Piece of What?

OMAR, NOT KHAYYAM,

So, omar the journalist has compared tha pak and indian news papers. You should have compared the reports of events in the other country in the two papers, the preoccupation with kashmir, the killings, the deaths. Well, no doubt in your scale these are hard news and obviously dawn is superior. Again, this is another example of focussing on the irrelevant. Indian papers have so much of column inch on fashion, great, give one reason why it is so low in pakistan. You should start a regular feature on burkha fashion in dawn.

REMEMBERING BILAl AHMED,

Bilal was one of the most noble souls to grace chowk, one of the very few I intercactd several times, and probably the only one I failed to annoy. His sense of objectivity bordered on the saintly, his belief in reasoned discourse bordered on convictions. He was a shooting star that illuminated the chowk. Good bye Bilal.

Jayaprakash

re: fuzair

{I just received some sad news from Ali, Prof. Bilal Ahmad`s son. Prof. Bilal passed away on Sept. 1. His cancer had made him extremely weak and was no longer treatable.}

...oh dear...i didn`t even know him personally, and i feel like crying :(...he was so far above our bickering on chowk...

Dear Chowkwallahs:

I just received some sad news from Ali, Prof. Bilal Ahmad`s son. Prof. Bilal passed away on Sept. 1. His cancer had made him extremely weak and was no longer treatable.

Those of us who have been on Chowk for some time will remember Prof. Bilal as a very kind and gentle soul whose wise counsel will be missed by all who had the good fortune to have known him. Even those who disagreed with his reasoning, as on occasion I did, could not fault where his heart lay. He was a humanist in the best sense of the term.

I am sure we will all miss him greatly.

omar_qureshi:

Are you Pakistani newspaper guys going to stop referring to wily Banias and cunning Brahmins, when you mean Indians, anytime soon?

Once that happens, we can compare the quality and independence of newspapers in Indian and Pakistan.

re: omar_quraishi

{how come indian papers then continue to call them ``ultras`` or ``terrorists`` -- is that journalism? and dont answer that since i suspect you would again degenerate to a personal level -- yes that probably is their editorial policy -- obviously a concept u seem unfamiliar with --}

...umm, goddman idiot, read my post again...your newspaper takes articles written by OTHER news agencies and replaces words, and tries to pass them off as originials...there is a big difference between that, and choosing your own words for your own articles...the former case is plain and simple LYING...

...do you get it now?...or do you need to return to your madrassah for english 101 classes again?...

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Omar

Thank you for the article. I`ve heard something similar from a good friend of mine. That Indian newspapers do not produce quality news. At the end of the article, I (being an Indian) was still looking for comparison to Pakistani newspapers. But it`s understandable since it was published in Dawn.

The pricing itself provides some clues, because Indian newspapers seem closer to magazine style than newspaper style?

Would it be possible to go a little more in depth and compare the establishments that produce these papers in both India and Pakistan?


Thanks!
Brat

WHO SAYS THERE IS NO FEUDALISM IN INDIA .THE WADHERA,THE ZAMINDARS OF PAKISTAN ARE THE CORRUPT INFLUENTIAL HARSHAD MEHTA,KETAN PAREKH,& BHARAT SHAH OF INDIA .IS THERE HONEST WAY TO ACCUMULATE EVEN ONE CRORE IN ONES LIFE TIME IN 3RD WORLD COUNTRY WHERE 90% PPL. GO WITHOUT BASIC AMENITIES EVERY DAY ???????

http://headlines.sify.com/popwin.html



Rs 70-crore Indian wedding dazzles Europe

Sep 2

A 10-million-pound Indian wedding in Belgium has hit headlines in Europe for setting a new benchmark for ``opulence and innovation``.

For a few days, Antwerp became a Bollywood fantasy for the double wedding of Vishal and Priya Shah, son and daughter of Vijay Shah, one of the biggest diamond dealers in the world, and brother of Bollywood producer Bharat Shah.

re Bina

Wow, this is a small world indeed! Ms Mustafa is a very good friend of my aunt(who wrote for Dawn herself for a long time and then edited HERALD). I myself have in the past done reviews for her. In fact, the first piece of writing I ever did for the public was in the DAWN children`s page two decades ago!

at the risk of being labelled self-promotional, but this is in reference to alephnull, here`s one of my `media review` columns -- from the dawn website of aug 17 -- im sure its bound to get some response from the indian readers here, as it did when it was printed -- hhahah

Cross-border journalism

By Omar R. Quraishi

The most common comparison that one often makes between Pakistani and Indian newspapers is that the one there are much much cheaper, in fact, a single newspaper here usually costs as much as a week`s supply in India. One complaint that some people in Pakistan have is that Indian newspapers and magazine are not easily available here. Perhaps many would say for good reason. You can access them on the Internet but then to read any paper in real is probably a different kind of experience.

A recent visit to India gave me a good chance of doing just that. For the price of one newspaper in Karachi. I could get six of New Delhi`s broadsheets: The Times of India, The Indian Express, The Tribune, The Statesman, The Hindustan Times and The Hindu. According to local journalists there, Delhi`s best-selling newspaper is The Hindustan Times with a circulation of around half a million. Compare this with the circulation of a few hundred thousand - nationwide - of Pakistan`s largest-selling Urdu newspaper.

The most obvious difference between Pakistani and Indian newspapers has to do with what`s on the front page. Page 1 of The Times of India on Aug 3 had six stories out of which only two could be termed as carrying `hard news` - as in informing readers that something had happened in the past 24 hours - in this case, an announcement by the chief election commissioner of India on the schedule for elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

The other four news items were more `featurish` in content: one was about the hitherto unresolved murder of a female Indian Express journalist. It had the New Delhi police saying that a government official was behind the murder. The other was how a price war between Air Tel and Hutch, two of Delhi`s leading mobile phone providers, was reducing prices for consumers.

A story on the year 2002 being on course to become the warmest year ever, and one which - quite surprisingly - quoted a single medical professor to say that laser eye surgery should be monitored, made up the rest of the front page. There was also a quarter page ad which said that it was introducing a new brand of atta, `Ashirwad.`

Unlike newspapers in Pakistan, the back pages of most Indian broadsheets have sports-related stories, and usually more than half the page is made of ads. Interestingly, enough, one of these back page adverts offered readers purchase of Abida Perveen`s cassettes.

The other major difference with our papers was the content of the metropolitan pages. Most of the metro pages of the Delhi papers had stories related to fashion and glamour on the front page, certainly not the case here. This also might have to do with the fact that the city was in the midst of holding India Fashion Week but local reporters said that their editors often preferred stories on entertainment, fashion and gossip instead of hard news, apparently because that increased circulation.

BC Verghese, a former editor of The Hindustan Times, a moderator of the workshop I had gone to India to attend, noted this trend saying that there was a distressing tendency in many newspapers there to mix comment and reporting. It would be perfectly fine to do both, but separately of course, he said. Some of the local journalists complained that this tendency was just another, perhaps more perverse, example of the market dictating terms to the media.

The front page of the Times of India`s metro section (called Delhi Times) had a report on Rohit Bal, a well-known designer who would be having a show that day. The other `news` items included a report on M Shyamalam`s new movie Signs (he made the Hollywood hit Sixth Sense), a short comment on the significance or otherwise of the mangoes President Musharraf sent to the Indian prime minister, and director Mahesh Bhatt`s comments on the tapes allegedly linking underworld boss Chota Shakeel with actor Sanjay Dutt.

The inside pages hardly had any proper news stories as such. Around two-thirds of the space was taken up by ads (it was a Saturday) and the rest were reports on ongoing exhibitions, dinners and lunches (including one hosted by local Indian channel SABe where LK Advani was the chief guest), plays or the fashion week. That day`s issue also had a separate property section with not just real estate ads but also articles by newspaper staff on the various options available for readers interested in purchasing, say, a new house.

The editorial page content of The Times of India included: Earth`s Dearth, an article on combating pollution within the context of various international treaties and agreements; Hit Ka Raaz, an interview in question and answer format of Vikram Bhatt, maker of Raaz and Awara Pagal Deewana. One of the three editorials of the day was called `Kashmir Rethink` and criticized India`s approach to the area, arguing for a new approach but within the confines of the Indian constitution.

Moving on to the Indian Express, it had a follow-up of its scoop of the day before on how BJP leaders and their friends and families had benefited from LPG and petrol pump allocations by the union petroleum ministry. The front page lead on August 3, ``Pure for sure? From a CM`s son to state BJP chief`s wife`` was on how various members of the party had gotten out-of-turn allocations in Haryana and Punjab.

The five reporters who wrote the story talked individually to most of the 34 people who were mentioned in the report. A few days later, an announcement from the Indian prime minister`s office retrospectively cancelled all allocations made by the ministry.

The Express was significantly more investigative than its rivals, with major chunks of its national and metro section devoted to hard news reporting and political coverage. The last page, though, had fashion and art-related reports including a column by presumably a staffer badmouthing fashion week calling it the `Lakme Fracas Week.` The editorial page had a column from the editor-in-chief Shekhar Gupta and a `Reporters` Notebook.` One of its two editorials was related to Pakistan and commented on Musharraf`s ``apology`` to Bangladesh.

Pakistani readers will probably recall that ``regrets`` were expressed but the Express opted to use the word `apology.` It appreciated the gesture of the Pakistani president saying that it was significant that an army ruler had actually done so but then said that this was done ``after the severe indictment by the previous regime in Dhaka, which literally demanded such a gesture.``

It then tried to employ sociological reasoning to write, rather sarcastically: ``Pakistanis have been suffering under the great delusion that India was responsible for the break-up of their country, and hence a deep sense of anger and desire for revenge against India had been fostered in the minds of a whole generation by the elite. Getting this bile out of their system should have a salutary effect on the general health of Pakistan.``

(email: omarq@cyber.net.pk)

harpreet # 87

check this, excerpts from kartography...

http://www.dawn.com/weekly/books/books3.htm

this is getting a bit funny -- and so it is necessary to clear the confusion -- for bina, alephnull and i think some others -- yes i am not omar kureishi, who comments on cricket and is around thrice my age -- and never really claimed to be him -- and for the record, since there was a bit of confusion, am in my eighth year of dawn -- as for alephnull since u said u didnt recall reading any of my articles perhaps u didnt and so u couldnt recall -- what u wish to read is your business -- perhaps this has more to do with the nature of my work since the past two years -- bina is right as in i think i met her some time back when i was a reporter -- in 2000 i was promoted to assistant editor and now write editorials -- of course all comments on chowk are in personal capacity (lest some of the more fringe elements use this introduction of mine against me) -- and in editorials the writer`s name doesnt come -- i also write a weekly column every saturday called `media review` and write and compile `karachi notebook` -- a column that appears every monday -- i suppose that should be enough -- and alephnulll i have no idea really what you seem to be referring to when u commented on rsaxena`s rather disingenuous remark that i work for a newspaper that lies -- hahah -- i suppose the name issue is sorted out -- in any case rsaxena dawn probably lies as much as the times of india or the indian express -- and as for layman`s remarks about what dawn writes and how good the indian media is , well thats his opinion -- why is that most of the indians on this website get downright personal and emotional -- and no layman the reason the indian media is so supportive of the establishment line over J and K isnt necessarily because its right but because they are being Indian, just like the Pakistani press is being Pakistani -- and in any case why dont u guys get over it -- i mean if u hate dawn or other pakistani papers so much dont read them -- surely no one forces you to do that -- i think the confusion over the name issue is quite laughable as is the suggestion by some people to suggest that ``omar r quraishi`` was somehow trying to use his name`s resemblance to omar kureishi to chat here on chowk --

no rsaxena -- u sound like a bigger ``goddamn idiot`` -- hahah

err no jay -- u didnt really upset me -- just made me laugh --