Living With Technology

Snapchat to launch Real Life, an online magazine which will feature essays and narratives about living with technology, on June 27th. Having complete editorial independence from Snapchat, Real Life will focus on “how we live today and how our lives are mediated by devices”. The online magazine will have social theorist Nathan Jurgenson as Editor-in-Chief. » After The Indian Express and Outlook exposed the story of the ‘Essar tapes’ leak on Friday June 17th, only a handful of newspapers and TV channels gave it due coverage. The Essar tapes indicate corruption in houses of the most powerful, the allegedly tapped conversations are said to involve politicians like Jaswant Singh, Suresh Prabhu, Mulayam Singh Yadav, industrialists Mukesh and Anil Ambani, Subroto Roy, and many more. Read Newslaundry’s detailed report on media’s subdued reactions here. » Zee ties up with DISH and Sling TV to expand its presence in the US market. The ZEE channel tally available in the US goes up from 10 to 37, with a combined reach of 52 million homes. Zee’s premium on-demand library will also be exclusively available on DISH and Sling TV. The new channels will be available in varied languages like Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Bhojpuri, Odia, Rajasthani and Urdu. » After tracing the history of Asia’s oldest newspaper – Mumbai Samachar, The Hoot explores the story of Asia’s second oldest newspaper – Jam-e-Jamshed in their special series ‘Living Legends’. » Aiming to strengthen education in the state, Punjab Education Minister Daljit Singh Cheema announced the government’s plans to launch Vidya TV soon. A dedicated educational channel, mostly for the benefit of school students preparing for competitive exams, Vidya TV will present recorded lectures by experts, initially focusing on Class X and XII students. The channel is likely to be launched in a month’s time, said the minister.

Still Going Strong

193, going on 194, The Hoot tells the story of Asia’s oldest newspaper – Mumbai Samachar. Now published as a Gujarati language daily, the Mumbai Samachar was born as a weekly in 1822 to disseminate need-based information, mostly to the trader community of Gujaratis and Parsis. » Check out Newslaundry’s detailed report on how NewsX Editor-in-Chief Rahul Shivshankar totally ignored the basic definition of ‘raw footage’ while tweeting. He claims NewsX carried the raw footage (proved authentic) in the JNU case. » I&B Ministry has put in place a new policy for advertisement in print media. Aimed at the Directorate of Advertising & Visual Publicity (DAVP), the policy focuses on three main objectives – promoting transparency and accountability, incentivizing all categories of newspapers, and ensuring equity and fairness in release of government advertisements. Read details here. » DD to use the Swiss challenge method to invite bids for the kids’ entertainment slots on DD National – 3-4pm Monday to Saturday. The SC approved method encourages transparency and will give an equal chance to all interested proposers. The last date for bid submission is 30th June. » The Andhra Pradesh government’s blockade of broadcast for Sakshi TV was met with protest and criticism. Opposition leaders termed the TDP decision as “highly objectionable” and accused CM Chandrababu Naidu of violating press freedom. Protests were staged Srikalhasti, Madanapalli, Chittoor and Tirupati, with various journalist associations joining in.

First Source : Online

Results for The Hoot’s online survey on the media habits of youth are out. Conducted in April-May 2016, the survey suggests that news websites are the single largest source of news followed closely by newspapers and news apps. Facebook’s recently launched Instant Articles feature bagged the fourth position which bumped TV news channels to the fifth position. “Newspapers still rank high among young newsreaders, but TV is losing its audience”, the report said. » India Radio Forum (IRF) concluded the 11th edition of ‘The Excellence in Radio Awards’ on May 13, 2016 in Mumbai. The awards were distributed in four categories Programming, Talent, Promotion, and Marketing & Advertising. Red FM swept the stage with 13 awards, followed by Big FM, which grabbed eight metals, while Radio Mirchi bagged six metals. See full list of awardees here. » According to a report from Pennsylvania State University in the US, the current social media sites lack in collaborative privacy management issue. The findings showed that social media users act independently on some privacy issues, but are interdependent when information is co-owned by multiple users. See full report here.

Let’s Pledge Press Freedom

Today is World Press Freedom Day, and that’s one reason to revisit cases where this freedom was violated through the year. The Hoot reports that there have been 21 cases of attacks on journalists and one case of hostage taking this past year. A journalist also lost his life in UP. Meanwhile in Nepal, the SC ended jail-time for veteran editor Kanak Mani Dixit, who was arrested on April 22 by the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority. » Media Freedom is constantly under threat with the growing violence against women journalists. At the launch of the 2016 edition of CPJ’s ‘Attacks on the Press’ book, documenting the daily violence and harassment that women journos face, Kim Barker NYT reporter said “You don’t even have to be in a conflict zone to be violated anymore.” Read other accounts by women journalists across the world here. » A major redesign for HT Media’s financial newspaper Mint is on the cards. The only paper to be published in a unique Berliner format, is set to be re-launched as a broadsheet. Designed by acclaimed Mario Garcia, the new format may have a summer unveiling. » Under the NDA government, paid news might soon become an electoral offence for poll candidates. The BJP led government has filed an affidavit in the SC which proposes to amend the Representation of People Act, 1951 with a provision that makes paid news punishable. Media outlets found participating are also likely to be punished, with their publication being suspended for 45 to 90 days.

Project P’s A-Team

Panama Papers, codenamed internally as Project Prometheus, had The Indian Express as the reporting partner from India. Led by Ritu Sarin, also a long-time member of ICIJ, the three member Delhi team was privy to the actual investigations. 22 journalists from state bureaus were also a part of the team from Indian Express. Sarin and team, P. Vaidyanathan Iyer and Jay Mazoomdaar, spill the beans on the secret project in a tell-all to The Hoot. » Network 18’s English news channel, CNN-IBN, to get a new identity. In the first major change under Mukesh Ambani’s ownership, the channel will be rebranded as CNN News18 from 18th April 2016. Fresh shows are also lined up for the channel’s new look. » Piyush Pandey and Rajat Sharma to join the recently constituted committee for content regulation in government advertising. To be chaired by BB Tandon, former Chief Election Commissioner of India, the three member committee will be operational from Delhi for an initial tenure of two years. Read more. » The King of Good Times is no longer a partner for NDTV Good Times. After their contract with Kingfisher (UB Group) ended on March 31st, NDTV is on the lookout for a new anchor advertiser for their lifestyle channel. The channel has already removed the Kingfisher bird from its logo. » One of India’s five ABCs (Accredited Business Communicator), with about two decades of Corporate Communication experience, Saima Sharif has embraced her entrepreneurial side. She announces the launch of Crimson Communicare LLP, an integrated internal communications agency. “We provide end-to-end solutions for all Internal Communication needs – from measurement to Strategy to Ideation to Execution,” she said. Read more about Crimson’s integrated approach to internal communication here.

Special Cause Special Edition

Celebrating the Make in India initiative, Condé Nast India unveiled a special magazine at the Taj Palace Hotel in Mumbai last week. Launched by Amitabh Kant, secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, and Alex Kuruvilla, MD, Condé Nast India, the 200-page issue features success stories across technology, manufacturing, e-commerce, auto, design, and lifestyle sectors. » The Hoot reports on how Zee TV incited action against JNU students in the sedition case. Disgusted by his channel’s coverage on the matter, where there were more assumptions than facts, more bias than opinion, producer Vishwa Deepak resigned. Deepak questioned the channel’s alliance with the Delhi Police, BJP and RSS. “Due to our biases, we brought the careers, their hopes and aspirations and families of some people to the brink of destruction”, wrote Deepak in his resignation letter. Editor Sudhir Chaudhary brushed it under the carpet stating that people leaving “is a normal affair and it’s the organization’s internal matter.” » The doctored video showing JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar shouting anti-national slogans has sparked a fresh debate. Siddharth Varadarajan of The Wire and Arnab Goswami of Times Now are both holding ground on opposite sides. While Goswami maintains Times Now did not telecast the fake video directly and cannot be held responsible, Varadarajan demands action against all mediapersons peddling ‘forged’ evidence.

Cherry Picking

Differential pricing is not the answer to connect the unconnected. According to the IAMAI, the three differential pricing models  in TRAI’s consultation paper not only violate principles of net neutrality but also fall short against the regulator’s own stated pricing principles. Investing in infrastructure for common access and providing subsidized and non-discriminatory access directly to the consumers are the industry body’s suggestions for this problem. » Meanwhile TRAI has extended the deadline for receiving comments on its consultation paper to January 7th. This is primarily in response to requests from COAI and AUSPI, an official source said. The extension gives more time to Facebook’s Free Basics protesters to pressurize TRAI into rejecting the service. » Swarajya to become SaaSy. The independent magazine, which was revived in print and digital format in 2014, has partnered with Quintype’s Content Management Software (CMS) to manage its digital platform. Quintype, from the house of Quintillion Media, provides end-to-end SaaS solutions and will equip Swarajya with features for audience management, engagement, monetization and analytics. » Read The Hoot’s comparative analysis of English and Hindi newspapers’ coverage related to the Paris summit on climate change. The Hindi coverage was significantly less than that from the English press, which though not surprising, corroborates a University of Copenhagen study claiming that most literature on climate change came from the developed world even though the least developed, developing nations are most vulnerable to its impact.

NDTV Accused of Tax Evasion

NDTV in big trouble. In a notice issued by the Enforcement Directorate NDTV Limited needs to show cause for Rs. 2,030 crore for violation of FIPB conditions and FEMA rules. Read the detailed account on tax evasion allegations by The Hoot. » DD Free Dish to help strengthen rural distribution network for Big Magic & Big Magic Ganga. The many benefits from this association will include reach to media dark areas and 75% overall viewership increase. » Hours after two opposition leaders, convicted of war crimes in 1971, were hanged on Sunday, unknown attackers opened fire on a TV channel vehicle in Bangladesh. Reporter Rajib Sen was wounded in the attack, the reason for which is still being investigated by the police. » The Syrian refugee camp in Zaatari, Jordan houses 70 reporters who produce the camp’s only magazine, The Road. Launched in May 2014, by the Japanese Emergency NGO (JEN) the monthly magazine has copies in both Arabic and English distributed free of charge. “We want the magazine to be from Syrians, for Syrians,” said Hada Sarhan, The Road’s editor-in-chief.

Controversy Creates Clash

According to a report by The Hoot, things are looking grim for Firstpost on the editorial front. The news website abruptly pulled off a controversial article written by editor R Jagannathan criticizing Arun Jaitley’s performance. Lakshmi Chaudhry, the executive editor of the site, also submitted her resignation citing editorial interference from upper management. Not room for criticism, FirstPost? » Viacom18 has acquired a 50% stake in Prism TV for 9.4 billion rupees. Prism TV owns and operates regional entertainment channels in India, including ETV Marathi, ETV Kannada, ETV Bangla, ETV Oriya and ETV Gujarati, all of which were recently rebranded under the ‘Colors’ umbrella. Sudhanshu Vats, group CEO, Viacom18, said, “This acquisition is a big milestone for Viacom & Network 18, and it showcases their combined conviction to build a powerful broadcast offering for the Indian market”, as reported by Afaqs.

Reviving The Post

Binoo K John, writing for The Hoot appraises the future and survival of The Washington Post and owner, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, to save the paper.  Since it was unveiled, his web and digital strategy have resulted in traffic doubling under his watch, to 51 million unique visitors. The Post website now comes in a magazine format with one story per page.  Design-wise, Bezos is subverting the very nature of a newspaper. It opens out like a book and is easy to navigate, making it extremely reader friendly. » News localization gets a boost as CNN-IBN is all set to voice the issues of the metro viewers and bring them to the forefront with its brand new show ‘In Your City’ launched on 21st July, 2015. The half hour show will focus on six metro cities, i.e., Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. » Mashable is expanding its operations with the launch of Mashable Asia. It will be Mashable’s fourth international site, including Mashable Australia, U.K. and India. Mashable Asia will be edited by Victoria Ho. She joins Mashable from Migme, an entertainment platform.