अन्नपूर्ण पोस्टको 'कालो पत्रकारिता'

अन्नपूर्ण पोस्टको 'कालो पत्रकारिता'

चैतन्य मिश्र, केदारभक्त माथेमा, लीलामणि पौड्याल, प्रत्युष वन्त र सुरेश ढकालको संक्षिप्त प्रतिक्रियासहित


अदालतमा अहिले चलिरहेको फलानो मुद्दामा स्रोतका अनुसार फलानो दोषी हो । उसले फलानोसँग केही करोड असुलेका पनि स्रोतले बतायो । फलानो एक्लै दोषी छैन, उसकी श्रीमतीको चरित्र पनि खराब भएको स्रोतले बतायो । स्रोतका अनुसार उसको छोरा पनि लागू औषध दुव्र्यसनमा फसेको छ ।

 यही जेठ ९ गते अन्नपूर्ण पोस्ट नामक काठमाडौंबाट प्रकाशित हुने एउटा दैनिकको मुखपृष्ठमा ‘एमबीबीएसमा सीट थप्न चलखेल’ शीर्षकमा यस्तै समाचार छापियो । सो समाचारबारे मैले यस अघि नै दुई टिप्पणी लेखिसकेको छु । (पत्रिका कि प्रतिशोधको हतियार? र धर्मछाडा पत्रकारिताविरुद्ध ४ रणनीति)


यो पीत पत्रकारिता किन हैन? 
१५ फेब्रुअरी १८९८ को साँझ । क्युबामा चलिरहेको स्पेनविरोधी विद्रोहमा अमेरिकी स्वार्थको रक्षा गर्न भनेर परिचालित युएसएस मेइन (एसीआर वन) नामक युद्धपोत हवाना हार्वरमा डुब्यो । भोलिपल्ट न्यू योर्क जर्नल पत्रिकाको हेडलाइन समाचार यस्तो थियोः डिस्ट्रक्सन अफ द वार शिप मेइन वज त वर्क अफ अन एनेमी । अर्को प्रतिस्पर्धी दी न्यू योर्क वल्र्डको हेडलाइन थियोः मेइन एक्सप्लोजन कज्ड बाइ बम अर टोर्पेडो? उपशीर्षकमा भनिएको थियोः क्याप्टेनका अनुसार दुश्मनहरुका कारण दुर्घटना सम्भव भएको थियो ।

न्यू योर्क जर्नल त्यतिमा रोकिएन । उसको मुखपृष्ठ पूरै जसो ढाक्ने गरी तीन ठाउँमा दोहोर्यार लेखियोः मेइन युद्धपोत काण्डको दोषी पत्ता लगाउनेलाई जर्नलका तर्फबाट ५० हजार डलर पुरस्कार । 

जबकि सो घटनाबारे छानविन गर्न पछि बनाइएका समितिहरुले त्यसको यकिन कारण पत्ता लगाउन सकेनन् र अहिलेसम्म त्यसको वास्तविक कारण अज्ञात छ । धेरैले अहिले विश्वास गर्छन् कि युद्धपोतले बोकेको बिटुमिनस कोल नामक एक प्रकारको कोइलाबाट उत्सर्जन हुने प्रज्वलनशील ग्याँसबाट आगलागी शुरु भएर दुर्घटना भएको हुनुपर्छ ।

धर्मछाडा पत्रकारिताविरुद्ध ४ रणनीति

पत्रिका कि प्रतिशोधको हतियार? –२

श्रृंखला १ पत्रिका कि प्रतिशोधको हतियार? पत्रकारिताले धर्म छाडेपछि...

यो ब्लगमा एनसेलसम्बन्धी आलेखको पाठक संख्या ७००० पुग्न थालेको छ । तर छिट्टै धर्मछाडा पत्रकारिताबारे लेखिएको टिप्पणीले त्यसलाई उछिन्लाजस्तो छ । भन्नुको अर्थः मूलधारका मिडियाका बारेमा मूलधार बाहिर लेखिए पनि त्यसलाई खोजेर पढ्ने पाठकहरुको संख्या राम्रै छ ।

नेपालको मूलधारका प्रमुख पत्रपत्रिकामामा विभिन्न समयमा फाटफुट स्तम्भ लेखेर मात्र भए पनि संलग्न भएकाले तिनप्रति मेरो ‘सफ्ट स्पट’ छ । त्यसमाथि हामी आम सरोकारका विषयमा बोलिराख्नु र लेखिराख्नु पर्ने मानिसहरुलाई आज जुन मिडियासित पारो चढ्छ, भोलि उसैको सहयोग लिन वा उसैसित काम गर्नुपर्छ । कुनै मिडियासित चित्त बुझेन भने पनि त्यसलाई निषेध गर्नेभन्दा पनि बरु एंगेज्मेन्टको माध्यमबाट आफ्ना कुरा राख्ने रणनीति धेरै प्रभावकारी हुने मेरो अनुभव छ ।

त्यसैले सकभर मिडियालाई नचलाउने र बरु तथ्यगत त्रुटि भएजस्तो लाग्यो भने सम्पादकलाई मेल लेख्ने काम आजसम्म गर्दै आएको हो र सामान्यतः अब गर्ने पनि त्यही हो ।

अर्कोतिर खास मिडियाले आम सरोकारको विषय विशेषलाई प्राथमिकतामा पारेनन् भनेर धेरै साथीहरुले आलोचना  गरिरहँदा तिनको आलोचना  पनि मैले गरेको छैन । उनीहरुका पनि आफ्नै सीमा हुन्छन् र तीमध्ये कति आम पाठकले बुझेका हुँदैनन् । संसारभर परम्परागत पत्रकारिताको जग नै हल्लिने गरी भइरहेको परिवर्तन, विकेन्द्रित, सामाजिक सञ्जाल केन्द्रित पत्रकारिताका कारण मिडिया धान्ने पुराना मोडलहरु काम नलाग्ने भएका छन् भने नयाँले आकार लिइसकेका छैनन् । बेलायतको दी गार्जियन र अमेरिकाको न्यू योर्क टाइम्सजस्ता पत्रिकाहरुले भविष्यतिर अनिश्चयपूर्वक हेरिरहेको बेला हाम्रा मिडियामा त्यस्तो अन्योल हुनु अनौठो हैन ।

पत्रिका कि प्रतिशोधको हतियार?

पत्रकारिताले धर्म छाडेपछि...

श्रृंखला २ः धर्मछाडा पत्रकारिताविरुद्ध ४ रणनीति

के हाम्रो पत्रकारिता त्यति गिरिसकेको हो जहाँ कसैको प्रतिशोध र तुसको बन्दुक पत्रकारको काँधमा राखेर पड्काउने अनि सम्पादक निरीह बनेर हेरिरहने अवस्था छ? के अदालतको सरासर मान हानि हुने कुरा मुखपृष्ठमा प्राथमिकतासाथ छापिनुहुँदैन भनेर सम्पादकहरुलाई हामी नागरिकहरुले सिकाउनु पर्ने हो? के प्रतिस्पर्धामा माथि आउन गलतै भए पनि जे बिक्छ त्यसैलाई समाचार बनाउने र अरुको टाउको किल्चेर आफू माथि पुग्ने नियत केही सञ्चार संस्थाहरुमा हावी भएको हो? पत्रकार र सम्पादकहरु त्यसरी माथि पुग्ने हुन् भने हाम्रो पत्रकारिताको तरक्कीको सीमा के हो? 

कुइस कस्टोडिएट इप्सस कस्टोडिज? अर्थात्, हु विल गार्ड द गार्डस वा पहरेदारको पहरेदारी कसले गर्ने?

यो भनाइ धेरै पेशाहरुका लागि लागू हुन्छ । शिक्षा क्षेत्र हेर्ने हो भने क्याम्पसलाई विश्वविद्यालयले हेर्ने, विश्वविद्यालयलाई कसले हेर्ने? स्वास्थ्य क्षेत्र हेर्ने हो भने मेडिकल काउन्सिलले सबै डाक्टरको निगरानी राख्ने तर काउन्सिलको निगरानी कसले राख्ने?

अर्थात्, कुनै पनि पेशागत क्षेत्रको माथिपट्टि एउटा यस्तो निकाय हुन्छ जसले आफ्नो पहरेदारी आफैं गरेर आफू जवाफदेही हुनुपर्छ अनि त्यसको आभास अरुलाई दिलाउन सक्नुपर्छ । अहिले त्यसो हुन नसक्दा नेपालमा चौतर्फी भद्रगोल छ ।

त्यसमाथि बाँकी सबै पेशा र क्षेत्रहरुको पहरेदारी गर्ने जिम्मा लिएको मिडिया क्षेत्रका लागि त यो भनाइ कति महत्वपूर्ण छ भन्नैपर्दैन । भारतका विख्यात सम्पादक विनोद मेहता निरन्तर भन्थेः पत्रकारिताले अरुसित पारदर्शिता र जवाफदेहिता खोज्दा यो आफैं अपारदर्शी हुनु नाजायज हो, यसको पनि आफ्नै कोड अफ कन्डक्ट हुनुपर्छ । कुनै बेला त्यसो भन्ने ठूला सम्पादक उनी एक्लै हुन्थे तर आम मानिसको चेतना बढेसँगै मिडियाभित्रै आफू पारदर्शी हुने र एकअर्कालाई खबरदारी गर्ने स्वस्थ संस्कृति भारतमा धेरथोर विकसित हुँदैछ ।

पत्रकारितालाई त्यसै राज्यको चौथो अंग भनिएको हैन । खूला समाजहरुमा यसको शक्ति कति हुन्छ भनेर भनिरहनुपर्दैन । लोकतान्त्रिक शासन रुपमा मात्र नभएर सारमा पनि छ कि छैन भन्ने कुराको एउटा महत्वपूर्ण मापन स्वतन्त्र मिडिया हो । जहाँ मिडियामा अंकुश लाग्यो, त्यो राज्यव्यवस्था अस्वस्थ र जनपीडक भयो भनेर बुझे हुन्छ ।

अर्कोतिर, शक्ति र जिम्मेवारी सँगसँगै आउने कुरा हुन् । पत्रकारिताको शक्तिले एकतिर आफूलाई सर्वशक्तिमान ठान्ने शासकहरुमाथि अंकुश लगाउन, तिनलाई जवाफदेही बनाउन र आम मानिसमाझ तिनको छवि गिराएर आवधिक रुपमा हुने चुनावहरुमा तिनलाई हराउनेसम्म ताकत राख्छ । अर्कोतिर यसलाई ब्ल्याकमेलिंगको माध्यम बनाएर यति रकम देऊ वा मेरो यस्तो अवाञ्छित काम गरिदेऊ, नत्र बेइज्जत गरिदिन्छु भनेर यसको दुरुपयोग गर्नेहरु पनि हुन्छन् । त्यस्ता व्यक्तिहरुको हाम्रो राज्य संरचनामा कति बलियो प्रभाव छ भन्ने कुरा केही समय अघि त्यस्तै काममा न्यायालयले दोषी ठहर्याएका व्यक्ति प्रेस काउन्सिलको सदस्य नियुक्त हुँदा छरपस्ट भएको थियो ।

...

प्रसंग यही जेठ नौ गते काठमाडौंबाट प्रकाशित एउटा दैनिकको एउटा समाचारको हो । मुखपृष्ठको 'एमबीबीएसमा सिट थप्न चलखेल' शीर्षक शीर्ष समाचार ४६२ शब्दको छ । त्यसमा एउटै स्रोतलाई ७ पल्ट उद्धृत गरिएको छ । समाचारको सार छः ८ जना मिलेर एउटा मेडिकल कलेजलाई एमबीबीएसका ४० सिट थप्ने प्रपञ्च गरे र त्यस क्रममा ठूलो आर्थिक लेनदेन भयो ।

मुखपृष्ठको समाचार 

म पेशाले पत्रकार हैन र प्राविधिक रुपमा समाचार कसरी सन्तुलित र पूर्वाग्रहरहित हुन्छ, त्यसमा मलाई ज्ञान छैन । तर फलानोले यस्तो अपराध गर्यो भनेर समाचार लेख्नु अघि एकचोटि मानव खप्परभित्र स्थित दिमागको नियोकर्टेक्स भनिने चेतनशील हिस्सा प्रयोग गर्नुपर्छ भन्ने मलाई बोध छ र आम पत्रकारबाट पनि म त्यही अपेक्षा गर्छु । जब त्यसको सट्टा भोक, तिर्खा, लालचजस्ता भावलाई नियन्त्रित गर्ने दिमागको लिम्बिक सिस्टम भनिने पुरातन हिस्सा प्रयोग गरिन्छ, त्यसले पत्रकारितालाई न्याय गर्न सक्दैन ।

John Pilger: Killing with coverge- How media actively contributed to the mass murder in Iraq

Sobering reflection on how reputed 'liberal' newspapers like NYT made it possible for US and allies to go into a devastating rampage in Iraq  in a false pretext with near-total impunity

Pilger's article needs no introduction. Just contrast this with this typical NYT column by Thomas Friedman with a thinly disguised sense of self-glory trying to make sense of the latest report about CIA's torture programs, which concludes with this: Even in the worst of times, “we are always Americans, and different, stronger, and better than those who would destroy us.”

War by media and the

triumph of propaganda

John Pilger

In 2003, I filmed an interview in Washington with Charles Lewis, the distinguished American investigative journalist. We discussed the invasion of Iraq a few months earlier. I asked him, "What if the freest media in the world had seriously challenged George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld and investigated their claims, instead of channeling what turned out to be crude propaganda?"

He replied that if we journalists had done our job "there is a very, very good chance we would have not gone to war in Iraq."

That's a shocking statement, and one supported by other famous journalists to whom I put the same question. Dan Rather, formerly of CBS, gave me the same answer.  David Rose of the Observer and senior journalists and producers in the BBC, who wished to remain anonymous, gave me the same answer.

In other words, had journalists done their job, had they questioned and investigated the propaganda instead of amplifying it, hundreds of thousands of men, women and children might be alive today; and millions might not have fled their homes; the sectarian war between Sunni and Shia might not have ignited, and the infamous Islamic State might not now exist.

Even now, despite the millions who took to the streets in protest, most of the public in western countries have little idea of the sheer scale of the crime committed by our governments in Iraq. Even fewer are aware that, in the 12 years before the invasion, the US and British governments set in motion a holocaust by denying the civilian population of Iraq a means to live.

Those are the words of the senior British official responsible for sanctions on Iraq in the 1990s - a medieval siege that caused the deaths of half a million children under the age of five, reported Unicef. The official's name is Carne Ross. In the Foreign Office in London, he was known as "Mr. Iraq". Today, he is a truth-teller of how governments deceive and how journalists willingly spread the deception. "We would feed journalists factoids of sanitised intelligence," he told me, "or we'd freeze them out."

The main whistleblower during this terrible, silent period was Denis Halliday. Then Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations and the senior UN official in Iraq, Halliday resigned rather than implement policies he described as genocidal.  He estimates that sanctions killed more than a million Iraqis.

Read the complete article in Pilger's site here

मिडिया कटाक्ष: सम्पादकको अवसान भएकै हो?

(This article was written on Feb 13, 2013 but has not been published anywhere earlier).

सम्पादकलाई मार्ने प्रयासहरु नभएका हैनन्, ती मार्ने प्रयास पूरै असफल भएका पनि छैनन् । तर अहिलेको अवस्थामा सम्पादक मरिसकेको हो कि थङ्थिलो भएर लडेर फेरि तंग्रिने प्रयास गरिरहेको हो? एउटा स्वाभिमानी सम्पादक धनी संचार गृहमा नअटाउनु भनेको सम्पादकको अवसान हो कि फरक र बागी पत्रकारिताको जन्मने अवसर? कतै अहिलेको संकटले दक्षिण एशियाली पत्रकारितामा नयाँ र सुनौलो युगको जन्म दिने सम्भावना बोकेको त छैन?

चानचुन छ वर्षको सक्रिय लेखनमा झण्डै तीन सय लेख वा सामाग्री आफ्नो ब्लगमा प्रकाशित गरिरहे पनि तिनमध्ये एउटा मात्र पूरा लम्बाइको स्तम्भ कागजमा प्रकाशित गर्न सफल थोरै भाग्यमानी लेखकहरुमध्ये म पर्छु होला । त्यस हिसाबले मेरा कति लेखहरु कति जना र कुन कुन सम्पादकले प्रकाशित गर्न अस्वीकार गरेका छन्, त्यो हिसाब गर्न मेरा चलाउन छोडिसकेका इमेल खाताहरुसमेत खोलेर हेर्नुपर्ने हुन्छ । यसबीच अनलाइन सञ्चारहरुमा मेरा जति लेखहरु प्रकाशित भए, ती सहृदयी सम्पादकहरुले स्वीकृतिमार्फत् दिएको शिक्षा र नेपाली तथा अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय सञ्चारमाध्यमका अन्य सम्पादकहरुले अस्वीकृतिमार्फत् दिएका शिक्षाहरु एक लेखकका रुपमा मेरा लागि बराबर महत्वपूर्ण भएजस्तो लाग्छ ।

Who brought down the Malaysian plane?

The rumor mill sets in and mainstream media already knows whom to blame

For Russia and the rebels in Eastern Ukraine, this could not have come at any worse time: the tragic crash of the Malaysian Airlines plane purportedly caused by a missile strike appears to have hit the crux of the ongoing geopolitical tussle.

As was the case with the Sarin gas attack in Syria, the fingers are being already pointed to the culprits of choice: the pro-Russian rebels and even Kremlin itself.

While it is too early to place blame on any side and to give a clean chit to others, a major media war has already started with most of the western media already passing the conditional verdict with 'According to American officials...'.

A decade with facebook: indulgence, censorship and idiocy

It might be OK to become an indulgent member of a platform that promotes censorship in this era. But to use it like an idiot?  

डा गोविन्द के सीको आन्दोलनः रुन्चे, धुन्चे र व्यावसायिक पत्रकारिताको नजरमा

मेरो ब्लगमा मिडिया वाच भन्ने अलग्गै स्तम्भ छ । त्यसमा खास गरी छिमेकी भारतका सञ्चार माध्यमहरुको एक हदसम्म विश्लेषण गरिएको छ । तर डा गोविन्द के सीले शुरु गर्नुभएको अनशनरुपी आन्दोलन देशव्यापी भएर चिकित्सा क्षेत्रको जनआन्दोलनमै परिणत भएपछि नेपाली सञ्चारमा माध्यमहरु पनि स्पष्ट रुपमा आ आफ्नो कित्तामा उभिएका छन् र तिनका बारे धेरै कुरा बुझ्न सजिलो भएको छ । आन्दोलनका क्रममा एक मिनट पनि टी भी हेर्ने वा रेडियो सुन्नेसमेत फूर्सत नभएकाले यो आलेखमा नेपालको प्रिन्ट र अनलाइन पत्रकारिताबारे मात्र छोटो विश्लेषण गरिनेछ ।

१. रुन्चे र धुन्चे पत्रकारिता

रुन्चे पत्रकारितामा विवेक भन्ने कुरा परित्याग गरेर भावना केन्द्रित दृश्यहरुको हुबहु रिपोर्टिङ गरिन्छ । त्यसले समस्या वा प्रक्रियाको सतहमुनि जाने चेष्टा गर्दैन किनिकि त्यसो गर्न गाह्रो हुन्छ र त्यसो गर्दा मित्र र शत्रु दुवै कमिन्छन् । एक तिर हजार जना मानिसहरु व्यवस्था बदल्न संघर्ष गरिरहेका छन्, छेउमै एउटा मानिस त्यो संघर्षका कारण भोकै परेको छ । संघर्षको रिपोर्टिङ गर्यो भने आफूलाई समेत चोट लाग्ने र ज्यानसमेत जाने खतरा हुन्छ तर दिनभर रल्लिएर त्यो भोको मानिसको व्यथा सोधिरहने हो भने हाइसुख्ख हुने मात्र हैन आम मानिसको संवेदना समेत पाइन्छ । यस्तो पत्रकारिता अहिले राजधानी नामक दैनिकले गरिरहेको छ ।

अब आयो धुन्चे पत्रकारिता । यस्ता पत्रिका त कसैको फोहर धुने मनसायले नै स्थापित भएका हुन्छन् । सतहमा अलि अलि व्यावसायिकताको लेप लगाएर भ्रम पार्ने तर सारमा पूरै फोहर धुने यस्तो पत्रकारिता अहिले नयाँ पत्रिका नामको दैनिकले गर्दै आएको छ । माओवादी दलको समेत प्रचण्ड खेमाको छवि उज्ज्वल हुने स्थिति हुँदै नभएको अवस्थामा थप धमिलिन नदिने असम्भव म्यान्डेट लिएर आएको यो पत्रिकाले जुन स्तरमा झरेर पनि त्यो प्रयास गर्न अभिशप्त छ । हिजोको संस्करणमा चाहिं धुलाइको रणनीतिमा राजधानीजस्तै रुन्चे कार्यनीतिमा यो पत्रिका ओर्लेको थियो ।

२. शक्तिको भक्ति पत्रकारिता 

बहुदलकालका मण्डलेहरुझैं सत्ता र शक्ति जता ढल्किन्छ आफू त्यतै ढल्किने, सन्तुलनलाई पूरै बिर्सने र खोज पत्रकारितालाई निषेध गर्ने यस्तो भक्ति पत्रकारिता दि हिमालयन टाइम्स भनिने अंग्रेजी पत्रिकाले नेपालमा गर्दै आएको छ । लोकमानसिंह कार्कीलाई अख्तियार प्रमुख बनाइँदादेखि नै स्पष्ट त्यो कित्तामा गएको यो पत्रिकाले अझै त्यस्तो धर्म निभाइरहे पनि पछिल्ला दिनमा घटनाक्रमले अलि बढी सन्तुलनमा आउन बाध्य पारिरहेका छन् । हास्यास्पद रुपमा शुरुदेखि नै डा के सीको आन्दोलनलाई दुई गुटको लडाइँको रुपमा व्याख्या गरिरहेको यो पत्रिकाले एक दिन पीत पत्रकारिताको स्तरमा झरेर विरोधाभासपूर्ण समाचार प्रकाशित गरेको थियो ।

डा गोविन्द के सीको अनशनबारे दि हिमालयन टाइम्सको भ्रामक कभरेज

संदिग्ध लगानीका लागि विवादमा तानिने गरेको आप्का हाउसको पत्रिकाले फेरि एकचोटि निष्पक्ष पत्रकारिताको खिल्ली उडाउँदै  लोकमानसिंह कार्की प्रकरणको झल्को दिएको छ ।

आजको दि हिमालयन टाइम्स पत्रिकामा पहिलो र दोस्रो पृष्ठका तीनवटा टुक्रे समाचारहरु पूर्ण भ्रम फैलाउने किसिमका भएकाले तिनबारे स्पष्टीकरण दिनु यो आलेखको उद्देश्य हो ।

कभर पेजमा No service at TUTH OPD र दोस्रो पेजमा Doctors to halt services at TUTH's OPD दुवै झूटा शीर्षकहरु हुन् । संस्थामा विद्यार्थीका रुपमा रहेका स्नातक र स्नातकोत्तर तहका चिकित्सक तथा चिकित्सा विद्यार्थीले डा के सीको जीवन रक्षाको माग गर्दै शैक्षिक गतिविधि ठप्प पारेका मात्र हुन् । र विद्यार्थी छाडेर पनि संस्थामा कन्सल्टेन्ट तथा फ्याकल्टी डाक्टरहरु अहिलेसम्म घोषित रुपमा सेवाबाट नअलगिएको अवस्थामा त्यस्तो भ्रम छोड्नु गलत हो । कृतज्ञ रेग्मीका नाममा लेखिएको उक्त समाचारमा निजले आफ्नो अज्ञानताले त्यस्तो भ्रम फैलाएका हुन् वा लोकमान प्रकरणको बेला झैं आप्का हाउसको ठाडो हस्तक्षेपले त्यसो हुन गएको हो, त्योचाहिं खुल्न सकेको छैन ।

Blogging today: Opportunities and challenges

While bloggers around the world and in Nepal have done a splendid job so far, the journey ahead is far from clear. There is no denying that bloggers have successfully created a niche in the media world dominated by the traditional/mainstream media outlets. But if a new, decentralized and vibrantly engaging model of media and communication is to be developed through the leadership of the bloggers, then the journey ahead is very long and arduous.

Blogging is a relatively new phenomenon when compared to other modes of communication. But the progress made by blogging enthusiasts over past many years is commendable. While they may be nowhere close to challenging or threatening the mainstream/print journalism, they have definitely created a niche among the information-seekers in the society today.

Alexa traffic ranking, while not perfect, could be reasonable tool to assess the importance of blogging sites and activities in today's world. While major blog service providers blogspot and wordpress rank 11th and 22nd respectively worldwide, former being ahead of popular sites like Twitter, LinkedIn and Bing; blogspot is even more popular in Nepal with 7th rank above Amazon, Wikipedia and Twitter.

What attracts people to blogging? First thing is that it empowers people: they can write, shoot, record and upload the contents themselves thereby projecting their capability. In the meanwhile the burden of seeking a suitable publisher and satisfying him/her with the content is relieved.

But, you may ask, these activities are perfectly possible with social media sites, so why do people need the blogs then? Seek the explanation here: just too many of us have fleeting attention and the variety present in the social media sites naturally entices us. But the limitation of the social media sites is that the amount of content is simply too big there for any idea to find degree of attention appropriate to its gravity. The walls/timelines just get deluged and a targeted and rigorous search may be required to find the appropriate content and few of us are inclined to do that. A blog post, on the other hand, comes less frequently and usually is more selective and meticulous and often more lengthy than the statuses/tweets in the social media sites.

Indian Media: Who will guard the guards?

(A shorter version of  this article appeared in Foreign Policy Journal as 'The Rot Behind the Facade of Free Media in India' on March 17, 2013)

Even as the months-old scandal related to a media conglomerate in India recedes in public memory, the questions related to the long term implications of collusion between the corporations and the media houses persist. With some respectable exceptions, the future of journalism at its essence looks grim in India given the philosophy and the clout of the agenda-setters.

There are two ways of cleansing corrupt or unethical practices: one, by forcing the people to abstain from them; the other, by redefining the erstwhile corrupt and unethical practices as 'not so'. A cursory examination at the way many societies deal with such practices makes it very clear that the latter of the two is often more feasible and in many instances the only possible way of dealing with the issue.

 World Map showing the percent of national populations living on less than $1.25 per day. UN Estimates 2000-2007: With India ranking next to few African countries from the bottom with a value of 41-60%, news related to poverty are not just worthy of contemplation by the 'leader's in Indian media (Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons). Contrast this with the glamorous news item about the Indian billionaires below.

Probably, there is no more tantalizing example of such kind of adaptation to corrupt practices than the Indian media. From the outcry against the 'paid news' over past many years to revelation of fake stings by the TV channels, the darker side of Indian media has been recurrently illuminated even though for brief periods. Past two years have been boom time for the Indian media as the sensationalism around the multitude of massive financial scams has ensured that people are glued to the TV channels or the newspapers and magazines. While the corrupt activities of politicians are gleefully covered, the issue of corporate corruption remains a near-taboo and introspection into the state of media industry itself is nearly missing, particularly among the 'leaders' of the Indian media world. 

As expected, the by now five-month-old scandal related to a sting by a business tycoon against a TV conglomerate is being forgotten as if no such thing had ever occurred. Apparently, agents of one of the prominent TV channels were secretly videoed while trying to extort large sums of money from a business group (through an arrangement by which favorable coverage would be given and damaging stories avoided in exchange for a lucrative advertisement deal). While one commentator or the other deplores the collusion between the business houses and the media in which backdrop the sting took place, most media outlets are now desperately trying to break some fresh news, catch some new scam or orchestrate a new sting as opposed to following the stale story.

A facsimile of The Times of India’s August 28, 2011 page with the ‘marketing feature’ on Bt Cotton. The same stories, word-by-word, had appeared earlier as real news on Oct 31, 2008. (Source: The Hindu article by P. Sainath). Contrast this with the grim data of Farmer suicides below, taken from National Crime Records Bureau, that also includes the state depicted to 'reap gold' in the TOI feature

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This raises some fundamental questions about the nature and relevance of media as an important vehicle of social discourse in India. What is journalism really set to accomplish? Does it have any responsibility towards society other than enriching the media houses and employing a sizable workforce of journalists?

Ordinarily, journalism is supposed to be one of the important checks to the power of the rulers and the powerful elites in any society. Indeed nearly every functioning democracy in world today boasts of a 'free and independent' media and even the dictators try to give an aura of press freedom. (Incidentally, in a ludicrous interview with the film crew behind the revealing documentary 'Who killed Natasha?', Ramzan Kadyrov, the president of Chechen Republic, says something to this effect: so long as Natasha Estemirova was there, she would write all nonsense against us and we would be able to say to our critics 'here, see we have democracy and space for dissenting voice'. Now she is no longer there and we cannot say that. So, why would we kill her?)

The perilous journey that the journalists have to undertake in dictatorships apart, journalism as a profession in democratic world with liberal economies, where there are little prospects of outright government interference or repression, also face different but by no means less serious challenges. Also, they are remarkably different from the challenges posed by a dictatorial regime. It is in this context that Indian journalism and media industry, as the guards of most populous democracy in the world, form a subject for a relevant case study.  

Why new media thrives (as traditional media survives)

Building an audience is a protracted and painstaking process which demands perseverance more than anything else. Going into what constitutes the standard for a majority of people is beyond the scope of this article but my message is: you cannot just sell anything. Relevance is also not the sole criteria for an acceptable content of a viable new media outlet. While credibility is the main virtue behind people's sustained interest in such a venture, it is the most delicate thing as it takes years to be built but minutes to be erased. 

Desist from preaching and making unsubstantiated and overarching predictions, that is my ordinary approach to many contemporary issues. That is the best way to avoid being prematurely discredited, whatever one writes in whichever field. But too much of caution risks making one irrelevant to the readers by shying away from burning issues of the day. A cautious approach with relatively valid arguments is thus the optimum policy, it can be safely said.

The issue of New Media has been in discussion for long. I have been actively engaged in the realm and have been a very enthusiastic member of the evolving community of non-traditional stakeholders of today's media world. Subsequently, I have been aware of the talk about new media challenging the traditional media.

To start with, the traditional (T) media, at least in this article, means the established forms of communication like newspapers, magazines, televisions and radio. And new media means those which are struggling to gain prominence in society as forms of communication but are yet to succeed. Blogging and a host of related online outlets working without well-established hierarchy as in the T media, and most importantly, needing no large scale investment, could be logically included in this. Social networking sites, being very important cousins of the new media, are better characterized by their popular name of 'Social media'.

Frankly, the two media cannot be compared in same terms at this point of time, at least in South Asia. If Traditional (T) media is the pompous and obese middle-aged,the new media till today is a cachectic infant. While power and connections of the T media make it a notable presence in the society, they constitute the parts and parcel of inherent downsides and limitations of this form of media. On the other hand, despite the relatively small and less visible role it has played so far in shaping the society, the very slimness and lack of connections of the new media comes as its asset when it comes to competition with the powerful old rival.

I have been observing these features of the two media for long but one unprecedented account of T media prompted me to compare it with new media in this way. That was the autobiography of the-most-sacked-editor-of-India Vinod Mehta.

I reviewed Mehta's book in this blog but my temptation to draw some more meaningful inferences from experiences of the veteran editor refused to die away. After all, his career spans at least the precious three decades during which many experiments took place in the traditional or mainstream media in India. In a sense, the media industry in India 'matured' during the period by appropriately(?) accommodating to the liberalized economy over the past two decades. Mehta's account of the journalism in India is thus an illustrious tale of strengths and weaknesses of T media. At heart of his personal story is the unending struggle between the owner's efforts to optimize profits anyhow (even ditching the best interests of millions of people when it came to that) and the editor's effort to balance that by using his judgment to the extent possible.

One simple inference that can be made from plain reading of the book is this: while the corporate funding of the 'free' media in the form of advertizements has no alternatives in today's world, the very lifeline has the possibility of choking a publication by forcing it to compromise on contents. While the shadow of ownership of the media house and its links with the powerful people and companies is not always visible in the contents, that works endlessly and the balance between the owner's need to optimize profit and keep the beneficent advertisers happy and the editor's effort to bat for the interest of larger public is very delicate and tenuous.

Social networking: a boon or a bane? A psychological perspective

Some clarifications to start with: 1) I am no hater of social media; I am rather an avid user of Facebook and Twitter. Also, I have no intention of using 'social media' and 'Facebook and Twitter' interchangeably but they dominate the picture as I am ignorant to a host of other sites in the category 2) I am no expert in the field and my ideas may not be polished and well-articulated. 3) I would love to do an empirical study in the subject and write with more confidence but I am utterly short of time for that sort of work. 4) Objectivity is attempted but I cannot guarantee it, however, I'll try to clear things by giving appropriate references

As I type these words in one computer out of many with internet connections, every single other person in the room is busy with facebook; obviously most of them chatting often with multiple persons at the same time. Just imagine what they would be doing now if there were no facebook or any other equivalent social networking site: reading or sleeping? Chatting with friends or watching movies? Playing carom or watching porn? Giving some long calls or writing a lengthy email? Could they be simply pondering over something or writing some serious stuff? Could they be submerged in a fiction or a serious autobiographical book or a history book?

Put it another way: How productive and meaningful are the activities taking place in the fora of social media like sharing photos and chatting? Would these activities take place in absence of this medium? Is social media filling the void in the lives of people or is it displacing potentially more productive activities? Overall, how is the exponential growth in the use of social media shaping psyche of the individual as well as the outlook of the social interactions?

Even though this particular form of communication is relatively new phenomenon, there are some well-argued pieces which present the more broad and objective picture of the evolving scenario regarding the increasing use of social media. A brilliant piece by Kartik Dayanand Boddapati literally debunks the myth of facebook as the benevolent giant promoting the free flow of information in his article titled 'Meet the enemy of the Internet' which starts with this sentence:
Not the government, not some anonymous hacking group, virus or terrorist network; the greatest threat to the internet as it exists today is from none other than its biggest site, Facebook!

With proper references and astute analysis, Kartik builds a powerful argument around how the commercial interest of the global monopoly contradicts with the free flow of information in the ordinary sense. He bluntly puts the myths like If it is not shared on Facebook it does not exist! and makes some shrewd observations: 'Facebook is ‘The Internet’ for many!' Facebook hides more stuff than it shows!', etc. and delves into issues of how Facebook is essentially implementing censorship; different and unconventional but unambiguous censorship. 

Then comes the second article about the evolving 'Facebook culture' by David P Goldman written soon after the Facebook's botched initial public offering in May this year. Goldman expresses his ideas about facebook in one short and terse statement: A Facebook page is a pre-arranged display window whose purpose is to block our gaze from the real person behind it. Here he elaborates why the Facebook's stated objective of non-conformity is a fraud and how conformity is promoted in every possible aspect so that the 'malleable consumers' end up shaping their consumption patterns in ways sought by the advertisers who pay money to enrich Facebook.

My ideas on neighbors: from elsewhere-1

Here I compile some of comments and articles about India and other neighbors published outside my own blog. It is a sort of archiving but the readers can utilize this to catch my ideas on various issues pressing the sub-continent. 

1. China, comments on Himal Southasian magazine July 2009:

74,000 protests
The cover stories of the May 2009 issue (“China’s Economy: Over the crest”) sum up well the emerging economic realities of the East. There are clear indications that we are headed toward greater unrest and chaos, the result of unemployment, hunger and destitution. The repercussions of the turbulence will be long-lasting and accelerated conflicts, both of the inter- and intra-state kinds.

Take, for instance, the staggering number of 74,000 social protests throughout China in 2004 – the figure conceded by the government – which represented the increasing disgust of the people to the widening economic gap. In the current situation in China, even the most subtle signs of defiance may be harbingers of stormy days to follow. As the effects of the turmoil are still percolating down, engulfing more people in the mess, things are sure to get worse before they get better. It will be years before people in states such as Nepal, with their relatively isolated economies, feel the chill of the global cool-down, even as the richer countries will be recuperating after lacklustre times.

The global capitalist empire is in chaos after two decades of unrivalled existence. Unsurprisingly, it is the contradictions from within that are jeopardising the vitality of the system. The discourse on turmoil and potential after-effects has been quite extensive in the West, as well as other countries with economies integrated to the former. As frustrating as the current meltdown may be to these actors, the nature of their economics is such that they will recover, later if not sooner. In our part of the world, however, most of the populace is oblivious to the dynamics of the world economy. This will only help the inevitable backlash last longer and be more vigorous.

Jiwan Kshetry
Dadeldhura

किन NCell का राम्रा समाचार मात्र आउँछन् नेपाली मिडियामा ?

 The hype surrounding the rise of Ncell as the top mobile phone and internet service provider in Nepal has kept adding layers to it. Is that all that matters in the success story, however? Are there any downsides of the story? If any, why are they not duly covered by Nepali media?

Ramesh Kumar, a reporter at Himal media puts his objection to the hype in a lucid paragraph in his facebook page. He also insinuates at the complicity of the Nepali media with the private giant as a result of which they refrain from disclosing or reporting on the blatant acts of the company: it has just abstained from paying billions of rupees in income tax, another name of robbery of professional scale. 

 Here I reproduce the words with his permission:
 
यो देशमा एन सेल नामक एक निजी दुरसञ्चार सेवा प्रदायक कम्पनी छ । सेवाको आवरणमा लुट्नु त्यसको धन्दा हो । एन सेलले अदृश्य रुपमा उपभोक्ता मात्र लुटिरहेको छैन, राज्यलाई बुझाउने करमा समेत झेल गरेको छ । एनसेलले भन्सार र राजस्व छलेको दुई घटना करिब एक महिना अघि राजस्व न्यायाधिकरणले प्रमाणित गरिदिइसकेको छ ।

Media Murders Rock Fragile Nepal

published by Asia Times on atimes.net/speakingfreely on March 10

Recent assassinations of prominent media personalities in Nepal with alleged complicity of the country's politicized police have furthered the rising sense of insecurity among ordinary people. The impunity with which suspected 'anti-Idia' Muslims in Nepal are being bumped off compounds the crisis of constitutional stalemate and protrends total anarchy.

Nepal's security has been in a dilapidated state ever since the armed rebellion by the leftist guerillas started in 1996. A decade of fierce armed conflict followed by a highly volatile transitional period both have shaken and demoralized the security apparatus thoroughly. What is shocking everyone at the moment is the phenomenon in which the incidents that used to be sporadic have now become endemic with increasing institutionalization of crime. The clandestine involvement of the former and possibly the serving police officers in the high-profile killing of Media entrepreneur Jamim Shah has drawn the ire from media community as well as public. To add insult to injury, another media entrepreneur in south-eastern town of Janakpur, Arun Singhaniya was subsequently shot dead.

The security lapses that made it possible to kill Shah in broad daylight in one of the most 'secure' and busy area in Kathmandu are flabbergasting. But what dwarfs the inexcusable negligence by police personnel is the shoddy role played by the leadership of the police and the politicians, particularly the minister of Home affairs in the aftermath. The pervading feeling of hopelessness in all quarters after it became clear that the mastermind was the notorious international gangster Chhota Rajan, was easily visible. Even the prime minister could only regret and admit that his government was incapable of providing the required security but there was no unambiguous assurance that the similar further incidents would be avoided.