[Reader-list] Surprise, surprise: Indian government to accredite bloggers!

[shivam]

Govt opens doors to bloggersAdd to Clippings

IANS [ TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2005 09:05:01 AM ]

NEW DELHI: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1112368.cms

If you are a serious blogger, the Indian government may just open its
doors to you.

India is in the process of framing rules for granting accreditation to
Internet journalists and bloggers for the first time, taking a reality
check on an evolving world of net writers who could shape opinion and
who have already been granted access to official corridors in
countries such as the US.

"We are framing the rules for giving accreditation to dotcom
journalists, including bloggers," Principle Information Officer
Shakuntala Mahawal said.

The first meeting on this was held a fortnight ago, and more are
scheduled in the coming days.

"We want an inclusive policy and we want to complete the process as
early as possible," Mahawal said.

This augurs well for independent bloggers, or web loggers, who are
increasingly being recognised the world over as cyber journalists.

A blog, short for web log, is a personal journal published on a
website. Blogs can be musings, opinions and news, and a blogger can
have a dedicated daily audience through his postings.

"Blogosphere", as the world of bloggers is popularly known, got a big
boost in March when American blogger Garrett M. Graff, 23, was given a
pass to attend the daily White House briefing.

In India, blogging became popular during the Dec 26 tsunami disaster
with countless blogspots soliciting aid as well as reporting from
tragedy-struck areas to give eyewitness accounts.

There are an estimated eight million bloggers across the world, some
of them professional journalists but quite a few just freelancers.

According to the top press officer, the government acknowledges that
the role of dotcoms is becoming increasingly crucial in opinion making
with net surfing becoming a way of life with virtually all of urban
India.

For the past few years, Internet journalists and writers in India have
fought a tough battle with the official machinery to gain access to
government offices and conferences through the mandatory Press
Information Bureau (PIB) accreditation.

The battle turned grimmer after the exposé by scam-busting website
tehelka.com revealing corruption in defence deals and showing top
politicians and officials accepting kickbacks, causing immense
embarrassment to the government.

It was only after the new Congress-led regime took over that the
process of granting official access to dotcom writers picked up pace.

"We are looking at various models in other countries and studying
rules broadly put in place by organisations like the UN, sports
outfits and commonwealth countries," said a senior official of the
information and broadcasting ministry.

"The idea is to sequester the genuine from the fraud and acknowledge
those who really want to make a difference. They will be given
facilities and better access through accreditation."

Online posts are widely read and according to surveys some 44 per cent
of America's young people read blogs.

Most readers look at blogs for news, perspective and honesty that they
cannot perhaps find in standard news media.

According to Indian officials, blogs are becoming a political
statement in many other countries - such as in the US and British
elections - and India needs to prepare for such a situation.


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