed 24 hours and so on. The fact is that no one is interested in elections.
On the other hand about 40 members are attending net practice for the IOC-GMC Trophy on March 16. Elections for the first elected body are also scheduled for the same day. With State Assembly Session on and examination season already started, the crowd for net practice is impressive. In such a situation, lackluster election is quite surprising.Gujarat has had several journalist bodies in the past, but the Club under the Companies Act is first of its kind.
Founder President of the Club, R K Misra is not going for the second term. For him foundation of the club and spade work for one year is Mission Accomplished. He says that he had been trying to set up a journalists' body for the last four decades or so. It was quite embarrasing to see excellent Clubs in other cities while Gujarat had none.
 
With this Club Misra says that his dream has come true. In the first year, the Club has corpus of about Rs.10 lakh. It cannot be touched as per the rules. Now the new team has to raise the club further on this foundation, he says. Misra does not see any problem in this. This may take some time, he says.
As the promoter of the Club, Misra has a clear vision and well defined agenda for the new team. First of all we should always be ready for change, he asserts. I am setting up an example by not seeking second term. The agenda of the new team, he says, should be the agenda for growth. It should develop revenue and welfare model for the Club and its members.There should be viable economic activity for women to help create a bond among families of the members.
In the absence of formal nomination, it appears that the new team will be formed through consensus. Lets see what consensus evolves on March 16 when members meet for the Cricket match and the lunch. Brajesh has confirmed that like last year there would be lunch this year too !
Learning Zone 
Mind Your Language- Be simple
 
Be simple. This is a very simple expression to speak, but most difficult task to perform. Year after year communication experts harp on this. Yet, the situation remains the same. Now the question is why language should be simple? What about the scholarly knowledge of pundits? We must always be aware of one fact while writing a copy that we do not know who is reading the story or watching the audio visual programme? We have no idea about the level of language proficiency of the target audience. Nor do we have fair idea of  their knowledge background. In such a situation, the thumb rule should be to follow the path of least resistance for the target group! Go by the minimum.

Secondly, with the life becoming fast, people are doing most of work in a jiffy. At least reading a newspaper or watching a programme on TV are the tasks that are with frequent breaks. Simple language does not strain grey cells of people and the message goes down them smoothly and effectively.

There is a worldwide movement for simple language. Complete Plain Words a book by British author Ernest Grower is an excellent study of the government communication. English Language Book Society had brought out a dictionary containing 1,000 words that are needed to express oneself.A lot has been done in English language to make it simple so that communication is better and more effective. We can use these principles in any language. You must have come across words like residential facilities and living spaces. These expressions just mean houses!

Lets have something more about simple language movement in the next issue

Women Day March 8- Male conspiracy against women!!!

 The second part of the Learning Zone is about practical knowledge. In the last issue I had talked about a railway accident that took place recently. I would love to write a lot about railway reporting. But, later.This time it is about March 8, Women's Day. Newspapers and Magazines were filled with depressing accounts of miserable conditions of the fair sex. Just like Shyam Benegal's film, full of dull and dark shots of abject conditions !.

Have you seriously thought about the issues of Women's Day? Are they not the reflection of the male view being thrust upon women in the name of woman lib. Smoking, tomboy appearance, bra less outfits have become icons of women liberation. Don't we see these things even in the lives of many ordinary women. In Ahmedabad we can see all this in the group of women street vendor selling vegetables. These women smoke beedies, quarrel with their men folk with fists and have abuses that can match vocabulory of any male. Cleavages of their blouses can pale the  scenes of any beauty paegent. So what's new? What do we want  a woman to be, a woman or a man ?

 Friends do you know, that a good number of women are booked under PASA for bootlegging, a male bastion. Teaching and Nursing professions are dominated by women.

We can do a good story on how different organisations had Women Day celeberation for their women staff.

Problem of working women hostels in towns and cities can really provide good informative stories.

We are Indians. We worship Goddesses for power. There is only one male diety for power, Lord Hanuman. The role of Hanuman is also limited. The power of brawn and not beyond.

Have you ever heard of the concept of Ardh Narishwar? Half man and half woman. What does it show? It is the most lofty ideal of the equal status of man and women. In the name of equality, these propagators of women's day are trying to make woman same as man. Is it not a male conspiracy against women ! Male form laws about women. Male organise programmes of women empowerment and male report them!!!Cant we think about all these aspects of the women's world and come out with interesting thought provoking reading material.

We have so much Indian mythological stuff to have a campaign for dignified status for women. Has any creative women cause campaigner ever tried this powerful theme to communicate the message? 

 

Take a chance! All life is a chance. The man who goes the furthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare.
 
Dale Carnegie
 
With Love,
 

Yogesh Sharma
GujaratGlobal.com