Is Decline of the Fourth-Estate Here and Happening?

Alimony is as bad as dowry-giving. Alimony is to divorce what dowry is to marriage. Alimony is an invitation to divorce.

In this scenario, the world - wide attention of females drooling at the fantastic sums of money extorted from Mr. McCartney of the UK is harmful to marriages worldwide.

http://www.petitiononline.com/alimony/petition.html

Please sign this petition, protesting the UK courts decision and in support of our brothers in the UK. It takes only 2 minutes.

Kindly make this a success by getting as many signatures as possible. We will submit the petition to the British Commissions in India.

Re: # 53
The writer is a former editor of Reader’s Digest, The Indian Express and Khaleej Times
....So, this fellow has some Dubai connection...I wish, they write one article on how M F Husseine, Dawood Ibrahim etc... is discriminated in India.

Re: # 53
Hmmm... very worried about Indian journalism. The journalism has changed a lot. Newspapers presents what the readers want. The sad story of The Statesman,The Hindu and growing popularity of TOI in Southern States, speaks that. Between The Hindu/TOI battle, there is no political party involved. But The Hindu is loosing ground. Ragarding MJA, it is not a loss at all. We have got rid of a crap, who is driven more by agenda than reliant on statistics and analysis.

Quite sad really. I liked MJ Akbar a lot.

He and MVKamath both were shown the door because they both are opponents of Indian nuke deal which she wants to promote, because quatrochi has been (recently) hired by US high authorities to lubricate this deal through sonia.......U know who is that authority....starting with C

From an Op-ed article in the Dawn:

Whither the Indian press?

By Rahul Singh

THE Indian media takes great pride in being independent and fearless, among the freest in the developing world. Indeed, the press is held up as one of the mainstays of Indian democracy. But is this really so? Take the abrupt and recent sacking of one of the country’s most distinguished editors, Mubashar Jawed Akbar.

On March 2, the erstwhile editor-in-chief of The Asian Age was on his way to his office in New Delhi when he got an SMS on his cellphone from one of his staff members, asking him to look at the masthead of his paper. To his astonishment and dismay, he found his name was missing! When he arrived at his office he was met by an editorial staff in mourning, some of whom broke down.

Word had clearly reached them of their boss’s unceremonious ouster. MJ, as he was known to his friends and colleagues, quickly emptied his drawers, said farewell to his staff and departed.

He had launched The Asian Age almost two decades ago and made it into probably the country’s most outspoken and readable newspaper. With publication centres in several parts of the country, it boasted a daily circulation of close to one million copies, second only to The Times of India in the English-language category of papers.

Many questioned its financial viability, since it carried few advertisements. But Akbar claimed that the paper was ‘franchised’ out to various businessmen-cum-politicians, which is how it survived — and apparently thrived.

One of the franchisees was a certain Venkatram Reddy, a successful entrepreneur who owned the Deccan Chronicle, a money-spinning publication centred in the south Indian city of Hyderabad.

Deccan Chronicle Holdings became a publicly listed company on the stock exchange a few years ago and its IPO (initial public offering) brought in a considerable sum of money to Reddy.

This enabled him to buy out the other major franchisees of The Asian Age, so that he was able to corner 90 per cent of its shares, the remaining ten per cent being held by Akbar. Though the details have not yet been made public, it seems that Akbar also recently sold his shares to Reddy, which ultimately cleared the way for his removal.

Word has it that Akbar had seen the writing on the wall some months back.

Reddy was keen to enter politics by getting into the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian parliament. He wanted to be nominated by the Congress Party. But there was a problem: The Asian Age had been critical of the present government, the Congress-dominated United Progressive Alliance (UPA), in particular over the proposed nuclear deal with the US on which both the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have staked their prestige.

Was Reddy told that the Congress Party would support him for a Rajya Sabha seat, provided he got rid of Akbar? That is the speculation and it will be confirmed if such a scenario actually comes to pass.

For the record, Akbar is arguably the most outstanding journalist of his generation. He started as a trainee in the Times of India, moving on to its sister publication the Illustrated Weekly of India, which was then edited by Khushwant Singh, who happens to be my father. (I was the editor of Reader’s Digest at the time.)

Akbar then became the founder editor of the hugely successful Sunday magazine, brought out by the Kolkata-based Anandabazar Patrika group.

He had several political scoops to his credit. With the same group, he also started The Telegraph, a daily paper from Kolkata which soon overtook the then dominant Statesman. Following differences with the Anandabazar Patrika group owner, he started The Asian Age.

In between, he flirted with politics when Rajiv Gandhi persuaded him to stand for parliament in 1989 from Kishanganj in Bihar, his home state. To everybody’s surprise, he won.

After Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination in 1991, however, he seems to have drifted away from the Gandhi family, in particular from Rajiv’s widow, the Italian-born Sonia. So he went back to journalism and also authored a number of highly acclaimed books, including one on jihad, Shade of Swords.

Akbar is by no means the first successful editor to have been fired in humiliating circumstances. Khushwant Singh took the circulation of the Illustrated Weekly from 100,000 to over 400,000, making it a power to reckon with. He was close to Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay, and supported their dictatorial ‘emergency’ rule from 1975 to 1977.

When the Congress was routed in the 1977 election, the new prime minister, Morarji Desai, sent word through his son to the owners of the Illustrated Weekly, the Jains, that he should be removed.

His contract was not renewed. But worse was to follow. Thinking that his farewell editorial would contain something damaging to them, he was sent a letter of dismissal, asking him to leave the office immediately.

The same thing happened to George Verghese, the most eminent and respected editor of an earlier generation, in the Hindustan Times and to H.K. Dua, when he was removed as editor of The Times of India (he is now editor of the Chandigarh-based Tribune, which is run by a trust and is one of the few truly independent papers in the country).

In the confrontation between Rajiv Gandhi and V.P. Singh (who later went on to defeat Rajiv and become prime minister), Prem Shankar Jha, then the editor of the Hindustan Times, decided not to take sides and to treat news stories on their merits. A clear message was sent from the Rajiv Gandhi camp to the owners of the Hindustan Times that Jha should be asked to go. He was.

Independent editors have become a rarity in India. The Times of India, which boasts of being the largest circulating English broadsheet in the world, has not had a proper editor for over a decade, with various ‘editors’ given meaningless designations and put in charge of different sections of the paper: edit page, news, sports, supplements. The owners of the Hindustan Times and The Telegraph, the biggest dailies in north and east India respectively, are the real editors of their papers.

The four Fs now rule the Indian press — films, fashion, food and frolic. The wedding of Amitabh Bachchan’s son, the shenanigans of Sanjay Dutt and the liaisons of Saif Ali get front page treatment.

The marketing departments, not editorial, run the show, often making editorial appointments and deciding how the front page should look and what it should display.

Indian newspapers have become brands and products, not agents of change and enlightenment. This trivialisation of what is one of the main pillars of democracy should disturb all thinking Indians.

The writer is a former editor of Reader’s Digest, The Indian Express and Khaleej Times.

singh.84@hotmail.com

Ref nkg #51

[I know of regional movies like Tamil, Malayalam and Bengali movies, which were of great quality.]

You will change your opinion of Tamil movies if you get the lyrics to the song "Ottakatthai Kattikko" translated by one of the Masanamuthus on Chowk.

Re: # 50
Iran is not corrupted by western influence. Every alternate Hindi movie script/scene/music is stolen from USA. So, the mainstream media. I know of regional movies like Tamil, Malayalam and Bengali movies, which were of great quality.

mohar11:

I don't think that you read The Statesman of yore. I do agree that all of them had a Nehruvian bias but that was true of all institutions in India, including educational institutions, during that period.

There is good journalism in India these days in magazines like India Today. The Op-Ed pages are not bad in today's newspapers, there are good columnists in TOI, for example, like Gurcharan Das, Shashi Tharoor and Swaminathan Aiyer. It is the news coverage that is very sketchy and sensational and there is very little investigative journalism, at least in TOI. I believe that Indian Express has a better record in this respect but the marketing guys at TOI and HT seem to have driven them out of business. The media has become like Bollywood - very successful commercially be catering to the lowest common denominator but way behind countries like Iran when turning out quality product.

Re: # 46
Hi Mohar..., every day in week, there used to be one special column based on day of week. So, literature,science, art/cinema etc. used to be covered in a day in every week. Every Sunday, you will be gifted with a sort story. That culture had vanished. I can not read beyond 5 minutes the famous Times of India ( Some Sundays yoyou get some good columns). I don't find worth reading. I can remember one special column by Manohar Malgaonkar on Monday (or Tuesday) on The Statesman. The title used to be Time Off. What a language, what content!!! I am not talking about MJA or KN. Their writing will be always some sort of anti-BJP tone, and will never leave you with happiness in your mind. What I have liked about Manohar Malgaonkar was almost apolitical writing. You will enjoy the article and in the same time you will carry something with you. In present generation, I read Swaminathan Ayar of TOI, TJS George of Indian Express. They write quite balanced way. The standard of writing in West Bengal is also declining. I know few writers ( Pathik Guha...), who used to publish science related articles, packed with history, drama and basic knowledge about the topic. MJA and KN are like political cadre. Always carry some agenda and try to convince people. They are not good writers (both of them have long association with Congress Party).

India is in serious need of makeovers in various ways... May be the media is a start... Hopefully the over-commercialism will be balanced out down the road... but we don't need no more bull from "intellectuals" like MJ Akbar, Kuldip Nayar and their kind...

I would rather see air-head bimbo from bollywood on the front page, rather than these dour-faced geriatric air-head from Janpath or wherever these losers live... these bumbling fools who have no idea, shouldn't even be appointed to be dog-catchers in a decent country....

Media may have gone overly commercial - but I also see more human-interest stories in the front page, more coverage of business, on leaders in commerce and otherwise... Not the grinning photos prime minister that we always used to see in good old days of "heavy analysis" - full with all sorts trivia about movements and rantings of the politicians...

Re: # 37 DM
[...". I really miss The Statesman." That makes two of us...]

I don't... anything that came out of calcutta has been equivalent of loud intellectual farting, big in sound and fury but stank to high heavens, that's putting it mildly...

I mean - all those years heavy "intellectualism" and "substance" - what exactly did it give us?... poverty of all kinds in general, poverty of imagination in particular... all the heavy-minded "analysis" of everything under the sun never led to better governance, administration, policies... Not even common sense - these "intellectuals" couldn't even gather common sense... forget about any deeper or long term thinking or planning...

I am sorry to be so harsh - but Good riddance with these fools and their fellow-travellers...

Re: # 41
MJA is fully avaibale in Bangladesh, Pakisthan and Middle East (Khaleej Times...) news groups. His topic will be similar to most of the moslem writers - Moslem oppression in Iraq, India, Israel, UK, France etc...
(How peaceful Hamas/Hezbollah actvists are tortured by Israel. How police/army tortures peaceful Kashmiris and their Pakistani friends. How moslems are discriminated in UK, France etc...)

Re: # 40
The Indian Missile supposed to reach Beijing, disintegrated at only 12 Km; the event which should have brought the Scientists to their knees was skillfully covered by Prince, a farmer boy, who slipped into a 'deliberately' made small manhole barely 7 feet deep and the event was covered like a ceremony;

Ans: People are not bothered about Missile nowadays. These Prithvi,Agni etc... are far bellow the standard of USA/Russian products. In a globalised world, when you are exposed to best of the products (like Camera, Watch, automobile), why will you bother about a missile, which is far inferior than EU,Russia,US counterpart?

Re: # 41
I know that, for any human, it is extreamly immoral to critisize (harmful) a person, from whom you have received favour. If you have any suggestion, please inform him/her. This moslem was provided parliamentory ticket from Congress from Bihar (Kishangunj). Courtsey Mr. Rajiv gandhi (he never bothered about party. The Last Emperor). So, he should (by normal human standard) keep quite as per as Sonia Gandhi is concerned. He is not sparing her also regadring some issues which pertains to moslems (Sonia Gandhi has not taken contract to speak on belalf of moslems alone.).
To Mr. Mahesh Prabhu,
Sir, if you are really good and touch people's heart, you will definitely win.

He always write....

36 nkg,

I dont agree with u fully but the advertisements for Deccan Chronicle (under MJA) ran something like this:

An arab man (Iraqi, I think) with a keffiyah and the caption is - MY IDENTITY, MY NEWSPAPER (i.e. Deccan Chronicle).


What a laughable advt? Wasnt he advertising for Muslim readership though 90% of his readers are not Muslims? In anycase the newspaper has nothing 2 do with the religions in the first place.

How a kala chamda Hydi Muslim has anything to do with an arab Iraqi and using such irrelevant motifs for advertisement of a newspaper (supposed to be a normal newspaper)?

These newspapers also carried out headline photographs and newsitems that are used by the 24*7 anti-Indian guys on Chowk. MJA, obviously prmomoted a bunch of 'we ruled these niggers' type Muslims in his newspapers. Farzana Versey is one such namoona.

Same goes for SNM Abdi who contributes to foreign newspapers from Calcutta (I think). He always writes - never he contributes normal news/analysis - abt a woman marrying a donkey or that kinda stuff.

Something or the other some major incident on the opposite of this is eclipsed, surely.

The Indian Missile supposed to reach Beijing, disintegrated at only 12 Km; the event which should have brought the Scientists to their knees was skillfully covered by Prince, a farmer boy, who slipped into a 'deliberately' made small manhole barely 7 feet deep and the event was covered like a ceremony; when the emotions from the 'BOMB 2 BEIJING' resigned as media was counting and measuring , prince remained in that Gutter, rather kept there for that many days and captivated every stupid watching eye.
Smart Media and Stupid Sheep public.

Re: # 27
Man Steve Jobs of Apple ( the founder) was fired from Apple. He had used that opportunity to form NeXT Computer.
I have read couple of Swami Vivekananda writings. After Chicago Religious parliament (in 1893), he had toured Europe and North America. He was amazed by the people's attitude in those continents. The positive energy and "wrok hard, part hard" attitude (the path documented in Vedantas).

Re: # 35
President of India is mostly a decorative post. Pratibha tai is no inferior than A P J Abdul Kalam. Some, neuclear test (with the technology provided by USSR), does not prove anything. He was part of DRDO and the technical failure of DRDO is quite well known.

I am dead against Sonia Gandhi. She has dubious record and Congress people tries to project her in different way, but she has brough couple of nice changes in congress party.

#36:

". I really miss The Statesman."

That makes two of us.

I think, what is meted out to M J Akbar is perfect. In his recent book, he had revealed how "Islam" has added value to his ancestors, and his focus was mostly concentrated on moslems and anti-india activities. How can a Govt./secular institution will tolerate such a person? If you see Indo-US civilian neuclear deal from the angle of muslim anger( Iraq, Palestine, Iran, Afghanisthan... so many places on earth, but India. This fellow does not bother to use Internet and other US technology to publish his views), then you are better placed to represent Jamat..., SIMI,some mosque etc. The journalism has changed to worse side. I really miss The Statesman. In , India there are 1000s of issues, which needs to be looked into. Excessive highlighting of moslem poverty and misery (I was quite surprised how this valueable Islam was not able to guide the moslems to better placed in a society, where upward mobility is very much possible for everybody). Congress has several times assured that Indo-US neuclear deal is not against any community. With it, we will be provide flurry of technologies, which we have failed to create. He is kind of Joker( or Jakir) Naik. There is no place for such person in Govt./public institutions.

Mahesh,

This is not new. Living in the US we had to disconnect all the indian news channels from our dish network seeing the quality of the reporting. It is gross tabloid journalism. The sacking of MJ Akbar, who in my opinion is one of the best figures in the news media is not surprising. It confirms the trend. Dost had written an article on the pakistani news media being better than ours and he's right on his money.

Sadna,
Lemme add to sonia aunty and her chamcha's list of praiseworthy deeds. Remember Rajasthan anti-conversion bill and how the then governor of Raj. Smt. pratibha Patil refused to sign it. And now she's the president in place of Abdul Kalam. You can put 2+2 together.

This is the state of affairs of our country. One 12th class pass foreign woman runs the indian show with jokers replacing excellence be it in media or governance. But the best part is that these things are not even touched in media as Mahesh correctly points out. Instead we are made to feel proud that we have a woman president before even US.

Adios

Dostji,

Lemme make a confession. I too like ali's provocative style, esp on UP.

VRV:

It's futile to blame slyder; chowk wants to maintain a certain flavour to this website and slyder, along with many others, provides that flavour. It is not his fault if he excels in that genre or that he is on the opposite side.

Arjun gadhey,

Why don't you direct some of your fire-power towards the Thackerey duo - who pose a REAL threat to the concept of India as we (or at least I) know it?

#29 Posted by harimau on March 8, 2008 4:04:28 pm

Farzana Versey writes, chowk's own NRI(not really indian), for the asian age. I just read one of her columns...same crap she writes here on chowk...

This may not be a very well-written piece but the point Mahesh makes is quite valid. There has certainly been a decline in the quality of news media in India; there is hardly a difference between spreadsheets and tabloids. Today's newspapers are all sizzle and very little meat. The job of the editor has been downgraded and it is the marketing manager who rules the roost; Akbar's firing, which would certainly be a hot topic of conversation in the media offices and cafeterias, does not make it to the news while a minor bollywood item girl visisting Delhi gets a big write-up. Even Blitz had more substance in the old days.

So M J Akbar got fired?

Don't worry, there is an endless supply of journalists to sing the praises of pseudo-secularism and the Nehru family.

Ref sadna #25

[In 2005?, the Jharkhand Governor, an old Gandhi family associate, who was reportedly in constant touch with Sonia Gandhi during that period, asked the smaller political grouping(the Congress-led one) in the Jharkhand Assembly to form the govt. Rajdeep Sardesai of NDTV criticised the decision as did many others. But he directly mentioned Sonia Gandhi's name and perhaps named her as being responsible for the Jharkhand Governor's essentially unconstitutional decision. Sardesai left NDTV soon after he did that.]

Syed Sibtey Razi is the Governor in question.

He probably consulted the Only Book that Needs Consulting aka -al-Quran and came up with the equivalent of Jinnah-bhai's reasoning. If Jinnah-bhai could ask to equate a 30% minority Muslim population with a 70% non-Muslim population, clearly 39 Congresswallahs are greater than 41 BJP-wallahs.

It is a sad fact of life that the world does not appreciate Islamic arithmetic.

Re: # 26

Jang:

Firings truly are good for talent. String of successful ventures in Silicon Valley have been formed by the talent which was fired. That is why, what I said in my post to Sadna MJ Akbar should think out of box and go for new media to connect middle class youth to fountainhead of news.

#25 isnt radjeep sardesai part owner of IBNnews now? good for him for leaving CNN..thanks to india shining, sacking is actually good for the talented

In 2005?, the Jharkhand Governor, an old Gandhi family associate, who was reportedly in constant touch with Sonia Gandhi during that period, asked the smaller political grouping(the Congress-led one) in the Jharkhand Assembly to form the govt. Rajdeep Sardesai of NDTV criticised the decision as did many others. But he directly mentioned Sonia Gandhi's name and perhaps named her as being responsible for the Jharkhand Governor's essentially unconstitutional decision. Sardesai left NDTV soon after he did that.

Just saying.

anil #19
You are welcome. I don't really disagree with you, but the Indian news market is so huge and diverse, I can't really say newspapers and TV news with their huge circulations/penetration don't rule. Corporate ownership and political influence is a reigning reality. I think the real problem is that the Congress Party has no strong effective opposition party to counter it nor does India have a strong "opposition" media criticising the govt(any govt), media which can have being anti-establishment as its business model(sort of like the leftist newspapers in the UK though I don't know too much about them) .

Abe Saaley, wash ur rear as it looks so red with the work of U Sam's linga, u sourass.

Why are the achoot & chamar hingboos so worked up? Its not like Mahesh wrote anything about bucket toilets.....

Mahesh, you shouldn't have washed the dirty shivalinga in public!

I wish all the best for future endeavors of Mr. Akbar who, from all accounts, appears to be a gem of a person and a credit to his profession.

This may be the end of one inning, but there is a lot of mileage left in that powerhouse, I am sure!

Thanks Kaalachakra.

Sadna,

I dont know too much abt the case but the way the author presented is wrong.

Sadna:

Thanks for posting this link.

India media has always lacked walls, which separate publishers, editorial, and even advertisement (revenue generation).

At Sahara TV, the owners even made newscasters change the greeting, with half way Nazi like raising of hand instead of traditional greetings.

English media, is mainly targeted at Indian middle class. Internet awareness and computer peneration is very high in this group. New media is more potent, and hopefully can stand up to answer to print media robber barons.

Consider where I got my news, through you to a link on Internet. It is New media. It can play an important role, as it is playing in the U.S. elections.

Even reality TV in India - Sa Re Ga Ma Pa - is far more mature than the U.S. reality TV.

Like arjun said, MJ Akbar is not leaving poor. He must consider investing money, time and experience in new media, and start instant blogs, Internet talk shows, Youtube coverage to access and give access to middle class youth and let them voice their opinions. There is a lot more he can still contribute.

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main38.asp?filename=hub150308goodbye.asp
The sacking of top notch editor MJ Akbar bodes ill for the fraternity. SHANTANU GUHA RAY reports

lol, vrv, if you wrote all that about my friend slyder, I would agree. We Indians have known him for a long time on chowk, and have never doubted his taste. :)

waise, you got #4 quite right too.

To the extent that he's a midget & sourpuss, sourass & a swine that njoys filth all the time.

vrv, yaar, you are a nice enough fellow but terribly naive about chowkies and the world.

Do you think you know slyder sahib well enough? :)

#9 Posted by slyder. on March 8, 2008 6:07:59 am

This midget need to be fixed by the Chowk or else it'd be free4all.

For a sample this is what the esteemed Mahesh had to say abt the Shining Pakistan; prolly the harrami midget effer wud like to enjoy a small sample:

" The Invasion of Pakistan by Americans is a possible outcome. It would be rather ‘when’ than ‘if’ from now on, thanks to the current imposition of Emergency in Pakistan – the face of international politics is sure to change phenomenally. Let us all hope and pray that it is for good."

http://indiamahesh.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/11/why-americans-may-invade-pa kistan/comments.htm

What does this story got to do anything with Sonia Gandhi?

Why do the right wingers hate her so much? Is it because she is white,or Catholic, or a woman?

Or, is it that she brings out their insecurities?

All Males, Arise and Awake!

Females are growing up through generations of pampering, and still expecting to be pampered as a ‘higher caste’ even in this day of empowerment, infidelity, and high divorce rates. This 'Womens Day' rose is not all perfume, but is laced with poison meant for you.

Already, we have draconian laws by which females can get their spouses and their families arrested. This, even though females in fact Prefer living alone and getting divorced - as seen in the 70%-female-initiated divorce in ‘no-fault-divorce US states’ - and inspite of CDC findings that domestic violence is EQUAL among both males and females.

And to top it all, the law requires that the male remain ‘indebted’ to her even after divorce, by paying ‘maintenance’! This, is inspite of a 40% and rising, divorce rate - encouraged by feminists who do not like women in the family being treated ‘equally’. While dowry should ideally not be a form of inheritance, minister Renuka has made ‘anti-dowry’ laws, making males easy prey for feminists wanting divorce. Thus at divorce too, females get ‘revenge’ by getting their males arrested and harassing them with unjust and lopsided laws.

These extremist feminists in the guise of demanding ‘equal’ opportunities, seek to destroy equality. Many males do justify their demands due to negative media male-stereotyping. But this sympathy is misplaced and is being misused by feminists. Complacency and inaction can destroy you, your sons and their sons too.

The government is already thinking of bringing legislation to reserve 33% seats for females. For just being a female! Already, they are preferred in jobs. 80% of all newly created jobs in the EU since 2000 AD, were given to females! And in our country, females have higher tax slabs, and even enjoy discounts for Rail travel, though the employment in BPOs is only 37% for males! Just for being female!

Males need to group together now; otherwise they must expect to be run all over by females. What should you do?

Please sign the petition http://www.petitiononline.com/dowry/petition.html
Join male-rights clubs in your neighbourhood
Raise your voice by writing to the media and your politicians, and talk to your other male friends

Re: # 10 Americans are involved as I guess Mr.Akber is opposed to surrender of India to american vested interests regarding nuclear atomic splitting and making bombs.

#9 Posted by slyder. on March 8, 2008 6:07:59 am

brother slyder...shouldn't you worry about the hellfires killing your brothers(and sisters)? you know..yhe ones you thought would stop after the elections...

=== Interact Filtered ===
view this users filtered interacts

I have read many a column by M.J. Akbar. I believe that he is a man of great courage, integrity and insight and he also shown penetrating analysis in his writings.

Who knows the present dispute may have multiple reasons. Let us wait and see!

Kamath

#2 Posted by dost_mittar on March 8, 2008 12:43:11 am


Akbar holds a part of the remaining 10% in the company he founded in 1993.


Oh my god...MJA is going to die in poverty!! bad bad india...


col koolaid: I bet you think his treatment is almost the same as what shaheen sehbai got..or hayatullah..

Mahesh,

I recall when MV kamath took over from Kushvant sing at Illustrated weekly. I also recall MJ akbar, they must be in their late sevneties. You mean these senile people should not be kicked out, no retirement age for them simply because they are journalists.

You are a disgrace to indian journalism, a disgrace to the indians on chowk.

Is there a way to ban this indian specimen from chowk.

Mahesh,

If you are a jounalist you also should be fired from your job for stupidity.

What is teh great news value for the public in an employee being fired,

I recall when M. V, Kamath was fired from illustrated weekly. What is teh big deal. If you are a jounalist in India, you are a disgrace to Indian jounalism. This is also s disgrace to chowk, yours is the most stupid and irrelevant artcle published on chowk.

You an even learn from me, read my chowk articles under jay prakash.

Why cant you quitt journalism and become a crash dummy, Mahindras are setting up an automobile test facility near chennai. Give me a call for a recommendation.

Mahesh,

What kinda reporter are u? How a tussle btw an editor and his master becomes the 'decline of the Fourth Estate'? Seconly u are liberal with facts & equates MJ as a 'legendary' guy? Are u on drugs?

Secondly:

What is this?

"We all need to respect him for his commitment to his mission, for his enduring spirit for presenting the case of the Muslims in front of the Hindu brethren."

So in ur view a Muslim editor is the spokesman of Muslims and a Hindu editor is a spokesman for Hindus? I thought MJ is a famous editor (which doesnt connote his religious or political beliefs; he's just a professional reporter. Period).

With guys like u in media, India is fcuked-up.

M.K Akber is respected back here in Pakistan for his blunt and honest opinions about issues relating to both of our countries. I had always been a keep follower of his blogs and the Asian Age.

I think it’s a business-dispute between partners and nothing more.

I googled and found the following news item; it says nothing about political intervention.


Deccan Chronicle and MJ Akbar said to be parting company:

Delhi: Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd, publisher of Deccan Chronicle and majority owner of Asian Age Holdings, which publishes The Asian Age, and M.J. Akbar, editor-in-chief of both dailies, are parting ways, a senior Deccan Chronicle official told Mint.
He didn’t want to be identified as he is not authorized to speak to the media.
While the reason or the terms of severance could not be verified, a person close to the development said there have been ongoing disagreements between Akbar and Deccan Chronicle over the terms of stake dilution in Asian Age Holdings. When contacted by Mint, Akbar, who was travelling outside the country, said he could not comment until he was back.
Other executives of Deccan Chronicle could not be reached for comment.
Deccan Chronicle increased its holding in Asian Age to 90% in May 2005. Prior to that, it had held about 23% in the newspaper. Akbar holds a part of the remaining 10% in the company he founded in 1993.
Akbar, who is widely regarded for his writings, has previously edited publications such as Onlooker, Sunday and The Telegraph.
While there was intense speculation in the Capital’s media circles on Friday that Akbar could be replaced by Chaitanya Kalbag, former Hindustan Times editor, Kalbag responded to a reporter’s query by saying that it was news to him.

This is a major development. I have not read or heard about it in the media.

If true, this is truly shameful and a true indicator of the decline of journalism in India which has been reduced to a mere commercial enterprise. If a top journalist booted out by politicians cannot expect the support of his own colleagues, who can count on their support?

You say that you are a right-wing journalist; which newspaper do you write for?