[Reader-list] Today's "media circus" at Jamia

[radhikarajen at vsnl.net]

CNNIBN is the worst channel to have in India, thanks to  amarati manoos who like chameleon changes colours to suit the occassion. Rajdeep is a disgrace for journalism.

 Did the members notice that this was the only channel to get the advertisement from Delhi government about delhi dreams right before the vote on N-deal vote. ? 

 This once again was the only channel to talk of the Agriculture minister "congratulating" the farmers for record producion. Repeated ads and colosssal adrevenue made this channel, hide the sting it carried out once it realised that the sting instead of helping Sonia would damage the reputation of already damaged Congress party.!

   Weeks later, another channel times ow started getting this ad as it slowly, but vehemently started embarassing the Congress thanks to polite Arnab Goswami. Once the ads came, the voice became much more softer for Congress. !

 NDTV surprisingly was neutral to start with, bt later got he benefit of the ad, as it had the baggage of left to carry in editorial board.?

 Regards.

----- Original Message -----
From: Lalit Ambardar <lalitambardar at hotmail.com>
Date: Saturday, September 20, 2008 12:43 am
Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Today's "media circus" at Jamia
To: Yousuf <ysaeed7 at yahoo.com>, sarai list <reader-list at sarai.net>, Sanjhi Virasat <sanjhi_virasat at yahoogroups.com>

> Oh, go & watch  CNN IBN. If that is what is bothering you. Prof 
> Jillani -remember who was released on technical grounds in the 
> parliament attack case ( cnn ibn introduced him as human rights 
> activist...????...), & quite a few more spoke what would actually 
> please you. And also your  'media circus' has cost the nation a 
> young brave police man. You & your ilk wouldn't care though.
> 
> Look there is a problem.If you guys have any concern for the poor 
> Muslims masses- come up & face the reality.That young aeronautics 
> engineer  from  Bangalory did not blow himself up in faraway 
> Glasgow for any 'media circus'.
> 
> Those Kalashnikov wielding Kashmiri pan Islamists did not just 
> subject Kashmiri Hindu Pandits to ethnic cleansing in the valley 
> for the media circus- there was only DD then. 
> But yes,the  green flags holding zealots did thump the earth 
> beneath their feet ranting 'ragda' 'ragda' - 'India' in Srinagar 
> recently while exhibiting rabid intolerance in opposing the land 
> to their co state subjects for Amarnth pilgrimage use, for A Roy; 
> Vir Sanghvi ; Ankleshwar Iyar; Prem Shankar Jha & associates. 
> LA
> 
> 
> 
> > Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2008 07:55:49 -0700> From: ysaeed7 at yahoo.com> 
> To: reader-list at sarai.net; sanjhi_virasat at yahoogroups.com> 
> Subject: [Reader-list] Today's "media circus" at Jamia> > Friends> 
> I have titled this message the “media circus”, although I am 
> actually referring to this morning’s so-called encounter killing 
> of two young people referred to as “terrorists” in L-18 Batla 
> House, Jamia Nagar, by the Delhi police. I call it media circus 
> because that’s what I think it really is, like many more such 
> incidents. > > The incident happened in my neigbourhood, about 150 
> meters from my house. So I have the opportunity to see how things 
> are turning up. I had gone out of the area for some work while the 
> incident was taking place around 11 am, but found it impossible to 
> reach back home 2 hours later, because the road for about 1 and a 
> half kilometer (on both sides) was completely blocked, not by the 
> police vehicles, but by the parked OB vans of the countless TV 
> channels, some of which I never heard of before. Each of these 
> vehicles had its generators on, and thick video cables jetting out 
> of them for several meters to the other end where the cameraperson 
> and the excited anchor were shouting how two terrorists have been 
> killed in the fierce encounter. Most local people are surprised at 
> the speed with which the TV crews arrived here and in such large 
> number. Apparently, the Delhi Police had already told a section of 
> the press they are going for a raid in Batla House, based> on the 
> suspect Abu Bashir’s tip-off (I heard this from a anchor on Times 
> NOW channel, although Police chief Dadwal is now denying there is 
> any link with Abu Bashir), but they didn’t obviously say it was 
> going to be an encounter. Its strange that the local residents got 
> to know about the incident only after the two people had been 
> killed – many in fact learnt it from the Aaj-tak channel. They 
> claim they heard only the police firing and no gunshots from 
> inside the flat, which the police claim have injured two of their 
> constables.> > Most of you watching news TV in your homes may have 
> already heard the cacophony of the TV anchors, each trying to be 
> shriller than the other to prove that the local members of the 
> Indian Mujahideen have been killed. They now seem to have 
> memorized their lines on this issue well, since they have to 
> repeat the same thing again and again. The graphics, animated 
> logos, crawling tickers, and dramatic music/soundtrack to go with 
> such coverage are always ready in the cans to be used at short 
> notice. A cameraman running towards Batla House is nibbling at a 
> burger while he holds on to a camera in his other hand. I saw two 
> members of a TV crew outside the Holy Family Hospital (where the 
> injured policemen have been taken) fiercely fight about which 
> camera angle would look best for a sound byte. Everything looks as 
> if planned and part of the usual business. The cops are happily 
> allowing the media to climb any wall to get the best shot while 
> they beat the local> rickshawpullers to leave the roads clean. The 
> message has got across loud and clear: we told you – Batla House 
> is a haven of terrorists.> > But many things sound fishy. I’ve 
> been hearing a lot of angry conversations in the neighborhood: 
> people are asking that if the police had only planned a simple 
> raid (which they did 2 days ago in Zakir Nagar and Abul Fazl 
> Enclave too), why did they have to bring battalions of police and 
> encounter specialists with AK-56 and other deadly looking guns 
> (that I myself saw) in advance. And why is the media called in 
> even before the residents are told. Of course the fact the this 
> happens in the month of Ramzan, on a Friday, and near a large 
> mosque where people were going to gather in large numbers later 
> for prayers, sounds just too predictable and clichéd for anyone’s 
> imagination. Some locals claim that the police had been visiting 
> this place (and that particular house) since last few days, and 
> the so-called terrorists and their weapons were probably “planted” 
> last night for this encounter. This claim would obviously find no 
> takers in the presently> created euphoria (did you see any channel 
> showing a sound byte to this affect?) I didn’t find a single local 
> resident who is not fed up with this oft-repeated image of Jamia 
> Nagar as harboring terrorists. But none of the channels I saw 
> aired the public angst against their portrayal.> > To be honest, 
> one shouldn’t deny that the Batla House area has some criminal and 
> anti-social elements, just as Darya Ganj or Shahadra or Govindpuri 
> would have. But most local residents believe that for Jamia to 
> become a haven of such criminal elements, the local police and 
> land-mafia are equally responsible. Jamia area is one of the rare 
> localities of Delhi where the rule of law doesn’t apply in most 
> spheres. The land mafia openly indulges in illegal construction; 
> no rules of traffic apply here, the condition of civic amenities 
> is abysmal. Illegal shops, factories (many with child labour) and 
> businesses operate here actively with police connivance. The local 
> politicians (MLA, councilors) are actually part of the problem 
> rather than the solution. There is a full-scale illegal ISBT (bus 
> stand) running in Batla House’s backyard to bring hundreds of 
> migrants everyday from small towns of UP (you can see the police 
> openly accepting bribe from its> operators any day). > > There is 
> no question of sealing whatever the heck business you may run 
> here, and most places stink with heaps of garbage everywhere. 
> There are no RWAs or citizen’s initiatives to discuss the 
> problems. It is truly a manufactured ghetto of Delhi – why don’t 
> all these problems happen in Lajpat Nagar or Kalkaji? I am 
> positive that the authorities are aware that criminals (or what 
> they call terrorists) exist here. But they deliberately allow them 
> to thrive here – never to be touched in the normal/peaceful times 
> – keep them for the right time. It is as if Batla House is a 
> laboratory or breeding ground where things are allowed to grow by 
> providing all the required ingredients and safety. The fruits are 
> plucked only when they are ripe (or required). So today, they 
> simply came to gather the fruit they had sown, and made a big 
> exhibition of it by calling the media. The local people, 
> frightened that the next encounter may happen in their house, 
> simply> squirm and hide in their personal ghettos.> > In all this, 
> a big responsibility lies with the media, and I am yet to come 
> across bold and honest reporters who are ready to go beyond the 
> obvious and investigate the truth – not simply repeat what is told 
> to them by the authorities or their channel bosses.> > Yousuf 
> Saeed> September 19, 2008> > > > > > > 
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