This has definitely been the annus horibilis for Indian media. If you thought that the Radia disclosures were the only things disastrous, then you're mistaken. It was only another in a long list of problems and scams. The media was for once a participant and not a spectator and self-appointed judge.
Call it the Peepli Live year.
Aroon Poorie Gets Caught: India Today head honcho Poorie wrote a great editorial on Rajnikant. Or did he? Cyberspace soon found out that a paragraph was identical to an article that appeared in Slate. Blogosphere and Twitter went viral after that.
Now Mr Poorie was in a lose-lose situation. If he accepted that he wrote the editorial, then it was a simple case of plagiarism. If he accepted that he took inputs from his staff and didn`t even bother to edit or change it, then it didną¬Æok good at all. He chose the latter. Now readers will always wonder whenever they read an editorial.
Many years ago Hindustan Times Editor VN Narayanan had to quit thanks to such a charge. At that time, it was only discussed extensively among journalists. The common populace didnąØ”ve much idea. Thanks to new media, nothing is hidden or suppressed any more.
Even Rajnikant would have said, "Mind it!"
Journos in Land Scam: The Karnataka Land Scam has been going on for ages now. From HD Deve Gowda to BS Yedyurappa, umpteen politicians, their kith, kin and friends have been involved. But when Tehelka magazine named 13 journalists, it was a new. How would media cover something in which its members were beneficiaries? Word had it that some in the list had to look for other jobs.
Fake Twitter Accounts Anyone? Everyone knows the power of new media, so it was no surprise when CNN-IBN used Twitter comments to further their cause. Only, a few bloggers checked and found that the accounts didn`t exist in the first place!
At the end of apologies, accusations and counter-accusations, Rajdeep Sardesai asked a fellow Twiterrer to "chill". Well, "chill" is one thing Cyberspace is not going to do when it finds mainstream media making such a mistake.
Call it the Peepli Live year.
Aroon Poorie Gets Caught: India Today head honcho Poorie wrote a great editorial on Rajnikant. Or did he? Cyberspace soon found out that a paragraph was identical to an article that appeared in Slate. Blogosphere and Twitter went viral after that.
Now Mr Poorie was in a lose-lose situation. If he accepted that he wrote the editorial, then it was a simple case of plagiarism. If he accepted that he took inputs from his staff and didn`t even bother to edit or change it, then it didną¬Æok good at all. He chose the latter. Now readers will always wonder whenever they read an editorial.
Many years ago Hindustan Times Editor VN Narayanan had to quit thanks to such a charge. At that time, it was only discussed extensively among journalists. The common populace didnąØ”ve much idea. Thanks to new media, nothing is hidden or suppressed any more.
Even Rajnikant would have said, "Mind it!"
Journos in Land Scam: The Karnataka Land Scam has been going on for ages now. From HD Deve Gowda to BS Yedyurappa, umpteen politicians, their kith, kin and friends have been involved. But when Tehelka magazine named 13 journalists, it was a new. How would media cover something in which its members were beneficiaries? Word had it that some in the list had to look for other jobs.
Fake Twitter Accounts Anyone? Everyone knows the power of new media, so it was no surprise when CNN-IBN used Twitter comments to further their cause. Only, a few bloggers checked and found that the accounts didn`t exist in the first place!
At the end of apologies, accusations and counter-accusations, Rajdeep Sardesai asked a fellow Twiterrer to "chill". Well, "chill" is one thing Cyberspace is not going to do when it finds mainstream media making such a mistake.
Image: A screen-shot of India Today magazine shows an editorial by Aroon Purie, apologising for the Rajinikanth article. Grady Hendrix, the author of the Slate article, didn't take too kindly to the apology, though. Read his response here
Text: Sunil Rajguru
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