blurred or non-existant codes of conduct... these are only some of the
dilemmas and difficulties facing mediapersons in this geographically vast
and diverse country of some 5000+ newspapers and many languages.
If The Hoot has its way, it hopes to bring in some degree of accountability.
By making clear what are the critical issues affects the media, the site
www.thehoot.org hopes to push towards positive change.
"I feel strongly that the media matters in a democracy, and needs to be kept
on course by people from within it," says Delhi-based senior media critic Ms
Sevanti Ninan, who has played a key role in putting up thehoot.org site.
As thehoot.org site explains: "The sub-continent has plenty of media, it
does not have enough scrutiny of the media. This portal is the outcome of
the concern felt by a group of practicing journalists at some recent trends
in journalism in this part of the world. It is an attempt to revive a
concern for media ethics, restore focus on development in the subcontinent,
and preserve press freedom. It will attempt to hold a mirror to the way
journalists practice their craft in this region."
The Hoot (www.thehoot.org) calls itself a 'media ethics' website. Over a
year old now, this site however recently faced pressures for its survival.
Said Ninan, in an open letter to supporters: "(You) have supported the idea
over the past year, without losing too much sleep over it. But this missive
is to ask for more active support, if The Hoot is to survive."
The Hoot, to quote Ninan, "started purely out of a felt need to have a forum
to discuss media practice, not because any resources were available!" It was
started through the Media Foundation run by veteran journalist B G Verghese
and with with moral or initial financial support from Shailaja Bajpai,
Mannika Chopra and Shubra Gupta, all media critics based in Delhi.
"There was no long-term funding in sight.... But we got a small grant from
Unesco and got going. It has now developed into something useful, though it
has many drawbacks arising out of a lack of staff and resources. Word about
it has spread, and the number of those using it have grown. There definitely
is not anything else of this range in the subcontinent," says Ninan.
She says the total investment crossed Rs 175,000 or thereabouts, with no
staff, or office or budget. "It has been partly financed out of journalist
contributions. Our business plan, if you can call it that, is that 200
journalists paying Rs 100 a month can ensure its survival. But only ten
have responded!," says she.
What prompted the setting up of this site? Says Ninan, in an interview with
this writer: "The fact that there was no forum in India where you could
honestly critique both the print and other media, and the fact that such
critiquing was desperately needed. Journals cannot respond as fast as a
website can."
Ninan has herself covered television since 1986, beginning with the Indian
Express and going on to the Hindu. She has also written a book on television
and change in India ('Through the Magic Window', Penguin 1995), and is
working on another on the regional print media in North India. She
contributed to a book on broadcasting reform.
There's a whole lot of interesting content on this site. It's clear that it
has been put together by professionals who understand what makes an
interesting read.
One recent visit to the site took us to a link on 'Dhirubhai (Ambani) and
the media' -- a blunt, critical yet balanced piece of the billion-rupee
magnate done with the depth, perception and sharpness that few newspapers or
other media organisations have done since Ambani's death.
There were write-ups on foreign direct investment in the Indian media, the
Prime Ministerial "paranoia" and press freedom ("The overreaction to the
Time story is because most of India's 'trusted' publications appear to lack
the courage and the leadership to expose truth or touch controversial
subjects.")
Other topics covered include Press freedom in Pakistan, the Deccan Chronicle
needs a new editor, covering land alienation in Jharkhand, and censoring
peace ("It is a strange world where nuclear weapons are believed to help
prevent war and a film on peace is seen as a potential instigator of
violence.")
One study offers a "systematic survey" of the coverage given by
Bangalore-based newspapers in Kannada and English to the violence in
Gujarat. There's even another feature on how a network of women journalists
presents its study of media coverage of the events in Gujarat in English,
Gujarati, Marathi, Urdu and Hindi newspapers published in Mumbai.
This is the irreverent but relevant tone of the site, as reflected in one
article recently: "The Hindustan Times, located just beyond Connaught Place
in Delhi, has solved the problem of parking for employees by decreeing that
those above forty can park inside the compound, but those below forty have
to park outside! A wag wants to know if this applies to the proprietor's
children."
The Hoot's self-described goal is: "Watching media in the subcontinent. The
more the media matters, the more we must track what it does."
On
http://www.thehoot.org one finds links to a media-watch column, media resources, and media-law information. There's also material on the Right to
Information debate, which could be of immense use to journalists, provided
they make efforts to use the law when passed. (In Goa, a law already
existes; but after a potent protest over the same, hardly any journalists
have sought information under this law.)
There are also special 'buttons' covering 'views from the region',
media-ethics, media comments on the media, media-research, press-freedom
issues, and a focus on media-and-conflict, media activism, media-and-gender,
and related themes.
As one scrolls down the options available, it's surprising to see how many
often-forgotten dimensions the life of a mediaperson could have.
(Development reporting, grassroots media, community radio, new media, media
jobs, and much else....) There are sections 'for journalists' and 'for
journalism students'.
Surfers are told: "The Hoot welcomes articles, letters, reviews, and
comments from readers and fellow journalists." You can contact The Hoot at
editor@thehoot.org But there have been difficulties in keeping going. "Because neither media
houses, nor business houses would want to be associated with something which
critiques mainstream media. Everybody needs the media. Also because the
Media Foundation does not take foreign funds," says she.
What were the high points of The Hoot so far?
Its promoters site coverage of the handling of the massacre in Nepal, in
which case MediaChannel.org in the US picked up The Hoot's story by Ammu
Joseph. What was also noticed was coverage from an Indian point of view of
the info-war between 'terrorists' and the USA, written after September 11
happened.
There was also strong reader response to an article called 'The Ungreat
Indian Middle Class' and other stories, and the community radio conference
which must have been the first Net event of its kind in this region, on
community radio, recalls Ninan.
Above all, TIME journalist Alex Perry, caught up in a controversy over his
report on the health (or poor health) of prime minister Vajpayee, mailed
Mannika Chopra to say that he thought her story on the site on the whole
TIME and Prime Minister's Office issue was the fairest and most complete,
even though it contained "two rather rude paras about his brand of
journalism", according to Ninan.
This site was set up in March-end 2001. Hits climbed slowly from nothing to
17,000 a week at the beginning of this year. (At the time of writing, it was
at 371 visits -- 870 page views -- a day and 21000 hits a week. By July 10,
it was at 591 daily visits and 4400 daily hits.)
The site suffered when the company that had booked the url did not forward
reminders and the url lapsed. It was off the air for two weeks. "It ...
needs to do much better than that. I have no means to publicise it off the
Net," says Ninan.
What would be the best chance of making the site sustainable? Sevanti
believes it could hinge on getting a broad base of people, five hundred on
more, to pay an annual subscription to support it.
"We have said Rs 100 a month, but much smaller amounts are also welcome.
Alternatively, becoming part of large, well-funded, public interest Net
initiative (could work). Needless to say, I prefer the former, but have not
had much success with it so far," says Ninan.
There are challenges too. One of the biggest is trying to manage a media
watch site without enough money, and with no daily help, editorial,
managerial or technical. Plus doing fund raising and publicising the site.
The costs of putting up the site excludes part payment for a content
management system, which is avaited. Freelance journalists are paid for
articles exclusive to The Hoot.
Ninan is clear when asked which three achivements makes her proud of The
Hoot. She says: "The fact that it has completed a year, that fact that it is
current and outspoken, and the fact that journalists and readers are slowly
but surely pitching in to support it with money and articles, which shows
that they feel the need for such an initiative."
In recent weeks, the Media Foundation has applied for permisson to accept
foreign funding, while the current shortfall has been bridged with a
personal loan, and small donations are trickling in.
From here, where? "In terms of survival, the Hoot is not over the hump yet.
If it survives I hope it can go on to a more secure platform with other
public interest sites, so that it becomes a media-watch and media-research
hub for the subcontinent," says she.
"Personal letters written by Mr. Verghese to all the big newspapers in the
country to contribute towards a corpus have yielded no response at all. We
will now be writing to Indian business houses. I can no longer keep The Hoot
up and running without support from a much wider base of people," Ninan said
in her open letter some months back.
She seeks Rs 100-a-month contribution from journalists wanting to support
this venture for "a hundred rupees a month is not a lot, and media as we
practice it, could do with some scrutiny". Her appeal concluded: "If you
believe we need something like The Hoot, please help save this endangered
owl."
The Hoot can be contacted via mail at 180 National Media Centre, Gurgaon
122002. Sevanti Ninan can be contacted via email at
sevantininan@vsnl.com ENDS
--
Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa * India 832.409490 / 409783
BYTESFORALL www.bytesforall.org * GNU-LINUX
http://linuxinindia.pitas.com fred@bytesforall.org * Mobile +9822 122436 (Goa) * Saligao Goa India Writing with a difference... on what makes *the* difference
URL::