From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Tue Jun 1 15:25:03 2004 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue, 01 Jun 2004 19:55:03 +0530 Subject: Some Questions The Mainstream Media Must Answer Message-ID: <40BC91BF.3010100@vasnet.co.in> Whose interest was this so-called mainstream media unashamedly=20 representing during these past few crucial months? Can it lay claim to=20 objectivity or advocacy of popular will? No newspaper or news channel=20 has even attempted to ask why and how all the poll surveys and exit=20 polls --- taken /after/ the voters voted --- turned out so wrong. It is=20 hiding behind the general surprise experienced by political parties=20 themselves. In other words, it is again reflecting and parroting those=20 who were the subjects and objects of its study! It is refusing to=20 concede that its failure amounts to a professional failure and cannot be = equated with the failure of those who were participants in the exercise=20 of winning votes, and having a stake in the votes, could not have been=20 objective. They have not bothered to analyse their own pre- poll surveys = and exit polls --- from the point of methodology, suitability of samples = selected, questions asked, and questions /not asked/? After all, how=20 could they have known what the Indian people want or expect from their=20 political leadership when they never asked those crucial questions. Such utter loyalty to concerns of the stock market and privatization=20 lobbies begs the question of media accountability. To whom after all did = the mainstream media hold itself accountable during this election=20 campaign and formation of the government. A more positive role envisaged = for the media is certainly that it must not simply reflect what is going = on but must also play the role of an educator. In this case the media=20 not only failed to reflect people=92s concerns, it actually came out as=20 campaigner for stock brokers and financial speculators arguing strongly=20 that the interest of these groups represent popular welfare and the=20 interests of the nation as well. Source: http://pd.cpim.org/2004/0530/05302004_nalini.htm From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Tue Jun 1 15:19:13 2004 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue, 01 Jun 2004 19:49:13 +0530 Subject: Contradictions in Indian media Message-ID: <40BC9061.9020009@vasnet.co.in> A Delhi-based journalist and a rights activist working as a co-coordinator for the International Federation of Journalists, Laxmi Murthy, saw the Indian elections as a demonstrable failure of the media to foresee the outcome. She called it "a visible disparity between the people and the media," which failed to concentrate on important issues affecting the one billion Indian populace. "There was an apparent dislocation between the India that was presented by a large part of the media and the India that exists. When you look at the exit polls, nobody predicted the results. Nobody predicted that the BJP wouldn't go but would be routed," said Ms Murthy. Modalities of successfully controlling a huge electorate aside, Ms Murthy lifted the shutters on the smoothness of the Indian enfranchisement. Specific to the glorification of one family versus the edification of one ideology, the elections were an instance of the two major parties' fight for power at the cost of overlooking water, health, infant and maternal mortality, gender and a host of other issues. "These issues were not part of the agenda of either the BJP or the Congress and disappointingly enough, not even the media touched upon them," exclaimed a disillusioned Ms Murthy. Source: Dawn, May 26, 2004 http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=11508 From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Tue Jun 1 15:13:30 2004 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue, 01 Jun 2004 19:43:30 +0530 Subject: Polls, a Rs 175 cr windfall for media Message-ID: <40BC8F0A.2080201@vasnet.co.in> The 2004 general elections were a bonanza for the Indian media with poll-related advertisements fetching them Rs 175 crore (Rs 1.75 billion) in a matter of four weeks. According to an analysis by TAM Media Research, the electronic and print media have benefited the most from the polls, taking home Rs 137.7 crore (Rs 1.377 billion). About Rs 93 crore (Rs 930 million) of this income came from advertisements by the BJP, Congress and their allies. TAM said advertisement revenues for channels had started going up almost 3 weeks before the viewerships started rising. Atul Phadnis, vice president, TAM Media Research, said: "It was an exceptional election. A host of records have been created. That viewership during the polls far surpassed the levels seen during the September 11 Parliament attack and the 1999 elections came as a major surprise." According to Phadnis, what perhaps made it even more interesting was that the elections were taking place in 4 phases, thereby increasing the suspense for the 407 million potential Indian TV viewers. The steepest increase in viewership was seen in Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal. Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat Delhi and Mumbai. On the day of the counting, the viewership of news channels was up 5 times at 34 per cent. The TAM analysis also shows an exceptional spurt in viewership levels of news channels compared with other genre for the specified period. The counting period saw a whopping 70 per cent growth in time spent compared with the average over the previous weeks. Besides, the viewership share of news channels for the counting period shot up to 9.3 per cent. This is almost seven times more than the 1999 elections. The percentage channel share for news genre shot up from an average of 5 per cent to almost 7 per cent during the four weeks of elections. This had further gone up to 9 per cent during the counting period. TAM analysis said sports channel viewership dipped from 5.9 per cent to 1.5 per cent during the period, while regional channel viewership slipped from 25.8 per cent to 25.5 per cent. The viewership of Hindi mass channels fell from 32.6 per cent to 31.9 per cent. Source: http://inhome.rediff.com/money/2004/may/26media.htm From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Jun 2 16:13:26 2004 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Wed, 2 Jun 2004 20:43:26 +0530 Subject: Need for increased penetration of broadband Message-ID: The Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Dayanidhi Maran has underlined the need for providing increased broadband and internet connectivity so as to provide various interactive services to the consumers at much faster speed and at affordable price levels. Maran said that availability of broadband services at affordable price levels will have significant impact on Gross Domestic Product (GDP), attract new investment, create job opportunities, access to new and improved services and increase productivity through infrastructure creation. In its recommendations, the TRAI has expected that India can achieve 20 million broadband and 40 million internet subscribers by 2010 which would translate into penetration level of 1.7 percent and 3.4 percent respectively. Other recommendations of the TRAI include: Unbundling Local Loop through shared or bit stream access, encouraging broadband through cable, DTH and V-SAT platform, simplifying the Right of Way, reduction in duties for imported items used in broadband, service tax exemption for ISPs, web hosting services and creation of appropriate content and applications. Source: http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=1842 From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Jun 2 16:13:26 2004 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Wed, 2 Jun 2004 20:43:26 +0530 Subject: Broadband and internet access Message-ID: The focus on broadband raises the question: what can subscribers do with it? In the West, wide bandwidth use is driven by rich content that caters mostly to an entertainment-oriented lifestyle. The analysis firm, Neilsen, reports that broadband concentration is highest among affluent surfers in the United States. That cannot be the raison d'etre for broadband in India. While entertainment and lifestyle applications would no doubt create urban-centric revenue models, those in education, skill development, health and agriculture would be more appropriate for the technology. Such applications would draw immense value from the several thousand route kilometres of optical fibre cables laid across the country at great expense. There must be a conscious effort to connect rural India to these optical fibre pipes and evolve a new model for development communication. At another level, software developers, particularly the smaller players who have been hamstrung without adequate bandwidth can scale up their products and tap into the emerging multimedia markets. Source: http://www.hindu.com/2004/06/02/stories/2004060200981000.htm From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Jun 2 16:09:06 2004 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Wed, 2 Jun 2004 20:39:06 +0530 Subject: Broadband will hurt broadcasters Message-ID: According to UK-based research firm Strategy Analytics, TV viewers are spending more time in front of the display connected to their PC, and less time watching the box. "Broadcasters Beware: Broadband Is Stealing Your Viewers" said that a survey of 800 Europeans revealed that some 56 percent have cut down on TV time since subscribing to broadband. David Mercer, principal analyst at Strategy Analytics, acknowledged that TV will continue to have a place in the home, and won't be entirely replaced by high-speed Internet, but the impact of broadband will nevertheless be dramatic. "TV companies have to pay heed to the Internet... they clearly have to look at the Web as a way to reach their audience," Mercer told ElectricNews.Net. "Putting TV content on the Web is probably not the best way go about things. A better strategy would be to develop new on-line content that people can interact with." Source: http://www.electricnews.net/frontpage/news-9413363.html From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Thu Jun 3 16:34:34 2004 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2004 21:04:34 +0530 Subject: Online newspapers tempt readers Message-ID: The number of newspaper websites around the world has doubled since 1999, a study has found. There has been a tremendous boom in the consumption of online editions. Timothy Balding, director general of World Association of Newspapers said web audiences for newspapers have grown by 350% over the last five years. Total global circulation was down slightly for the year in the 208 countries surveyed by the Paris-based association, which represents 18,000 newspapers. But over the last five years, newspaper sales worldwide went up by 4.75%. Well over one billion people now read a newspaper every day. Europeans are buying fewer newspapers. Circulation fell in 13 of the 15 "old" European Union countries, excluding the new members who joined in May. The biggest drop was in Ireland, followed by the UK. But although sales have declined in many mature markets, some developing markets are still strong. Newspaper sales were up by over 4% in China, the world's biggest market, and by an impressive 9% in India. Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3767267.stm From icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu Thu Jun 3 16:39:41 2004 From: icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2004 21:09:41 +0530 Subject: Book Review: Breaking News Message-ID: BREAKING NEWS: Sunil Saxena; Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited, 7, West Patel Nagar, New Delhi-110008. Rs. 275. This book by Sunil Saxena is a chronicle and a guidebook to the brief history of news on the Internet, with particular reference to India. It is also a textbook and a sourcebook with practical chapters on writing and editing creatively to make the most of the medium. The author uses his experience of starting websites for the New Indian Express group and of teaching students at a journalism college to give "Breaking News" a longer shelf life than a period-specific volume might merit. He traces the evolution of news websites, from the time they were started by news organisations to provide material from their print editions to mostly Non-Resident Indian (NRI) audiences as a matter of prestige, to the present when technological changes have ramped up competition. There is also a brief and naturally inconclusive discussion in the book about the question of whether websites affect print sales; the newspaper research and consulting firm Belden Associates reported results of a study that showed single copy sales of newspapers had negative growth last year contradicting earlier studies that seemed to show a beneficial impact of websites on print sales. Such fears, coupled with weak advertisement revenues, have resulted in print being placed above online in the scheme of things in many Indian newspapers. However, the competition among websites is intense and the author looks at the frantic search that websites make for good stories all the time and how they try to innovate with headlines, pictures and text to keep the online reader coming back. Websites score over other media when stories break; unlike television, which "pushes" programming to the viewer, the Internet is a "pull" medium where a variety of content, including visuals, sound and other graphics, can be downloaded from a variety of sources at the same time. The content built up by newspapers in searchable form also becomes a resource for scholars and the public alike when they look for background and insight into particular topics. Source: http://www.hindu.com/br/2004/05/18/stories/2004051800371500.htm From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Tue Jun 1 20:55:03 2004 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:59 2005 Subject: Some Questions The Mainstream Media Must Answer Message-ID: <40BC91BF.3010100@vasnet.co.in> Whose interest was this so-called mainstream media unashamedly representing during these past few crucial months? Can it lay claim to objectivity or advocacy of popular will? No newspaper or news channel has even attempted to ask why and how all the poll surveys and exit polls --- taken /after/ the voters voted --- turned out so wrong. It is hiding behind the general surprise experienced by political parties themselves. In other words, it is again reflecting and parroting those who were the subjects and objects of its study! It is refusing to concede that its failure amounts to a professional failure and cannot be equated with the failure of those who were participants in the exercise of winning votes, and having a stake in the votes, could not have been objective. They have not bothered to analyse their own pre- poll surveys and exit polls --- from the point of methodology, suitability of samples selected, questions asked, and questions /not asked/? After all, how could they have known what the Indian people want or expect from their political leadership when they never asked those crucial questions. Such utter loyalty to concerns of the stock market and privatization lobbies begs the question of media accountability. To whom after all did the mainstream media hold itself accountable during this election campaign and formation of the government. A more positive role envisaged for the media is certainly that it must not simply reflect what is going on but must also play the role of an educator. In this case the media not only failed to reflect people?s concerns, it actually came out as campaigner for stock brokers and financial speculators arguing strongly that the interest of these groups represent popular welfare and the interests of the nation as well. Source: http://pd.cpim.org/2004/0530/05302004_nalini.htm From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Tue Jun 1 20:49:13 2004 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:59 2005 Subject: Contradictions in Indian media Message-ID: <40BC9061.9020009@vasnet.co.in> A Delhi-based journalist and a rights activist working as a co-coordinator for the International Federation of Journalists, Laxmi Murthy, saw the Indian elections as a demonstrable failure of the media to foresee the outcome. She called it "a visible disparity between the people and the media," which failed to concentrate on important issues affecting the one billion Indian populace. "There was an apparent dislocation between the India that was presented by a large part of the media and the India that exists. When you look at the exit polls, nobody predicted the results. Nobody predicted that the BJP wouldn't go but would be routed," said Ms Murthy. Modalities of successfully controlling a huge electorate aside, Ms Murthy lifted the shutters on the smoothness of the Indian enfranchisement. Specific to the glorification of one family versus the edification of one ideology, the elections were an instance of the two major parties' fight for power at the cost of overlooking water, health, infant and maternal mortality, gender and a host of other issues. "These issues were not part of the agenda of either the BJP or the Congress and disappointingly enough, not even the media touched upon them," exclaimed a disillusioned Ms Murthy. Source: Dawn, May 26, 2004 http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=11508 From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Tue Jun 1 20:43:30 2004 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:59 2005 Subject: Polls, a Rs 175 cr windfall for media Message-ID: <40BC8F0A.2080201@vasnet.co.in> The 2004 general elections were a bonanza for the Indian media with poll-related advertisements fetching them Rs 175 crore (Rs 1.75 billion) in a matter of four weeks. According to an analysis by TAM Media Research, the electronic and print media have benefited the most from the polls, taking home Rs 137.7 crore (Rs 1.377 billion). About Rs 93 crore (Rs 930 million) of this income came from advertisements by the BJP, Congress and their allies. TAM said advertisement revenues for channels had started going up almost 3 weeks before the viewerships started rising. Atul Phadnis, vice president, TAM Media Research, said: "It was an exceptional election. A host of records have been created. That viewership during the polls far surpassed the levels seen during the September 11 Parliament attack and the 1999 elections came as a major surprise." According to Phadnis, what perhaps made it even more interesting was that the elections were taking place in 4 phases, thereby increasing the suspense for the 407 million potential Indian TV viewers. The steepest increase in viewership was seen in Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal. Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat Delhi and Mumbai. On the day of the counting, the viewership of news channels was up 5 times at 34 per cent. The TAM analysis also shows an exceptional spurt in viewership levels of news channels compared with other genre for the specified period. The counting period saw a whopping 70 per cent growth in time spent compared with the average over the previous weeks. Besides, the viewership share of news channels for the counting period shot up to 9.3 per cent. This is almost seven times more than the 1999 elections. The percentage channel share for news genre shot up from an average of 5 per cent to almost 7 per cent during the four weeks of elections. This had further gone up to 9 per cent during the counting period. TAM analysis said sports channel viewership dipped from 5.9 per cent to 1.5 per cent during the period, while regional channel viewership slipped from 25.8 per cent to 25.5 per cent. The viewership of Hindi mass channels fell from 32.6 per cent to 31.9 per cent. Source: http://inhome.rediff.com/money/2004/may/26media.htm From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Jun 2 21:43:26 2004 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:59 2005 Subject: Need for increased penetration of broadband Message-ID: The Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Dayanidhi Maran has underlined the need for providing increased broadband and internet connectivity so as to provide various interactive services to the consumers at much faster speed and at affordable price levels. Maran said that availability of broadband services at affordable price levels will have significant impact on Gross Domestic Product (GDP), attract new investment, create job opportunities, access to new and improved services and increase productivity through infrastructure creation. In its recommendations, the TRAI has expected that India can achieve 20 million broadband and 40 million internet subscribers by 2010 which would translate into penetration level of 1.7 percent and 3.4 percent respectively. Other recommendations of the TRAI include: Unbundling Local Loop through shared or bit stream access, encouraging broadband through cable, DTH and V-SAT platform, simplifying the Right of Way, reduction in duties for imported items used in broadband, service tax exemption for ISPs, web hosting services and creation of appropriate content and applications. Source: http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=1842 From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Jun 2 21:43:26 2004 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:59 2005 Subject: Broadband and internet access Message-ID: The focus on broadband raises the question: what can subscribers do with it? In the West, wide bandwidth use is driven by rich content that caters mostly to an entertainment-oriented lifestyle. The analysis firm, Neilsen, reports that broadband concentration is highest among affluent surfers in the United States. That cannot be the raison d'etre for broadband in India. While entertainment and lifestyle applications would no doubt create urban-centric revenue models, those in education, skill development, health and agriculture would be more appropriate for the technology. Such applications would draw immense value from the several thousand route kilometres of optical fibre cables laid across the country at great expense. There must be a conscious effort to connect rural India to these optical fibre pipes and evolve a new model for development communication. At another level, software developers, particularly the smaller players who have been hamstrung without adequate bandwidth can scale up their products and tap into the emerging multimedia markets. Source: http://www.hindu.com/2004/06/02/stories/2004060200981000.htm From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Wed Jun 2 21:39:06 2004 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:59 2005 Subject: Broadband will hurt broadcasters Message-ID: According to UK-based research firm Strategy Analytics, TV viewers are spending more time in front of the display connected to their PC, and less time watching the box. "Broadcasters Beware: Broadband Is Stealing Your Viewers" said that a survey of 800 Europeans revealed that some 56 percent have cut down on TV time since subscribing to broadband. David Mercer, principal analyst at Strategy Analytics, acknowledged that TV will continue to have a place in the home, and won't be entirely replaced by high-speed Internet, but the impact of broadband will nevertheless be dramatic. "TV companies have to pay heed to the Internet... they clearly have to look at the Web as a way to reach their audience," Mercer told ElectricNews.Net. "Putting TV content on the Web is probably not the best way go about things. A better strategy would be to develop new on-line content that people can interact with." Source: http://www.electricnews.net/frontpage/news-9413363.html From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Thu Jun 3 22:04:34 2004 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:59 2005 Subject: Online newspapers tempt readers Message-ID: The number of newspaper websites around the world has doubled since 1999, a study has found. There has been a tremendous boom in the consumption of online editions. Timothy Balding, director general of World Association of Newspapers said web audiences for newspapers have grown by 350% over the last five years. Total global circulation was down slightly for the year in the 208 countries surveyed by the Paris-based association, which represents 18,000 newspapers. But over the last five years, newspaper sales worldwide went up by 4.75%. Well over one billion people now read a newspaper every day. Europeans are buying fewer newspapers. Circulation fell in 13 of the 15 "old" European Union countries, excluding the new members who joined in May. The biggest drop was in Ireland, followed by the UK. But although sales have declined in many mature markets, some developing markets are still strong. Newspaper sales were up by over 4% in China, the world's biggest market, and by an impressive 9% in India. Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3767267.stm From icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu Thu Jun 3 22:09:41 2004 From: icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu (icernet-admin@listserv.cddc.vt.edu) Date: Tue Jan 4 13:40:59 2005 Subject: Book Review: Breaking News Message-ID: BREAKING NEWS: Sunil Saxena; Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited, 7, West Patel Nagar, New Delhi-110008. Rs. 275. This book by Sunil Saxena is a chronicle and a guidebook to the brief history of news on the Internet, with particular reference to India. It is also a textbook and a sourcebook with practical chapters on writing and editing creatively to make the most of the medium. The author uses his experience of starting websites for the New Indian Express group and of teaching students at a journalism college to give "Breaking News" a longer shelf life than a period-specific volume might merit. He traces the evolution of news websites, from the time they were started by news organisations to provide material from their print editions to mostly Non-Resident Indian (NRI) audiences as a matter of prestige, to the present when technological changes have ramped up competition. There is also a brief and naturally inconclusive discussion in the book about the question of whether websites affect print sales; the newspaper research and consulting firm Belden Associates reported results of a study that showed single copy sales of newspapers had negative growth last year contradicting earlier studies that seemed to show a beneficial impact of websites on print sales. Such fears, coupled with weak advertisement revenues, have resulted in print being placed above online in the scheme of things in many Indian newspapers. However, the competition among websites is intense and the author looks at the frantic search that websites make for good stories all the time and how they try to innovate with headlines, pictures and text to keep the online reader coming back. Websites score over other media when stories break; unlike television, which "pushes" programming to the viewer, the Internet is a "pull" medium where a variety of content, including visuals, sound and other graphics, can be downloaded from a variety of sources at the same time. The content built up by newspapers in searchable form also becomes a resource for scholars and the public alike when they look for background and insight into particular topics. Source: http://www.hindu.com/br/2004/05/18/stories/2004051800371500.htm