Annals of 'Post Truth': Is Rajeev Chandrasekhar The Peter Thiel Of India?
So, a rich man in India got the courts to issue a take down order to a news website, TheWIre, even before giving it a chance to explain itself. That most of our media is prostrating itself before the Modi government is not news. What is a bigger news that the rich and powerful people are being able to openly dictate what the Indian people get to read about them in the media. From
Scroll.in:
The Wire took down two articles that (Rajeev)Chandrasekhar. The first, published on January 25, was a report by Sandeep Bhushan on the Republic TV, a news channel Chandrasekhar is set to launch in association with former Times Now editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami.
The second, published on February 17, was an opinion piece by Sachin Rao on the alleged conflict of interest in Chandrasekhar being a member of the parliamentary committee on defence and investing in defence companies.
The offending articles are
here but they show the take down notice instead.
All this seems familiar to
the way Billionaire Peter Thiel went after Gawker, eventually succeeding in getting Gawker.com to shut down and paying loads in fine, just because Thiel didn't agree with the stuff Gawker was prublishing. In his response to a questionairre sent by Scroll.in, Chandrasekhar replied in an eerily Thiel-like manner:
“This court action is not about a take down, it is about holding those who did this accountable for their actions,” he added.
Of course he meant that the rich and powerful are not accountable for their actions at all, only those in media who dare to speak the truth.
Labels: conflict of interest, india, media ethics
Jay-Z, the Mayawati of Rap Music
If Mayawati (Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh) uses her Dalit status to get rich, citing her wealth (and that of the party) to the anonymous and generous donations of well-wishers, then Rap Artist
Jay-Z does something similar to make millions (soon billions) by pimping out all sorts of branded products centered around his carefully crafted image.
Both of these remarkable persons will point out to the dark state of their
caste/race through
speeches/slogans/rap songs/pliable media, and then going on to behave like '
The Man' and amass huge personal fortunes for themselves.
Recently,
Jay-Z's minders got the respected Atlantic magazine to drop a story about Jay-Z making $4 million per year for endorsing a sparkling wine called Armand de Brignac. The wine costs about $13/bottle to produce, and it sells for upwards of $225/bottle.
It is nothing political or musical, only business.
Labels: celebrity, media ethics, scandal
What is the real truth behind IIPM? What to do about it?
What is the real truth behind Indian Institute of Planning & management? It is important that students and parents, who are spending expensive amounts for a degree (and education), learn about IIPM's suspect quality.
Recently, Career360.com e
xamined each of IIPM's claims (superior course, global exposure, international faculty and dollar salaries), and found no evidence to support the claims. No institution or company Careers360 talked to, could verify IIPM's claims.
In fact, the IIPM controversy has its
own Wikipedia entry. In 2005, blogger Gaurav Sabnis
pointed out to an
investigation by JAM college magazine. The ensuing bullying tactics
cost Gaurav his job at IBM. IIPM forced a professor, professor Amit Kapoor to remove the 'offending' blog post (just Google it).
In this age of pervasive transparency (Wikileaks, Radia Tapes etc.) why is an anomaly like IIPM thriving in style? It puts up multi-page advertisements in the big papers and none of these respectable names are willing to investigate the tall claims made by IIPM.They want their advertising income.
The
Media-(for profit)Educational nexus is something that is yet to be exposed in this country, where everybody is out to milk the demographic dividend for all that it's worth, proper education be damned. [See the above Graphic about the
IIPM-Media Nexus - Via Careers360 website]
What other options do parents and students have? Going to consumer courts is an option. Complaining to the the
Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) is also a good idea.
Labels: media ethics, scandal
Which is the most trusted media outlet in India?
I trust my news sources to go and bring all the information they can find for me on a topic. I do not trust my news sources to be balanced. I trust my news sources to be honest with me. I do not trust my news sources to be truthful, however they might claim. Trust in news media is an oxymoron. You do the truth-finding yourself. You do not outsource it to some self-appointed gate-keeper.
Having said, the image above is an early snapshot of an Ongoing poll on "
India's most trusted media outlets". As expected Indian Express and Hindu have the most votes. NDTV is taking a beating.
Note: I am sorry for the tiny text size in the image. The list of items in the poll was large and it was tough to get a readable screenshot. Click on the image and zoom for the names.
Labels: media ethics, poll
Media Meltdown and the Value of Media Literacy for All
In my old school, they are teaching computers and programming languages from Class 6 - onwards. It is an elite school. That is expected of an elite school. Sadly, not elite enough to teach
Media Literacy to a generation weaned on a media diet of aspirational, exploitative, and silly notions.
The kids need to catch the message behind the message. The kids need to identify the pervasive web of vested interests of big media companies. The kids need a book such as "
Media Meltdown", a graphic novel about media literacy for kids, written by Liam O'Donnell and illustrated by Mike Deas.
BoingBoing
explains the plot of the comic book,
(the book wants to) teach kids how to question the media they get, and to make their own. It follows the adventures of a group of kids who have discovered that the local monster-home developer is up to no good, and is getting away with it because he's a heavy advertiser with the town's only media company, which owns the newspaper, stadium, and TV station. Working together, they break the story on their own, using the Web, and along the way they learn to analyze the media they receive, to use that analysis in making their own media, and to work with others to get their message across.
Labels: book publishing, education, graphic novel, media ethics, media literacy
