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Where news itself is a casualty
These are, we are told, exciting times for those in the media.
Not an unsubstantiated, flippant contention one would say if one is abreast of all the investments that have been pouring in, the plethora of newspapers and magazines that are being launched every other day, or for that matter the television channels that are going on air till you stop losing count on your fingers. And if you are aware of all the technological breakthroughs that is driving communications today, you would stand firmly convinced that it is indeed so. The media is in flux, and excitingly so.
But then it is also time for us to take stock of things by going beyond the exciting headlines that have been tingling our fertile imagination. We need to look at the trees, and miss the forest, for once. For the sake of convenience and space constraints, this write-up will look only at the news media and desist from pedantic number-crunching.
Muivah on the Naga Issue – An Unpublished Interview: III
Subir Ghosh: The Kuki-Naga clash will never end it seems. What do you think your role is in this context? What is your assessment of this issue?
Thuingaleng Muivah: The so-called Kuki-Naga clash is a pure and simple creation of the Indian government. It is an utterly miscalculated venture since the sole motive behind it is to make the Kukis fight against the Nagas. What a proxy war! But, expecting what? And, from whom? However, most of the Indian Press took sides with the Kukis and ran unprofessional and biased accounts of the conflict against the Nagas. Yet, in spite of this scheme of the Indian government, the NSCN never encouraged the Naga people to kill the Kukis. Were it not for the Indian government policy, Nagas and Kukis would have lived together in peace and tranquility. Now, the solution to the issue hinges on the Indian government.
What's in Vogue, and what's not
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Some people haven’t the faintest clue as to how they should go around making opulent style statements. Especially, if done with an inordinate amount of insensitivity and tastelessness. Worse still, if they have the nerve to defend it as callously.
So when Vogue India carried a 16-page photo shoot of decidedly-not-rich people strutting $10,000 Hermès Birkin bags, $5,000 Burberry umbrellas, or $100 Fendi bibs, the magazine was asking for some censure. This came in the form of three articles – in the New York Times, the Telegraph, and the Independent. The thread was duly picked up by a number of blogs. And now the story is all over town.
And as to why none of the Indian news media establishments reacted to the Vogue India shoot, your guess would be as good as mine.
Beri, Beri juvenile
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For a book priced at an astronomical Rs 1 lakh (that would be $2,250 or thereabouts), it ought to be your unfettered right to know what on earth lies between the blazing covers. But Ritu Beri isn't telling you. You need to buy the book to find out as much, that has been her repartee all this while. What the blazes!
Anyway, don't you tax your brain too much about the issue, having read those eulogising agency news items; this blog will actually vindicate your ill-founded fears. The book is not going to tax your brain much either. Yes, it is a no-brainer. The tome only proves that Ritu Beri's 28 inch waist matches her two-digit IQ. No, that's not a nasty one – there are nastier ones to come. Read on, pray.