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Issue 35
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November 24, 2008
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Greetings!
This Newsletter 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 !This newsletter is about people who craft voice and image of others. It is about the real newsmakers.
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Editor.....Journalist Writers
We journalists are professional writers. But how many of us have gone for writing beyond our daily assignments? I need not give the answer to the question. Journalists' going for book writing is a very rare phenomenon. I am not US or UK centric. But none can deny the fact that they have number of journalists who have best sellers to their credit. There are many who have produced good quality books.
As journalists we have greater and smoother access to facts and we are supposed to write to communicate. We can write good non fiction books that can be quite readable. This week Arvind Singh of Haribhoomi, a Hindi daily, was honoured by IFFCO Hindi Sewa Samman. He is the first journalist to get the award set up 11 years ago. One of his major contributions is a book on Indian Postal system which is a kind of reference book written in a lucid manner of a popular book. I am mentioning about this book to prove that we can write good books. Other reason is that we are indifferent to the achievements of our fellow journalists.
This issue has a write up on Arvind Singh and his book besides interesting facts about Chandigarh Press Club which is regarded as one of the best press clubs in the country.
And a lot of other stuff.
Have A Happy Reading.
With love
Yogesh SharmaGujarat Global | |
Archive...
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Archive Gallery..
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Media Masalaa
Meltdown of Diwali gifts
Diwali gifts to journalists by politicians and corporate houses is very common and well accepted practice of bonhomie between journalists and those who matter in the society. It seems Diwali festivity adds touch of legitimacy to the gifts and makes the entire process less psycho troubling.
However, this time there seem to be something gone wrong. Our friends are quite vocally disturbed. I have received phone calls from 13 journalist friends some of them quite senior representing powerful publications about what they described as PRmen playing trick with the gift distribution. They said that here is good media masaala for the newsletter!!!
A senior business journalist gave me "scoop" that this time Reliance did not send the gift while Essar got the edge with gifts. There was another quite senior journalist who said that there was something wrong in gifts from Congress from Delhi! Some did not get it, he pointed out.
For quite sometime Ahmed Patel is sending gifts to journalists in Gujarat on Diwali. A senior congress leader quite close to Ahmed here said that some journalists even complained to him about this! A reporter said that Diwali sweets from the Chief Minister also had some distribution problem. Modi's sweet generally have something different.
There are some who feel that their category has changed this year. They have received lesser costly gift.
Despite all this, some gifts are well talked about for their home friendliness and some became hit for their liquidity in the form gift vouchers!!! Excellent in the recession hit economy.
VHP had its regular pooja gift (Friends I could have made this piece more detailed. However, the idea is just to talk about something we condemn publicly, but expect and accept privately. I still remember my Indian Express days when editors used to periodically issue instructions against receiving gifts while others used to tell, giving examples, how hypocrites are the big bosses. The idea here is not to sermonize, but to accept the reality. You can use the phrase- incidental benefit!) Modi's luncheon media interaction
Last week Modi had separate luncheon meeting with reporters and editors. I wrote about the reporters meeting in the last newsletter. It was an annual event organised after Diwali to mark the Gujarati New Year that starts from the day after Diwali.
Modi was not holding Editors' meeting for the last three year. Sources in CMO say that it was because of the response of the owners cum editors of the so called big Gujarati newspapers who did not want to sit in the company of the so called small newspapers!
However, Modi who has suddenly becoming media friendly decided to invite editors and the editors in their turn were quite happy to attend the lunch forgetting the dividing Brahmanism.
Renewed media friendliness of Modi is quite palpable in the media in Gujarat and outside and none wants to miss it.
And Modi knows how to use media ladder to carve out pan India Modi of the stature of Sardar!!!! Win-Win situation for both Modi and the Editors.
Guglish of Modi's Men
Last week Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had been to Uganda and Kenya and like his previous business jaunts, he asked businessmen to brief media about the achievement. Since Modi had to leave for election tour the day the team returned from abroad, he gave less than nine hours to businessmen to have media interaction.
Modi is Modi. All tried to meet the deadline. The team of Reliance Industries used all resources to bring newsmen to the Karnavati Club where press conference was held. Press release was prepared conveying the success and achievement theme.
It was shocking document for the Chief Secretary D Rajgopalan when he read the media statement. In his address twice he regretted blunders in English press notes saying that it was prepared in hurry! Great. We forget basics of grammar while writing in jiffy. It was Guglish something like Hinglish, says a media friend.
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You can subscribe yourself
Friends daily I am receiving requests from many friends for the newsletter. There must be many who might not have contacted me. For all here is a simple way to get this newsletter. Every newsletter has a sign up box. Just fill it and you will get the newsletter. The sign up box is also on the top of the right side of the website www.gujaratglobal.com.www.gujaratglobal.com. Still if you wish me to register your subscription write to me!!
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Arvind Singh - Moving encyclopedia of Indian Post
 This week Arvind Singh, RE of Delhi Edition of Haribhoomi, got prestigious IFFCO Hindi Sewa Samman. He is the first journalist to get the Award set up 11 years ago. Gunakar Mule and Jayant Narlikar are among the famous writers who have got the Award.
Arvind Singh is the author of Bharatiya Dak-sadio kaa safarnaama, a book on Indian postal system published by the National Book Trust. The story of the 416 page book is as interesting as the facts presented by Singh in the book.It is being published in other languages also. A chapter of the book is included in the Std 8 text book published by the NCERT. The title of the six page chapter is Chitthiyo kee anokhee dunia (Unique world of letters).
43 year old Arvind from Basti in UP is candid when he says that collecting stamps or any other hobby related to postal system is not his passion. It was just a coincidence that led to the writing of the book. It is the result of sustained efforts stretched over a span of more than 15 years, he says. He has grown with the culture of in-depth writing of publications like Dinman and Ravivar.
An exposure of corruption in the postal department by Arvind provoked some officers to unofficially censor his posts. All this happened when Arvind was a correspondent of Jansatta in Allahabad in 1983. Postal union leaders had sympathy for Arvind and thus Arvind began interacting with the staff of the department.
It was Dayashankar Shukla of the department whose honesty and integrity moved Arvind. He asked Arvind to write a book. However, for six years or so it was an idea which flashed in his mind occasionally. In 1990 Arvind received a letter from Dayashankar that he had compiled some data about the postal department for the book he had suggested to Arvind.
But, it took almost a year for Arvind to find time to visit Allahabad to meet Dayashankar. And when he visited Dayashankar's house, he learnt that Dayashankar was no more. He had died three days after writing letter to Arvind. It was a shocking fact that faced Arvind. Dayashankar's family had safely kept the file Dayashankar had prepared for Arvind.
For the next several days, Arvind was dazed and then he decided to write the book come what may. And for almost 15 years, where ever he went, he collected facts for the book and thus the dream project of Dayashankar Shukla was penned by Arvind in the form of the book Bharatiya Dak-sadio kaa safarnaama.
We know about concessional rates of posting of newspapers. Many think that it is a favour. It all began in 1886 and Madras Courier was the first newspaper to get the facility of concession. However, when Calcutta Gazette applied for concessional rates in 1887, the postal authority of that area rejected the application. In 1898, it was decided to offer concession to all newspapers on the ground that the government communicated its decisions to people through newspapers.
In those days newspapers were the only source of organised mass communication. Newspapers get concession up to 96 per cent, he says.
There are many such interesting facts in the 43 chapters of the book.
(In the interest of journalist friends I will have something more from the book next week.)
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Beautiful Press Club of the Beautiful City
Last week I had been to Chandigarh. A guided tour of Chandigarh city in the afternoon with Braj Mohan Singh of NDTV ended with a wet evening at the Chandigarh Press Club. I have known Braj Mohan from the days when he was in Ahmedabad. A live interaction with Sarabjit Pandher, President of the Club, its convener Balwant Takshak brought out the beauty of the Press club of the Beautiful City Chandigarh.
The Club which had its silver jubilee in 2005 is going to revise its constitution to meet the challenge of the changing times. An advisory committee having all past presidents as members has been formed for the task says Sarabjit, who is special correspondent of The Hindu.
The Club with a well updated website has four computers and plans are afoot to have a WI-FI environment soon. It has 600 plus regular members and 280 associate members. The Club has a rule that the number of associate members will never be more than one third of the total members. Associate Membership is a major source of income for the Clubs and to have a check on this number shows commitment to the journalist members.
A member can bring four guests free with him. Explaining the logic of this generous norm, Sarabjit says that it is to help journalists entertain their guests. And others can have access to journalists through this facility. Sarabjit has been elected President for the third time.
The club has about 120 women members. Daughters of the members have free entry into the Club. But not son in law.
Tambola on Saturday is a regular feature of the Club. Diwali Tambola is bumper Tambola with jackpot of Rs one lakh. Earlier, members were allowed to play cards. But this made wives rush to the club to take husbands back home. It was discontinued in the interest of marital bliss, says Sarabjit. But for years, playing cards was an election issue.
It also regularly organises Meet the Press programmes. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Chandra Shekhar, Gyani Jail Singh, Bajpai and Advani are among the political leaders who have been chief guests here.
Raj Babbar had started his campaign for the release of Sanjay Dutt here and Shabana Azmi, Hema Malini, Sunil Dutt and Bobby Deol are among celebrities from silver screen who have shared entertaining moments with the Club members. Kapil Dev is the honorary member of the Club, tells Balwant Takshak who is also past President. Balwant is Bureau Chief of Dainik Bhaskar here.
Much before the Government of India introduced ban on smoking in public places, the Club decided to ban smoking, tells Balwant. The idea was mooted by Nalin Acharya. Poor Acharya had to pay for his initiative when he lost election for the post of treasurer by two votes, tells Balwant as Nalin who was also sitting there had a big laugh on his own predicament.
For the past three years, the Club is giving Awards to journalists. The categories are best investigative report(Rs 15,000), Best story in electronic media ( Rs10,000) and Rs 7,500 each for Best Photograph and best layout.
The Club has Fixed Deposits of about Rs one crore.
The most interesting aspect of the revenue model is that the Club has only annual fee of Rs 840.Of the Rs 840 Rs 240 is for journalists' welfare for the money to be paid on the death of club member.
The Club has advantage of support from three administrations, Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh. It gets assistance in cash and kind both. Mayavati had generously donated to the Club when she visited so other dignitaries.
Elections of the Club are held on the last Sunday of the March every year. The term of the President and others is for one year. Sarabjit says that personally he is in favour of a two year term but majority were against this. The members feel that if a bad team comes into power, they will have to bear them for two years. For good people even one year is enough to do good work, they feel!
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Jansatta staff gets ultimatum
Last week, its Managing Director Kiran Vadodaria held a meeting of the staff and said that he had decided to close down the newspaper which was running in loss for the last 11 years. He also told about the economy measures he has taken in his other publication Sambhav Metro.
He has asked the Union to come up with a working model which reduces cost of the publication by half. The future course of the 56 year old newspaper is to be decided by November 30, the date Vadodaria announced as the closure date. |
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Rajdeep Sardesai elected President of Editors Guild
Rajdeep Sardesai, Editor-in-Chief of IBN Network has been elected President of the Editors Guild of India. Sardesai, a Padmashri, is the first Editor from the Electronic media to hold this post. He succeeds Alok Mehta, Chief Editor of Nai Duniya. Mehta was President for two terms.
K Sachidananda Murthy, Resident Editor - Delhi, The Week, has been re-elected Secretary- General, while India TV COO Rohit Bansal has been elected the treasurer.
Bansal succeeds Y.C. Halan, who was treasurer for five terms.
Sardesai, a law graduate from the Oxford, feels that his election is the recognition of the electronic media. Sardesai has a five point agenda to work for the synergy of print, television and internet by making them complimentary and not adversary.
Sardesai worked with Times of India before moving onto television news. He has served as Managing Editor of NDTV group's news channels. The IBN Network includes CNN IBN, IBN7 and IBN Lokmat.
The secretary-general, Murthy, began his career with Indian Express and has been part of Malayala Manorama for a quarter of a century. He writes a political column for the newspaper and an anecdotal column for its sister magazine, The Week. He has been vice-chairman of the Lok Sabha Press Gallery Committee, and a member of the Press Council of India. He is now a member of the Central Press Accreditation Committee.
Bansal, is a specialist in business journalism. He was with Times of India and served as Resident Editor of Financial Express, New Delhi. In electronic journalism, he has worked with TV18 and Zee News. He was earlier Managing Editor and Executive Editor of India TV.
He has participated in professional programmes at Harvard Business School, European Journalism Centre and University of Westminster.
The Editors' Guild has 225 members. TV journalists have only recently been inducted as members. The guild is a body of editors of newspapers, news agencies, news magazines and television news channels in the country. It takes up issues of freedom of the press, independence of editors and raising the standards and ethics of journalism. It has evolved a code of practice for journalists.
National Conference of PRSI
The 30th National Conference of the Public Relations Society of India is being held in Guwahati from December 11 to December 13,2008.
The theme of the conference is the fifth Estate.....Public Relations: PR in Nation Building.
The Public Relations Society of India uses communication tools for change in order to build public opinion on various issues of national and social importance. PRSI has to its credit campaigns like media transparency drive, unity India drive, anti terrorism movement and ethics in political communication.
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"Many people quit looking for work when they find a job. "
-Anonymous |
With Love, Yogesh Sharma
GujaratGlobal.com |
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