Views On News, 22 January 2016

FACEBOOKFREEBASICS
VIEWSONNEWSJANUARY 22, 2016 `50
www.viewsonnewsonline.com
A MATTER
OF DEGREES
By Bikram Vohra 50
TAKE IDIOCY OUT
OF THE IDIOT BOX
By Ajith Pillai 40
RAKESH
DIXIT
Ad windfall
for MP
websites
22
HowFreeIsIt?
MANTOSH
SHARMA
The
Republican
Trump Card
28
MAMA
SH
Th
Re
Tr
28
ChrisDaniels,V-P,Internet.org,onhowtheprojectwill
maketheworldmoreconnected12
AnopenlettertoMarkZuckerberg
onwhyhisplanisflawed16
Anchor Review Governance
ABHAY
VAIDYA
Indian
media’s
terror
coverage 20

THE RECENT TERRORIST ATTACK on the
Pathankot military installation within days of Prime
Minister Modi’s surprise stop-over in Lahore for a
private confab with his counterpart Mian Nawaz
Sharif is old wine in old bottles. In fact, many ana-
lysts wondered why it didn’t occur earlier. It is typical
of a set pattern in which the moment the two
nuclear-armed belligerent neighbors begin talking
turkey, some poacher comes in with a blunderbuss
and spoils the shoot.
And it is high time that saner heads in both coun-
tries awakened to the reality that if peace and eco-
nomic prosperity are to prevail in the sub-continent
torn asunder in 1947 by some of the most heinous,
bloody ethnic cleansing the world has ever wit-
nessed, the leaders of both nations must stand taller
and firmer and be more resolute in taking the peace
process forward, no matter
what the provocation.
The world is aware that
the peace route has suf-
fered largely because Pak-
istan has perfected the
hug-and-dagger routine. A
handshake and then, a
bombing. There is also little
doubt in the minds of influ-
ential Pakistani thoughters
like the irrepressible Has-
san Nisar and Air Marshal
Asghar Khan that Pakistan
was responsible for four
full-bodied attacks on
India—all unsuccessful—
in 1947-1948, in 1965, in
1972 and then, later, Kargil.
President Zia-ul-Haq, an ardent militant Islamist,
has made hate-India-bleed-India an instrument of
state policy—a paradigm that found much sympa-
thy with the Army and the ISI, who later supported
as well as encouraged non-state actors such
as the Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Ja-
maat-ul-Dawa.
Their problem with India was not military hostility
or border issues but one of ideology and identity.
While India resolved its seemingly insuperable multi-
ethnic-multi-lingual-multi-religious differences within
a liberal constitution and framed secularism as a
practical and modern credo of nationhood, Pakistan
failed to form an all-inclusive character. The basis
for its very existence—the Two-Nation Theory—
posited that Pakistan was the natural home of all In-
dian Muslims and therefore, an India with its
humongous Muslim population—was anathema to
this ideal. The whole idea that Muslims could live a
secure life in India—a secular India—undermined
the entire vision of the Pakistani state.
O
F course, things have changed in Pakistan,
and its judiciary has decreed that its basic
constitution cannot be changed. Dictators
like Zia are no longer mourned. Pervez Musharraf
has more critics in Pakistan than probably in India.
The Kargil disaster proved conclusively to the
Pakistan army that even limited battlefield engage-
ments with India have no future. Forget any military
solution to Kashmir. And a foolish low-yield nuclear
showdown is a no-brainer, because Pakistan would
self-annihilate.
So what remains are low-intensity attacks car-
ried out by fanatics as in Mumbai, Jammu and
Pathankot. Who they are planned by is anybody’s
NO KNEE-JERK,
PLEASE
EDITOR’SNOTE
4 VIEWS ON NEWS January 22, 2016

guess. Possibly rogue, bigoted ISI agents, jehadi
revanchists, Islamic anarchists. I purposely omit the
Pakistani state simply because it makes absolutely
no sense for Sharif, his government or civil society,
who are increasingly the worst victims of new forms
of terror, as was witnessed by the massacre of chil-
dren in Peshawar.
Also, the world has moved on. Osama bin Laden
was tracked down and shot in cold blood by Amer-
icans within Pakistan. There is a new anti-terror front
building up, which includes India, Russia, China,
NATO and the US. Modi and Sharif are engaged in
back-channel diplomacy to work out a modus
vivendi so they can partner in the world war against
terrorism as well as become stakeholders in each
other’s economies by freeing up new overland trade
routes running through Afghanistan and Iran. UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has applauded this
effort. So has the world.
Why would Sharif’s government want to sabo-
tage this initiative, especially by annoying India with
a state-supported terror strike and risk sabotaging
the SAARC meet in 2016? Why the “composite di-
alogue” has been renamed “comprehensive bilateral
dialogue” is a matter for a separate discussion. But
let it not be forgotten that back-channel diplomacy
has produced results such as the Lahore-Delhi bus
service, Indo-Pak trade, a new visa regime, prisoner
exchanges and the ceasefire dialogue since 2003
on the Line of Control.
Suffice it to say that while India should take a se-
rious review of the intelligence breakdown that led
to the Pathankot attack, it would be in nobody’s in-
terest to stop the Modi-Sharif dialogue. That would
again weaken the Pakistani civilian state and play
into the hands of the Pakistan army.
And nobody has stated this better than BJP’s
Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Congress party spokes-
men: A viable and stable and economically prosper-
ous Pakistan is in India’s interest.
Analysts are
not surprised
that Modi’s
Lahore visit
was followed
by the attack
on Pathankot
Airforce Base,
to derail
dialogue.
5VIEWS ON NEWS January 22, 2016

C O N
LEDE
Facebook’s Indian Agenda
The social media network has repackaged its pet project Internet.Org as the Free
Basics campaign. In a chat with KUNAL SHAH, product vice-president CHRIS
DANIELS answers queries on this controversial drive
Editor
Rajshri Rai
Managing Editor
Ramesh Menon
Deputy Managing Editor
Shobha John
Executive Editor
Ajith Pillai
Associate Editors
Meha Mathur, Sucheta Dasgupta
Deputy Editor
Prabir Biswas
Art Director
Anthony Lawrence
Deputy Art Editor
Amitava Sen
Graphic Designer
Lalit Khitoliya
Photographer
Anil Shakya
News Coordinator/Photo Researcher
Kh Manglembi Devi
Production
Pawan Kumar
Head Convergence Initiatives
Prasoon Parijat
Convergence Manager
Mohul Ghosh
Technical Executive (Social Media)
Sonu Kumar Sharma
Technical Executive
Anubhav Tyagi
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16
SOCIAL MEDIA
In an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg, SUNIL SAXENA
asks the Facebook CEO a few hard questions on the
scheme and informs readers about how it will change
forever the future of the internet
12
TheLieaboutFreeBasics

Governance
T E N T S
R E G U L A R S
Edit..................................................04
Grapevine.......................................08
Quotes...........................10
Media-Go-Round...........................11
As the World Turns.........................25
Web-Crawler....................................35
Editor’s Pick.....................................44
Design Review................................46
Breaking News...............................48
Vonderful English............................54
Caught in Its
OwnWeb
22
“Most Hindus Are
for Harmony”
26
Launch a website and reap a harvest
from government ads seems to be the
new mantra for MP journalists.
RAKESH DIXIT
This was evident during the Bihar polls
and it is only some politicians who are to
blame for the intolerance issue, the Dalai
Lama tells MURALI KRISHNAN
Trump’s Card
Why is this divisive and obnoxious
Republican candidate for American
presidentship able to get the ears of
the middle class? MANTOSH SHARMA
OPINION
ADVERTISING
2820
The responsibility and restraint exer-
cised by the French media in covering
the Paris attacks served to highlight
the sensational and predictable way
Indians report terrorism.
ABHAY VAIDYA
Feeding offTerror
FOCUS
CONTROVERSY
INTERVIEW
Siddharth Dube’s memoir docu-
menting India’s LGBT movement
gives the fight for decriminalization
of gays and sex workers a leg-up.
SUCHETA DASGUPTA
Freedom
Manifesto
36
BOOK REVIEW
A Matter of
Degrees
50
It’s elitist and impractical to make
education a criterion for contesting
polls in Haryana. BIKRAMVOHRA
Cover design: Anthony Lawrence
40
ANCHOR REVIEW
Too Much Noise,
Too Little News
A wish list for 2016 from the lay
television viewer calls for less drama,
fewer debates and more reportage.
AJITH PILLAI
32Much Ado
about Commas
It’s okay to break rules but one
must first master them. What does
the copywriter’s egregious gram-
mar say about the brand he pro-
motes? KRISHWARRIER

Grapevine
RaGaFacesTheMusic
The internationally
popular magazine The
Economist has come out with
a scathing critique of Rahul-
baba, with comments on his
“stumbling performances in
his rare media interviews”
that are “painful” to watch,
and his “gaffe-prone speeches
in parliament”. This, when
the poor little rich boy, on his
own admission, has been hol-
idaying in Europe for a
much-needed break. The
blame for the Congress’
eclipsed stature is being
heaped on his shoulders. He
has also been pulled up for
his inaccessibility and his
habit of scrolling on the
phone while his party men
speak to him. RaGa could do
well with a New Year resolu-
tion to pull up his socks!
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s impromptu visit
to meet his Pakistani coun-
terpart Nawaz Sharif, on his
return from Kabul, surprised
not just Indians but even US
President Barack Obama and
the American press. The New
York Times front-paged the
development with a photo-
graph of the two leaders
holding hands with the
heading—“Indian Premier
goes to Pakistan in Diplo-
matic Act”. While some
observers called it a
diplomatic dare, others said
that it was at the behest of
big brother, the US. Still
others suggested that the
next meeting should be in
the presence of the
respective mothers of the
two leaders…only then would
Indo-Pak issues be resolved.
DiplomaticDare?
It is reliably learnt that the
prime minister’s new year
resolution is to spend more
time in India. Ever since
coming to power, the PM has
found it difficult to remain in
his own country for long. It
reminds one of the 1960s
song, “Aaj mere zameen per
nahin hain kadam (Today, my
feet are not on the ground)”.
He has broken the record of
the highest-travelled PM in a
year. He has plenty of rea-
sons to remain turf-bound
now—from governance is-
sues, the budget and the state
elections, to the falling pollu-
tion levels in Delhi. So shall
we say “Thanks” but “No
thanks, Kejri” for keeping
Modi grounded.
PM’sNewYearResolution

UnitedCauseOfBJPMPs
Maharashtra chief min-
ister Devendra Fad-
navis has allotted a 2,000
sq m plot in the prime And-
heri area of Mumbai to BJP
MP Hema Malini for her
dance school. This has
given lot of fodder for the
opposition’s canons.
After all, in a land-
starved city like Mumbai,
a large plot of land in a
coveted area is likely to
draw a lot of attention es-
pecially when more im-
portant demands are also
in the queue. But then,
having your party in power
after a long time also bears
its own fruits. And this
time, the Dream Girl’s
dreams come true!
Illustrations: UdayShankar
—Compiled by Roshni Seth
Bharat Chalo
While a section of
politicians are
trying to pack off vari-
ous kinds of people to
Pakistan, it seems Pak-
istan has been more
successful in its efforts
to send its citizens to
India. The most recent
case is that of singer
Adnan Sami. The home
ministry cleared Sami’s
application for citizen-
ship. Now he can sing
and dance his way all
over the country,
without causing a riot.
DreamRunForTheDreamGirl
The Lok Sabha is seeing great
unity amongst the BJP MPs
of Bihar, much to the dismay of
Union finance minister Arun Jait-
ley. While Kirti Azad looked more
like an AAP activist, bringing
fresh allegations against Jaitley
and providing ammunition to Ke-
jriwal, BJP stalwart-forever side-
lined Shatrughan Sinha used the
opportunity to pat Azad’s back.
“Kirti Azad—hero of the day.
Humble appeal to friends. Avoid
Knee Jerk reaction/coercive ac-
tion against friend who is fighting
against corruption,” Sinha
tweeted. While Azad has been
suspended from the party,
Shatru’s pinpricks are being toler-
ated. Meanwhile, BJP MP and
Union minister Babul Supriyo,
sang at a Trinamool program in
Asansol. Is anything cooking out
there too?
MonkeyBusinessInBareillyBazar
Bareilly Bazar is famous for its
jhumkas and visits of high-
profile politicos like Rahul
Gandhi. This time, however, it
was a simian that took
centrestage, or rather the wheels
of a parked bus. It switched on
the engine and took off in second
gear. This happened while the
driver was taking a nap—
thankfully inside the bus. Rudely
woken up, he managed to chase
the monkey away, but not
before it had hit two vehicles
and scared the wits out of
a rudely jolted crowd.
Meanwhile, the monkey business
is being enquired into.

U O T E S
Barkha Dutt,
TV journalist
Dear outragers, read his-
tory& law. J&K state flag IS
constitutional . By the way
J&K has its own constitution
too. your next aandolan eh?
Sagarika Ghose,
TV journalist
Even in the face of
#Pathankot attack, GOI mus-
n't lose nerve, must keep
commitment to Pak talks.
Don't let terrorists set the
agenda!
Rishi Kapoor,
actor, to Twinkle
Khanna
Happy Birthday dear one!
You were in your mums
tummy when I was serenad-
ing her in Bobby"Aksar koi
Ladka" In 1973 . lol
Omar Abdullah,
ex-J&K CM
That was quick. Here's the
first major challenge to the
PM Modi's bold Pakistan
gambit. #PathankotAttack
Shekhar Kapur,
flimmaker
Lessons of Life: Music is the
highest form of pure intu-
itive Maths.Where Science
meets Art. And together
meet spirituality. Or God.
Subramanian
Swamy, BJP
leader
When I filed the NH
(NationalHerald) case the
CRT (CongressTweeple)
morons tweeted that it was
my vendetta.
I feel the dividing line
between news and
opinion has weakened.
—I&B Minister Arun Jaitley on
the release of the annual
“Press In India” report
I have always believed that there is no such
thing as coincidence and I have always believed
in destiny. I was born on 15th August, studied
Gandhi and landed up in Mumbai.
—Singer Adnan Sami, on his getting Indian citizenship,
in Delhi Times
He has discovered that women go to the
bathroom, and it’s been very upsetting to
him. This is a guy who wants to be presi-
dent of the United States. He must have a
very unusual relationship with women.
—US Democratic presidential hopeful
Bernie Sanders berating Republican presidential
candidate Donald Trump on his remarks on
Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton
after she went to the restroom during the US
presidential debate, in The Washington Post
The RSS still believes that one day these parts,
which have for historical reasons separated
only 60 years ago, will again, through popular
goodwill, come together and Akhand Bharat
will be created.
— BJP general secretary Ram Madhav, echoing RSS
viewpoint that India, Pakistan and Bangladesh could
re-unite to form Akhand Bharat, Al Jazeera TV

EDIA-GO-ROUND
–Compiled by Ankur Mehta
The Congress’ Mumbai unit has fired one
of the editors of the party mouthpiece,
Congress Darshan, which published a
series of unsigned articles critical of its
chief Sonia Gandhi and former prime
minister Jawaharlal Nehru, on December
28, the outfit’s foundation day.
Congress Darshan is edited by Mumbai
Congress president Sanjay Nirupam.
Though the city unit promptly sacked con-
tent editor Sudhir Joshi, Nirupam took “full
responsibility”. Former Maharashtra
minister Naseem Khan has demanded
Nirupam’s resignation over the issue.
One of the articles had criticized Nehru
for his “inept“ handling of the Kashmir
problem, adding that India would not have
faced so many problems had the first PM
listened to Sardar Patel. Another feature
called Sonia Gandhi’s father a member of
Italian fascist forces that fought against the
Russian army. Another lampooned her for
becoming the Congress chief in 1997,
within 62 days of joining the party.
Congress
fires editor
Chhattisgarh
to free jailed scribes
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman
Singh has promised to release
two journalists arrested earlier in
2015 on charges of supporting the
Maoist rebels, The Hoot reports. In
an interview, activist and Bhumkaal
Samaachar editor Kamal Shukla said
that the protests organized over the
past two months have borne fruit and
resulted in the CM accepting
their demand.
Reporters Somaru Nag and
Santosh Yadav were arrested in
Darbha in July and September, re-
spectively. Singh has promised “to
work to find a route for their speedy
release”. He has also accepted the
formation of the Patrakaar Suraksha
Kanoon Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti, a
body working towards a law to
protect journalists.
DMDK chiefspits on journos
DMDK chief Vijayakanth
allegedly misbehaved
with a group of scribes when
asked if the ruling AIADMK
would capture power in the
next assembly elections.
Responding negatively to the
question, Vijayakanth al-
legedly spat at the reporters,
saying they do not have the
guts to ask Chief Minister
J Jayalalithaa the same
question. Later, journalists
were attacked by
Vijayakanth’s supporters
when they were protesting
near his house in Chennai.
The Chennai Press Club
has demanded an open
apology from the leader.
The Press Council of India has taken suo
motu action in an incident relating to
Yumnam Rupachandra, editor-in-chief of
a cable TV news network in Manipur,
The Tribune has reported.
The action follows reports of death
threats received by Rupachandra from a
militant organization for not broadcasting a
press note issued by it. PCI chairman Jus-
tice CK Prasad has said that a decree im-
posed by force on journalists with respect
to publication or non-publication of news by
state or non-state players amounts to inva-
sion of the newsroom.
PCI takes suo motu action
The Ministry of Information
and Broadcasting has set
up a committee to be headed
by filmmaker Shyam Benegal,
to clearly define the function-
ing of the Censor Board.
According to a report in
The Times of India, filmmaker
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra,
adman Piyush Pandey, film
critic Bhawana Somaya, and
National Film Development
Council MD Nina Lath Gupta
are among other committee
members. The committee
will also try to contain
controversies surrounding
the Censor Board.
Benegal to head Censor Board panel
Chief Minister Raman Singh

Free internet access is provided by companies such
as Gigato, Jana.com and Mozilla.They earn adver-
tising revenue and in exchange for viewing
ads/apps/sponsored products, users get access to
the entire internet.Why can’t Facebook adopt a sim-
ilar net neutral model?
We’re open to many models for connecting people to the inter-
net and all the ones mentioned above may be valid ways to
bring more people online. The difference with Free Basics is
that we want to offer a program that gives people permanent
access to a set of free basic services—services which are there
for them when they were ready to come online—rather than
something that is promotional or where they might use their
MB allotment, and then the services aren’t there when they
“Facebook’s interest
served by getting people
to full internet”
Ever since Facebook launched its Internet.org
project in India on February 10, 2015, there has
been intense debate about its intentions and ob-
jectives. Under Internet.org, Facebook has col-
laborated with Reliance Communication to offer
free access to a few websites which are part of
their campaign. Such was the heat generated
that Facebook had to rename this project Free
Basics in order to project a “neutral” outlook of
their plans. While advocates of Net Neutrality
state that Free Basics will curb freedom of the
web and is against the principles of Net Neutral-
ity, Facebook stresses that its motive is to con-
nect one billion Indians who are still without
internet. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of
India has published a paper on discriminatory
access to the internet propagated by Facebook
and some telecom players (Airtel too launched
its Airtel Zero program which is allegedly
against Net Neutrality) and asked Indians to re-
spond to this on or before December 30. In the
face of growing resistance, Facebook initiated an
open dialogue on this topic, where CHRIS
DANIELS, vice-president, product,
Internet.Org, speaks to KUNAL SHAH, founder
of FreeCharge.in in a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Any-
thing) session. MOHUL GHOSH, convergence
manager (social media) at APN News channel
helped set up this session, where more than 600
comments were generated within a span of one-
and-a-half hours. Excerpts of questions posted
by Reddit users:
Interview/Chris Daniels
FB’s Free Basics

need them. Free Basics is a program that has
proven to work to bring people online to the en-
tire internet. The rate of people coming online to
networks that have launched Free Basics in-
creases by 50 percent after launching the pro-
gram, and globally, 50 percent of people who
come online for the first time are paying for the
entire internet after just 30 days.
Facebook says that Free Basic benefits
are clear in terms of 65 mn new jobs. It
also says that it’s not going to earn any
revenue from Free Basics. As a share-
holder of Facebook, why are you doing
charity? I would rather have Mr Zucker-
berg do it with his personal wealth. If
it’s not a charity, what are the benefits to
the company?
We are doing this because our mission is to
make the world more open and connected.
If we wanted to make more money, we’d invest
in more ad technology in lucrative advertising
markets. We’re not making money on this, but
if our efforts contribute to getting everyone on-
line, we will fulfill our mission as a company.
The mission is what drives people at Facebook.
In the long term, it’s true that more people
online is better for Facebook, but it will be
good for the whole internet ecosystem and for
society too.
Why is it, then, that Free Basics is of-
“We are doing this because
our mission is to make the
world more open and
connected. If we wanted to
make more money, we’d
invest in more ad technology
in lucrative advertising
markets. We’re not making
money on this.”
fered to those users who already have
data packs or active data connections?
If they're already online, how is this
bringing them online?
We didn’t want to offer Free Basics to just seg-
ments of users. We want everyone to have access
to it, and if someone has run out of their data
pack (or money to buy more data), they'd still
have access to some basic services. The good
news is that if a lot of people are using Free Ba-
sics when they were previously paying for inter-
net access, operators would turn the program
off because they’d lose revenue. This isn’t hap-
pening. To your second question—you’re
AWALLED GARDEN
The Free Basics
newspaper ad
promises “basic” web
access to working
class Indians but its
critics have said it
will deprive them of
an open internet and
all its benefits

getting people online is the purpose of the ini-
tiative. People always say we have economic
interest. Most businesses do. Our economic in-
terest is best served by getting people to the full
internet in this case. The reality is that globally
50 percent of people move off Free Basics to full
net in 30 days—and most of the rest churn off.
As a practical matter, while we haven’t explored
it yet, I think operators would have a strong ar-
gument to turn the program off if we started
showing ads to users in Facebook before they
were charging them for data. As regards data,
there are a lot of questions about what data we
collect and exactly how we will use it. Back in
October, we released a privacy policy for Free
Basics that specifies exactly what data we collect
and how we use it. We're not using this data for
monetization. Check out the policy here:
https://www.facebook.com/legal/internet-
.org_fbsterms
How do you justify outrageous claims
made using only a sample of 3,000 peo-
ple—that nine out of 10 net neutrality
supporters support Free Basics? If you
wanted a survey population of net neu-
trality supporters, you could have eas-
ily chosen India.Wonder what the
numbers would be then.
The poll was conducted door-to-door by a third
party where Free Basics was explained in detail
and both sides of the argument were discussed
with the participants. As far as we know, this is
the first poll conducted in this manner where
people were clearly explained both sides of the
argument. You can read about it at:
http://www.prnewswire.co.in/news-releases/sur-
vey-suggests-widespread-support-for-free-basics-
across-india-563227551.html.
(The full AMA can be read at https://www.red-
dit.com/r/india/comments/3ya52q/vp_inter-
netorg/)
right the program isn’t bringing people online
who are already online.
Are you willing to give an undertaking
that you will NEVER make money on
Free Basics? Or never use the data gath-
ered from Free Basics users for moneti-
zation? How do we know this isn’t a
massive bait and switch—that you’ll ac-
quire enough users now, and then start
monetizing it later? As AIB mentioned
in their video, lots of services start free,
and then companies start monetizing
them later once they have enough users.
The only way we can make money is if people
convert to full paid internet because then we
show them ads in the full version of FB. And
“The only way we can make money is if
people convert to full paid internet
because then we show them ads in the full
version of FB. And getting people online
is the purpose of the initiative.”
UNCERTAIN FUTURE
The fact remains
that only Free
Basics-approved
websites will be
accessible for free
Interview/Chris Daniels
FB’s Free Basics
Anil Shakya

Dear Mr Zuckerberg,
I have long been an admirer of Facebook. It has connected mil-
lions of Indians and given endless hours of joy to me, my fam-
ily and friends. The website is a social lifeline for hundreds of
thousands of young Indian men and women. They can’t imag-
ine a life without Facebook.
One reason for this is that you have never tried to discrim-
inate. Anyone can become a member of Facebook and use its
features. Plus, it is a free forum for members to create, share
and upload personal information. You have scrupulously
avoided charging any fee and you need to be congratulated
for that.
However, I have been considerably dismayed by your Free
Basics project. I have watched your television commercial and
scrutinized your full page ads carefully. But I am not con-
vinced. Here are some questions that bother me deeply:
1. How is Free Basics different from Internet.org?
You first tried to introduce the idea of free access to a select
number of internet services in India early in 2015 under the
brand name Internet.org. However, you were forced to aban-
don it when millions of Indians protested. They did not want
walled gardens, and access to a few sites in the name of free
internet. It was an assault on the very concept of internet and
the sacred principle of net neutrality.
Now, you are back with the same idea but under a new
name: Free Basics. I am at a loss to understand how it changes
things. You are still trying to provide limited internet to “un-
connected Indians”. Free data services are limited to only those
select sites that are part of your Free Basics project. What
about the large universe that is the internet? That will still re-
Not a noble idea,
Mr Zuckerberg
Social Media
FB’s Free Basics
In an open letter to the website’s co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook
fan SUNIL SAXENA asks some pertinent questions about its Free Basics
project which will restrict internet and the freedom to communicate

main beyond the reach of these “unconnected” Indians aspir-
ing for “digital equality”. Won’t they feel cheated? And what
happens to net neutrality? It goes for a toss once again.
2. Why was Free Basics project announced days before the
visit of the Indian prime minister to your US headquarters?
It may be sheer coincidence but the rechristened Free Basics
project was announced days before our prime minister, Mr
Narendra Modi, was scheduled to visit the Facebook head-
quarters in the US in September this year. Was it mere coinci-
dence? Or was it to influence the thinking of our prime
minister and gain his support?
3. Why were Facebook users asked to send a message to
TRAI expressing their support for Free Basics in India
within days of TRAI inviting feedback on differential pric-
ing for data transfer?
On December 9, 2015, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of
India (TRAI) issued a notification seeking feedback on dis-
criminatory pricing being adopted by telecom operators. The
stakeholders were asked to submit their response before De-
cember 30 so that the regulator could frame a policy and en-
sure a level playing field. There could be no better democratic
way of framing policies on a matter which affects millions
of Indians.
However, within a week, Facebook users were served a no-
tification that said:
“Act Now to Save Free Basics in India
Free Basics is a first step to connecting 1 billion Indians to
the opportunities online—and achieving digital equality in
India. But without your support, it could be banned in a matter
of weeks.
Send a message to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
(TRAI) and tell them you support Free Basics in India.”
Why were you afraid? Why do you think TRAI would ban
Free Basics in India? Did such a strategy not amount to influ-
encing the TRAI decision? Was it fair? Your full-page adver-
tisement in Indian newspapers states that 3.2 million Indians
have petitioned TRAI in support of Free Basics. I wonder how
many of these Facebook users would have understood the mer-
its or demerits of your arguments.
It is interesting to note the way you tried to rally them to
your side with a highly emotional call to action: “Unless
DISINGENUOUS APPEAL
A screenshot of the request made by Facebook to its members

you take action now, India could lose access to free basic internet
services, delaying progress towards digital equality for all Indians.
Tell the TRAI you support Free Basics and digital equality in
India.”
I have no data as to how many Facebook users were sent this
notification. I certainly received one. I was also notified as to
which friends of mine had signed the online petition. But India
has 130 million Facebook users. Your team should analyze why
less than two percent of this number has voted in your favor.
Is that in itself not a verdict against Free Basics?
4. Your ad says that Free Basics is open to any carrier. Any
mobile operator can join you in connecting India. Why are
operators not joining you?
If this is such a good idea then why are telecom operators shy-
ing away? Why don’t they jump on to the bandwagon? Is it be-
cause the idea is discriminatory? Does it violate the principle
of net neutrality? Internet has prospered because of free and
equal access. With the exception of a few undemocratic gov-
ernments in some parts of the world, nations have allowed full
and complete access to the internet. It is this freedom to com-
municate and access information freely that has made the in-
ternet one of the most cherished of innovations. Why restrict
it now and that too in the name of connecting the
unconnected?
5. In your ad, you state that Free Basics is not a walled gar-
den. It says that in India 40 percent of people who come
online through Free Basics are paying for data and access-
ing the full internet within the first 30 days. How are they
going to pay the data transfer charges in future?
It is not clear which “unconnected” Indian you are talking
about. Is it this 40 percent “unconnected” Indians who were
fence-sitters, who saw an opportunity in Free Basics to
browse the “limited internet” for free and then decided to pay
full data charges because they liked it so much? How will
these “newly connected” Indians foot the data charges in fu-
ture? The cost of data transfer in India is high. You have to
pay large sums depending upon how much data you con-
sume. Even the reasonably well-off feel the pinch. So, how
long will these 40 percent “Free Basics connected Indians”
stay on the internet? Does it not make you feel that Free
Basics has limited value? And what about the remaining
It may be sheer coincidence but the
rechristened Free Basics project was
announced days before our PM,
Mr Narendra Modi, was scheduled to
visit the FB headquarters in the US.
PEER PRESSURE AT PLAY
A notification served by Facebook giving names of
friends who submitted the Free Basics petition to TRAI
(Top) A user catches up on news via Facebook
Social Media
FB’s Free Basics
Anil Shakya

Facebook
FacebookMessenger
JagranJosh
Astrology
Hungama
APSpeaks
MalariaNoMore
FactsforLife(Unicef)
SocialBlood
BabyCenter&MAMA
ReutersMarketLife
AajTak
AccuWeather
AmarUjala
BBCNews
IBNLive
DailyBhaskar
Dictionary.com
Jagran
MaalaiMalar
MaharashtraTimes
Translator
wikiHow
Wikipedia
BasicsofInternet
BabaJob
BingSearch
OLX
ESPNSearch
NikeFoundation
(GirlEffect)
UNWomen
(iLearn)
List of Free Services on Free Basics
India has 130 million Facebook users.
Your team should analyze why less
than two percent of this number has
voted in your favor. Is that in itself
not a verdict against Free Basics?
SEVERELYLIMITEDHAVES,UNLIMITEDHAVE-NOTS
Many web users are unaware that, in the guise
of being pro-poor, Free Basics actually deprives
them of the power and freedom of open internet
Anil Shakya
60 percent?
6. You say that any developer or publisher can have their
content on Free Basics. Then why are they not doing so?
I visited the website of Reliance Communications, the lone
Indian telecom operator who signed up with you to provide
Free Basics and I scanned the websites that are part of the
Free Basics package that this operator is offering. These are
very few, and hardly likely to achieve your goal—of giving
people access to vital services like communication, health-
care, education, job listings and farming information for free.
You need many hundreds and thousands of internet players
to join hands.
Why are you not using the social media clout of Facebook
to get large internet players to become a part of Free Basics?
Are they reluctant to join? Or you want this initiative to be
limited to Facebook? At times, I feel, Free Basics is certainly
not in keeping with the goal and visions of internet founders
and flame-bearers. It surely has noble goals but the path that
it has chosen is not so noble.
7. Your ad says that we do not charge anyone anything for
Free Basics. It also states that Facebook does not pay for
the data consumed in Free Basics. How good or noble is
this strategy?
Free Basics is aimed at bringing digital equality. It is being
done “to connect India”. I thank you for such noble vision,
Mr Zuckerberg. India needs more such visionaries on its side.
But instead of pushing operators to provide “limited internet”
for free, why don’t you fund “full internet” for a limited period
to the unconnected?
I have no clue as to how much Facebook would have spent
on promoting Free Basics. But it surely would be a handsome
amount. The same money would have provided free data to
hundreds and thousands of unconnected Indians. Your big
advantage is technology. You can deploy location-based tech-
nology to ensure that unconnected Indians living in villages
benefit. By doing so, you would have earned the gratitude of
millions of Indians, and achieved your goal.
Even now it is not too late. Please give it a thought,
Mr Zuckerberg.
Yours sincerely,
Sunil Saxena
(Facebook fan and ardent champion of free internet)

Back off!
The Indian media often covers terror attacks in
a predictable manner: After exhaustive and often
grisly and gory coverage from the scene of the
crime, there’s the typical attack on the government
and the police force for their alleged incompetence
and intelligence failure. As for the privacy of griev-
ing families, forget it. Often junior reporters are
seen thrusting microphones into the faces of vic-
tims and their families with video cameramen
rushing in for close-ups.
(However, in the recent terror attack at
Pathankot air base, the media was unable to get
much information on this crucial operation and
HE Indian media could take a
leaf out of the book of the
French. The exemplary re-
straint and responsibility of the
French media while covering
the November 2015 Paris ter-
ror attack by IS that killed 130 people came in for
much praise from media watchers. While covering
the tragedy effectively, the media did not show
blood and gore, did not invade the privacy of vic-
tims and their families, projected a picture of a
united and resilient France and cooperated with the
government.
T
NON-INTRUSIVE
REPORTING
Rescue personnel
outside a Paris
restaurant following
a terror attack
in November
While the Indian media was grappling with the facts of the Pathankot
operation, its regular coverage of terrorism leaves a lot to be desired
BY ABHAY VAIDYA
Focus
Terrorism Coverage
Media

hostagesareheldmightrisktheentireoperationand
putthehostagesinjeopardy.Theterroristsmightbe
attentive to media coverage and hear and even see
the rescue operation while in progress. Their reac-
tion might be deadly,” he said.
His observations are chillingly similar to what
happenedduringtheMumbaiterrorattacks.Hehas
suggestedthatonlyseniorandexperiencedreporters
should be allowed into areas where a terror attack
has occurred. “Junior and inexperienced reporters
should undergo a learning process during which
they fathom the complexities involved. Adequate
training should be a necessary precondition,” he ad-
vised. He also called for a set of guidelines for the
media when covering terrorism. It is important to
holdthemediaaccountable fortheconsequencesof
their coverage, he said.
was seen grappling with facts as evident from nu-
merous tweets. Thankfully, no crucial information
was leaked out.)
WhentheIndianAirlinesflight814washijacked
toKandaharinDecember1999,theintensecoverage
by Indian TV channels showing the trauma of the
families of the hostages put enormous pressure on
the Vajpayee government to negotiate with the hi-
jackers for the release of three top terrorists.
Recall the live coverage of the 26/11 terror at-
tack on Mumbai in 2008 by Pakistani terrorist
Ajmal Kasab and others that lasted four days and
had round-the-clock coverage on Indian TV. This
coverage was in fact, monitored by the terrorists'
handlers in Pakistan, who then used it to instruct
them over satellite phone.
STOP BEING PUSHY
Inapaperon“MediaCoverageofActsofTerrorism:
Troubling Episodes and Suggested Guidelines”, po-
litical scientist and scholar on media ethics, Raphael
Cohen-Almagor (University of Haifa), has cited a
study on victims' attitudes towards media coverage
of terrorism. This study listed pushiness, failure to
respect families’ privacy, sensationalism and being
more interested in tears and grief than in the sub-
stance of the story as examples of unprofessional
conduct.
The scholar noted that the media, in its craving
forexhaustivecoverageofterroracts,endedupserv-
ing“asaplatform andloudspeakerfortheterrorists,
magnifying the impact of their horrifying brutality”.
Often, scant respect is shown for the victims and
their families and editors and reporters often “con-
fused quantity with quality, thinking that more pic-
tures would compensate for a lack of quality
information and new insights”.
Cohen-Almagoradvisedagainstlivecoverageof
terror attacksforthefear of endangering lives.“This
is especially true when attempts are carried out to
free hostages. Live media coverage showing special
securityforcespreparingtoenterthebuildingwhere
FEARMONGERS!
The coverage of
26/11 (above)
as well as the
Kandahar hijack
ironically furthered
the terrorist agenda

Controversy
Media Scam
EB journalism might
be viewed as the fu-
ture of media busi-
ness. But in Madhya
Pradesh, it smacks of
a scandal. For some
time now, media watchers in the state have been
speculating about the quantum of largesse the
Shivraj Singh government has doled out to
“loyal” journalists to run websites. The state’s
public relations (PR) department has doggedly
denied information about the number of sites
and the money paid to them through advertise-
ments. Right to Information applications by jour-
nalists to ferret out information in this regard
have proved futile.
Eventually, a question raised by Congress
MLA Bala Bachchan in the state assembly on De-
cember 8 forced the government to put out the
facts. These were shocking even by the egregious
standard of media appeasement in Madhya
Pradesh. The government’s reply was contained
in over 50 pages.
`93-CR LARGESSE
The minister for PR informed the assembly that
his department paid `93 crore as advertisements
to over 600 websites in the last three years. Be-
sides, it gave over `50 crore as grants to more
than 100 NGOs being run either by journalists
or their spouses/relatives or BJP sympathizers in
the same period. Employees of the PR depart-
ment also have NGOs registered in their relatives’
names. These NGOs are supposed to popularize
government schemes and policies through vari-
ous communication forms such as music, drama
and the visual media.
Beneficiaries can be divided into four cate-
gories—out-of-job scribes and retired publicity
department officers without any other known
sources of income, in-job journalists with many
sources of income, relatives of journalists and PR
department employees, journalists having more
WA Web
of FavorsLaunch a website and reap a harvest from
government ads seems to be the new mantra
for MP journalists. By doing so, they have
become PR agents and are undermining
the profession
BY RAKESH DIXIT IN BHOPAL
STATE PATRONAGE?
The Madhya Pradesh
government paid
`93 crore as
advertisements to
over 600 websites in
the last three years

than one website with same address and
BJP/RSS sympathizers having no jour-
nalism experience at all.
Surprisingly, a majority of the regis-
tered websites are non-functional and vi-
olate the requisite norms of displaying
the names of the domain administrator
and owner on the websites. Of the func-
tional ones, nearly 80 percent have not
updated their contents for several
months to years. Only government ad-
vertisements in them are regularly up-
dated. Original content is conspicuously
absent in 90 percent of these websites.
They only upload government press
notes from the PR department’s website,
MPinfo.org. Some of the functional
websites include MPpost.com, socialme-
dia.com, whispersinthecorridors.com,
Bhopalpost.com and Bichchu.com.
UNREGULATED SECTOR
Those familiar with “web racketeering” say no
rules or regulations apply in releasing advertise-
ments to websites. The PR department does have
an advertisement policy for newspapers/maga-
zines and electronic channels. But websites get ad-
vertisements on the whims and fancies of the
department’s top brass and their political masters.
The department’s annual report indicates that the
only criterion for advertisements to websites is
that they should upload the state government’s
press releases for viewing on priority.
On the quantum of advertisement money to
websites, the disparity is glaring. One famous
website on bureaucracy has cornered advertise-
ments worth `18 lakh in the last three years.
However, the average amount given to websites in
the last three years is between `8 lakh and `10
lakh. This varies according to the website owner’s
ability to peddle his influence with the
government.
In the wake of a row over arbitrary distribu-
tion of advertisements, PR commissioner Anu-
pam Rajan is now toying with the idea of framing
a policy on advertisement to websites. The gov-
ernment of India’s advertisement policy is being
examined in this regard. A minimum number of
hits on the websites is likely to be considered es-
sential for approving advertisements.
However, the department’s officers say the
commissioner is well meaning but helpless before
a nexus in the department that draws its power
from the chief minister’s patronage. The real
boss who calls the shots is principal secretary SK
Mishra, who is the most trusted confidante
of Chouhan.
Mamta Yadav, a web journalist, says well-
known journalists have managed to gobble up
A majority of the registered websites are
non-functional. Of the functional ones,
nearly 80 percent have not updated content
for years. Only government advertisements
in them are regularly updated.

Dr Suresh Mehrotra is one of
them. His website whispersinthe-
corridor.com attracted a sizeable
number of government advertise-
ments, both from the state and the
public sector.
Aping him, many more out-of-
job journalists in the state launched
websites. The state government
duly obliged them with regular ad-
vertisements that on an average
ranged from `15,000 to `25,000
per month. Seeing the easy income
senior journalists earned through
websites, racketeers in the media
were lured to do the same. Web-
sites proliferated as unscrupulous
scribes launched websites.
When the Vyapam scam began to singe
Chouhan’s image, a sizeable number of journalists
were quick to exploit the chief minister’s sense of
insecurity. Setting up websites was one of them.
KINGPINS OF RACKET
Sources say that three persons are alleged to be
the main facilitators in the website rip-off. The
triumvirate is tasked by the chief minister to man-
age the media. They ensure favours to journalists
in the form of money or other benefits.
Veteran journalists recall that the degenera-
tion in the media’s integrity in Madhya Pradesh
began from Arjun Singh’s tenure as chief minister
in 1980. Successive CMs carried on the dubious
practice of buying susceptible media with favors,
including cash, government house allotments,
gifting plots and allowing them to make money
through transfers-postings, etc.
But many allege that Chouhan has crossed all
limits. His penchant for buying journalists has re-
sulted in a serious crisis of credibility for the
media in the state. Journalists have to stop accept-
ing the CM’s largesse if the profession has to re-
gain respectability.
several crores in the name of advertisements to
websites run by them, their spouses or relatives.
“On the other hand, genuine web journalists like
me barely get `10,000 to `15,000 a month as gov-
ernment advertisement,” she said. Her portal,
Malhar Media, is an honorable exception in the
huge maze of bogus portals and websites.
FLEECING GOVERNMENT
Freelance journalist Shurie Niazi, who has been
trying to expose this racket for a long time, says
launching a website is the easiest way to fleece the
PR department. Niazi tried hard to glean infor-
mation about websites through RTI but his at-
tempts were thwarted. He said that websites
require very low investment. It barely takes a few
thousands of rupees to set up a portal or a website.
Yearly maintenance costs only a few thousands.
Moreover, the website owner is not expected to
do much of content uploading /downloading to
claim advertisements. One person can be engaged
to administer several websites. And this is pre-
cisely what several web journalists have done.
Web and portal journalism was not in vogue
till 2010. Only a few journalists had websites and
they were reasonably upright. Veteran journalist
NOTABLE EXCEPTIONS
Bhopal Post and MP
Post are among the
few functional media
websites
Controversy
Media Scam

Most dangerous
places for journos
The annual report of Re-
porters Without Borders
(RSF) reveals that 110 journal-
ists were killed globally in 2015,
a majority of them in “countries
at peace”. Out of these, 67 jour-
nalists were killed “in the line of
duty”. In 43 cases the cause
could not be ascertained.
The report listed Iraq and
Syria as the most dangerous
places for journalists, with 11
and 10 deaths respectively.
India is the third-most dan-
gourous country, with nine jour-
nalists killed here in 2015. In
Bangladesh, four secular blog-
gers were killed.
The report blamed armed
groups such as the Islamic
State for perpetrating atrocities
against journalists.
It mentioned that as of end-
2015, 54 journalists were being
held hostage—26 of them in
Syria. Also, 153 journalists were
in prison—23 of them in China
and 22 in Egypt.
S THE WORLD TURNS
More good news
please!
P
ope Francis has called upon media to give more
space to positive news and inspirational stories,
during the traditional year-end thanks-giving service
at St Peter’s Basilica. Expressing anguish at the fact
that 2015 had been marred by violence and deaths,
he said that there was need to counterbalance neg-
ative stories with coverage of stories giving hope.
He added that gestures of goodness didn’t make for
good news. The service was attended by about
10,000 people.
The Daily Telegraph fined Mohamed Fahmy, a Canadian journal-
ist who was released from a prison
in Egypt, said he has asked the authori-
ties in that country to restore the citizen-
ship he renounced in the hope of
regaining his freedom. Mohamed Fahmy
said he initially refused to give up his
Egyptian citizenship when it was sug-
gested to him as a way of speeding up
his release, The National Post reported.
Fahmy, who now lives in Vancouver, said
he is seeking to recover his dual citizen-
ship as a “matter of principle”.
Seeking Canadian
citizenship
The Daily Telegraph has been fined
£30,000 by the Information Commis-
sioner’s Office (ICO) of the UK after the
newspaper sent hundreds of thousands of
emails on the day of the general election
in May, urging readers to vote for the
Conservatives, The Independent reported.
The ICO found that the Telegraph
Media Group broke direct marketing
rules when it issued a letter from Chris
Evans, Daily Telegraph editor, attached
to the paper.
The letter stated the May 7 general
election as the “most important since
1979.” He wrote: “The Daily Telegraph
urges its readers to vote Conservative.”
The ICO accepted that Evans’ letter
was added to the usual mailing after a
last-minute instruction from the editorial
team. These circumstances, along with
the small number of complaints (17),
were factors when deciding the £30,000
fine, imposed on the Telegraph’s parent
company.
–Compiled by Ankur Mehta

Your central message is of peace, com-
passion and religious tolerance, yet the
world seems to be going in the opposite
direction.Do you see intense fighting be-
tween the IS and those who do not believe
in it?
Not at all. I think of the over seven billion humans
in the world, less than one per cent—just a few mil-
lion—subscribe to this. There is no basis for killing.
If you consider others as brothers and sisters and re-
spect their rights, then there is no room to kill or in-
dulge in violence.
Furthermore, all the problems we are facing
today are because we place too much emphasis on
secondary level differences which include religious
faiths, different countries and cultures within coun-
tries. We are one people.
Various governments and world leaders
are putting “money over morality”. In
this scenario, are you worried, especially
due to the ever-growing economic impor-
tance of China? Should they practice
Interview
How do you view the increasing terror at-
tacks in the world? Why are these in-
creasing and what needs to be done?
The 20th century was one of bloodshed where over
200 million died of violence. This has had an impact
andspilloverinthiscentury.Ifwepaymoreattention
tonon-violenceandharmony,thenwecanhaveadif-
ferent beginning. Unless we make serious attempts,
we will see an action replay in the 21st century.
Everyone wants a peaceful life; the terrorists are
short-sighted. Their emotions are out of control and
that’s when these suicide bombings happen.
Through prayer we will not solve this problem. I am
a Buddhist, I practice prayer. But we have created
this problem and are now asking God for help. It’s
illogical. God will turn around and say solve it your-
self because we created it.
We need a systematic program of inculcating
human values and oneness. If we make an attempt
now, it could be a different world in this century. It
is in everybody’s interest. So let’s create a peaceful
atmosphere within our family and society and not
expect help from God, Buddha or governments!
For millions of devotees, the DALAI LAMA, 80, is the living embodiment of
humanity and compassion. He believes that his middle-way is the best approach
to peacefully resolve the issue of Tibet and to bring about stability and
co-existence between his people and the Chinese. He tells MURALI KRISHNAN,
who met him in Punjab, that in a world wracked by violence, we need to pay more
attention to non-violence and harmony in order to have a different beginning
Dalai Lama
“Religious Intolerance
is not the Real Picture
of India”

“We need a
systematic
program of
inculcating
human values
and oneness.
If we make an
attempt now,
it could be a
different
world. Let’s
create a
peaceful
atmosphere
within our
family and
society and
not expect
help from God,
Buddha or
governments.”
century, problems must be solved through dia-
logue—not by force.
Who will be the 15th Dalai Lama?
I have no concern. As early as 2011, I officially an-
nounced that if the very institution of the Dalai
Lama should continue, it is up to the Tibetan peo-
ple. It has proudly and happily ended. If people feel
that this institution is no longer relevant, then it
should automatically cease. It is not important. I
have no political responsibility and am now con-
cerned about Tibet’s environment.
There is a big debate in India about reli-
gious intolerance by the political class.
What are your thoughts?
There are a few individuals and politicians with
party interests who are responsible. It is not the
real picture of India. The Bihar elections show
that the majority of Hindus still believe in
harmony.
more morality?
That is the only way. Without moral principles,
troubles will continue, if not increase. Moral issues
are very important, even for religious people and
politicians.
You continue to believe that the middle
path is the best approach to solve Tibet’s
problems. Do you think it is a workable
and viable formula?
According to reality, that is the best way. Many of
my friends, including Indian, American and Euro-
pean leaders, believe that is the best and realistic
way. Inside Tibet, more politically minded people
and Chinese intellectuals and students support our
middle-way approach.
When I met Chinese students and others, I tell
them we are not seeking independence and that is
past history. They understand our approach and
they become close. Anyway, this does not apply just
to the Tibetan problem. We are living in the 21st

Will the Trump
Card Work? HEN Barbara Walters,
the well-known ABC
journalist, asked Don-
ald Trump point-blank
“Are you a bigot?” he
replied nonchalantly: “I
am not because I’m a person who has common
sense. I’m a smart person. I know how to run
things. I know how to make America great again.
This is about making America great.”
There is lot of truth in his statement and it
makes us wonder how astutely he stole the Re-
publican Party narrative in the primaries. He is
seen as tremendously attractive to a section of
American society and is making his opponents
adjust their positions on a continuous basis. He
has made himself newsworthy enough to the
point where the media cannot ignore him. His
initial campaign momentum threatens the
Democrats who seem to be comfortable about
Hillary being the next US president.
DISGRUNTLED VOTERS
So what were the political causes leading to his
ascendency? His modus operandi makes him dif-
ferent, unpredictable and beyond ideology. In
fact, it has the potential to disrupt the conserva-
tive ideological base. Plus, the mood of the elec-
torate is anti-establishment. They see Washington
as a circus of dealers and deal brokers. Voters are
furious with party leaders and this could be due
to the economy, globalization’s effect on jobs and
fear regarding national security.
W
Billionaire Republican Donald Trump has
upset many political equations in the US
primaries with his disruptive energy and
extreme views. Are American voters going
to fall for his bait?
BY MANTOSH SHARMA IN CALIFORNIA
Opinion Mantosh Sharma in California

the top three positions in the primaries has put a
strain on the Republican establishment to back
Trump. But he has not offered any promises or
commitment. At the same time, he has positioned
himself as the most vocal leader to address their
grievances. In his book, The Art of the Deal, he
said: “People want to believe that something is the
biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular.
I call it truthful hyperbole. It’s an innocent form
of exaggeration—and a very effective form of pro-
motion.” And that is exemplified by his own state-
ments. Sample this. “The Mexican government ...
they send the bad ones over.” It is left to fact-
checkers to analyze this while Trump moves on
the next falsehood.
TAKING ON OPPONENTS
Another tactic is that he attacks his political op-
ponents one by one. He hammers everyone who
comes in direct conflict with him, be it Jeb
One of my favorite books, Saving Capitalism:
For the Many, Not the Few by Robert Reich, ex-
plains the consequences of free market and laws
driving inequality. This, in turn, shapes the na-
tional political narrative in both parties. While
Bernie Sanders is using this to mobilize the ex-
treme left among Democrats voters, Trump is
doing the same among Republican voters.
A recent report by Pew Research Center has
said the middle class population has been halved
in four decades. Economic inequality and sim-
mering discontent has led to the rise of populist
leaders such as Trump. Political leaders such
as Dwight Eisenhower and Nelson Rockefeller
also fought the conservative establishment and
won. Many political observers and political his-
torians such as Prof Richardson of Boston Uni-
versity suggest that “Trump is the logical
extension of that”.
Also, the fact that there are limited options for
COUNTERPUNCH
(Above) When Democrat
Hillary Clinton drew
attention to Trump’s
extreme views on
Muslims in the US, he
was quick to remind the
electorate of her defeat
in the 2008 elections
The crux of Donald Trump’s strategy is
that the entire establishment, be it
Republicans or Democrats, is one and
that he is the savior who is different and
has all the solutions.

Bush, Carly Fiorina, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz or
Hillary Clinton. He does this for two reasons.
First, with a direct counterpunch, he makes sure
that media attention is on him. He said: “You
know, Jeb went after me and, if you know, Perry
went after me and I went after him. Rand Paul for
some reason, out of the blue, came after me and I
went after him. And the other one I guess would
be Lindsay Graham.”
He also makes sure that with his hard ham-
mering at a personal level, the shortcomings of
his own persona and campaign which have been
highlighted by adversaries are deflected. Recently
when Hillary told the audience that Trump’s pro-
posed ban on Muslims entering the US was a
“discriminatory message” and the IS was using
videos of Trump to recruit radicals, he used “sch-
longed” for her defeat by Obama in the 2008 pri-
mary. This created enough controversy and be-
came a new talking point and deflected attention
from Hillary’s views. A few days later, Trump said:
“When I said that Hillary Clinton got ‘schlonged’
by Obama, it meant got beaten badly. The media
knows this. Often used word in politics.” This
clearly shows how he manipulates the media.
NATIONAL SECURITY
He also uses historical icons to justify his sectar-
ian comments. He compared his controversial
proposal for banning Muslims from entering the
US to that of former US President Franklin D
Roosevelt who limited the rights of Japanese in
the US after the Pearl Harbor attack. By doing so,
he assuages the feelings of many citizens who are
fearful about national security following the at-
tacks on Paris by terrorists. He says: “I’m the
worst thing that ever happened to ISIS.” This
statement resonates among many voters.
What’s more, he makes other Republicans
come out against him so that they seem to be in
the same league as Democrats. And that is the
crux of his strategy—the entire establishment, be
it Republicans or Democrats, is one and I am the
savior who is different and has all
the solutions. Also, his repeated
veiled threats to Republicans that
he may run as an independent, has
put the party in a fix. They cannot
gang up openly to dislodge him
from the primary race.
POSSIBLE SPOILERS
Despite all the momentum and
high ranking in polls, a win in the
primaries is not assured for Trump.
The recent rise in polls of Ted Cruz
in Iowa indicates that Evangelical
support is not confirmed for
Trump. Evangelical support is nec-
essary to win a decisive base in the
Republican Party and greatly influ-
Though Trump has been successful till
now due to his extreme exaggerations,
sooner or later he will have to come up
with solutions to various problems. He
could risk getting exposed.
STERLING EXAMPLES?
Dwight Eisenhower
(below left) and
Nelson Rockefeller
too fought the
conservative
establishment
and won
Opinion Mantosh Sharma in California

ences it. Therefore, every primary election of the
Republican Party has some religious overtone.
The last time, Mitt Romney had a hard time
winning the primary because he was a Mormon
Christian and Evangelicals preferred Rick Santo-
rum. In this election, Bob Vander Plaats, the in-
fluential president of the Christian group, The
Family Leader, and a kingmaker in the Iowa
Evangelical group, is endorsing Ted Cruz. “Our
goal is to unite conservatives around Ted Cruz,”
he said.
Though Trump has been successful till now
due to his extreme exaggerations, sooner or later
he will have to come up with solutions to various
problems. He could risk getting exposed and
there could be the possibility of support gravitat-
ing towards Republicans Chris Christie or Marco
Rubio. Fractured elections are not a good idea.
Political observers are surprised that the mid-
dle class and disaffected voters are supporting
this billionaire. In the last few months, he has
built an enormous following. Still, there is fear
that many conservatives may end up voting for
Hillary due to Trump’s disruptive energy.
Is the Grand Old Party going to see a big
debacle?
INTRUMP’S LINE
OF FIRE
(Clockwise from
top left) Other
Republican
presidential
candidates—
Florida governor
Jeb Bush,
Senator Marco
Rubio, Senator
Ted Cruz and
neurosurgeon
Ben Carson

Advertising copy often has
bad grammar and wrong
punctuation. How much of
this is intentional? What
does it say about the
brand itself? Quo vadis
advertising?
BY KRISH WARRIER
Advertising
Grammar
RITING in a May 2014
issue of Adweek, Robert
Klara, an editor there,
had said: “Just in case
you haven’t checked in a
while, the English lan-
guage continues a steady slide into the ditch—and
it’s not just texting that’s to blame, it’s marketing.
Whether online or on the packaging, brands seem
to be forgetting the spelling and grammar we all
supposedly learned in grade school.”
He goes on to give two examples. In 2011, Old
Navy had to return an entire shipment of sports
team T-shirts when the “Lets Go!” lettering omit-
ted the apostrophe before the “s.” You’d think peo-
ple would have learnt their lesson. No. It was
Victoria’s Secret’s turn then to land into an apos-
trophe catastrophe. The lingerie brand popped a
needless apostrophe (“You’ve never seen Body’s
like this!”) into its Secret Body campaign. Since
the reference was to the brand Secret Body, was
the apostrophe justifiable?
The protagonists of advertising may find this
a bitter pill to swallow. On the other hand, lan-
Commasutra
and All That
W
CONTENT OR FORM?
Victoria’s Secret
(above) and MCGM
(right) have played
around with
apostrophes and
exclamations in
their ads

what’s there in a comma? For all purposes, it may
as well be in a coma. U gt me, guys?
Take a look at this bus shelter (facing page, bot-
tom). No wonder, Mumbai is what Mumbai is.
Leave it to MCGM to botch it up. The exclamation
mark at the end of “Help!” suggests that if MCGM
were to be entrusted with the task of keeping
Mumbai clean, the project would be a disaster.
Of course, what the person who okayed this meant
was: “Help MCGM to keep Mumbai clean”. Maybe
the best thing to do would be to divest MCGM of
this responsibility.
ALYQUE’S APLOMB
In the 80s, ad agency Lintas soaped up some lather
with a print advert for Delite biscuit from Britan-
nia. The headline said: “Unpeel a Delite”. The
visual depicted a Delite biscuit emerging out of an
orange. Which prompted the grammarwallas to
ask: Shouldn’t the right word have been “peel”
rather than “unpeel”? I think the savvy ad guru,
Alyque Padamsee, who was heading the agency at
that time, wriggled out of it with his usual aplomb.
And the whole thing died a natural death.
Now, take a look at the retail chain, Shoppers
Stop. I distinctly remember when the firm opened
its store on SV Road at Andheri, Mumbai. The sig-
nage read (Shoppers’ Stop). But today, it’s Shoppers
Stop. The apostrophe has been dispensed with.
The reasons could be innumerable—from
numerology to design considerations.
In 2014, supermarket behemoth Tesco was
forced to change the packaging on its cartons
FORTHE KOOL ONES
Apple and iPod ads
deliberately distort
grammar
guage purists would certainly find this caviar for
their souls. The sentence under the scanner is
the tagline for a youth magazine—I think it was
Yuva. I remember seeing a billboard inside
Churchgate station in Mumbai some years back.
It said: Let’s talk guys.
STREET THEATRE
Advertising is really street theatre. It talks the lan-
guage of its target group. Copywriters make a
livelihood out of turning things upside down (or
inside out) for most part. Consider the well-worn
phrase: “Nothing is impossible.” Some wiseacre
turned it inside out and rewrote it as “Impossible
is nothing”. And, believe it or not, it was the same
tagline for an international brand of footwear. It
was in 1974 that Adidas got associated with the
slogan, “Impossible is Nothing”, though it was
actually taken from a quote by Muhammad Ali.
Similarly, the phrase “Very, Very Tasty” was
turned upside down as “Tasty. Very, Very” for a
popular confectionery brand. Imagine getting
paid megabucks for doing something as simple as
this! It was Philip Dusenberry who said: “I have
always believed that writing advertisements is the
second most profitable form of writing. The first,
of course, is ransom notes.”
Coming back to the sentence under scrutiny:
“Let’s talk guys.” While most of us can imagine
what the writer meant—guys, let’s talk—it cer-
tainly communicates, let’s talk about guys. The
reason for this meaning is the absence of the
comma after “Let’s talk”. But then, in this SMS age,
Advertising
brands seem
to be
forgetting
the spelling
and grammar
we all
supposedly
learned in
grade school.
While the
protagonists
of advertising
may find this
a bitter pill
to swallow,
language
purists would
find this
caviar for
their souls.

and uses the line: “They’re not
fond of rules and they have no re-
spect for the status quo.”
Apple was always anti-estab-
lishmentarian and a rebel, while
competitors were the seemingly
stuffy, IBM and Microsoft. Which
raises the question: Can a televi-
sion commercial also change how
the public perceives traditional
grammar?
It would be safe to assume that
Apple knowingly used a statement
that readers/listeners might con-
sider ungrammatical but that the
company didn’t mind, because it is
rebelling against the status quo.
Further proof in favor of this
line of thinking is that although the slogan is
“Think different”, Apple’s commercial does use the
line “The ones who see things differently”. If Apple
believed that “think different” and “think differ-
ently” were interchangeable, the ad might have
stated: “The ones who see things different.”
Steve Jobs, a rebel himself, seems to prefer the
damn-the-grammar approach (he also pushed the
envelope in 2008 by calling a new iPod the
“funnest iPod ever”. By the way, is funnest a word?
Of course, many consumers or prospects will
forgive or not even notice an error, especially if
it’s something minor. However, it’s a fact that er-
rors —especially if they’re not clearly intentional
like using a common abbreviation or acronym—
can damage your company’s credibility in ways
that may not be immediately obvious to you as
a marketer.
So what’s the bottom line? I do like to split my
infinitives, or for that matter, use “me” in lieu of
“I” while identifying myself. All I am saying is that
writers could do with a little bit of grammar, punc-
tuation, etc.
But for that, you have to learn the rules first
before breaking them.
of orange juice after a schoolboy spotted a gram-
matical error. While having breakfast, Albert
Gifford discovered that his carton of juice pro-
claimed that it was made with the “most tastiest”
oranges. (Would “much better” qualify as tautolog-
ical stammer—don’t most of us use it in our daily
conversations?).
The 15-year-old from Shepton Mallet, Somer-
set, wrote to the supermarket chain to complain,
suggesting they change the wording to “tastiest” or
“most tasty”. When he did not receive a reply from
Tesco, the teenager wrote a letter to the Daily Mail,
which got printed. The following day Albert
received a reply from Tesco promising to correct
the packaging.
APPLE’S COMMERCIAL
One of the communication pieces which set the cat
among the grammar pigeons was the “Think Dif-
ferent” campaign of Apple way back in 1997. The
campaign was the creation of the Los Angeles office
of the advertising agency TBWAChiatDay. Were
you to look at the transcript of the Apple commer-
cial or watch it on YouTube, you’d discover that the
ad focuses on “rebels, misfits, and troublemakers”,
PLAYING WITH WORDS
Some wiseacre turned
around a phrase so that
Adidas could
connect to its target
audience
Advertising is
really street
theatre. It talks
the language of
its target group.
Copywriters
make a
livelihood out of
turning things
upside down (or
inside out) for
most part.
Advertising
Grammar

“Vadra has only one car”
Businessman and Congress president
Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert
Vadra raised many an eyebrow when he
criticized the Delhi government’s move to
exempt a few people from its odd-even
private vehicle rule, enforced from Janu-
ary 1, reports Scroll.
Vadra had posted a status update on
Facebook slamming the government for
its “hypocrisy” in allowing the waiver for
a select group of people and insisting
everyone “must adhere (to the rule) and
not be VIPs”. However, BJP spokesperson
Nalin Kohli said it was ironic that a man
who accepted privileges was now com-
menting on exceptions. Similarly, many on
social media poked fun at Vadra’s re-
marks. “Robert Vadra protests special
treatment for VIPs. Is that a state of mind,
or Are U serious, Are U serious, Are U se-
rious!” went a tweet.
“Robert vadra spoke againts #OddE-
venFormula . I think he has only one car.
poor chap (sic),” went another.
Web Crawler What Went Viral
Hackers
“foil” ISIS
attack
—Compiled by Sucheta Dasgupta
Agroup of online activists, called
Anonymous, has claimed to have
foiled an ISIS terror attack in Italy,
reports The Independent. Online
activists affiliated with Anonymous
stopped an attack and are working to
stop others, it reported. “Operation
ISIS” has largely focused on finding
and shutting down social media ac-
counts and websites belonging to peo-
ple who are thought to sympathize
with or be part of ISIS.
“In this month we are working in
silence,” a now-deleted tweet posted
on Christmas read. “We have already
foiled one attack...we hope to block
others,” the group has tweeted.
There has been an uproar over BJP
general secretary Ram Madhav’s remarks in
Al Jazeera’s show Head to Head hosted by
Mehdi Hasan, conveying that India, Pakistan and
Bangladesh should be reunited to form
Akhand Bharat. Hasan was viciously trolled on
social media, Scroll reported. Al Jazeera had
posted Hasan’s interview with Madhav under
the title “Is Modi’s India flirting with fascism?”
which seemed to have sent the right-wing troll
army over the edge. “Over the past 48 hours,
Hindu nationalist trolls have tried to smear me
as a closet Islamist, a Pakistani and an ISIS sup-
porter. Sheesh,” tweeted Hasan. “I guess the in-
terview must really have hurt. Why focus on
what their guy said when they can just attack
the host, right? Classic evasion,” another tweet
said. “The past 48 hours of abuse have taught
me that EDL’s, Likud's and Trump’s supporters
have got a lot to learn from the Hindutva crowd
online,” Hasan remarked.
Al Jazeera anchor
faces troll attack
Avideo showing a senior police inspector
thrashing a youth and abusing his female
friend in Maharashtra’s Ulhasnagar has gone
viral on social media, TOI reported. Residents
of Prabhag Nagar in Ulhasnagar complained
at Hill Line police station that couples had
been frequenting their locality and indulging in
obscene acts.
Senior inspector Mohan Waghmare along
with a police constable visited the spot and
found a young couple seated in an empty
autorickshaw parked in the locality. Waghmare
asked the couple to step out of the vehicle.
After asking a couple of questions, Waghmare
started beating up the young man. However,
it is not clear as to who shot the video or
circulated it on social media.
Cops beat youth,
video goes viral
BJP general secretary Ram Madhav

Book Review
No One Else
selves. People change. And so, it wasn’t surprising
that after filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh passed away,
mom was heard saying how his struggles stemming
from his alternate sexuality inspired and informed
his work. That was in 2013, 28 years after the
Navratilova episode.
SECTION 377
On November 28, 2015, finance minister Arun Jait-
ley called upon the Supreme Court to revisit its de-
cision to uphold Section 377 of the Indian Penal
HEN this writer was 12,
she came home from
school one day with a
copy of the magazine,
Sportsworld, since discon-
tinued, which carried
news of her favorite tennis player Martina
Navratilova having a lesbian partner. Queried as to
what was the meaning of the strange word, her
mom said: “Hush! Never utter it again.”
Sometimes, even parents contradict them-
W
AWALK FOR FREEDOM
Participants at the 2015
Delhi queer pride parade.
Since 2007, it has been
an annual affair in the capital
Siddharth Dube’s memoir gives a boost to the battle
undertaken by gays and sex workers and reveals much about
India’s LGBT movement and its fight against AIDS
BY SUCHETA DASGUPTA
Sexual Outlaws
Anil Shakya

weak. At once homophobic and homosocial, the
campus was ruled by a conspiracy of silence which
protected the abusers.
Siddharth went to St Stephen’s College and then
travelled to the US where he first accessed research
that put to rest his self-doubts. It was in the US
that he came out of the closet just when the fright-
ening “gay plague”—AIDS—was burgeoning. Not
surprisingly, the AIDS pandemic became his abid-
ing concern.
In 1994, while employed with World Bank, Sid-
dharth risked his job to publish a health policy
newsletter, authored by Priscilla Alexander and an
unnamed sex worker. As the first step to
Code. Though his remark was made in a personal
capacity, it marked a radical shift in attitude on the
subject by the ruling party whose supporters
have been propounding yoga as a “cure” for
homosexuality.
It would be interesting indeed to trace this tra-
jectory of change and document the forces, people
and processes that brought it about. In No One Else,
journalist, activist and commentator Siddharth
Dube takes on this important task.
His is a commissioned memoir, an intimate ac-
count of growing up as a homosexual in India of
the 1970s, about the emotional conflict, shame and
anxieties as well as the abuse and assault heaped on
him at first by his peers. But it’s equally a history of
the gay, lesbian, transgender and sex workers’ rights
movement in India, its setbacks and victories, its
stake-holders and its heroes and villains, who,
significantly enough, included both straight and
gay people. It is also an insider report on the global
fight against HIV, where poor policy, conservative
politics and pecuniary imperatives continue to sab-
otage it to this day. It took Dube seven years to write
this hardback.
Dube stands for gender fluidity and identifies
as a “feminine man”. No right-minded person can
have any quarrel with that. However, his idea of
feminine and masculine is old-fashioned and may
not be universally accepted. For instance, a radical
feminist may identify as a feminine woman and be
regarded as one by those who share her ethos even
if she is considered masculine by her detractors.
That said, Dube provides first-hand information
about the Indian male psyche and explains how
in our society misogyny and homophobia go hand
in hand.
HOSTEL LIFE
Precocious yet “girly” as a child, Siddharth recounts
being mocked at La Martineire’s (Kolkata) and fac-
ing sexual and physical abuse at Doon School
where “the atmosphere was boisterous and dark”
and groups of boys preyed on the vulnerable and
CHAMPIONS OF CHANGE
(Above, L-R) Martina
Navratilova and
Rituparno Ghosh were
openly homosexual
(Below, L-R) The late
Indrajit Gupta, who
backed decriminaliza-
tion of prostitution,
and Shashi Tharoor

NO ONE ELSE: A PERSONAL
HISTORY OF OUTLAWED
LOVE AND SEX
BySiddharthDube
Publisher:HarperCollinsIndia
Price:`500,377pages
arresting the spread of HIV, the newsletter argued
for legalization of voluntary sex work (which, they
believed, should be part of the entertainment in-
dustry) as opposed to sex trafficking. Thus, he
played a pioneering role in opening this debate.
However, the often-somewhat-reticent Sid-
dharth is not one to hog the limelight. With char-
acteristic modesty, he, therefore, chronicles all the
heroes and martyrs of the human civilization’s latest
battle for equality and human rights. Foremost
among them is his maverick friend Siddhartha
Gautam. Inseparable, the duo went around calling
themselves Tiddarth and Tiddhartha in an allusion
to Thomson and Thompson, two of Tintin’s most
popular characters. It was Siddhartha’s testament,
Less Than Gay, which inspired the first PIL in Delhi
High Court against Section 377.
Siddharth salutes former home minister Indrajit
Gupta for being the only Indian politician to have
openly backed decriminalizing prostitution. At the
same time, he is unsparing in his criticism of then
UNAIDS executive director Peter Piot and senior
American official Mark Dybul as well as feminist
GloriaSteinemforstonewallingthecausebackthen
and opposing it again in more recent times.
INFORMATION TROVE
The book has interesting nuggets of information.
For example, did you know that Brazil is one of
FAR FROMTHE MAINSTREAM
A brothel in Delhi’s GB
Road. Empowering sex
workers is the only way to
ensure safe sex and stop
spread of HIV
the few countries that offers pension and other
work benefits to sex workers? That Trikone and
Bombay Dost were India’s first gay magazines
brought out from Mumbai? That Kolkata’s famed
maisons de tolérance of Sonagachi were once ruled
by Agrewali bais? That over 90 percent of Indians
work in low-paid, informal jobs? That the first au-
tobiography of an Indian sex worker was written
in 2005—by Nalini Jameela in Malayalam?
One of the most enjoyable parts of Siddharth’s
autobiography is devoted to cruising. The average
Indian is pansexual, he informs, and virtually
every young male is up for sex with other men.
Astonishingly, men pick each other up every-
where and at every hour, he reports, doing so dur-
ing any routine interaction in the day, in shops,
while walking down a street or waiting at the bus
stop. He shares the secret lingo of flirtation and
hidden venues for encounters—shop corners and
alleys magically shielded from crowds. Somehow,
this writer is left with the feeling that to main-
stream this lifestyle is to rob it of its meaning.
The growing consensus for legalization of
homosexuality aside, media-driven LGBT craze
has ensured that merely being queer or a trans-
gender is a passport to quick celebrity. Popular
MSM (men who have sex with men) fanfiction
today is threatening to wipe out classic literature’s
once-perennial appeal. Forget Harry Potter, nei-
ther Peter Pan nor Jean Valjean, not even the
world’s greatest detective Sherlock Holmes, have
been spared in the creative endeavors of their wor-
shipful fanboys and fangirls who actually prefer to
see them in their gay avatars.
Hence, at a stage when everyone and their uncle
is falling over each other to prove their liberal cre-
dos by taking part in this rather mindless frenzy,
the very timing of this book makes certain that it is
no Harry Kessler-esque groundbreaker. What it is,
however, is a valuable document that will push for-
ward the fight and provide the final impetus so that
authorities change their minds on according dig-
nity and freedom to India’s sexual outlaws.
Book Review
No One Else

Anchor Review
Wish List for 2016
T is rather unusual to draw up
New Year resolutions for news
anchors. But perhaps there is an
urgent need for the ladies and
gents who inhabit space on
prime time TV to formulate a list of do’s and
don’ts for the coming year. Such an exercise may
be deemed necessary to ensure that they do not
traverse the same clichéd path they treaded with
monotonous regularity in 2015.
Of course, one cannot guarantee that 2016
will not turn out to be yet another year of shout-
ing anchors and screaming guests. But here are
a few suggestions from a lay observer that may
help TV discussions become more viewer-rele-
vant and credible:
Take idiocy out of the Idiot Box: Hyping non-
issues is one step worse than manufacturing
news. In the latter case, the channel will at least
be credited for being clever or imaginative and
in serious competition with comedy shows
which specialize in spoofs. But when non-issues
are blown out of proportion and heatedly dis-
cussed as the news of the day, the viewer is left
wondering what the hot air was all about? He
may even be tempted to take a leaf out of Grou-
cho Marx’s book. Remember what the comedian
famously said about TV: “I find television very
educating. Every time somebody turns on the
set, I go into the other room and read a book.”
Indeed, there is nothing more frustrating
than wasting your evening hearing a heated dis-
I
Fed up with shouting anchors and screaming guests on prime time TV,here’s
what the lay viewer expects from them in 2016 so that they redeem themselves
and remain credible
BY AJITH PILLAI
NEED FOR A REVAMP
(Top) It is time news
channels in India
stopped using their
studios as
shouting rings
Be
More
Newsy,
Less
Noisy

cussion on a statement made by an obscure
politician or a former Pakistani diplomat or gen-
eral. It not only tests your patience but also ques-
tions your intelligence when you notice it
doesn’t figure in the next day’s newspapers or on
any other channel. In fact, the realization dawns
that it was not news by any yardstick.
Stop the noise pollution: Stop using the studio
as a shouting ring where audio pugilists flex their
vocal chords. Louder doesn’t mean better or
more sensible. Viewers get tired of the same cast
of politicians and journalists-turned-commenta-
tors with oft-stated positions shout the same
things night after night. This formulaic approach
almost appears staged like World Wrestling En-
tertainment bouts which are not legitimate con-
tests but carefully choreographed matches.
So a typical Sambit Patra/Nalin Kohli versus
Randeep Singh Surjewala/Tom Vaddakan face-
off is neither inspiring nor dramatic as who wins
depends on the editorial position taken by the
particular TV channel. Don’t forget that these
gladiators have to fight it out on other news
channels as well and that too, on the very same
topic. Their omnipresence makes it that much
more omni-boring.
What’s worse, the referee (the anchor) often
actively participates in the bouts favoring one
warring side against the other. When that hap-
pens, some pugilists are denied their right to
punch, making it a one-sided contest.
Following Fox doesn’t make a newshound:
Being hyper nationalist and giving slanted news
is the trademark of Fox News in the US. It has
Being hyper nationalist and giving slanted
news is the trademark of Fox News (above)
in the US. It is often accused of biased
reporting. 2015 saw the emergence of
Fox clones in Indian news channels.

often been accused of biased reporting and for
the unabashed support it extends to the Repub-
lican Party. Its anchors are known to pass off
their opinions as news and dominate TV discus-
sions to twist facts to suit a pre-determined ed-
itorial line. As a result, freedom of speech is
never guaranteed on the channel.
Unfortunately, 2015 saw the emergence of
several Fox clones in Indian news channels.
Some of those afflicted by the virus were earlier
known for their measured approach but they
joined the rat (oops! Fox) race when issues like
the Yakub Memon hanging or the Sheena Bora
murder consumed them.
Perhaps anchors ought to watch more of BBC
and seek inspiration from its moderate and dem-
ocratic approach to
news rather than dis-
play their Foxier side
to viewers.
Reportage before
discussion: A studio
discussion can never
substitute solid gro-
und reporting. This
maxim taught at jour-
nalism school was forgotten last year as hyped
up TV debates took center-stage and reporters
were reduced to bit players providing sound
bytes to facilitate mindless discussion.
Murders were apparently solved, problems
resolved, corruption exposed and differences
ironed out in TV studios. It is another matter
that we are aware that anchors are neither police
detectives nor can they arbitrate on national con-
cerns. More importantly, prime time discussions
cannot substitute for parliamentary debates and
TV is not the forum where major policy deci-
sions are formulated or pronounced “exclusively”.
Let us hope that reportage gets the primacy
that it richly deserves in the year ahead.
More News, Less Views in 2016: Let our prime
time honchos drop anchor in the choppy sea of
news rather than in the staid waters of views in
in the coming year. And let them shop for new
punching bags instead of testing their fists on
those that have already been beaten black and
blue. Surely we have had enough of Opposition
bashing. The government should come in for
sharper critical analysis since it is primarily run-
ning the country.
Here’s toamore newsyandlessnoisy2016!
Anchor Review
Wish List for 2016
A CHANNELTO
EMULATE
Indian TV anchors
must watch BBC for
its news presentation
BEING JUDGMENTAL
Several TV channels
passed off opinions
as news in the
Sheena Bora
murder case

VIEWSONNEWS`50
Governance Section
VIEWSONNEWSJANUARY 07, 2016 `50
2015 AT A GLANCE
ISSUES THAT MEDIA COVERED IN THE YEAR GONE BY48
COMIC
CON
Ticket to
a wonder
world
28
STUMBLING
BLOCK
Keeping
the net
free
40
12
CHENNAI
FLOODS
Where the
press went
wrong
18
UNDERRATED
GENIUS
A tête-à-tête
with Kiran
Nagarkar
36
TMM Special
12
HerPakvisitcouldbethefirstfeather
inModi’sforeignpolicycap
SushmaScores
`
`
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Views On News (VON) is India’s premier fortnightly magazine that
covers the wide spectrum of modern communication loosely known
as “the media”. Its racy, news and analysis oriented story-telling
encompasses current global and Indian developments, trends, future
projections encompassing policy and business drifts, the latest from
inside the print and electronic newsrooms, the exciting developments
in ever-expanding digital space, trending matters in the social media,
advertising, entertainment and books.
EVERY FORTNIGHT VIEWS ON NEWS WILL BRING YOU TELL-ALL
NEWS, ANALYSES AND OPINION FROM THE SHARPEST INVESTI-
GATIVE REPORTERS AND MOST INCISIVE MINDS IN THE NATION
An ENC Publication
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Don’t miss a single issue of this stimulating, unbiased, entertaining new fortnightly magazine and get special discounts for yourself and
your friends

AN ACTOR FOR
ALL SEASONS
Amitabh Bachchan
is roped in for a
range of products,
including agarbattis
What makes for a great ad—investing in a Bollywood star or
establishing communication with the customer at a deeper level?
VON brings in each issue,
the best written commentary
on any subject.The following
write-up from The Economic
Times has been picked by
our team of editors and
reproduced for our readers
as the best in the fortnight
“Well, everyone just seems to hang around smoking,
looking into space, then coming up with bad English
taglines and strange inane humour. What is the point of
11 years of perfecting one’s English and then come up
with a phrase like ‘Make in India’?”
A part of what she says makes sense. There is much
smoking in our business. (Little does she know of the
Mad Men-esque boozy gin and tonic lunches that my
forefathers indulged in—sitting back on easy chairs,
dreaming up campaigns, between puffs of cigar smoke.
Sigh.)
ND so, my kid, 16 going on 30, ready
to change the world, but required to
first graduate, is torn between BA
(Bachelor of Arts) and BMM (Bachelor
of Mass Media)—different from BuM
which is what I was in college.
“How about a career in advertising?” I suggest enthu-
siastically.
“I want to do something serious with my life,” she
mutters, between WhatsApp messages.
“Uhm… and the ad biz isn’t serious?”
A
Editors’ Pick
Rahul da Cunha
10HopesfortheNew
Year:Let’sMakeAds
Madder,Men?

And when a motor company creates #LetsMake Great
and the Indian Super League promises #Let’s Football, I’m
thinking, ‘English why writing wrong?’ So, if I’m begin-
ning to think to be a copywriter today, ‘attending an Eng-
lish-medium school’ translates as ‘medium English will
do’. And yet, one has to concede, we live in ‘chalu’ times.
We have a collective case of ADD (attention deficit disor-
der). Reams of finely crafted body copy with Quink ink
almost seems outdated. (Like opening doors for the
ladies.) We have become Bollywoodised, hai na? Sell to
the LCD, lowest common denominator.
Keep the message short and snappy. The English writ-
ers of yore wrote English.
And the Hindi blokes crafted the national bhasha.
Sadly, now a new language called Hinglish has invaded
our vocabularies. ‘Hungry kya?’ and ‘Yeh dil maange
more” are considered landmark taglines. Also, the relent-
less rhyme has overwhelmed us. Even the BJP fell prey
with ‘Ab ki baar, Modi sarkar’ as their election slogan.
So, in the attempt to include the upwardly mobile Bi-
hari in the same net as the Bombayite, we have concocted
a new language. Of which English has a small role to play.
And then, instead of investing in the idea, boom, it’s gone
in the next annual year.
Then there are celebrity endorsements. Amitabh
Bachchan recommends everything fromagarbattis to arid
Kutch. Shah Rukh Khan walks in and out of a room in a
tuxedo, recommending some paint brand—I can’t for
the life of me recall the name. But I can remember vividly,
the Asian Paints emotional promise of ‘Har ghar kuchh
kehta hai’.
C’mon ye marketers, you sure you want to spend your
hardearned dosh on a Bollywood star instead of investing
in a big idea? And a memorable, longlasting ‘line’?
“When you’rewriting anad, always talk toone person,”
my mentor Kersy Katrak taught me. “Arrey janaab, the
consumer is your wife. Stop her, seduce her, submerge her,
sell her.” Ya, okay, seduce her: finally she decides every-
thing—for your kids, for your kitchen, whether it is Kel-
logg’s vs Kissan. Because even if it’s cufflinks you need to
buy, you’ll check with her, right? So, you need to stop her
with your message. Not just a funny phrase. A promise. A
brand promise told with wit and wisdom.
My other teacher Kiran Khalap taught me, great
brands sell a feature not produced in the factory.
C
’mon 2016. We’ve the big budgets. Now we need
big ideas, not big stars. I want a return to the un-
hurried. Everything doesn’t need to be SELL,
SELL, SELL. We need to focus on specific markets.
We aren’t one happy ‘desh’ any more. Jeez Chennai has
no idea what’s happening in Cuttack, and Hindi ain’t spo-
ken there, dude. The south have their own issues, far
removed from the Hindi belt.
And clients out there. Let ideas fly. Don’t hassle your
agencies to be rational all the time. Don’t ask them to
hammer home manufacturing features. Allow them to
tell the consumer stories. The customer wants to engage
in brand conversations.
The right brain is functioning brilliantly. Now let the
left kick in. And so, dear daughter, my advice: we have the
commerce, even the science in place. We will, I swear, get
the art back.
Maybe then you’ll consider doing what dad does.
Chalo, let’s advertising.
The writer is creative director,
daCunha Communications
LANGUAGE GOES
FOR ATOSS
”Yeh Dil
Maange More”
is typical of the
liberal use of
Hinglish in ads

DESIGNSTHATMADE
IMAGINATIVEUSEOF
PHOTOGRAPHS,FONTS,
COLORANDWHITESPACES
TOLEAVEANIMPRESSION
By ANTHONY LAWRENCE
Design
Stunningly simple. And strong. Time has taken a brave new step
of departing from the standard practice of listing inside
stories Here’s welcoming a new trend.
Democrats cling on to a reckless Ms Clinton—the
danger aptly portrayed in this illustration.
Lest you curse clouds for obstructing sunlight, here’s a
cloud formation (oops, installation) of 6,000 bulbs in
Alberta, Canada that emits light for onlookers. The art of
actualizing your fantasies, one would say!

This 100-year-old church in
Asturias, Spain, with its arches
and sun-letting window, has
been transformed into a skate
park, painted in brightest colors.
An ideal coming together of con-
ventions and modern needs, and
a perfect example of putting old
structures to alternate use.
Would you sit nonchalantly
and fiddle with your handset
as the lady next to you grap-
ples with an avian attack?
Well, don’t fret. It’s only an
installation by British artist
Banksy
Childhood is about raw
and uncorrupted emo-
tions, best exemplified
when kids are playing.
In a series of 32 photo-
graphs from across the
world, a group of pho-
tographers capture their
joy at play. It makes for
a splendid subject mat-
ter, and some great
compositions. These
images are on display at
boredpanda.com.

NEWSDATE NEWS CHANNEL TIME
21/12/15
22/12/15
22/12/15
23/12/15
23/12/15
24/12/15
NirbhayaCase:Peoplegatherat
JantarMantartoprotestagainst
releaseofjuvenile.
Delhi:BSFcharterflightcrashesin
Dwarka;all10onboarddead.
Rajya Sabha clears Juvenile Justice
Bill, juvenile age reduced to 16.
FiringinKarkardoomaCourt premises
inDelhi,1dead,2othersinjured.
24/12/15
10:23 AM10:22 AM10:22 AM
7:01 PM7:00 PM
11:47 AM 11:47 AM
7:01 PM 7:01 PM
11:48 AM 11:51 AM
4:18 PM
10:23 AM
4:18 PM 4:18 PM 4:20 PM
21/12/15
VHP’sfirstlotofstonesforRamtemple
arrive,policeonalert.
8:06 AM8:05 AM 8:06 AM 8:06 AM
2002hitandruncase:Maharashtra
governmenttofileappealinSC
againstSalman’sacquittal.
2:05 PM 2:05 PM 2:05 PM 2:06 PM
Delhiodd-evenblueprintunveiled:CM
Kejriwal,AAPMLAsnotexempted.
10:32 AM10:31 AM 10:32 AM 10:32 AM
PutingiftsPMModiMahatma’s
handwrittennotes,18thCentury
BengalSword.
12:02 PM 12:03 PM12:01 PM 12:02 PM

Here are some of the major news items aired on television
channels, recorded by our unique 24x7 dedicated media
monitoring unit that scrutinizes more than 130 TV channels in
different Indian languages and looks at who breaks the news first.
DATE NEWS CHANNEL TIME
NEWS
26/12/15
26/12/15
27/12/15
03/1/16
ATSarreststhreeISISsuspects
fromNagpurairport.
10:50 AM 10:51 AM 10:54 AM 10:55 AM
12:13 PM 12:14 PM
Auto-rickshawpermitscam:BJPprotest
&demandsGopalRai'sresignation.
12:15 PM 12:17 PM
FireatTelanganaCMChandrasekhar
Rao’sMahachandiyajnaatMedak,no
casualties. 2:08 PM 2:10 PM 2:18 PM2:06 PM
8:16 AM 8:17 AM 8:17 AM 8:17 AM
1:37 PM
11:12 AM11:10 AM 11:11 AM 11:13 AM
Twomoreterroristsmightstillbehiding
inthePathankotairbase.
02/1/16 TerroristattackonPathankotairbase;two
gunmenandtwoIAFpersonnelkilled.
30/12/15
SuspendedBJPMPKirtiAzadholdspress
conference,targetsmorepoliticians,
includingpartyMPandBCCIsecretary
AnuragThakurintheDDCAcase.
1:37 PM1:35 PM 1:36 PM
29/12/15 Mardan:SuicideblastinPakistan,12
killed,morethat40injured.
3:40 PM3:38 PM 3:39 PM
29/12/15 Punjab:FormerIndianAirForceofficer
arrestedforspyingforPakistan’sISI.
2:08 PM2:05 PM 2:06 PM 2:08 PM
3:41 PM

Views On News, 22 January 2016

Views On News, 22 January 2016

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