SAJAforum

WEB: Muslims Launch Their Own YouTube

The United States Muslim Organization has launched a new website, MuslimChannel.tv, which is said to be a Muslim alternative for YouTube and MySpace.

From C21Media:

The site's founders are aiming to take a dual approach to online video, combining live 24/7 broadcasts from established Muslim-skewing TV channels around the world with user-generated content (UGC).

Content supply deals have been signed with partners including Al Jazeera English; Tehran-based, globally available English-language news channel Press TV; US satcaster Link TV; and international analysis programme Democracy Now!; as well as religious programmes, such as Huda TV, from Saudi Arabia, and UK-based satcaster Islam Channel.

Stephanie Khan, communications director for Muslim Channels, said that UGC from Islamic leaders and their congregants was expected to be added over the coming weeks.

"We are optimistic many of our scholars and Imams from the 1,000-plus Islamic centres across the country, and our user base, will add tens of thousands of pieces of useful content," she said, adding that no sexual or hate-based videos will be permitted on the site. It would combine "education, clean entertainment and broader news perspectives, all in one place," she said.

I tried to see if I could embed any videos but one has to login to be able to share videos.

Thoughts folks? Please post them below.

MEDIA: ABC News on American Woman Freeing Nepali Child Slaves

This past Sunday, ABC News carried a story about Olga Pierce, an 82-year-old retired lawyer from California, who spends most of her time in Nepal helping to free child slaves.

With her silver hair and fair skin, Murray stands out in Nepal, a poor, landlocked country sandwiched between China and India. With remarkable ease she navigates the chaotic streets of the capital, where painted yogis and sacred cows are common sights.

Pierce and her organization, Friends of Needy Children (also called Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation) help thousands of young girls who have been sold to wealthy families by their families to do forced housework.

We found Bijani Chaury, an adorable 12-year-old, in the well-appointed home of Ejopal and Sartoshi Oli, a teacher and a housewife, in Katmandu.

Bijani's life bears little resemblance to the plantation-style slavery of pre-Civil War America. There are no chains or farm labor. She is, however, forced to work under threat of violence and for no pay beyond subsistence, which is an internationally recognized definition of modern-day slavery.

Bijani told us that she spends her day cleaning the house, making tea and helping her Mrs. Oli prepare meals. She doesn't go to school. And, she said, she misses her parents and sisters, who are back home in rural Nepal.

Watch the video here.

Something that really stood out for me was that halfway through the video, Pierce talks about how they convince some parents not to sell their daughters.

We say to the parents, 'If you will allow your girl to come home, or not sell her again or not sell her at all, we're gonna give you either...your choice of a baby piglet or a baby goat. And we will put your daughter in school and we will pay all school-related expenses,' which amounts to about fifty dollars a year.

Pierce describes her experience in Nepal in two words - instant gratification. "You can save a child's life for 100 dollars," she says.

Thoughts? Please post your comments below.

MEDIA: Mint on Indian Editors Taking Bigger Roles in US, UK media

Just over the last year, we have seen significant shifts in leadership positions of some of America's biggest media outlets. To name a few, Davan Maharaj was promoted to the managing editor of the LA Times; Stephanie Mehta became global editor of Fortune; Bobby Ghosh became the world editor of Time magazine; Vindu Goel became deputy tech editor of the New York Times; Jyoti Thottam became South Asia bureau chief of Time magazine; and most recently Nik Deogun was named the international editor of the Wall Street Journal.

See SAJAForum's complete coverage of the major moves of South Asian journalists to key positions.

In yesterday's Mint, a sister publication of the Wall Street Journal in India, Sruthijith K. K. writes that publications in the United States and United Kingdom are increasingly appointing Indian journalists to top slots, as they see more and more content in India. 

For large and influential Western publications, which have sometimes been charged with reducing India into clichés and generalizations, the country seems to have become more of a priority in their international coverage.

A steadily rising number of foreign correspondents are landing in India every year, even as their publications, limited by tighter budgets, are cutting staff and closing bureaus in erstwhile hot spots of international interest.

Coincidentally, at four important American publications, the foreign editor is now a journalist of Indian origin.

Read the full story here.

What are your thoughts on the increasing leadership roles of South Asians in US media? Post them below.

MEDIA: A primer on yoga publications

Working at Yoga + Joyful Living magazine--and serving as a certified Sivananda yoga instructor--have opened my eyes to our expansive national yoga community. Downward dog pose, ayurveda and sun salutation have become household words, if not household practice. And commerce has kept pace: From the first time that batik-clad flower children got a whiff of yogic practice, the market started to integrate the nirvana-bound consumer with everything from hemp pants to rudraksha malas.

About 16 million Americans now practice yoga, and there are dozens of spiritually inclined publications catering to them. Today, yoga magazines are fixtures at newsstands and on coffee tables, amidst Cosmopolitan and Esquire, and are supported mostly by the demographic of 25-45 year-old women (some marketers call them Yoga Mamas). Here are some of the top yoga publications:

• Yoga Journal – Founded in 1975 by members of the California Yoga Teacher’s Association, YJ hit mainstream circulation in 1990 and has continued to grow to its current readership of over a million. As the most popular yoga magazine in the country, YJ also features an extensive Web site with links for the yoga community. The publication is a glossy amalgam of trendy new-age style, health tips, travel and practice.
• Yoga + Joyful Living – Produced from the non-profit Himalayan Institute, this bi-monthly magazine was founded in the 90s by Swami Rama as a response to the watering down of traditional yoga practice he was witnessing. Featuring articles from renowned spiritual teachers Rolf Sovik, Rod Stryker and Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, Yoga+ covers topics of holistic living, classical yoga scriptures, journeys and spirituality in action.

CONV: Panelists speak on covering the economy in a time of crisis

Reporters covering the housing crisis should be more aware of what their readers’ want to read  about, and write stories that are self explanatory, said panelists speaking on “Covering the Economy in a Time of Crisis” at the SAJA convention.

The panelists were Steve Liesman, a reporter for CNBC; Jennifer Ablan, reporter for ThomsonReuters; Jon Hilsenrath, an editor in the Money and Investing section of The Wall Street Journal; and, Barbara Kiviat, a reporter for Time magazine. Vikas Bajaj, a reporter for The New York Times, moderated the panel.

The panelists discussed how the current credit crisis was something no one knew much about. The ingredients of the crisis and what led to the crisis were beyond common awareness. And, to a certain extent, beyond the depth of journalists' knowledge.

“We were writing stories in The Wall Street Journal in the summer in 2005 that looked like the housing boom was over,” Hilsenrath said. “We did good on macro ... but we didn’t go two, three, four layers deep.”

Once reporters did get in to the complex and opaque workings of the financial world, the challenge lay in explaining this to a broad audience.

“We have to sell this thing to a general readership,” Time's Kiviat said.

Panelists Steve Liesman of CNBC, Barbara Kiviat of Time, Jon Hilsenrath of The Wall Street Journal, and Jennifer Ablan of Reuters at the SAJA convention.

CONV: Q&A with 2008 Daniel Pearl Fellow Umar Cheema

Umar Cheema, a reporter for the News International in Islamabad, Pakistan, is the 2008 Daniel Pearl Fellow at The New York Times. In a panel entitled "Pakistan in Peril" Cheema shared his experiences in the country, which is ranked as the third-most dangerous in the world for journalists.

Journalism has become more independent and is no longer scrutinized as much Cheema says in a conversation with student blogger Bibek Bhandari. Here are excerpts from that conversation.

How is your fellowship going at The New York Times?

I have worked in The New York Times’ metro section, computer-assisted reporting and investigative cluster, and went to the Investigative Reporters and Editors' workshop. I will spend two weeks in the Washington bureau of The New York Times. Then go to Los Angeles to meet Daniel Pearl’s parents and would spend time in Los Angeles Press Club discussing with them different issues about inter-faith harmony, because the purpose of this fellowship is to resolve conflicts, promote dialogues between different faiths.

I am learning about [American]  newsrooms, how they work, and consequently what could I take back home, and what new things could be improved there.

 

What are the major differences you notice between American newsrooms and the ones in Pakistan?

I think the major difference is in terms of resources. They are more resourceful here financially, and when you’re financially strong, you can deploy more staff, facilitate them in a better way.

Reporting skills are different. The U.S. media concentrates mostly on storytelling.

How to write a good story, and how to bring human angles to the story. And as far as our media is concerned, and when I say our, Asian media mostly where the press is relatively independent, there is an element of opinion in our reporting that we learned from the British media. The European media overall, it is considered as opinionated media. We sometimes editorialize in our reporting. We give our opinions. I think that is the difference.

In terms of society, the good things I have learned [in the U.S.] is that people respect each other’s opinion. If I disagree with you, it doesn’t mean I am against you. In Pakistani culture, if I disagree people believe that I am against them.

CONV: Plenary session on reporting from the trenches

Media professionals on the campaign trail talked of "living in a bubble", especially journalists embedded with a candidate's campaign, that sometimes could obstruct their view of broader issues and limits their ability to pursue stories beyond the stump speeches.

“It’s frustrating," said Leslie Wayne, reporter for The New York Times who covers politics. "You’re turning to a machine reporting from event to event."

Wayne was part of a panel discussion on “Decision ’08: Reporters in the Trenches” at the SAJA convention. Other panelists include Nick Timiraos, embedded in the Obama campaign for The Wall Street Journal; Rebecca Kutler, news producer at CNN; and, Aswini Anburajan, embedded in the Obama campaign for NBC.

But journalists, who had front-row seats to the primaries, say reporting was factual in response to questions on whether the coverage, especially of the Obama campaign, was unbiased.

Leslie Wayne, a New York Times reporter; Rebecca Kutler, a CNN producer; Nick Timiraos, a Wall Street Journal reporter; and, Aswini Anburajan, a NBC reporter.

 

CONV: Conversations on Diversity: Recruiters say more needs to be done

The list of hires is impressive: So far in 2008, eight South Asian journalists have been named to a range of leadership positions, from managing editor to bureau chief.

 

Those who care about diversity in media find that heartening, but warn that more needs to be done.

 

Recruiters at the 2008 SAJA convention were both optimistic and cautious when asked about the state of diversity in the county's newsrooms.

 

"More than one third of the American population is made up of people of color, but nowhere near that level of diversity is represented in the newsroom," said Ernest Sottomayor, Assistant Dean of Career Services at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

 

"Media companies need to have basic understanding that diversity is as important as accuracy," he said. "Our communities are getting more and more diverse and they need to get their views into the paper."

 

Recruiters meet with job candidates at the SAJA convention.

CONV: Remarks by NYT's Michael Golden and John Geddes

[Read more coverage of the 2008 SAJA Convention & Job Fair]

Despite the changes to the news business in the past decade, the basics of journalism remain the same.

These and other views on journalism, digital media, and diversity were shared by Michael Golden (top), vice chairman of the New York Times Company, and John Geddes (bottom), managing editor of its flagship newspaper, at a reception the paper hosted for attendees of the South Asian Journalists Association convention.

“In 30 years in this business I have never seen a time when there is so much change and so much at stake,” Golden said. “It is truly remarkable what’s going on right now.”

Golden drew attention to the crisis in the print media, especially in large cities like Dallas and Chicago where newspaper subscriptions are on a decline, and advertising revenues are “falling at an alarming rate.”

Changes in the ways people consume information, the economic downturn induced tightening of household budgets and advertiser spending have added to this gloomy picture, he said.

Golden said the core of the Times' success and strategy is its editorial content.

Geddes, one of the paper's two managing editors (the other is Jill Abramson), added that the accuracy of the Times in reporting the news has helped maintain its credibility among readers. "Telling truth and being accurate pays off,” Geddes said.

NYTimes.com's growing web audience, which reached 21 million users last month, has helped the Times broaden its reach to people across the country and the globe, Golden said. The Times has had to focus on the kind of information people want, and package it and present it the way they want it. “It has a mass market appeal,” Golden said.

But the Web site's popularity doesn't mean the newspaper will go away. “Print will be with us for a long time,” he said. 

But the broader coverage has helped the Times boost diversity within the newsroom, Golden said. In the past year, 14 percent of the Times' organization's new hires were of Asian descent.

Read full coverage of Robert Thomson, the managing editor of The Wall Street Journal's speech here.

Please post comments. Photos: Preston Merchant

 

CONV: Conversations on diversity: Strapped news budgets limit opportunities

When a tip came in about the opening of a large Hindu temple in Lilburn, Georgia, reporter Rahul Bali was the obvious choice in his radio station to cover the opening.

“They needed someone to bridge the gap,” he said. “I had to report, but also to educate.”      

His Indian background also played to his favor when he traveled through African-American neighborhoods in Atlanta.  Bali was seen as an unbiased observer since he wasn't identified as either a member of the black or white communities.

Although no longer in the South, Bali continues to be the only person of Indian origin at his current radio station, WTOP in the D.C. Metro area, where he is often assigned to topics with a multicultural element. After the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, he helped to inform a curious public about the Islamic society in America.   

As was the case in Bali's radio stations, much of the journalism world does not reflect the growing diversity of the population. And cuts to newsroom budgets are making the situation worse.   

CONV: WSJ's Robert Thomson talks about importance of global news

[Watch several short videos of Thomson's speech here]

Coverage of global news will become one of the top three priorities at The Wall Street Journal, in line with its top editor's belief that international coverage is essential to the survival of American media.

Robert Thomson, editor-in-chief of Dow Jones & Co., a subsidiary of News Corp., and managing editor of the Journal, gave the keynote address at the South Asian Journalists Association's annual convention in New York City. In his speech Friday morning, he outlined the media conglomerate's plans to boost its coverage in South Asia, including expansion of its bureau in India.

This, and the plans announced Thursday of key management changes including the appointment of Nik Deogun as the paper's international editor and a deputy managing editor, continues the change in focus and direction for the paper.

"We may be in the midst of a credit crisis... but the two defining trends of our age [are] digitization and globalization," Thomson said.

Already, the Journal has added four pages for international news at $6 million a year, to ramp up its coverage and make it competitive to the New York Times and the Financial Times.

Dow Jones also plans to explore the potential of software technology that would allow it to be part of India's mobile frenzy.

"South Asia is the Fleet Street of the future," Thomson said.

QUOTES: Nepal King on Time.com's "Quotes of the Day"

Here is TIME magazine's Quote of the Day from earlier today:

The ex-king officially left his palace yesterday. He will live his life as a regular Nepali citizen, but a very very rich one! [Among many things, the ex-king has stakes in the country's largest-selling cigarette factory, a five-star hotel, a vibrant trading company and a tea garden in eastern Nepal.]

Reactions? Please post them below.

Earlier on SAJAForum:

• With King Gone, Nepalese Struggle to Pick the Goddess
• Maoist-Led Parliament Declares Nepal a Republic, King to Leave Palace

MEDIA: Ramachandra Guha follows up on SAJAforum in The Telegraph

Several weeks ago we published a long essay by Fulbright scholar James Mutti, "India, Democracy and the Press," examining whether the growth of India's media was at odds with its development as a democracy. The article prompted many well-considered comments and criticisms by a number of scholars and media experts, but the most recent response to the piece came in The Telegraph a couple weeks ago. Ramachandra Guha, author of "India After Gandhi" and one of Foreign Policy magazine's Top 100 intellectuals, has written a fairly extensive commentary on the issues Mutti raised here. From "Watching the Watchdog: Time for the Press to Look Within":

The formal institutions of Indian democracy are not especially marked by the capacity for self-correction and self-criticism. One fact should make this clear — that no senior politician, civil servant, or judge has ever been successfully convicted for corruption or abuse of power. What then of that great informal institution of Indian democracy, the press? Is there a mechanism by which we can understand, and correct, the errors, biases, and malpractices of newspapers and television channels?   

This question is prompted by a discussion currently taking place on the website of the South Asian Journalists Association. It was initiated by James Mutti, an American Fulbright scholar, who had spent time studying the functioning of the press in northern India. Mutti found that “there is an inherent tension between India’s much-hyped economic growth and its deepening democracy”.

Guha then summarizes some of the criticisms of Mutti's article, including Sevanti Ninan's point that the non-English language press are better at looking at issues that affect less affluent Indians. But Guha thinks that if anything, the problem is even worse than Mutti suggested:

...in so far as the English language press is concerned, Mutti’s criticisms may in fact have understated the problem. He speaks of the focus on glamour and celebrity and the neglect of the lives of ordinary Indians. This, he suggests, was a consequence of the press’s wooing of the consuming classes, who are a large (and massively revenue-generating) world unto themselves. It may be that because he is an American he mentioned Bollywood rather than cricket. But, as the manic coverage of the IPL has demonstrated, this game has contributed even more to the dumbing down of the media.   

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Chay Magazine, a new publication on Pakistani sexuality

Kyla Pasha, a Lahore-based blogger and educator who's contributed to SAJAforum (here and here), and Sarah Suhail have started Chay Magazine, an online publication meant to further discussion of sex and sexuality in Pakistani society. They're looking for writers from around the world who can help normalize topics that are otherwise considered off-limits. Here's their mission statement, which they recently sent out:

Having observed in Pakistani society, a disturbing tendency towards fear and shame around issues of sex and sexuality - that is to say, around a normal human interaction - the founders of Chay Magazine feel that sex and sexuality should enter the public discourse. The taboo and silence around sex and sexuality are oppressive on all of us, irrespective of gender, and lead, at the very least, to unhappiness in our daily lives and, more often, to violence, shame, depression, ill health and general social malaise. We at Chay Magazine endeavor to bring to the Pakistani reading public a place to converse about those things we are most shy of. Our hope is that, through this, we can become braver and stronger, more powerful, self-assured, and just and fair members of society.

Our focus is on Pakistani society and our themes emerge from this context. However, Pakistan is only our starting point. Chay Magazine aims to enter the fray of international feminist discourse and, as such, we invite writers of all nationalities, geographies, stripes to contribute. We are not so much interested in where you come from as in what you have to say.

By the way: Chay can't pay. But the editors are looking for 500-1000 word feature articles, poetry and fiction, and artwork. Here are some of their areas of interest:

Let’s Talk about Sex

• Talking about sex and sexuality – why do it, the taboos around it, the problems with it, the silences
• Sex/Gender, gender roles and gender identity
• Talking about sex and romance
• Standards of “moral” conduct relating to sex

FELLOWSHIPS: New Knight-MDLF International Journalism Fellowship Program

From the press release below:

The International Center for Journalists and the Media Development Loan Fund today announced a new partnership, the Knight-MDLF International Journalism Fellowship Program.

The partnership takes advantage of the strengths of the two organizations. MDLF helps build independent media in emerging democracies. It provides low-cost loans and other business assistance. ICFJ’s Knight International Journalism Fellows work on projects designed to make lasting, visible change in the world of journalism.

“The creation of self-sustaining independent media is a powerful way to change a country’s journalism,” said ICFJ President Joyce Barnathan. “Our task will be to ensure that these news businesses survive and thrive by helping them with just the right fellow to just the right newsroom at just the right time.”

Fellows must speak the language of the target country. They must have at least 10 years’ news experience, the ability to plan a specific, detailed training project and the time to spend a year making it work.

This new partnership bolsters the Media Development Loan Fund’s long-term strategy of adapting best media management practices to the needs of local news outlets in the developing world. “This partnership will enable us to expand our capacity to provide world-class consultants to leading independent news businesses in transitional countries,” said MDLF Managing Director Sasa Vucinic. “Fellows will help our clients launch projects that will help ensure long-term success.”

See the details below and post your comments, too.

SEEN: Aasif Mandvi with Sanjaya Malakar and his sis

Photos by Jay Mandal/On Assignment. Event: The Sony South Asian Excellence Awards, in New York.

You may recall that Sanjaya's sister, Shyamali, was also a contestant in the early stages of American Idol, last year, but was cut well before her younger brother became a national phenomenon.

And if you want to see just how maniacally happy Sanjaya can look, check out this next shot, where he's got his chin perched on Pooja Batra's shoulder.

MOVES: Davan Maharaj becomes managing editor of the LA Times

A little over a year ago, we wrote about Davan Maharaj's promotion to business editor of the Los Angeles Times. Now, he's moved a step higher to managing editor, making him the third-ranking editor at the fourth-largest newspaper in the country (after USA Today, Wall Street Journal and New York Times). From the announcement available below:

As Managing Editor, Davan Maharaj assumes oversight of Foreign, National, Metro, Business, Science and Sports, and will work alongside Stanton and Arthur in directing coverage, deploying journalists and resources and overseeing personnel decisions. The Times Business Editor since February 2007, Maharaj is charged with further integrating the print and Web story pipelines.

Asked for a comment by SAJAforum, he wrote in an e-mail: "I'm humbled to part of the leadership of this great institution. The Los Angeles Times is beloved by the 800,000 people who take it into their homes everyday and we have to keep being relevant to these readers."

From an LAT story about his promotion:

Maharaj, 45, has worked as a reporter for The Times in Orange County, Los Angeles and East Africa. His six-part series "Living on Pennies," in collaboration with Times photographer Francine Orr, won the 2005 Ernie Pyle Award for Human Interest Writing and inspired readers to donate tens of thousands of dollars to aid agencies working in Africa.

Read that series, "Living on Pennies," here. Full announcement about the changes below.

Maharaj joins a handful of South Asians at the top of major U.S. news outlets:

• Peter Bhatia, executive editor, The Oregonian (see news of his being named one of E&P's editors of the year)
• Rena Golden is editor of CNN.com (former head of CNN International)
• Bobby Ghosh is world (foreign) editor of Time
• Nisid Hajari is foreign editor of Newsweek
• Stephanie Mehta is foreign editor of Fortune

Post your comments below.

TECH: Skewz.com - Online Media Literacy, or not?

Vipul Vyas has recently launched Skewz.com, a site that interprets the "color" of political online news content. Red and blue represent the degree to which a news item or blogpost is skewed far right or far left and a cool grey determines its perfect balance. The rating depends on registered user votes, who may post and rate articles of their choice, or read and rate available articles that have been "skewzed" by others. From the press release:

“Most online political sites offer a wealth of information, but they are difficult to sort through and often have political agendas,” says Vipul Vyas, founder of Skewz. “Skewz sorts the news so readers don't have to. It's a one-stop resource to see coverage from both sides of the political divide.”

Skewz has simplified the process of sorting news with a user-driven site that includes charts and graphs showing how major news sources are covering various issues of the political debate. There's also a comparative chart (compiled by reader feedback) so users can see how each media outlet stacks up against the rest.

“With nearly one third of the electorate declaring themselves as 'moderate' or 'independent,' every vote in this election matters,” says Jonathan Baciu, co-founder of Skewz. “Whether you want to validate your opinion or challenge it, Skewz offers a wealth of resources to easily understand and find information on either side of the debate.”

The half-Israeli, half-Indian team comprises of six professionals with engineering backgrounds, who share a passion for media literacy, and as it is apparent, political debate. From the website:

MEDIA: Bush's National Security Advisor thinks Nepal and Tibet are the same

Watch President Bush's National Security Advisor, Stephen Hadley, repeatedly confuse Tibet with Nepal while appearing on ABC's "This Week" with George Stephanopoulos. He really doesn't know that Nepal and Tibet are two different places, does he?

I'm wondering why Stephanopoulos never corrected Hadley.

Here is Huffington Post's transcript (watch how he repeats it not once, but several times).

"If countries are really concerned about Nepal, we shouldn't have this sort of non-issue of opening ceremonies or not. They should do the hard work of quiet diplomacy to urge the Chinese government -- in their interest -- to take advantage of this opportunity to do something," Hadley said.

He went on, "The way to deal with the issue of Nepal is not by some -- a statement that you're not going to the opening ceremonies and say, therefore, I checked the Nepal box."

And it didn't end there. "What he's doing on Nepal is what we think the international community ought to be doing, which is approaching the Chinese privately through diplomatic channels and sending a very firm message of concern for human rights, a concern for what's happening in Nepal, urging the Chinese government to understand that it is in their interest to reach out to representatives of the Dalai Lama, and to show, while the whole world is watching China, that they are determined to treat their citizens with dignity and respect. There is an opportunity here."

The New York Times says:

In his ABC interview, Mr. Hadley referred at least a half-dozen times to Nepal when he seemed clearly to be speaking of Tibet. A White House spokesman later confirmed that Mr. Hadley had misspoken.

Seems like "misspoken" is the new word in American politics.

Comments? Please post them below.

SOMEWHAT UNUSUAL: The Baby with Two Faces

Here we go again. A flurry of recent news reports out of India--including a widely circulated AP report--have featured a small baby named Lali, who was born with two faces and one body. Lali suffers from an extremely rare condition known as craniofacial duplication, and has two working pairs of eyes, two noses, and two mouths.

As if that weren't enough of a burden, Lali is also being celebrated as a reincarnation of a Hindu god, with residents of her tiny Uttar Pradesh village flocking to see her with gifts and well wishes.

Accounts differ on just which deity Lali is meant to represent.

From The Telegraph:

To the largely illiterate villagers from the agricultural community the little girl is a reincarnation of Lord Ganesh, the half person and half elephant, and one of the most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon.

But the AP differs.

… the little girl is being hailed as a return of the Hindu goddess of valour, Durga, a fiery deity traditionally depicted with three eyes and many arms.

MEDIA: India, democracy and the press

[This is a SAJAforum article by James Mutti, a Fulbright scholar who spent time in India last year, studying the media and their relationship to the democratic process. He argues that the impressive growth of the media is largely taking place outside of the voting classes, ensuring that the media are not playing a significant public service role. Ultimately, Mutti suggests that a new media model is needed, one which balances its profit motive with coverage of issues relevant to the poorer, voting classes, and which could serve as a model for the developing world. SAJAforum asked some India experts to respond to the article - scroll down to the comments section to read what they have to say.]

The Challenge Facing the Indian Media

In India, unlike in North America and much of Western Europe, newspaper readership is rising sharply.¹ More newspapers are sold daily in India than in any other country except China. However, despite the success of the media's business model, there are important questions about whether the media can serve the needs of Indian non-elites. Can the media report the issues that matter to a majority of India's citizens?

Newsstands in India overflow with newspapers and magazines in English and one or two local languages. They sprawl across sidewalks – dozens of publications neatly lined up or hanging from walls, pillars or trees – glossy color magazines, inky daily newspapers, local flyers and pamphlets of mediocre quality. Newsstands take up prime real estate on the busy and crowded sidewalks of downtown business districts and in small towns. In Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, at least 11 different daily Hindi newspapers are available, along with at least 3 Urdu papers, and more than half a dozen English papers. Dozens of magazines are available in these three languages. They cover all topics – news, fashion, medicine, weddings, movies, motorcycles, religion, travel, sports, yoga. There is an Indian version of Maxim. There are women’s magazines such as Femina, Marie Claire, Elle, Cosmo, and Saheli. There are magazines and comic books just for the kids. Nearly every shopkeeper in his small store can be seen reading Dainik Jagran, Jansatta or Rashtriya Sahara. The paper then sits on the counter for customers to pick up and peruse throughout the day. Dainik Jagran is one of Lucknow’s more expensive newspapers, going for three and a half rupees, about 9 cents. Others sell for as low as two rupees. There is so much available and yet what there is usually appeals only to the middle class.

Liberal Economic Growth vs. Deepening Democracy

In India today, the media is big business – relying on corporate advertising and the spending of the middle class – and it is hard to claim that it is a public good that reaches most citizens.

Contrary to what we might think, there is an inherent tension between India’s much-hyped economic growth and its deepening democracy. Economic success has enabled a middle class to emerge but middle class culture remains irrelevant to the many Indians left behind economically. Democracy has enabled historically marginalized sections of society to become politically powerful through sheer numbers and effective grassroots mobilization while the elite have tended to retreat from the political sphere. Economic growth has led to greater inequalities, while democratic growth has given a stronger voice to those who are suffering from those inequalities.

NEWSPAPERS: SND's "World's Best Designed Newspapers"

"Long Live Print!" - here's a video about the winners of the Society for News Design's annual contest (note the Guardian's citation for its Bhutto assassination coverage.

SND29: The 2007 World's Best-Designed Newspapers from Society for News Design on Vimeo.

Post your comments below.

NEWSPAPERS: Charting circulation declines at U.S. dailies

Editor & Publisher, the trade publication that covers the U.S. newspaper business has compiled a depressing (but not surprising) article about the state of the industry. Reporter Jennifer Saba, looking at four years of stats, tells us that the top papers have lost a collective 1.4 million in daily circulation.

While the industry has lost about 10% of circulation overall in the ps four years among the leading papers, some have bled much more than others during the same period, according to an E&P analysis of data from the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

Read her story here. Below is the chart from the piece.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on the numbers and, from those who know, any comparative numbers from the  top newspapers in South Asia, especially, the booming media climate in India. Post 'em in the comments section, please.

[I have been trying to track some of these numbers in an online resource, "Changing Media Landscape" for a while now, and am adding this to it.]

PAPER -- Daily (M-F) Sept. '07 - Copies, Gained/Lost Since Sept. 03-- % Change

USA Today -- 2,293,137 -- 46,141 -- 2.1%
The Wall Street Journal -- 2,011,882 -- (-79,180) -- (-3.8%)
The New York Times -- 1,037,828 -- (-80,737) -- (-7.2%)
Los Angeles Times*   -- 794,705 -- (-201,133) -- (-20.2%)
New York Daily News -- 681,415 -- (-47,709) -- (-6.5%)

New York Post -- 667,119 -- 14,693 -- 2.3%
The Washington Post -- 635,087 -- (-97,785) -- (-13.3%)
Chicago Tribune -- 559,404 -- (-54,105) -- (-8.8%)
Houston Chronicle* -- 502,631 -- (-50,387) -- (-9.1%)
Newsday -- 387,503 -- NA

The Arizona Republic*, Phoenix -- 385,214 -- (-47,070) -- (-10.9%)
The Dallas Morning News -- 373,586 -- NA
San Francisco Chronicle -- 365,234 -- (-147,406) -- (-28.8%)
The Boston Globe -- 360,695 -- (-89,843) -- (-19.9%)
The Star-Ledger, Newark, N.J. -- 353,003 -- (-55,669) -- (-13.6%)

The Philadelphia Inquirer -- 338,049 -- (-38,444) -- (-10.2%)
Star Tribune*, Minneapolis -- 341,645 -- (-38,709) -- (-10.2%)
The Plain Dealer*, Cleveland -- 332,894 -- (-32,394) -- (-8.9%)
Detroit Free Press -- 320,125 -- (-32,589) -- (-9.2%)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- 318,350 -- (-64,071) -- (-16.8%)

* Daily average is Monday-Saturday.

RESOURCE: Explaining "off the record" to sources (and to journalists)

The recent resignation of Samantha Power, Barack Obama's foreign policy adviser, has touched a chord among non-journalists I have spoken to. Even setting aside their own preferences for Obama, Clinton or McCain, I realized - again - that the term "off the record" isn't properly understood. Journalists and sources use terms like "off the record," "not for attribution,"  "deep background" without knowing what it means exactly. So I thought I'd point to some places where sources - and journalists - can learn about this.

• Slate's always interesting feature, Explainer, has a good, well, explainer on just this topic. From the piece by Michelle Tsai:

How do you go off the record with a journalist?

Ask to go off the record, discuss what that means, and don't reveal any secrets until the journalist has agreed to the understanding. The same basic guidelines would apply with most reporters, but there are no rigid and universal rules; in the end, it always comes down to individual judgment. The New York Times style guide talks about the attribution of information and granting of anonymity—i.e., how to accurately present the information and sources you have—but doesn't issue specific advice for how to negotiate with a source by going off the record. Neither does the Scotsman have any written rules on the subject.

Both parties—reporters and their sources—should agree to going off (or back on) record in advance.

Read the rest of her piece here (thanks to Lizza for the alert).

• Steve Buttry of the American Press Institute (and a former SAJA convention speaker), has tips on developing and cultivating sources. Among them:

INDIA MEDIA: FT to end relationshionship with Business Standard

News about the Indian business newspaper business in Mint, the biz daily run by Raju Narisetti, formerly of the Wall Street Journal. From Archana Shukla's "Financial Times rewrites plan for India, to end Business Standard deal":

London’s Financial Times (FT) is on its way out of a 15-year relationship with the Indian financial newspaper, the Business Standard (BS), ending a landmark partnership that had, in recent times, become a source of frustration for the British newspaper’s parent, the Pearson group, which had high hopes of the booming Indian newspaper market.

While details of the complex separation deal were not fully clear, BS will retain the right to use the FT brand as well as content through at least 2008.

In the interim, FT is closing an online content deal with Network 18 Media and Investments Ltd, the diversified media conglomerate, which, through its TV18 India Ltd, runs CNBC TV18 as well as Moneycontrol.com financial news portal in India.
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MEDIA: Rolling Stone launches in India

That icon of the rock world, Rolling Stone had it's official launch in Mumbai last week. The magazine's Indian incarnation will feature film music, up-and-coming rock bands and other emerging and popular music talent throughout India.