Letters modern-day authors no longer write

From the superb blog Letters of Note, a dream letter from the science fiction writer Isaac Asimov that every editor would love to dream of.

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The brave last words of Prabhash Joshi. RIP.

The full text of the press release issued by the Foundation for Media Professionals (FMP) of the address made by Prabhash Joshi at a seminar held in New Delhi on Wednesday, October 28, 2009, on the blurring of the line between editorial and advertisements in the Indian media. Joshi, a former editor of the Hindi daily Jansatta, passed away last week, nine days after the address.

Also read: Pyramid Saimira, Tatva & Times Private Treaties

Times Private Treaties gets a very public airing

SUCHETA DALAL: Forget the news, you can’t believe the ads either

Does he who pays the piper call the tune?

SALIL TRIPATHI: The first casualty of a cosy deal is credibility

Selling the soul? Or sustaining the business?

PAUL BECKETT: Indian media holding Indian democracy ransom

Does he who pays the piper call the tune?

PRATAP BHANU MEHTA: ‘Indian media in deeply murky ethical territory’

The scoreline: Different strokes for different folks

A package deal that’s well worth a second look

ADITYA NIGAM: ‘Editors, senior journalists must declare assets’

PRABHASH JOSHI, A HINDI TITAN, IS NO MORE

sans serif records with deep regret the passing away of the veteran Hindi editor and a fearless voice against media malfeasance, Prabhash Joshi, in New Delhi on Friday morning. He was 72 years old.

Founder editor of the Hindi daily Jansatta published by the Indian Express group, Joshi was a key member of the inner circle of the paper’s fiesty proprietor, Ramnath Goenka. Equally proficient in English, Joshi served as resident editor of the Express in Chandigarh, Ahmedabad and Delhi.

Joshi had lately taken on a lead role against the selling of editorial space for advertisers by rapacious Indian media houses. He wrote a searing four-part series on the topic in Jansatta, which he continued to serve as editorial advisor after his retirement.

He was also a key speaker at a seminar* on the subject held by the Foundation for Media Professionals (FMP) in the capital last week, where he revealed the plight of the BJP leader Lalji Tandon, whose campaign in the recent elections was not covered by a single newspaper because he declined to pay for coverage. Tandon won despite the media blackout.

Fittingly, for an avid cricket fan, Prabhash Joshi’s innings came to an end as he watched India fight back in a one-day international match against Australia in Hyderbad, in which Sachin Tendulkar scored the innings of his life while crossing 17,000 runs in his career.

* Disclosures apply

Photograph: courtesy Tehelka

Read the PTI report here: Noted journalist Prabhash Joshi dies

Also read: Searching for Prabhash Joshi on Google

Will India’s greatest questioner raise his hand?

Stephen J. Dubner, the journalist who co-authored Freakonomics with the economist Steven D. Levitt, writes on his blog that the most interesting question thrown in the run-up to their new book, SuperFreakonomics, has come from an (unnamed) Indian journalist.

In fact, the blog post is titled: “The greatest question ever asked?”

The question:

“You state that your book is based on one fundamental assumption about human nature: people respond to incentives. Which is another way of saying that people are basically selfish. Take someone like Jesus Christ. What was his “incentive” to go on the cross?”

Read the full post here: The greatest question ever asked?

Sanskriti Awards for Teresa Rehman, Bahar Dutt

Two young journalists, Teresa Rehman (left) of Tehelka and Bahar Dutt of CNN-IBN, are among five winners of the Sanskriti Awards for 2009.

Now in its 30th year, the Sanskriti Awards are given to young talents between 25 and 35 years of age, and will be presented in New Delhi on Novemebr 20, according to a press release. Each award carries Rs 50,000 in cash and a citation.

# An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Teresa Rehman is Tehelka’s principal correspondent in the Northeast. Her photo-story on an alleged fake encounter in Manipur in June 2009, won global acclaim and was picked up by newspapers and magazines worldwide.

# Bahar Dutt, a trained wildlife conservationist, has worked for the last ten years on key wildlife issues in India and abroad. She played a key role in working with and rehabilitating the Bahelias, a community of snake charmers in Rajasthan and Haryana.

Photographs: courtesy Sanskriti Pratishtan

‘Indian media better than overseas media’

Biting the hand that feeds the oxygen of publicity is a bloodsport among celebrities.

Kabir Bedi, who found his niche in the American TV series Sandokan and later starred in the James Bond film Octopussy, thankfully bucks the trend, in an interview in The Pioneer, Delhi:

Question: Being an ardent follower of news, how do you view media in today’s times?

Kabir Bedi: Media is the fourth pillar of our society. I have great respect for journalists. I myself want to become a journalist but as destiny would have it, I got busy with films, theatre and television and never had time for journalism. In fact, I believe that the content disseminated through print and electronic media in India is far better than what is shown on foreign channels. I am appreciative of the work they do and the important role they play in society.

Photograph: Kabir Bedi as the black corsair in Sergio Solima’s Il corsaro nero (courtesy rohpress)

Also read: ‘Good journalists, poor journalism, zero standards’

A house for Mr & Mrs Roy for Rs 270,000,000

From The Insider column in the Indian edition of Forbes:

“We hear that that grand old titan [of Indian steel], Russi Mody, is selling his two-storied bungalow on Calcutta’s tony Belvedere Road. Apparently he has a lifetime interest in the property, and it will change hands only after he passes on.

“One of our avian friends tells us that the Roys of NDTV are close to finalising a deal, for around Rs 27 crore.

“Prannoy Roy doesn’t have much of a connection with the City aside from his Bengaliness, but Radhika Roy grew up there. Perhaps that will be their retirement home? Not that we’re expecting them to be putting up their feet anytime soon. After all Mr. Mody, despite the legendary 16-egg breakfasts, is in robust health. Prannoyda, we’re sure you’ll join us in wishing you a long wait!”

For the record, Forbes India is published by Raghav Bahl’s Network 18 which competes with NDTV’s news, business and lifestyle channels.

Photograph: courtesy Queen Mary University of London

Also read: 26% of India’s most powerful are media barons

The 11 habits of India’s most powerful media pros

‘The endgame is near for both NDTV and TV18′

An ‘A List’ most A-listers don’t want to be a part of

India’s best editors, wiser than rest together?

Via Twitter, CNN-IBN editor-in-chief Rajdeep Sardesai, names the “most outstanding election analysts across channels” on counting day, October 22. His verdict: Kumar Ketkar, editor of the Marathi daily Loksatta, and Palagummi Sainath, rural affairs editor of The Hindu, both of whom were on CNN-IBN.

“Wiser than all Delhi editors put together,” says Sardesai, whose own election show had the usual sprinkling of said “Delhi editors”, who also appeared on CNN-IBN.

Ahem.

Also read: Don’t ask me, ask her. Don’t ask me, ask him

BBC journalists secure abducted cop’s release

It’s one of journalism’s oldest questions: should journalists in the line of duty play a part in unfolding news events?

Should they be the eyes and ears of their audience at all times, as expected of their profession, regardless of the situation? Or, are there occasions when exceptions can be made like, say, a life at risk?

CNN chief medical correspondent Dr Sanjay Gupta, MD, while reporting from Iraq in 2003, conducted an emergency brain surgery on an Iraqi boy. Yesterday, in West Bengal, two senior BBC journalists helped broker a compromise between the State government and Maoists, leading to the safe release of an abducted police officer.

The policeman had been kidnapped after a raid on the police office three days earlier and held him hostage demanding the release of 14 tribal women.

According to a report in The Times of India, the BBC journos stepped in and acted as “facilitators and served as a bridge between the rebels and the government” when the leader of the Maoists Koteshwara Rao alias Kishenji, refused to deal directly with State officials.

“Initially, the government was a bit confused. On Wednesday morning, they sought our help. Having worked in the North-East for several years, I have been involved in facilitating several such hostage negotiations. We wanted to start a dialogue immediately but couldn’t since we needed at least one government official to participate but there was none,” the BBC’s veteran eastern India correspondent Subir Bhaumik is quoted as saying.

Subir Bhaumik later reported the story of the policeman’s release for the BBC without mentioning the role played by him in it. All’s well that ends well, of course, but what if the journalists had been caught in the crossfire between the Maoists and the State police?

There is also a strange irony in the involvement of journalists to secure the policeman’s release from the grip of Maoists. In late September, a top Maoist leader Chattradhar Mahato had been nabbed by police who were dressed up as journalists of a Singapore TV station. The impersonation had led to an outcry among journalists.

Photograph: courtesy Subir Bhaumik

Read the full report:  Journalists brokered cop’s release

Also read: Dressing up (and dressing down) as journalists

Michael Moore takes on Sanjay Gupta of CNN

Anybody here who’s Hindu and wants to convert?

In the 1980s and ’90s, the undivided Indian Express, it was rumoured, was loathe to hiring Muslim journalists because of the pronounced pro-Hindu sentiment of its proprietor Ramnath Goenka, although there were exceptions to the rule like Saeed Naqvi and Rasheeda Bhagat.

Thankfully, that trend changed with the death of the old man and the division in the family. Now, it is the turn of the paper to point fingers at others still indulging in religion-based segregation.

Facsimile: courtesy The Indian Express