From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Mon Dec 1 14:32:27 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Mon, 1 Dec 2003 20:02:27 +0530 Subject: Fighting the censors Message-ID: But now, somebody has worked out that kids are using their TV sets to outwit the Censor Board. The Information and Broadcasting Ministry (those wonderful folks who gave you - or didn't give you, as it turns out - CAS) has now declared that only 'U' films can be shown on TV. Of course, even the ministry can't stop kids from buying videos or DVDs, but it can certainly stop movie channels from telecasting such movies on TV. So, from now on, when you and I tune in to HBO, Zee-MGM or Star Movies, we'll have to stick to Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse. Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_477452,00300001.htm From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Mon Dec 1 14:31:17 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Mon, 1 Dec 2003 20:01:17 +0530 Subject: No adult stuff! Are you ready for juvenile TV? Message-ID: Though broadcasters are out to toe the government line on sanitising television with juvenile programmes by airing only U-rated programmes, there are certain logistical issues which may make the move a non-starter. "We are enforcing the programme code under which any television programme for public consumption should be viewable by an under-18 year old," says an official from Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. The ministry is in the process of issuing letters to that effect to various broadcasters and multi service operators, with threat of blocking off channels that do not adhere to government diktat. Officials said this move follows complaints from viewers about sleazy movies on air, including concerns raised over contents of several fashion channels and music videos. Interestingly, according to the Indian Cable TV Act, it is the last mile operator - or your neighbourhood cable operator - whose neck would be on line in case of any violation in programme code by channels. The government does not have any real control over channels that are uplinked from abroad. Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/articleshow?artid=328245 From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Tue Dec 2 15:55:45 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2003 21:25:45 +0530 Subject: Outsourcing for development Message-ID: The use of information technology for development is the flavour of the season. With the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) slated for the second week of December, United Nations agencies, government, NGOs and, not the least, the industry with an eye on a big market, have all concentrated their attention on the potential benefits for developing countries from the use of information technology. Conventionally, ICT4D, as it is often acronymised, involves the use of information technology for better governance (e-governance), for greater transparency and easier information access on government policies, programmes and performance, and for ensuring better delivery of a wider range of social services. While there are a number of innovative and successful experiments with the use of ICT in these areas, most of them are not financially self-sustaining and are completely state or donor-funding dependent. Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2003/12/02/stories/2003120200080900.htm From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Tue Dec 2 15:51:35 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2003 21:21:35 +0530 Subject: Governance of the internet Message-ID: Less than a fortnight before the United Nations-sponsored World Summit on the Information Society is to take place in Geneva, there remain wide differences between countries on the text of the declaration and the plan of action that is to be adopted at the first ever multilateral conference on harnessing information and communication technologies (ICT) for development. The summit was conceived as an opportunity for governments, the private sector and civil society to promote the use of ICT to attain the U.N. Millennium Development Goals and facilitate the use of digital services in the developing countries. However, as usually happens in the run-up to U.N. summits, negotiators find themselves unable to agree until the very last minute on a couple of issues. The financing of programmes to bridge the digital divide has emerged as one sticking point and governance or administration of the internet as the other. While finance or the need for additional resources is always a problem at the U.N. that is ultimately settled with a compromise solution, the issue of who should administer the internet is a potentially more difficult issue to resolve. Source: http://www.hindu.com/2003/12/02/stories/2003120201891000.htm From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Tue Dec 2 15:36:29 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2003 21:06:29 +0530 Subject: India seeks film piracy action Message-ID: India is urging Malaysia to stamp out the pirating of films and music - an illegal business that hits the profits of the Bollywood film industry. Malaysia is one of many Asian countries where CD and DVD pirating is widescale. Pirate versions of Microsoft's next computer operating system are already on sale in Malaysia. Correspondents in Malaysia say that Bollywood films and Indian music are highly popular there and that their appeal goes well beyond the minority of Malaysians who are of ethnic Indian origin. In September the Malaysian authorities announced plans to impose price ceilings on locally produced film and music CDs and DVDs to try to reduce the incentive for illegal selling. But the regulations do not apply to foreign films and music. A senior Hollywood executive says the film industry lost some $600m last year from the pirating of DVDs in Asia. Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3255726.stm From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Mon Dec 1 14:36:06 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Mon, 1 Dec 2003 20:06:06 +0530 Subject: Censor Board chief Anupam Kher reacts Message-ID: Censor Board chief Anupam Kher, who drew a lot of flak from critics over his statements supporting the government's moral policing, defends himself against allegations of prudery, and gives his take on the censorship controversy. "There is confusion due to newspaper reports, which needs to be cleared. There is no dictum passed for movies on late night television. It is not possible to pass such an order. The minister has quoted the Cable Television Act, 1995, and asked channels to maintain self-censorship. The letter I have sent to TV channels says that music videos and movie trailers must get a 'U' certificate before being shown. The intention is not moral policing at all. " Source: http://ww1.mid-day.com/news/city/2003/december/70116.htm From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Dec 3 15:00:03 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2003 20:30:03 +0530 Subject: Hawk films, Bollywood Message-ID: Entertainment is perhaps the only business which is weather proof, recession proof, even war proof. It is just that our myopic producers and exhibitors don't look beyond their noses and tomorrow for profits. Decades of insularity have kept management and marketing far away from the movies. Yet there is a perceptible change in Indian showbiz. Nothing reflects this better than the number of seminars and round tables on entertainment being organised all over the country. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Confederation of Indian Industry and smaller trade and business organisations are finally realising that entertainment is not only a serious business but also one which has immense growth potential. While the focus has been on TV for a while, most analysts now believe that the great leap forward for Indian entertainment will come from the movies. After all, not only do films feed the theatres they are also a primary source for TV, radio, live events and the digital value chain. We have been hearing from people like Shekhar Kapur for a while about how India and China are going to be the new drivers for global entertainment. But this is virtually true about any business when you realise that you are talking about two-fifth of the world population. Source: http://www.business-standard.com/ice/story.asp?Menu=69&story=28861 From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Dec 3 15:00:03 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2003 20:30:03 +0530 Subject: The End of Tobacco Advertising in India Message-ID: Tobacco advertising does more than offer nicotine high; it promises a sophisticated lifestyle that stems merely from holding a cigarette. In India, the advertising industry has been largely self-regulated. To circumvent the regulations, advertisers have frequently used methods such as "surrogate advertising" to promote such products. Surrogate advertising is the promotion of a product, through indirect and devious means. Typically, an advertiser would use the trademark/brand of a product for which promotions are restricted/prohibited to promote a product the advertisement of which is permitted. For instance, it is not unusual to find a brand associated with cigarettes to be used to advertise a competition/event. The advertising of socially harmful products such as tobacco and alcohol, has been sought to be restricted by Indian lawmakers. Such prohibitions were, however, previously limited to forms of media such as terrestrial television and radio which were easier to regulate. With technological advances such as satellite television and the Internet, advertisers have been finding ways to circumvent restrictions to achieve their goals. This article was originally published in The Economic Times (Corporate Counsel section), on June 14, 2003. Source: http://www.mondaq.com/i_article.asp_Q_articleid_E_23533 From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Dec 3 14:59:57 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2003 20:29:57 +0530 Subject: Paper boom Message-ID: Expect a burst of new print medium launches in the coming year. No one has firmed up plans as yet, but several have commissioned market surveys. The Ruias of the Essar group are looking at the possibility of launching a magazine business for a family member. They have commissioned a market survey. And the Hindujas are rumoured to be toying with the idea of launching a newspaper, first in English and later in vernacular languages, and are prepared to wait for eight years for the project to break even. The Hindujas had in the 1980s sought to bring "The International Herald Tribune" to India but this won't be the IHT. Launching niche magazines makes sense, if nothing else because a businessman can hawk a 74 per cent stake in them to foreign investors. But launching a newspaper in the Mumbai market will be a challenge. Taking on Bennett Coleman & Company's "The Times of India" will be the biggest challenge of all, but "The Hindustan Times" will some day leap into Mumbai, as could the ABP group's "The Telegraph." Unless, of course, a totally different kind of newspaper is on the anvil. Source: http://www.business-standard.com/ice/story.asp?Menu=8&story=28858 From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Fri Dec 5 15:19:17 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2003 20:49:17 +0530 Subject: Pakistan rapped for media abuse Message-ID: There has been an increase in violence against journalists in Pakistan, a US rights group says. The New York-based Human Rights Watch says press freedoms have eroded ever since General Pervez Musharraf came to power four years ago. In an open letter to the president, the organisation said journalists were systematically threatened, tortured and detained without charges. It highlighted the cases of two journalists who were allegedly threatened and tortured by the Pakistani security forces. Amir Mir, senior assistant editor of the monthly magazine Herald, was allegedly criticised by the president last month at a reception for Pakistani newspaper editors, the rights group said in a statement. President Musharraf is reported to have condemned the Herald as being anti-army in comments published in Mr Mir's stories. "Two days later, unidentified persons set Amir Mir's car ablaze outside his house," the rights group said, adding that Mr Mir then received a message warning that this was just the beginning. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed denied journalists were being harassed, saying Pakistan's press freedoms were unmatched in the region. "They can write whatever they want to write and stories in the Herald are a proof of that," he told Reuters news agency. Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3286589.stm From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Fri Dec 5 14:48:43 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2003 20:18:43 +0530 Subject: Indian Cities on Verge of Restricting Access to Cyber Cafes Message-ID: The rapid proliferation of cyber cafes in India recently is the result of two strong drives: Many Indians want to make money by opening cyber cafes, and many Indians want to surf the Net, which offers easy access to foreign news reports, chat rooms, pornography and gambling. Now the city government of Mumbai (Bombay) is looking to squelch those dual impulses by regulating cyber cafes. They want to force cafes to get licenses from the government, install software filters for pornography, and force patrons to show valid photo IDs. Many cyber cafe owners are angry at the proposed regulations and are organizing to prevent India from becoming like its neighbor, China, which forced licensing of cafes after a deadly fire. While easy entry into the cyber cafe business has caused an enormous boom in Internet cafes in India -- some estimate there are about 300,000 cafes nationwide -- it has also brought problems for a very conservative culture. Some cafes have become known for showing "dirty movies." Worse, terrorists have used cyber cafes in India as communications outposts. These threats have caused police in many cities to set up cyber crime units. Hackers are also causing problems: Calcutta is also looking to take action after its police Web site was hacked and made into a porn site, according to the Times of India. The Calcutta proposal, due to be implemented in six months, would require cafe owners to keep a log book on all users and record what sites they visit. Source: http://www.ojr.org/ojr/glaser/1070576918.php From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Thu Dec 4 15:08:33 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2003 20:38:33 +0530 Subject: Distance learning course on Human Rights Advocacy Message-ID: This 12-week course intended for staff members of human rights and/or social justice organisations aims to provide participants with a range of human rights advocacy methods and critical concepts as a means for them to reflect on and deepen their own work. The course will look at the theoretical foundations and critical issues of human rights advocacy, elements of advocacy planning, and strategies for action. During this course, participants should deepen their knowledge about advocacy and its relationship to: Politics and Democracy; Citizenship and Rights; Power, Empowerment and Citizen Education and Action. Participants should gain basic skills and knowledge in: visioning; contextual analysis; problem/issue identification; analysis and prioritisation; power mapping; goal/objective setting; analysis of advocacy arenas and strategies; message development, reports and media; public outreach and mobilization; lobbying and negotiation; advocacy leadership and coalition building; and assessment of success. Registration Details: The deadline for applications is December 15 2003. Fees: US$485 (tuition for auditors is $200). A limited number of scholarships are available for applicants from Africa, Middle East, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America/Caribbean. Contact Information: Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) applications@hrea.org For further information on the HREA website http://www.hrea.org/courses/2E.html From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Thu Dec 4 14:58:27 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2003 20:28:27 +0530 Subject: Sleaze preview: Local channels play it dirty Message-ID: The private channels are showing objectionable music videos and uncensored adult English movies late at night, accessible simply at the flick of the remote. So right from Basic Instinct to Blue Lagoon, the uncensored versions of adult English movies are being shown right under the nose of the authorities. According to Entertainment Tax Commissioner, Sanjeev Dubey, all channels including the cable operators' private channel fall within the purview of TV censorship rules and regulations and should adhere to the norms. But he admits, "We have in fact, received quite a few complaints in this regard. Cable operators found flouting rules can be severely penalised. In fact movies shown on private channels should have a censor certificate. All the channels fall under the Indian Cinematograph Act and so any material shown on local channels should also be censored." Under the Cinematograph Act, 1952, unrestricted public viewing is allowed only for films and film-related content which has been given a U-certificate by the Central Board of Film Certification. Since the I&B Ministry has raised the point, under the Programme Code of Cable Television Networks Regulation Act, no programme should be carried in cable service which is not suitable for unrestricted public viewing. And that's how the censor axe falls on TV channels. Source http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=5388 From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Thu Dec 4 14:58:26 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2003 20:28:26 +0530 Subject: A censor with sensibility Message-ID: Kher is set for a potentially eventful three years as chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification. He says he wants to rewrite India's 50-year-old cinema censorship law, which was inherited from the colonial administration and last revised in 1991. That was the year economic reforms triggered an assault on Indian sensibilities. Satellite television flooded homes with new-wave foreign programmes. Bollywood unveiled a lustier song and dance. Expatriate Indians made films for Indian audiences portraying a bold sexuality. He is therefore the first cultural tsar of post-liberalisation India. That excites and disturbs Kher, who's busy shooting an Indian version of Pride and Prejudice for Gurinder Chadha, the British-Asian director of Bend it Like Beckham. "Indian cinema is in fantastic transition, which is challenging much that is central to Indian values - and I'm involved at every level." Kher, who is chairman of the National School of Drama in Delhi, is one of a small number of performers who straddle Bollywood burlesque, stage, popular television, and the emerging genre of crossover films made by, and aimed at, the metropolitan Indians and Indian communities abroad. Source: http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c =StoryFT&cid=1066565924517 From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Mon Dec 8 16:05:58 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2003 21:35:58 +0530 Subject: First Person: Not according to the script Message-ID: It was a long journey, beginning in the smog of Los Angeles and ending in Madras. I was on my way to India to revise my screenplay - a true story about a Greek peasant called Stavros who fell in love with a famous Indian actress - with director Rajiv Menon. Flying over the never-ending deserts of the Gulf, I wondered whether I was the first screenwriter to be sent from Hollywood to Madras, the Tamil film capital. In Hollywood, a film has 12 or 15 writers and takes several years to develop. It requires several weeks and about 200 phone calls just to schedule a development meeting. Yet Hollywood is the acknowledged nucleus of power in the movie business. And here I was, heading in the wrong direction - Christoph Hargreaves Allen, a British screenwriter based in Los Angeles. Source: http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c =StoryFT&cid=1069493714911 From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Mon Dec 8 15:45:38 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2003 21:15:38 +0530 Subject: Is film marketing useful? Message-ID: Film-marketing, as a part of any International film festival, has these days become a made phenomenon whether films are sold/ marketed or not. Film-marketing, at the just concluded 9th Kolkata film festival, is no departure either. This time the film-marketing section was inaugurated by Rupa Ganguly, the noted actress and Secretary of Artistes' Forum, headed by Soumitra Chatterjee, the permanent Chairman of the Forum, and had left a lot of promise and optimism to be covered. Foreign filmmakers and delegates took part in it as did the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), West Bengal Film Development (WBFDC), and Sree Venkatesh Films, producer of Rituparno Ghosh-directed Choker Bali. Others who took part in the film-marketing included Surinder Films, Countrymen Film and Net Guru and sundry other distributors. But after the festival is over, one needs to take a stock-taking of the entire process raising the eternal flutter - is film-marketing useful? Well, while many among film distributors and producers are still hopeful, others are very dicey and skeptic about its aim and result. Tarun Majumder, the noted filmmaker, who has sustained the Bengali film industry for many years with his superhit films, commented, "Definitely every director wants his film to get a wide market and good business since filmmaking process is very expensive. These days we hear so much of film-marketing, but we are not sure to what extent film-marketing brings rewards for the distributors and producers. Whatever the result, I think, we can no more neglect the issue of film-marketing, a platform to sell films." Source: http://www.screenindia.com/fullstory.php?content_id=6775 From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Tue Dec 9 16:33:15 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 22:03:15 +0530 Subject: Dev Anand gets Dadasaheb Phalke award Message-ID: Evergreen Bollywood hero Dev Anand has been selected for the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award for 2002 for his outstanding contribution to Indian cinema. The legendary actor and film maker will be the 34th recepient of the award. Born on September 26, 1923 in Gurdaspur, Punjab as Devdutt Pishorimal Anand, he graduated in Arts from Punjab University and went to Mumbai to join elder brother Chetan Anand. Anand began his acting career at Prabhat where he met Guru Dutt and had his first hit film `Ziddi' at Bombay Talkies. Together with Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar, he ushered in the dominant acting idiom of post-independence Hindi cinema. Among his most memorable films are Baazi, Taxi Driver, CID, Paying Guest, Kala Pani, Hum Dono, Tere Ghar Ke Saamne, Guide, Jewel Thief, Johnny Mera Naam, Hare Rama Hare Krishna and Des Pardes. Source: http://ww1.mid-day.com/news/city/2003/december/70901.htm From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Tue Dec 9 16:23:11 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 21:53:11 +0530 Subject: TV ads influence kids most Message-ID: Asia-Pacific kids' buying behaviour largely echoes peer preferences; in India, however, television advertising holds the key to kids' spending decisions, according to the findings of an online study conducted by the Media Consumer Insights division of communications services major Group M. Still, peer groups play a vital role in the Indian context too. Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2003/12/09/stories/2003120902110600.htm From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Tue Dec 9 16:11:44 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 21:41:44 +0530 Subject: A reporter's take on online news Message-ID: The rise of the Internet has provided the world with a medium that carries an unlimited amount of glorious information. But Internet veterans know that just because it was found on the Net, it doesn't necessarily mean that the information is the best or even reliable. The Internet is littered with some very questionable information, so how does this affect journalists who primarily write for online news sites? Julio Moran, a journalism professor at USC and former Los Angeles Times reporter gave his opinion regarding online journalism. OJC: What do you think of the quality of work found in online news sites? Moran: The quality of the articles seems to be comparable to wire service stories rather than to newspaper stories. Part of this is because of the constant deadlines, and partly because most of the stories are written by less experienced people. OJC: Do you think that the Internet as a new medium for journalists benefited the trade? Moran: I don't think the medium has made journalism better, but it has created a potential new source of revenue and exposure for media companies, both print and broadcast. OJC: As an experienced journalist, do you have a media preference? Moran: I prefer newspapers because of its credibility and because of it portability. I can read a newspaper anywhere, any time I want. Newspapers also allow me more options without having to jump from Web site to Web site. I can read as much of a story I want, and then move on. OJC: Do you feel that there is a need for Internet news since similar information is available on print or in television? Moran: I think there is a need because of its immediacy. Television news is on specific times throughout the day, and has a format that may require you to wait a certain amount of time before you see the story you are looking for. Newspapers generally have a 24-hour turnaround. The Internet allows me to find news I'm looking for when I want to. OJC: Is there a journalistic reason to have Internet news sites or is it simply the reaction of following the norm that a company must have a Web site? Moran: I don't think there is a journalistic reason for the news sites, but rather a business reason to maintain visibility and eventually profitability for companies. It is good for newspapers to have a Web site with updated news throughout the day, but I don't believe that it helps papers journalistically. OJC: What are your opinions about online journalism? How do you feel about current Internet news sites? Moran: The online journalism that I am most familiar with are the one that provide summaries or links to stories in newspapers or other sites, sites as Yahoo and Romanesko, and newspapers sites such as The New York Times and the Washington Post. I think online journalism is good for the immediacy of information and for providing links if I want more detailed information. The sites allow me to keep up with the news while working at my desk without having to watch TV or listen to the radio. However, I am suspect of many of the non-newspaper-related "journalism" sites because I question their credibility and motivation. The Internet allows anyone with a computer and modem to set up a Web site and call it "journalism" without any credentials. Julio Moran has been a journalist for 25 years and has been awarded Pulitzer Prizes on two separate occasions during the course of his career with the Los Angeles Times and Metro. Currently, he is the executive director of the California Chicano News Media Association and a professor at the USC Annenberg School of Journalism teaching newswriting and reporting. Source: www.ojr.org From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Dec 10 03:03:22 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 08:33:22 +0530 Subject: Media and democracy Message-ID: The relationship between mass media and democracy can be often tense. Even in the United States, inspite of the first Amendment that safeguards relationship between the Press and the Government is not free from friction. It was during the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal the relation between the media and the government became extremely bitter. The government always fears the media for its investigative journalism. Investigative journalism is the most important trend in modern journalism which involves field research, scientific analysis and interpretations. It was investigative journalism that brought into light the Water Gate scandal, which otherwise would have been buried in the pages of history, and Richard M. Nixon would have never resigned. The credit for investigating the Watergate scandal goes to brave and courageous reporters of the Washington Post and other newspapers like Jack Anderson, Carl Bernstein, Robert Woodward and Seymor Hersh. In Nepal also fearless editors have sacrificed their lives for the cause of investigative journalism. Dictators always fear journalists. The French Emperor Napoleon Bounaparte used to say, "I am more afraid of the journalists than an army of a hundred and a thousand. The Russian statesman of the Soviet Union like Nikita Kruschev had a horror for the journalists and historians. He used to call them rats. Just like rats they move through holes and obscure corners of archives and state bureaucracy and unearth facts and figures which could be very damaging to the government. Therefore he urged that they should be kept away from the State Archives and the state bureaucracy. Source: http://www.nepalnews.com.np/contents/englishweekly/telegraph/2003/dec/dec10/ national.htm From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Dec 10 02:52:57 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 08:22:57 +0530 Subject: Indian scribe wins Cyber Oscar Award Message-ID: Anand Parthasarthy, a Indian journalist working for an English daily has bagged the coveted "Cyber Oscar award" for his outstanding work on the developments in the information society. This IT correspondent working for "The Hindu" in Chennai has been selected for his winning story on "India's first-computer-literate village" in Mallapuram district in Kerala, a press statement said. Parthasarthy is one of the four journalists who has been selected for the award. The other three scribes are from Brazil, Tanzania and Nigeria respectively. The award, which carries a prize of USD 2,000 each and a plaque, now dubbed as "Cyber Oscar", will be presented at a ceremony in Geneva on Dec 11, the statement said. The media awards, coordinated by the Panos Institute London and Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) are aimed at encouraging and bringing international recognition to the thoughtful and incisive reporting on developing countries progress in becoming "Information Societies". GKP is a worldwide network committed to harnessing potential information and communication technologies (ICTs) for sustainable and equitable development. Source: http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=13331460 From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Dec 10 16:25:43 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 21:55:43 +0530 Subject: Print, TV media to see raft of new launches Message-ID: Action in the print and television media industry is heating up with several new dailies and satellite channels being planned for the Indian market. The Chennai-based media group Sun Network will launch a English newspaper by mid-April 2004. Sources close to the deal said that the yet-to be named paper will have four editions in the south - in Tamil Nadu, Kerala Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Parabanking and airlines group Sahara is gearing up to launch the Mumbai edition of its weekly English paper Sahara Times. The Hinduja Group, with interests in cable television distribution, is also said to be toying with the idea of launching a newspaper, first in English and later in vernacular languages. The Hindujas had in the 1980s unsuccessfully sought to bring "The International Herald Tribune" to India. Expect a burst of activity in the television broadcasting industry too. CNBC-TV18 is contemplating a separate business news channels in Hindi. Media industry sources say that encouraged by CNBC's improved advertising during stock markets coverage, NDTV 24X7 is also planning to focus on stock market trading and business news during the trading hours. According to advertising industry experts, the rush to launch new products in print and television media is understandable. Says Gopinath Menon, vice president at the advertising agency TBWA-Anthem, "The economy is looking up, sales have improved, and we expect the advertising industry to grow in double digits." Source: http://www.business-standard.com/today/story.asp?Menu=2&story=29550 From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Dec 10 16:23:08 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 21:53:08 +0530 Subject: Leading media groups in race for Mid-Day Message-ID: Bennett, Coleman & Co, publishers of the Times of India, the K K Birla-owned Hindustan Times, the Pune-based Sakaal group and another leading regional newspaper company are understood to have bid for a majority stake in Mid-Day Multimedia, the Mid-Day group's holding company for newspapers, radio channels and outdoor media. The Mid-Day group today opened the bids it had received for the equity. But sources close to the development said some of the bids were complex, and sought not a majority stake but just some of the businesses Mid-Day controlled. Source: http://www.business-standard.com/today/story.asp?Menu=2&story=29590 From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Dec 10 16:41:57 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 22:11:57 +0530 Subject: Global media struggle to define 'freedom' Message-ID: Radio and TV broadcasters from over 100 countries are meeting in Geneva this week at the World Electronic Media Forum (WEMF), a parallel event to the UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). Journalists from 250 broadcasters are debating the issues raised by the new global media environment with Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and activist groups. Speakers at the opening session agreed that freedom of the media is essential to build an open and inclusive information society, and to peace and development in general. In his opening address, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed concern that although the electronic media were among the world's most important vehicles for peace, progress and solidarity, many millions of people were still outside their reach. But it is clear from the outset that what represents media freedom for some broadcasters is viewed by others as a licence to attack the legitimacy of elected governments. The World Electronic Media Forum sees its role as tackling some of the issues directly relevant to the media that are at risk of being marginalised at the main Information Society summit. The WEMF sessions, which end on Friday 12 December, are being broadcast world-wide through the Eurovision network. Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3306743.stm From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Mon Dec 15 16:38:59 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2003 22:08:59 +0530 Subject: Star News uplinking still under I&B scanner Message-ID: The proposal of Media Content and Communication Services to uplink Star News channel from India is still being examined by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry after Foreign Investment Promotion Board cleared it. FIPB has approved MCCS proposal for foreign investment but this is subject to the ministry's permission for uplinking a news and current affairs television channel from India, I&B Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told Rajya Sabha in a written reply. Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_496296,001300650006.htm From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Mon Dec 15 16:37:30 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2003 22:07:30 +0530 Subject: No film suitable for Oscars says FFI Message-ID: While elsewhere in the world Indian cinema is making waves, the Film Federation of India (FFI), the body that makes an official bid for the Oscars every year by pitching Indian movies on the world stage _ says no film was up to the mark this time. President of Film Producers Guild Of India and All India Film Producers' Council, Amit Khanna, whose organisations were members of the Federation till six months ago, defends FFI's decision and says none of the films were found suitable before the screening committee. ``Only films which have been commercially released in their country of origin prior to November 1 can be entered. Also, it is the initiative of the producer concerned to ensure his or her film is screened by the FFI. In any case, all such selections are subjective,'' says Khanna. While they may be subjective, who can forget the FFI's decision to send the eminently forgettable Jeans for the Oscars a few years ago? But that was all before the Hollywood gaze fell on Bollywood. Producer Bobby Bedi of Bandit Queen and Maqbool fame says, it is a bad decision not to send Indian entries to the Oscars, especially at a time when Hollywood is looking at Bollywood. Source: http://www.newindpress.com/Newsitems.asp?ID=IE420031210134932 From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Mon Dec 15 16:42:58 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2003 22:12:58 +0530 Subject: Box office reality dawns on dream merchants Message-ID: The corporatise-Bollywood brigade is making an attempt to regulate an area long neglected: the box office. Hits or flops, the box office is bad news for them, cry producers, because thanks to cinema hall owners and distributors, they finally get very little revenue from the sale of tickets. So one item on the agenda of Zee Rajshri Distribution, formed this week when Zee Telefilms entered into an alliance with Rajshri Pictures for distribution of films in the country, is to straighten up the box office collections. "The problems stem from high entertainment tax and the exhibitor's inclination to avoid tax payment," agrees Amit Khanna, chairperson, Reliance Entertainment Pvt Ltd. "Under-declaration of box office receipts is the easiest way out. Unlike in the US, Europe or Japan, no professional market research company here compiles cinema attendance data," he says. Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1031213/asp/nation/story_2675085.asp From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Tue Dec 16 16:21:07 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2003 21:51:07 +0530 Subject: Indian gurus expand audience with TV Message-ID: "Spirituality was always part of the Indian psyche, but now it has just found a new vehicle: 24-hour television," said Madhav Kant Mishra, executive director of the 7-month-old Sadhna religious channel. "Indians had started disbelieving their own traditional knowledge systems. The TV channels aim to re-establish that system with modern analysis and in a modern context." The audience for such programs cuts across social classes in India, where cable television costs as little as $1.50 a month, and cable and satellite services reach an estimated 42 million of 191 million households nationwide. By all accounts, however, some of the most ardent viewers are educated middle-class and wealthy Indians, who tend to live in larger towns and cities and rely on their daily dose of Hindu folk wisdom, prayers and counseling as a powerful antidote to urban angst. "Indian religions are very locality-specific," said Ashis Nandy, one of India's leading social scientists. "You have family priests, family gurus, personal gods, village gods and goddesses - this is what living Hinduism is - and that is truly in decline in urban areas. Therefore you begin to search for substitutes." Source: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001816123_tvgurus16.html From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Tue Dec 16 16:00:43 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2003 21:30:43 +0530 Subject: World Summit on Information Society successful Message-ID: The first World Summit on the Information Society ended Friday in Geneva with 170 countries vowing to bring the Internet to developing nations, Reuters reports. The summit ended with the group drafting a declaration that committed them to use telecommunication technology, like the Web and cellular phones, to boost economic growth in poor nations. Though the summit was successful, the group put off a key decision on whether to set up a special fund to finance telecommunications infrastructure, Reuters reports. African nations, which lobbied hard for special funding, were disappointed by the group's decision. Source: http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5123709.html?tag=nefd_top From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Dec 17 16:03:26 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2003 21:33:26 +0530 Subject: Amol Palekar blasts TV's low-quality stuff Message-ID: Film-maker Amol Palekar, a key participant in the open forum of the International Film Festival of Kerala-2003. He stole the show with his vehement criticism against TV for its ``addiction to low-quality stuff''. ``Unless television medium starts respecting quality, it will continue to be regarded as an idiot box,'' he said. Continuing his attack against TV, Palekar said: ``No matter how much dependent is the Indian TV on the cinema industry, whether it is film or film-based programmes, its support to the film industry had been nil.'' Palekar criticised the Doordarshan for its indifferent attitude towards award movies and documentaries. He added that he had decided not to make any film for TV as he did not have a ``great regard for the TV medium''. Source: http://www.newindpress.com/Newsitems.asp?ID=IET20031216133606 From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Dec 17 16:03:34 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2003 21:33:34 +0530 Subject: Big future for small screen Message-ID: At last count 172 TV channels were being received in India. This, of course, includes about 20-odd channels which are not specifically beamed at Indian audiences but spill over from other satellite footprints. It still means that Indians have a choice of 150 TV channels in over 30 languages from around the world. Almost every genre is represented - general entertainment, movies, news, sports, music, nature, animation, documentaries, religion, children, adventure - in Indian living rooms. Is there room for so many players in the crowded telesphere? In the coming 12 months at least a dozen new channels are set to be launched, some by existing majors. The CAS muddle notwithstanding, what does the future hold for TV broadcasters in India? Source: http://www.business-standard.com/ice/story.asp?Menu=69&story=29952 From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Dec 17 16:03:34 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2003 21:33:34 +0530 Subject: Boost for Indian pay TV as new system hits Delhi Message-ID: India's delayed rollout of a new TV subscription system, which could inflate revenues for broadcasters, begins in earnest this week with the launch of set-top boxes in the prime cable television market of New Delhi. It is expected to give broadcasters a greater share of revenues from some 48 million cable TV subscribers, the world's third largest base. Analysts say a successful implementation of CAS in Delhi, a key market for the Hindi-language entertainment channels of the three broadcasters, will make it easier to extend it to other major markets. Broadcasters expect viewing numbers to fall by 35 to 40 percent initially in areas where CAS is introduced, reducing the fees they can charge advertisers. Source: http://www.reuters.com/locales/newsArticle.jsp?type=businessNews&locale=en_I N&storyID=4005106 From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Dec 17 16:03:34 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2003 21:33:34 +0530 Subject: T.V. Today set to go public, sees growth Message-ID: The New Delhi-based company runs the Hindi language Aaj Tak channel, which accounts for most of its revenue, and an English language news channel called Headlines Today. "This is an exciting time for the industry and growth is expected to be explosive," Aroon Purie, Chairman and Managing Director of T.V. Today said at a news conference announcing the issue. Advertising revenue for news channels is expected to touch about five billion rupees by March 2007, from the current 3.5 billion, company officials said. Poorie said the company planned to launch separate channels for health, fitness, travel and business, to offer a variety under the same distribution network. Anil Mehra, a director of T.V. Today, said he expected the viewership base of Aaj Tak to climb to about 35 million by 2007 from about 24 million now. The company faces competition chiefly from New Delhi-based NDTV, Zee News from the stable of India's biggest listed media firm Zee Telefilms Ltd, Rupert Murdoch-owned News Corp's Star News and the Sahara group. T.V. Today is promoted by Living Media and World Media Ltd. Source: http://www.reuters.com/locales/newsArticle.jsp?type=businessNews&locale=en_I N&storyID=3999782 From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Mon Dec 22 16:28:21 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 21:58:21 +0530 Subject: India and the Oscars: A tale of woes Message-ID: It is really difficult to accept that in a year as productive as this the industry hasn't been able to throw up a single film good enough to compete for an Oscar. The question that needs to be answered is: is Bollywood's best simply not meritorious enough or do we have a case here for completely restructuring the entire selection process? While there may be some truth in the first contention, the issue that needs to be addressed on a war footing is the FFI's role in the exercise. That the FFI primarily bases its selection on is box office performance, so good films that might have the quality required to take on the rest of the world are often unfairly ignored. That frequently leads to the irksome spectacle of a monstrosity like Jeans leaving India's reputation in tatters in the global arena. Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_504517,001100030008.htm From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Mon Dec 22 16:28:21 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 21:58:21 +0530 Subject: Filmmakers face digital challenge Message-ID: A new era of film-making and content creation could come about if the creators looked at it in an organised, professional manner and prepared for the new digital world. For the entertainment industry, it will mean better conceptualized films that could find better acceptance in a wider global market and could even pave way for an occasional epic. For media, it will mean getting ready for the delivery for the broadband which could be a reality in 16-18 months in the Indian context. Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/370914.cms From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Mon Dec 22 16:28:21 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 21:58:21 +0530 Subject: Britain using Bollywood themes for good cause Message-ID: Bollywood and Indian themes have become a mainstay in Britain. Be it an advertisement for the banking giant Halifax which was shot in Hyderabad to Bollywood music, or be it Peugeot, the theme of Bollywood has been in demand. In the Christmas festive season, Cadbury's has its advert based on an Indian family, starring famous British-Indian soapstar Sanjiv Bhaskar. Even a film to highlight the dangers of HIV has been shot Bollywood style. Now Bollywood songs are being used to lure Asian women to go for cancer checks. Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/5983_502889,00430005.htm From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Mon Dec 22 16:04:31 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 21:34:31 +0530 Subject: A Look Back at 2003, and What's on the Horizon for the Online News Universe Message-ID: But 2003 offered up much more than just an unhealthy fascination with blogs. We also obsessed over the proliferation of people with camera phones breaking spot news stories; the rise of Google and Google News; the soap opera at (AOL) Time Warner; the continued inroads of paid content; RSS feeds; massive online coverage of the war in Iraq; viruses, worms and spam overwhelming newsrooms; the struggle for independent news in Zimbabwe, China, Iran and Iraq; and political rhetoric and election coverage. What do you think will be the most important developments in online journalism in the coming year? A continued explosion in blogging: "Some mainstream news organization will likely find a way to bring a 'rock star' blogger into the organization or somehow find a way to embrace the most powerful of the new journalistic voices emerging on the Web. This will be part of a longstanding pattern, where news organizations bring the best of the Web into their operations." -- Lee Rainie "Improved quality of commentary via journalists' personal blogs, unfiltered by media owners. More people relying on Net for news." -- Craig Newmark "Increasing growth of the blogosphere beyond the English speakers to Chinese, Portugese, Spanish, Arabic, and European languages. The first blogger/president of the world (Howard Dean), I guess! Members of parliaments around the world finding Weblogs to be the best tool to communicate with their people. Also they'll be popular among teachers, professors, and their assistants to get in touch with students." -- Hossein Derakhshan Net influences politics: "The political campaign will focus new attention on the Internet as a communications medium and this will build a new audience for online journalism. I predict at least one major news organization and/or pundit will write in late winter (just after the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary) that this is the year the Internet has come into its own the way TV emerged as the dominant political communications medium in 1960. This won't be true, but it will be treated as a milestone for the Internet -- and online journalism." -- Lee Rainie "Online journalism will play a bigger role than ever in telling the story of the 2004 election, perhaps the most important in three decades. Today's political campaign demands more than linear storytelling, and online journalists are best equipped to tell those stories." -- Dean Wright Participatory journalism: "I think more and more non-journalists will commit, as JD Lasica puts it, 'random acts of journalism.' Weblogs and picture phones have whetted the content-generation appetites of a whole generation of amateur reporters. I suspect news companies eventually will realize the appeal of non-journalists' content -- it's more interesting because it's more real -- and unsuccessfully attempt to get in on the action. Then, if amateur journalism really catches on, it's inevitable that news companies will try to reinvent themselves as 'the information providers you've always trusted.' Such a fundamental shift in thinking probably couldn't happen in only a year, but I think we're already ankle-deep into this chain of events." -- Adrian Holovaty, lead developer for the Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World Web site "Photo phones bringing amateur video journalism to mainstream audiences.Puts power in the people's hands, and the demand for 'real life' video (e.g. 'Cops' and its spawn) is heavy." -- Alan Abbey "Photo phones are going to have a major impact on journalism in the coming years. It's the whole idea of citizens having in their pockets -- at all times -- the power to document some news event that they find themselves part of and instantly post it to the Internet. I hear a lot of people in the industry yawn when I and others enthuse about photo phones, but they're missing something profound. I predict that in the next couple years, we're going to see more amateur citizen photojournalism showing up in all forms of news media -- from ordinary people carrying photo phones who find themselves in extraordinary circumstances, with no journalists in sight. And we'll see more photo-phone-carrying reporters turned into impromptu photographers when their photojournalist colleagues aren't on the scene." -- Steve Outing, senior editor at Poynter, and columnist for Editor & Publisher "I'm going to continue to sing one note: We will continue to witness an explosion of citizens' media into more countries and down to a hyperlocal level and into more kinds of content: audio, video, social networks...More and more big media will try blogging -- though what they should do first is listen to what their audiences are saying in this new form. We will see successful journalists and businesses launched from the world of citizens' media." -- Jeff Jarvis Real Simple Syndication feeds: "RSS. I think the uptake of news readers and RSS feeds is quite important. It'll break out mainstream in 2004. Finally push that works." -- John Battelle, visiting professor, Graduate School of Journalism, University of California-Berkeley "The maturation and increased visibility of RSS as an alternative to a plagued e-mail publishing environment. This is still in its infancy, but RSS should evolve into an e-publishing technology that eventually is on a par with e-mail and the Web. It's still got plenty of rough edges, but once Microsoft builds it into Internet Explorer it should become mainstream." -- Steve Outing Better content -- at a price: "2004 will be the year of better, richer, deeper content -- for a price. Online publications wrestling with their bottom lines spent 2003 embracing the paid content model. In 2004, they'll realize that the content needs to be damn good if people are going to shell out, so we should start to see improvements (better interactivity, more Web-exclusive journalism, a more intelligent approach to personalization, etc.)." -- Angus Frame "Fairly substantial profits at a number of newspaper sites that have been just barely in the black or slightly red for the past couple of years. Plus, a power grab going on right now on both the editorial and business sides. On editorial side, the print side of newspapers are seeing that online is an increasingly important part of their readership. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. It likely means greater attention paid, more resources -- so long as they keep their eye on the ball and continue to embrace innovation." -- Peter Krasilovsky "The single most important development will be the recognition by advertising agencies that online journalism can be a major profit center. All these agencies are facing the same crisis in broadcasting. The question is, 'Where did the audience go?' Instead of being able to command millions of dollars in fees from a monopoly of air waves of three or four major networks, the audience has been splintered into hundreds of cable and satellite operators. By the time you add in the Web, you are talking about an infinite number of content suppliers.... The answers may be to aggregate Web sites. At that point, the value of Web sites quickly will raise from hundreds of dollars per year to millions." -- Dirck Halstead Watch out, Google: "I do predict that 2004 will be the year that Google gets greedy, and a significant group of odd bedfellows will band together to challenge Google's hegemony." -- Travis Smith, editor of Variety.com Same as it ever was: "I don't expect anything important to happen in online journalism during 2004. Though there might be modestly incremental increases in the amount of original reporting done online, most news sites will simply continue to shovel their print or broadcast editions' contents online, plus attempt to transplant their traditional media's business models online. Unfortunately, not a lot of that shoveling or transplantation makes sense. Declining media put online does not ascending media make." -- Vin Crosbie Full text: http://www.ojr.org/ojr/glaser/1071797940.php From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Tue Dec 23 16:20:36 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 21:50:36 +0530 Subject: Bias Keeps Internet From Global Expansion Message-ID: Rahul Dewan typed "India" into the search box of an online stock photo service, hoping to find digital images of his native country. He found only three - all of flags. Dewan then typed "Switzerland," a country smaller than his, and found 33, while "USA" returned 72. His demonstration underscores a major challenge in getting the developing world online: Even with access, the Internet remains meaningless to most of the world's population, its Web sites heavy in English and reflecting a Western tilt. Much of the Web these days is built by private ventures - mostly in the West and mostly targeting where they believe the money is: the industrialized world. As a result, there's little specific to developing countries, which remain largely offline. According to the U.N. International Telecommunication Union, 1.5 billion villages have no access at all to phones or the Internet, and 70 percent of Internet users live in countries that make up only 16 percent of the world's population. Some delegates to last week's U.N. World Summit on the Information Society complained that even when Web sites aren't in English, they are usually in French, Spanish or one of a handful of other languages common in the industrialized world. Source: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/7556605.htm From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Tue Dec 23 16:10:17 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 21:40:17 +0530 Subject: Bollywood gambles on Kazaa Message-ID: Bollywood movie fans will soon be able to download full-length features with the file-sharing software Kazaa. A deal struck between a partner of Sharman Networks Ltd, the company which owns Kazaa, and IndiaFM.com, a popular entertainment site, will allow Indian film producers to distribute movies, music and other large, rich media files online to an estimated 60 million international Kazaa users. The move follows a pilot scheme in November when Bollywood thriller Supari was offered for sale at US$2.99 (£1.69) and promoted through Kazaa prior to its release in India. The file was designed to self destruct after being watched and could not be copied. India's film industry, dominated by Bombay's Hindi-language hit factory, churns out about 1,000 features every year. This deal is expected to bypass the complicated and expensive film distribution system in the country. But with internet users numbering only about 10 million out of India's population of a billion, it is the 20 million Indians overseas who will be the short-term beneficiaries this deal. Source: http://film.guardian.co.uk/bollywood/story/0,11871,1112281,00.html From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Dec 24 16:41:36 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2003 22:11:36 +0530 Subject: 2003's "Most Significant Press Issues Message-ID: The staff of Editor & Publisher has put together 2003's "Most Significant Press Issues." Among this year's most notable media events were: embedded reporters in the Middle East, plagiarism and other ethical slip-ups at several U.S. newspapers, and the Federal Communications Commission's decision and subsequent legal battles over its attempt to loosen media rules. In the world of online journalism, the rise of the blogs and the impact of broadband on news sites were noted as this past year's major developments. Source: http://www.editorandpublisher.com/editorandpublisher/headlines/article_displ ay.jsp?vnu_content_id=2057239 From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Dec 24 16:38:13 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2003 22:08:13 +0530 Subject: Impact of Internet on Journalism: the Newspaper Metaphor Message-ID: In 1998, Web usability expert Jakob Nielsen predicted that legacy media such as newspapers and magazines would be replaced by integrated Internet packages of text, video, and reference materials between 2003 and 2008. Microsoft CEO Bill Gates predicted in 1999 that newspapers would stop making print editions by 2018. These are only two of many forecasts of the death of newspapers, a form of "mediacide," in the wake of the popularization of the Internet in the past decade. Some of these estimates must be reined in significantly since the jubilant optimism of the Internet was crushed by the failure of many dot-com companies in 2000. Now it appears that online news will not be an agent of mediacide replacing print news as many have predicted. More likely, it is going through a period of "mediamorphosis" to become a complementary medium to traditional newspapers. However, online journalism cannot rely on traditional models of news production, and must find its own style based on the newspaper metaphor. This paper will examine the mediamorphosis phenomenon and how it has created a newspaper metaphor for online journalism that can be beneficial for traditional newspapers and new media. Full details: http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~keckem/research.html From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Dec 24 16:38:17 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2003 22:08:17 +0530 Subject: Indian Media - YEAR END REVIEW-2003 Message-ID: A number of major and far-reaching policy decisions, legislative measures and administrative initiatives were the highlights of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to meet the challenges of the fast developing media and entertainment sectors. These included, revised notification of Cable Network Act for the implementation of Conditional Access System (CAS) initially in four metro cities to protect consumers' interest, revised guidelines for uplinking of news and current affairs TV channels from India, launching of DD News Channel by Prasar Bharati, Government's approval for Doordarshan's pilot project of 'Ku-band transmission, setting up of a committee for the second phase of FM radio privatization, liberalization of visa manual for foreign producers to shoot films in India, premier of Hindi films in the International Film Festival of India-2003, Gao as permanent venue for film festival, active participation in Cannes Film Festival, Children's Film Festival held in Hyderabad, appointing chairpersons of National Film Society of India and Central Board of Film Certification, 50th National Film Awards and hosting the 3rd SAARC Information Ministers' Conference. Source: http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=479 From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Thu Dec 25 16:47:26 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Thu, 25 Dec 2003 22:17:26 +0530 Subject: Media in 2003: A good year... almost Message-ID: Media companies have been quick to cash in on the bull run in the stock markets and positive trends in the economy. If the latest CII update on the industry is taken into account, then that too indicates an economy doing well. The spate of new news channels also indicating the same. The Indian viewer has seen tremendous growth over the last couple of years, in terms of the number as well as type of channels. There aren't now only mass entertainment channels but specific channels for news, sports, Hindi and English mass entertainment, Hindi and English movies, music, nature, regional... the list goes on. The sectors that contribute to the revenue of mass entertainment as well as Hindi movie channels are the two wheeler and all FMCG categories. Reason being that for both the above type of channels, a majority of their viewership comes from the common man who watches these channels purely for entertainment purposes. What has been slightly worrisome for the industry is the intra-segment fights that continue unabated and the ad hoc nature in which the Government has been trying to address policy and other issues. CAS has turned out to be the year's biggest fiasco. Even now politicisation of the issue continues unfazed - all in the name of the consumer who probably doesn't have much clue why the industry and the Government are trying to play out a game on his behalf, while not keeping him in the loop. Source: http://www.dailypioneer.com/vivacity1.asp?main_variable=MEDIA&file_name=med1 %2Etxt&counter_img=1 From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Thu Dec 25 15:57:46 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Thu, 25 Dec 2003 21:27:46 +0530 Subject: Eye on poll, Centre oils media machine Message-ID: The Centre is revamping its media machinery, transferring officers, inducting new and trusted faces from outside the administrative cadre and setting the tone for propaganda in the year of the general elections. The matter was left aside because of the Election Commission notifying the polls and because the commission's code of conduct applied to transfer of senior officials. Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1031225/asp/nation/story_2717011.asp From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Mon Dec 29 16:39:10 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2003 22:09:10 +0530 Subject: Credibility challenge for media Message-ID: Union minister of state for information and broadcasting Ravi Shanker Prasad said that free press was a bedrock of the Indian democracy, which now showed signs of maturity with people becoming more concerned about development issues. The greatest challenge before the media, the minister told, was that of credibility. "People still form their impression and opinion on the basis of media reports and, therefore, the duty cast upon the media is that of being objective and impartial." The good thing, he said, was that print media had registered an impressive growth of 24 per cent during the last few years in spite of an onslaught of the electronic media. The circulation of newspapers was all set to increase from 11.53 crore to 14 crore by the end of this year and, notably, UP topped the list by having a total circulation of 1.95 crore of its newspapers. Likewise, he said, the number of radio listeners had taken a galloping jump to 13 crore after the introduction of FM channels and Doordarshan viewership was the second most among the country's 100 channels, including 24 of them dedicated to news round the clock. Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/386965.cms Source: From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Mon Dec 29 16:48:58 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2003 22:18:58 +0530 Subject: AIR to retail archived content to public Message-ID: All India Radio (AIR), which has started archiving its recordings and selling some masterpieces on cassettes and CDs at AIR outlets in all the State Capitals, will shortly be appointing distributors for marketing these products at retail music outlets throughout the country. The central archive in New Delhi has a collection of one lakh recordings of speeches of national leaders, performances of legendary musicians and all public addresses of Presidents and Prime Ministers. Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2003/12/29/stories/2003122901640500.htm From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Mon Dec 29 16:48:57 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2003 22:18:57 +0530 Subject: National Film Award 2003 - Details Message-ID: The Best Feature Film Award for the year 2002 was given to Bengali film ''Mondo Meyer Upakhyan''. The Award carries a Swarna Kamal and Rs 50,000 each for Producer and Director of the film. Swarna Kamal and cash prize of Rs 40,000 each for Producer and Director for "Best Popular Film providing wholesale entertainment" was given to Hindi film "Devdas". Nargis Dutt Award for the Best Feature Film on National Integration was presented to English language film, "Mr & Mrs Iyer". The Award carries Rajat Kamal and cash prize of Rs 30,000 each for Producer and Director of the film. Indira Gandhi Award for the Best First Film of a Director was given jointly to two Bengali films, "Patal Ghar" and "Prohor". The Award for the best film on other social issues such as prohibition, women and child welfare, anti-dowry, drug abuse, welfare of the handicapped etc. was given to the Hindi film, "Swaraaj". The Award for the Best direction was bagged by Aparna Sen for her effective and subtle handling of people caught in a trying and difficult times. Best Actor Award was given to Ajay Devgan for his role in "The Legend of Bhagat Singh" for entering into the spirit of the legendary character and for living up to the challenge of history while the Award for Best Actress was given to Konkona Sen Sharma for her role in "Mr and Mrs Iyer". The Award for the Best Child Artist was jointly given to Shweta Prasad and Keertana for their roles in Hindi film, "Makdee" and Tamil film, "Kannathil Muthamittal". The Award for the Best Male Playback Singer was again given to Udit Narayan and Best Female Playback singer to Shreya Ghosal. The Special Jury Award was to the film Director Prakash Jha for the impressive power and versatility, which he has contributed to films in multiple languages. The Best Film Critic Award was given to Utpal Borpujari (English) for his sensitive analysis of a wide range of films-Indian, foreign, feature and documentary- and his attempt to focus on social issues and changing family morals and values. Source: PIB Press Release From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Mon Dec 29 16:48:58 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2003 22:18:58 +0530 Subject: Bold, bawdy and bombed Message-ID: New-age filmmakers attempt bold themes targeting the metro multiplex audience. But towards the second-half of the film they get confused and compromise with traditional family values. If Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding (2001) proved that a film could be a success despite dealing with a bold theme like incest, in 2003 a new breed of niche filmmakers introduced themes , treated as taboos in respectable homes. Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow/388696.cm s From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Dec 31 16:08:11 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 21:38:11 +0530 Subject: Pop patriotism: Bollywood new passion Message-ID: Pop Patriotism is in air. Bollywood's biggest war epic 'LoC' is about to hit silver screen. To add glitz and glamour to it more than half of the acting genre has attributed to it with rage and passion. Bollywood has witnessed different trends, the latest being chest-thumping victory sagas of martyrs and patriotism. Top slot actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Ajay Devgan, Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, and Hrithik Roshan are doing multiple shifts playing army men. The best Indian war film considered up-to-date is Chetan Anand's 'Haqeeqat', which was based on India-China war of 1964, which wrote history. It was Bollywood first and possibly the best war film with ever hummable patriotic tune of "Kar Chale Hum". Dev Anand's 'PremPujari' followed it in 1970. Dev Anand shed his lover boy and fought bravely on-screen against enemy it relived the war fever. Dare devil acts of Indian Air Force in 'Hindustan Ki Kasam' sent every dizzy with delight with actor Rajkumar coming out with the best performance of his life. In 1997 J.P.Dutta's 'Border' turn the tide for this genre of filmmakers as country witnessed dozens of films with patriotic films. Source: http://ww.smashits.com/index.cfm?Page=Reviews&Subpage=bigarticle&ID=3189 From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Dec 31 16:06:15 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 21:36:15 +0530 Subject: RNI report on Indian media Message-ID: Registrar of Newspapers G.D.Beliya presented the report to Pawan Chopra, secretary in the ministry of information and broadcasting. According to the report, the electronic media has not hampered the growth of the print media. "The Indian reader still relishes detailed analysis in addition to hourly news bulletins and talks shows (on TV)," the report contended. Uttar Pradesh had the highest newspaper circulation of 28 million, followed by Delhi with 21.85 million, the report said. "On March 31, 2003, the total figure of registered newspapers stood at 55,780, an increase of 7.35 percent over the previous year," it added. Among multi-edition dailies, the Hindi-language Dainik Bhaskar with 18 editions had the "largest claimed circulation" of 1.72 million followed by The Times of India with 1.39 million. "For single-edition dailies, Hindustan Times claimed a circulation of 1.12 million while The Hindu came second with 922,407 copies," the report added. "The circulation pattern also revealed that while big publishing houses dominated the metropolises, the medium and small newspapers with their local content influenced small towns and rural areas. "Big newspapers claimed a circulation of 51.17 million while medium newspapers had 52.6 million copies and small newspapers 38.2 million," it said but noted that since many small newspapers perhaps do not send annual statements, the figures do not reflect their actual share in the circulation scenario. Out of 7,156 newspapers that sent their annual statements in 2002-03, individuals owned 5,371 and joint stock companies held 950. Language-wise Hindi dominated with 3,410 newspapers followed by English (750). In circulation too, Hindi newspapers led with 61.76 million while English newspapers accounted for 26.2 million. Source: Indo-Asian News Service From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Dec 31 16:06:14 2003 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 21:36:14 +0530 Subject: The nag - repetitiveness - effect of radio Message-ID: Most other media could do the same thing. But it does get a little tedious to propel people to dig into their homes and find something to give away. While print is a powerful medium and has the capability to crystallise or change public opinion, it could be difficult to mobilise a quick response to something like this. Television could make an emotional appeal but the cost of doing so would be enormous. Besides, with the wide footprint that television has, collecting donations and gifts could present a logistical nightmare. Radio presents the ideal solution for a situation of this kind. It can - all day long - remind people that they need to dig into their cupboards and look for those toys, clothes and blankets to give away. It's repetitiveness - call it nag power - can be compelling. Nag power is a unique attribute of radio. It is the medium's dhobi mark. A nag any other place would have been quite irritating. But on radio, it just becomes a convenient - even welcome - reminder. Source: http://www.business-standard.com/ice/story.asp?Menu=8&story=30977 From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Mon Dec 1 20:02:27 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:55 2005 Subject: Fighting the censors Message-ID: But now, somebody has worked out that kids are using their TV sets to outwit the Censor Board. The Information and Broadcasting Ministry (those wonderful folks who gave you - or didn't give you, as it turns out - CAS) has now declared that only 'U' films can be shown on TV. Of course, even the ministry can't stop kids from buying videos or DVDs, but it can certainly stop movie channels from telecasting such movies on TV. So, from now on, when you and I tune in to HBO, Zee-MGM or Star Movies, we'll have to stick to Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse. Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_477452,00300001.htm From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Mon Dec 1 20:01:17 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:55 2005 Subject: No adult stuff! Are you ready for juvenile TV? Message-ID: Though broadcasters are out to toe the government line on sanitising television with juvenile programmes by airing only U-rated programmes, there are certain logistical issues which may make the move a non-starter. "We are enforcing the programme code under which any television programme for public consumption should be viewable by an under-18 year old," says an official from Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. The ministry is in the process of issuing letters to that effect to various broadcasters and multi service operators, with threat of blocking off channels that do not adhere to government diktat. Officials said this move follows complaints from viewers about sleazy movies on air, including concerns raised over contents of several fashion channels and music videos. Interestingly, according to the Indian Cable TV Act, it is the last mile operator - or your neighbourhood cable operator - whose neck would be on line in case of any violation in programme code by channels. The government does not have any real control over channels that are uplinked from abroad. Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/articleshow?artid=328245 From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Tue Dec 2 21:25:45 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: Outsourcing for development Message-ID: The use of information technology for development is the flavour of the season. With the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) slated for the second week of December, United Nations agencies, government, NGOs and, not the least, the industry with an eye on a big market, have all concentrated their attention on the potential benefits for developing countries from the use of information technology. Conventionally, ICT4D, as it is often acronymised, involves the use of information technology for better governance (e-governance), for greater transparency and easier information access on government policies, programmes and performance, and for ensuring better delivery of a wider range of social services. While there are a number of innovative and successful experiments with the use of ICT in these areas, most of them are not financially self-sustaining and are completely state or donor-funding dependent. Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2003/12/02/stories/2003120200080900.htm From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Tue Dec 2 21:21:35 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: Governance of the internet Message-ID: Less than a fortnight before the United Nations-sponsored World Summit on the Information Society is to take place in Geneva, there remain wide differences between countries on the text of the declaration and the plan of action that is to be adopted at the first ever multilateral conference on harnessing information and communication technologies (ICT) for development. The summit was conceived as an opportunity for governments, the private sector and civil society to promote the use of ICT to attain the U.N. Millennium Development Goals and facilitate the use of digital services in the developing countries. However, as usually happens in the run-up to U.N. summits, negotiators find themselves unable to agree until the very last minute on a couple of issues. The financing of programmes to bridge the digital divide has emerged as one sticking point and governance or administration of the internet as the other. While finance or the need for additional resources is always a problem at the U.N. that is ultimately settled with a compromise solution, the issue of who should administer the internet is a potentially more difficult issue to resolve. Source: http://www.hindu.com/2003/12/02/stories/2003120201891000.htm From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Tue Dec 2 21:06:29 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: India seeks film piracy action Message-ID: India is urging Malaysia to stamp out the pirating of films and music - an illegal business that hits the profits of the Bollywood film industry. Malaysia is one of many Asian countries where CD and DVD pirating is widescale. Pirate versions of Microsoft's next computer operating system are already on sale in Malaysia. Correspondents in Malaysia say that Bollywood films and Indian music are highly popular there and that their appeal goes well beyond the minority of Malaysians who are of ethnic Indian origin. In September the Malaysian authorities announced plans to impose price ceilings on locally produced film and music CDs and DVDs to try to reduce the incentive for illegal selling. But the regulations do not apply to foreign films and music. A senior Hollywood executive says the film industry lost some $600m last year from the pirating of DVDs in Asia. Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3255726.stm From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Mon Dec 1 20:06:06 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: Censor Board chief Anupam Kher reacts Message-ID: Censor Board chief Anupam Kher, who drew a lot of flak from critics over his statements supporting the government's moral policing, defends himself against allegations of prudery, and gives his take on the censorship controversy. "There is confusion due to newspaper reports, which needs to be cleared. There is no dictum passed for movies on late night television. It is not possible to pass such an order. The minister has quoted the Cable Television Act, 1995, and asked channels to maintain self-censorship. The letter I have sent to TV channels says that music videos and movie trailers must get a 'U' certificate before being shown. The intention is not moral policing at all. " Source: http://ww1.mid-day.com/news/city/2003/december/70116.htm From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Dec 3 20:30:03 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: Hawk films, Bollywood Message-ID: Entertainment is perhaps the only business which is weather proof, recession proof, even war proof. It is just that our myopic producers and exhibitors don't look beyond their noses and tomorrow for profits. Decades of insularity have kept management and marketing far away from the movies. Yet there is a perceptible change in Indian showbiz. Nothing reflects this better than the number of seminars and round tables on entertainment being organised all over the country. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Confederation of Indian Industry and smaller trade and business organisations are finally realising that entertainment is not only a serious business but also one which has immense growth potential. While the focus has been on TV for a while, most analysts now believe that the great leap forward for Indian entertainment will come from the movies. After all, not only do films feed the theatres they are also a primary source for TV, radio, live events and the digital value chain. We have been hearing from people like Shekhar Kapur for a while about how India and China are going to be the new drivers for global entertainment. But this is virtually true about any business when you realise that you are talking about two-fifth of the world population. Source: http://www.business-standard.com/ice/story.asp?Menu=69&story=28861 From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Dec 3 20:30:03 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: The End of Tobacco Advertising in India Message-ID: Tobacco advertising does more than offer nicotine high; it promises a sophisticated lifestyle that stems merely from holding a cigarette. In India, the advertising industry has been largely self-regulated. To circumvent the regulations, advertisers have frequently used methods such as "surrogate advertising" to promote such products. Surrogate advertising is the promotion of a product, through indirect and devious means. Typically, an advertiser would use the trademark/brand of a product for which promotions are restricted/prohibited to promote a product the advertisement of which is permitted. For instance, it is not unusual to find a brand associated with cigarettes to be used to advertise a competition/event. The advertising of socially harmful products such as tobacco and alcohol, has been sought to be restricted by Indian lawmakers. Such prohibitions were, however, previously limited to forms of media such as terrestrial television and radio which were easier to regulate. With technological advances such as satellite television and the Internet, advertisers have been finding ways to circumvent restrictions to achieve their goals. This article was originally published in The Economic Times (Corporate Counsel section), on June 14, 2003. Source: http://www.mondaq.com/i_article.asp_Q_articleid_E_23533 From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Dec 3 20:29:57 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: Paper boom Message-ID: Expect a burst of new print medium launches in the coming year. No one has firmed up plans as yet, but several have commissioned market surveys. The Ruias of the Essar group are looking at the possibility of launching a magazine business for a family member. They have commissioned a market survey. And the Hindujas are rumoured to be toying with the idea of launching a newspaper, first in English and later in vernacular languages, and are prepared to wait for eight years for the project to break even. The Hindujas had in the 1980s sought to bring "The International Herald Tribune" to India but this won't be the IHT. Launching niche magazines makes sense, if nothing else because a businessman can hawk a 74 per cent stake in them to foreign investors. But launching a newspaper in the Mumbai market will be a challenge. Taking on Bennett Coleman & Company's "The Times of India" will be the biggest challenge of all, but "The Hindustan Times" will some day leap into Mumbai, as could the ABP group's "The Telegraph." Unless, of course, a totally different kind of newspaper is on the anvil. Source: http://www.business-standard.com/ice/story.asp?Menu=8&story=28858 From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Fri Dec 5 20:49:17 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: Pakistan rapped for media abuse Message-ID: There has been an increase in violence against journalists in Pakistan, a US rights group says. The New York-based Human Rights Watch says press freedoms have eroded ever since General Pervez Musharraf came to power four years ago. In an open letter to the president, the organisation said journalists were systematically threatened, tortured and detained without charges. It highlighted the cases of two journalists who were allegedly threatened and tortured by the Pakistani security forces. Amir Mir, senior assistant editor of the monthly magazine Herald, was allegedly criticised by the president last month at a reception for Pakistani newspaper editors, the rights group said in a statement. President Musharraf is reported to have condemned the Herald as being anti-army in comments published in Mr Mir's stories. "Two days later, unidentified persons set Amir Mir's car ablaze outside his house," the rights group said, adding that Mr Mir then received a message warning that this was just the beginning. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed denied journalists were being harassed, saying Pakistan's press freedoms were unmatched in the region. "They can write whatever they want to write and stories in the Herald are a proof of that," he told Reuters news agency. Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3286589.stm From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Fri Dec 5 20:18:43 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: Indian Cities on Verge of Restricting Access to Cyber Cafes Message-ID: The rapid proliferation of cyber cafes in India recently is the result of two strong drives: Many Indians want to make money by opening cyber cafes, and many Indians want to surf the Net, which offers easy access to foreign news reports, chat rooms, pornography and gambling. Now the city government of Mumbai (Bombay) is looking to squelch those dual impulses by regulating cyber cafes. They want to force cafes to get licenses from the government, install software filters for pornography, and force patrons to show valid photo IDs. Many cyber cafe owners are angry at the proposed regulations and are organizing to prevent India from becoming like its neighbor, China, which forced licensing of cafes after a deadly fire. While easy entry into the cyber cafe business has caused an enormous boom in Internet cafes in India -- some estimate there are about 300,000 cafes nationwide -- it has also brought problems for a very conservative culture. Some cafes have become known for showing "dirty movies." Worse, terrorists have used cyber cafes in India as communications outposts. These threats have caused police in many cities to set up cyber crime units. Hackers are also causing problems: Calcutta is also looking to take action after its police Web site was hacked and made into a porn site, according to the Times of India. The Calcutta proposal, due to be implemented in six months, would require cafe owners to keep a log book on all users and record what sites they visit. Source: http://www.ojr.org/ojr/glaser/1070576918.php From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Thu Dec 4 20:38:33 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: Distance learning course on Human Rights Advocacy Message-ID: This 12-week course intended for staff members of human rights and/or social justice organisations aims to provide participants with a range of human rights advocacy methods and critical concepts as a means for them to reflect on and deepen their own work. The course will look at the theoretical foundations and critical issues of human rights advocacy, elements of advocacy planning, and strategies for action. During this course, participants should deepen their knowledge about advocacy and its relationship to: Politics and Democracy; Citizenship and Rights; Power, Empowerment and Citizen Education and Action. Participants should gain basic skills and knowledge in: visioning; contextual analysis; problem/issue identification; analysis and prioritisation; power mapping; goal/objective setting; analysis of advocacy arenas and strategies; message development, reports and media; public outreach and mobilization; lobbying and negotiation; advocacy leadership and coalition building; and assessment of success. Registration Details: The deadline for applications is December 15 2003. Fees: US$485 (tuition for auditors is $200). A limited number of scholarships are available for applicants from Africa, Middle East, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America/Caribbean. Contact Information: Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) applications@hrea.org For further information on the HREA website http://www.hrea.org/courses/2E.html From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Thu Dec 4 20:28:27 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: Sleaze preview: Local channels play it dirty Message-ID: The private channels are showing objectionable music videos and uncensored adult English movies late at night, accessible simply at the flick of the remote. So right from Basic Instinct to Blue Lagoon, the uncensored versions of adult English movies are being shown right under the nose of the authorities. According to Entertainment Tax Commissioner, Sanjeev Dubey, all channels including the cable operators' private channel fall within the purview of TV censorship rules and regulations and should adhere to the norms. But he admits, "We have in fact, received quite a few complaints in this regard. Cable operators found flouting rules can be severely penalised. In fact movies shown on private channels should have a censor certificate. All the channels fall under the Indian Cinematograph Act and so any material shown on local channels should also be censored." Under the Cinematograph Act, 1952, unrestricted public viewing is allowed only for films and film-related content which has been given a U-certificate by the Central Board of Film Certification. Since the I&B Ministry has raised the point, under the Programme Code of Cable Television Networks Regulation Act, no programme should be carried in cable service which is not suitable for unrestricted public viewing. And that's how the censor axe falls on TV channels. Source http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=5388 From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Thu Dec 4 20:28:26 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: A censor with sensibility Message-ID: Kher is set for a potentially eventful three years as chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification. He says he wants to rewrite India's 50-year-old cinema censorship law, which was inherited from the colonial administration and last revised in 1991. That was the year economic reforms triggered an assault on Indian sensibilities. Satellite television flooded homes with new-wave foreign programmes. Bollywood unveiled a lustier song and dance. Expatriate Indians made films for Indian audiences portraying a bold sexuality. He is therefore the first cultural tsar of post-liberalisation India. That excites and disturbs Kher, who's busy shooting an Indian version of Pride and Prejudice for Gurinder Chadha, the British-Asian director of Bend it Like Beckham. "Indian cinema is in fantastic transition, which is challenging much that is central to Indian values - and I'm involved at every level." Kher, who is chairman of the National School of Drama in Delhi, is one of a small number of performers who straddle Bollywood burlesque, stage, popular television, and the emerging genre of crossover films made by, and aimed at, the metropolitan Indians and Indian communities abroad. Source: http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c =StoryFT&cid=1066565924517 From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Mon Dec 8 21:35:58 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: First Person: Not according to the script Message-ID: It was a long journey, beginning in the smog of Los Angeles and ending in Madras. I was on my way to India to revise my screenplay - a true story about a Greek peasant called Stavros who fell in love with a famous Indian actress - with director Rajiv Menon. Flying over the never-ending deserts of the Gulf, I wondered whether I was the first screenwriter to be sent from Hollywood to Madras, the Tamil film capital. In Hollywood, a film has 12 or 15 writers and takes several years to develop. It requires several weeks and about 200 phone calls just to schedule a development meeting. Yet Hollywood is the acknowledged nucleus of power in the movie business. And here I was, heading in the wrong direction - Christoph Hargreaves Allen, a British screenwriter based in Los Angeles. Source: http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c =StoryFT&cid=1069493714911 From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Mon Dec 8 21:15:38 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: Is film marketing useful? Message-ID: Film-marketing, as a part of any International film festival, has these days become a made phenomenon whether films are sold/ marketed or not. Film-marketing, at the just concluded 9th Kolkata film festival, is no departure either. This time the film-marketing section was inaugurated by Rupa Ganguly, the noted actress and Secretary of Artistes' Forum, headed by Soumitra Chatterjee, the permanent Chairman of the Forum, and had left a lot of promise and optimism to be covered. Foreign filmmakers and delegates took part in it as did the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), West Bengal Film Development (WBFDC), and Sree Venkatesh Films, producer of Rituparno Ghosh-directed Choker Bali. Others who took part in the film-marketing included Surinder Films, Countrymen Film and Net Guru and sundry other distributors. But after the festival is over, one needs to take a stock-taking of the entire process raising the eternal flutter - is film-marketing useful? Well, while many among film distributors and producers are still hopeful, others are very dicey and skeptic about its aim and result. Tarun Majumder, the noted filmmaker, who has sustained the Bengali film industry for many years with his superhit films, commented, "Definitely every director wants his film to get a wide market and good business since filmmaking process is very expensive. These days we hear so much of film-marketing, but we are not sure to what extent film-marketing brings rewards for the distributors and producers. Whatever the result, I think, we can no more neglect the issue of film-marketing, a platform to sell films." Source: http://www.screenindia.com/fullstory.php?content_id=6775 From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Tue Dec 9 22:03:15 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: Dev Anand gets Dadasaheb Phalke award Message-ID: Evergreen Bollywood hero Dev Anand has been selected for the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award for 2002 for his outstanding contribution to Indian cinema. The legendary actor and film maker will be the 34th recepient of the award. Born on September 26, 1923 in Gurdaspur, Punjab as Devdutt Pishorimal Anand, he graduated in Arts from Punjab University and went to Mumbai to join elder brother Chetan Anand. Anand began his acting career at Prabhat where he met Guru Dutt and had his first hit film `Ziddi' at Bombay Talkies. Together with Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar, he ushered in the dominant acting idiom of post-independence Hindi cinema. Among his most memorable films are Baazi, Taxi Driver, CID, Paying Guest, Kala Pani, Hum Dono, Tere Ghar Ke Saamne, Guide, Jewel Thief, Johnny Mera Naam, Hare Rama Hare Krishna and Des Pardes. Source: http://ww1.mid-day.com/news/city/2003/december/70901.htm From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Tue Dec 9 21:53:11 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: TV ads influence kids most Message-ID: Asia-Pacific kids' buying behaviour largely echoes peer preferences; in India, however, television advertising holds the key to kids' spending decisions, according to the findings of an online study conducted by the Media Consumer Insights division of communications services major Group M. Still, peer groups play a vital role in the Indian context too. Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2003/12/09/stories/2003120902110600.htm From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Tue Dec 9 21:41:44 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: A reporter's take on online news Message-ID: The rise of the Internet has provided the world with a medium that carries an unlimited amount of glorious information. But Internet veterans know that just because it was found on the Net, it doesn't necessarily mean that the information is the best or even reliable. The Internet is littered with some very questionable information, so how does this affect journalists who primarily write for online news sites? Julio Moran, a journalism professor at USC and former Los Angeles Times reporter gave his opinion regarding online journalism. OJC: What do you think of the quality of work found in online news sites? Moran: The quality of the articles seems to be comparable to wire service stories rather than to newspaper stories. Part of this is because of the constant deadlines, and partly because most of the stories are written by less experienced people. OJC: Do you think that the Internet as a new medium for journalists benefited the trade? Moran: I don't think the medium has made journalism better, but it has created a potential new source of revenue and exposure for media companies, both print and broadcast. OJC: As an experienced journalist, do you have a media preference? Moran: I prefer newspapers because of its credibility and because of it portability. I can read a newspaper anywhere, any time I want. Newspapers also allow me more options without having to jump from Web site to Web site. I can read as much of a story I want, and then move on. OJC: Do you feel that there is a need for Internet news since similar information is available on print or in television? Moran: I think there is a need because of its immediacy. Television news is on specific times throughout the day, and has a format that may require you to wait a certain amount of time before you see the story you are looking for. Newspapers generally have a 24-hour turnaround. The Internet allows me to find news I'm looking for when I want to. OJC: Is there a journalistic reason to have Internet news sites or is it simply the reaction of following the norm that a company must have a Web site? Moran: I don't think there is a journalistic reason for the news sites, but rather a business reason to maintain visibility and eventually profitability for companies. It is good for newspapers to have a Web site with updated news throughout the day, but I don't believe that it helps papers journalistically. OJC: What are your opinions about online journalism? How do you feel about current Internet news sites? Moran: The online journalism that I am most familiar with are the one that provide summaries or links to stories in newspapers or other sites, sites as Yahoo and Romanesko, and newspapers sites such as The New York Times and the Washington Post. I think online journalism is good for the immediacy of information and for providing links if I want more detailed information. The sites allow me to keep up with the news while working at my desk without having to watch TV or listen to the radio. However, I am suspect of many of the non-newspaper-related "journalism" sites because I question their credibility and motivation. The Internet allows anyone with a computer and modem to set up a Web site and call it "journalism" without any credentials. Julio Moran has been a journalist for 25 years and has been awarded Pulitzer Prizes on two separate occasions during the course of his career with the Los Angeles Times and Metro. Currently, he is the executive director of the California Chicano News Media Association and a professor at the USC Annenberg School of Journalism teaching newswriting and reporting. Source: www.ojr.org From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Dec 10 08:33:22 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: Media and democracy Message-ID: The relationship between mass media and democracy can be often tense. Even in the United States, inspite of the first Amendment that safeguards relationship between the Press and the Government is not free from friction. It was during the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal the relation between the media and the government became extremely bitter. The government always fears the media for its investigative journalism. Investigative journalism is the most important trend in modern journalism which involves field research, scientific analysis and interpretations. It was investigative journalism that brought into light the Water Gate scandal, which otherwise would have been buried in the pages of history, and Richard M. Nixon would have never resigned. The credit for investigating the Watergate scandal goes to brave and courageous reporters of the Washington Post and other newspapers like Jack Anderson, Carl Bernstein, Robert Woodward and Seymor Hersh. In Nepal also fearless editors have sacrificed their lives for the cause of investigative journalism. Dictators always fear journalists. The French Emperor Napoleon Bounaparte used to say, "I am more afraid of the journalists than an army of a hundred and a thousand. The Russian statesman of the Soviet Union like Nikita Kruschev had a horror for the journalists and historians. He used to call them rats. Just like rats they move through holes and obscure corners of archives and state bureaucracy and unearth facts and figures which could be very damaging to the government. Therefore he urged that they should be kept away from the State Archives and the state bureaucracy. Source: http://www.nepalnews.com.np/contents/englishweekly/telegraph/2003/dec/dec10/ national.htm From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Dec 10 08:22:57 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: Indian scribe wins Cyber Oscar Award Message-ID: Anand Parthasarthy, a Indian journalist working for an English daily has bagged the coveted "Cyber Oscar award" for his outstanding work on the developments in the information society. This IT correspondent working for "The Hindu" in Chennai has been selected for his winning story on "India's first-computer-literate village" in Mallapuram district in Kerala, a press statement said. Parthasarthy is one of the four journalists who has been selected for the award. The other three scribes are from Brazil, Tanzania and Nigeria respectively. The award, which carries a prize of USD 2,000 each and a plaque, now dubbed as "Cyber Oscar", will be presented at a ceremony in Geneva on Dec 11, the statement said. The media awards, coordinated by the Panos Institute London and Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) are aimed at encouraging and bringing international recognition to the thoughtful and incisive reporting on developing countries progress in becoming "Information Societies". GKP is a worldwide network committed to harnessing potential information and communication technologies (ICTs) for sustainable and equitable development. Source: http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=13331460 From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Dec 10 21:55:43 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: Print, TV media to see raft of new launches Message-ID: Action in the print and television media industry is heating up with several new dailies and satellite channels being planned for the Indian market. The Chennai-based media group Sun Network will launch a English newspaper by mid-April 2004. Sources close to the deal said that the yet-to be named paper will have four editions in the south - in Tamil Nadu, Kerala Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Parabanking and airlines group Sahara is gearing up to launch the Mumbai edition of its weekly English paper Sahara Times. The Hinduja Group, with interests in cable television distribution, is also said to be toying with the idea of launching a newspaper, first in English and later in vernacular languages. The Hindujas had in the 1980s unsuccessfully sought to bring "The International Herald Tribune" to India. Expect a burst of activity in the television broadcasting industry too. CNBC-TV18 is contemplating a separate business news channels in Hindi. Media industry sources say that encouraged by CNBC's improved advertising during stock markets coverage, NDTV 24X7 is also planning to focus on stock market trading and business news during the trading hours. According to advertising industry experts, the rush to launch new products in print and television media is understandable. Says Gopinath Menon, vice president at the advertising agency TBWA-Anthem, "The economy is looking up, sales have improved, and we expect the advertising industry to grow in double digits." Source: http://www.business-standard.com/today/story.asp?Menu=2&story=29550 From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Dec 10 21:53:08 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: Leading media groups in race for Mid-Day Message-ID: Bennett, Coleman & Co, publishers of the Times of India, the K K Birla-owned Hindustan Times, the Pune-based Sakaal group and another leading regional newspaper company are understood to have bid for a majority stake in Mid-Day Multimedia, the Mid-Day group's holding company for newspapers, radio channels and outdoor media. The Mid-Day group today opened the bids it had received for the equity. But sources close to the development said some of the bids were complex, and sought not a majority stake but just some of the businesses Mid-Day controlled. Source: http://www.business-standard.com/today/story.asp?Menu=2&story=29590 From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Dec 10 22:11:57 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: Global media struggle to define 'freedom' Message-ID: Radio and TV broadcasters from over 100 countries are meeting in Geneva this week at the World Electronic Media Forum (WEMF), a parallel event to the UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). Journalists from 250 broadcasters are debating the issues raised by the new global media environment with Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and activist groups. Speakers at the opening session agreed that freedom of the media is essential to build an open and inclusive information society, and to peace and development in general. In his opening address, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed concern that although the electronic media were among the world's most important vehicles for peace, progress and solidarity, many millions of people were still outside their reach. But it is clear from the outset that what represents media freedom for some broadcasters is viewed by others as a licence to attack the legitimacy of elected governments. The World Electronic Media Forum sees its role as tackling some of the issues directly relevant to the media that are at risk of being marginalised at the main Information Society summit. The WEMF sessions, which end on Friday 12 December, are being broadcast world-wide through the Eurovision network. Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3306743.stm From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Mon Dec 15 22:08:59 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: Star News uplinking still under I&B scanner Message-ID: The proposal of Media Content and Communication Services to uplink Star News channel from India is still being examined by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry after Foreign Investment Promotion Board cleared it. FIPB has approved MCCS proposal for foreign investment but this is subject to the ministry's permission for uplinking a news and current affairs television channel from India, I&B Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told Rajya Sabha in a written reply. Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_496296,001300650006.htm From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Mon Dec 15 22:07:30 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: No film suitable for Oscars says FFI Message-ID: While elsewhere in the world Indian cinema is making waves, the Film Federation of India (FFI), the body that makes an official bid for the Oscars every year by pitching Indian movies on the world stage _ says no film was up to the mark this time. President of Film Producers Guild Of India and All India Film Producers' Council, Amit Khanna, whose organisations were members of the Federation till six months ago, defends FFI's decision and says none of the films were found suitable before the screening committee. ``Only films which have been commercially released in their country of origin prior to November 1 can be entered. Also, it is the initiative of the producer concerned to ensure his or her film is screened by the FFI. In any case, all such selections are subjective,'' says Khanna. While they may be subjective, who can forget the FFI's decision to send the eminently forgettable Jeans for the Oscars a few years ago? But that was all before the Hollywood gaze fell on Bollywood. Producer Bobby Bedi of Bandit Queen and Maqbool fame says, it is a bad decision not to send Indian entries to the Oscars, especially at a time when Hollywood is looking at Bollywood. Source: http://www.newindpress.com/Newsitems.asp?ID=IE420031210134932 From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Mon Dec 15 22:12:58 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: Box office reality dawns on dream merchants Message-ID: The corporatise-Bollywood brigade is making an attempt to regulate an area long neglected: the box office. Hits or flops, the box office is bad news for them, cry producers, because thanks to cinema hall owners and distributors, they finally get very little revenue from the sale of tickets. So one item on the agenda of Zee Rajshri Distribution, formed this week when Zee Telefilms entered into an alliance with Rajshri Pictures for distribution of films in the country, is to straighten up the box office collections. "The problems stem from high entertainment tax and the exhibitor's inclination to avoid tax payment," agrees Amit Khanna, chairperson, Reliance Entertainment Pvt Ltd. "Under-declaration of box office receipts is the easiest way out. Unlike in the US, Europe or Japan, no professional market research company here compiles cinema attendance data," he says. Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1031213/asp/nation/story_2675085.asp From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Tue Dec 16 21:51:07 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: Indian gurus expand audience with TV Message-ID: "Spirituality was always part of the Indian psyche, but now it has just found a new vehicle: 24-hour television," said Madhav Kant Mishra, executive director of the 7-month-old Sadhna religious channel. "Indians had started disbelieving their own traditional knowledge systems. The TV channels aim to re-establish that system with modern analysis and in a modern context." The audience for such programs cuts across social classes in India, where cable television costs as little as $1.50 a month, and cable and satellite services reach an estimated 42 million of 191 million households nationwide. By all accounts, however, some of the most ardent viewers are educated middle-class and wealthy Indians, who tend to live in larger towns and cities and rely on their daily dose of Hindu folk wisdom, prayers and counseling as a powerful antidote to urban angst. "Indian religions are very locality-specific," said Ashis Nandy, one of India's leading social scientists. "You have family priests, family gurus, personal gods, village gods and goddesses - this is what living Hinduism is - and that is truly in decline in urban areas. Therefore you begin to search for substitutes." Source: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001816123_tvgurus16.html From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Tue Dec 16 21:30:43 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: World Summit on Information Society successful Message-ID: The first World Summit on the Information Society ended Friday in Geneva with 170 countries vowing to bring the Internet to developing nations, Reuters reports. The summit ended with the group drafting a declaration that committed them to use telecommunication technology, like the Web and cellular phones, to boost economic growth in poor nations. Though the summit was successful, the group put off a key decision on whether to set up a special fund to finance telecommunications infrastructure, Reuters reports. African nations, which lobbied hard for special funding, were disappointed by the group's decision. Source: http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5123709.html?tag=nefd_top From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Dec 17 21:33:26 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: Amol Palekar blasts TV's low-quality stuff Message-ID: Film-maker Amol Palekar, a key participant in the open forum of the International Film Festival of Kerala-2003. He stole the show with his vehement criticism against TV for its ``addiction to low-quality stuff''. ``Unless television medium starts respecting quality, it will continue to be regarded as an idiot box,'' he said. Continuing his attack against TV, Palekar said: ``No matter how much dependent is the Indian TV on the cinema industry, whether it is film or film-based programmes, its support to the film industry had been nil.'' Palekar criticised the Doordarshan for its indifferent attitude towards award movies and documentaries. He added that he had decided not to make any film for TV as he did not have a ``great regard for the TV medium''. Source: http://www.newindpress.com/Newsitems.asp?ID=IET20031216133606 From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Dec 17 21:33:34 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: Big future for small screen Message-ID: At last count 172 TV channels were being received in India. This, of course, includes about 20-odd channels which are not specifically beamed at Indian audiences but spill over from other satellite footprints. It still means that Indians have a choice of 150 TV channels in over 30 languages from around the world. Almost every genre is represented - general entertainment, movies, news, sports, music, nature, animation, documentaries, religion, children, adventure - in Indian living rooms. Is there room for so many players in the crowded telesphere? In the coming 12 months at least a dozen new channels are set to be launched, some by existing majors. The CAS muddle notwithstanding, what does the future hold for TV broadcasters in India? Source: http://www.business-standard.com/ice/story.asp?Menu=69&story=29952 From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Dec 17 21:33:34 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: Boost for Indian pay TV as new system hits Delhi Message-ID: India's delayed rollout of a new TV subscription system, which could inflate revenues for broadcasters, begins in earnest this week with the launch of set-top boxes in the prime cable television market of New Delhi. It is expected to give broadcasters a greater share of revenues from some 48 million cable TV subscribers, the world's third largest base. Analysts say a successful implementation of CAS in Delhi, a key market for the Hindi-language entertainment channels of the three broadcasters, will make it easier to extend it to other major markets. Broadcasters expect viewing numbers to fall by 35 to 40 percent initially in areas where CAS is introduced, reducing the fees they can charge advertisers. Source: http://www.reuters.com/locales/newsArticle.jsp?type=businessNews&locale=en_I N&storyID=4005106 From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Dec 17 21:33:34 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: T.V. Today set to go public, sees growth Message-ID: The New Delhi-based company runs the Hindi language Aaj Tak channel, which accounts for most of its revenue, and an English language news channel called Headlines Today. "This is an exciting time for the industry and growth is expected to be explosive," Aroon Purie, Chairman and Managing Director of T.V. Today said at a news conference announcing the issue. Advertising revenue for news channels is expected to touch about five billion rupees by March 2007, from the current 3.5 billion, company officials said. Poorie said the company planned to launch separate channels for health, fitness, travel and business, to offer a variety under the same distribution network. Anil Mehra, a director of T.V. Today, said he expected the viewership base of Aaj Tak to climb to about 35 million by 2007 from about 24 million now. The company faces competition chiefly from New Delhi-based NDTV, Zee News from the stable of India's biggest listed media firm Zee Telefilms Ltd, Rupert Murdoch-owned News Corp's Star News and the Sahara group. T.V. Today is promoted by Living Media and World Media Ltd. Source: http://www.reuters.com/locales/newsArticle.jsp?type=businessNews&locale=en_I N&storyID=3999782 From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Mon Dec 22 21:58:21 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: India and the Oscars: A tale of woes Message-ID: It is really difficult to accept that in a year as productive as this the industry hasn't been able to throw up a single film good enough to compete for an Oscar. The question that needs to be answered is: is Bollywood's best simply not meritorious enough or do we have a case here for completely restructuring the entire selection process? While there may be some truth in the first contention, the issue that needs to be addressed on a war footing is the FFI's role in the exercise. That the FFI primarily bases its selection on is box office performance, so good films that might have the quality required to take on the rest of the world are often unfairly ignored. That frequently leads to the irksome spectacle of a monstrosity like Jeans leaving India's reputation in tatters in the global arena. Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_504517,001100030008.htm From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Mon Dec 22 21:58:21 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: Filmmakers face digital challenge Message-ID: A new era of film-making and content creation could come about if the creators looked at it in an organised, professional manner and prepared for the new digital world. For the entertainment industry, it will mean better conceptualized films that could find better acceptance in a wider global market and could even pave way for an occasional epic. For media, it will mean getting ready for the delivery for the broadband which could be a reality in 16-18 months in the Indian context. Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/370914.cms From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Mon Dec 22 21:58:21 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: Britain using Bollywood themes for good cause Message-ID: Bollywood and Indian themes have become a mainstay in Britain. Be it an advertisement for the banking giant Halifax which was shot in Hyderabad to Bollywood music, or be it Peugeot, the theme of Bollywood has been in demand. In the Christmas festive season, Cadbury's has its advert based on an Indian family, starring famous British-Indian soapstar Sanjiv Bhaskar. Even a film to highlight the dangers of HIV has been shot Bollywood style. Now Bollywood songs are being used to lure Asian women to go for cancer checks. Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/5983_502889,00430005.htm From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Mon Dec 22 21:34:31 2003 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:56 2005 Subject: A Look Back at 2003, and What's on the Horizon for the Online News Universe Message-ID: But 2003 offered up much more than just an unhealthy fascination with blogs. We also obsessed over the proliferation of people with camera phones breaking spot news stories; the rise of Google and Google New