Journalism zeroes in on Truth
And after a glorious siege, offers her a job as a cocktail waitress
Well, the original article was "Pakistan zeroes in on zealots" in the Christian Science Monitor published this day 09 July 2007 (http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0709/p08s01-comv.html?page=1); snipped and commented upon, below.
> The standoff at the Red Mosque represents the rise of moderate
> Muslims against violent, vigilante Islam.
Possibly; however, it is noteworthy that both sides in this conflict carry automatic weapons and are prepared, and trained, to kill. Whether one is "right", or "wrong", or "justified" depends upon one's point of view.
> When the violent strand of Islam eventually collapses of
> its inherent contradiction, that day may have been foreseen
> in the siege at Pakistan's Red Mosque.
What inherent contradiction? That it is a religion of peace and still is involved in murders the world over? Well, it's not the first, and such a trifling thing as a logical discrepancy is not adequate to stop someone who "believes" rather than "thinks". This is true not just of terrorists, but of the major part of mankind.
> If the military uses wise tactics to end the siege well,
> civilization will be the victor.
This is, firstly, pompous. The word "civilization" does not, yet, refer exclusively to Japanese society, or the ancient Greek city state, or Canadian democracy. After any conflict, the victor will (eventually) be deemed to be, or even have been, civilized.
Secondly, what if the military uses "unwise tactics" to end the siege "well"? Or "wise tactics" to end the siege "unwell"? Who shall decree what is wise, and what is well, and for whom?
> Pakistani society, which prefers democracy over sharia
> vigilantism, was fed up.
Indeed? One wonders how the writer pretends to know this? Interesting that a people should "prefer" democracy, but have years of military dictatorship.
> And one of their leaders, senior cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz,
> tried to sneak out of the compound in women's clothing,
> covered in a burqa and wearing high heels.
> For all of his past sermonizing on keeping the sexes
> separate, his attempted escape in drag revealed the
> underlying farce of Islamic holy war.
This is quite an amusing picture. However, I don't quite think that a single person's attempt to survive an armed conflict wearing clothes ordinarily worn by members of the opposite gender, or indeed clothes no longer in fashion, or not suited to the weather, or indeed no clothes at all, may be used to pass judgement upon an entire social phenomenon. This is not very different from using a hypothetical schoolchild's murder of his classmates to blame the whole of western Christianity, or to condemn its values of freedom, tolerance and personal privacy.
> If Mr. Musharraf succeeds in ending the standoff
> with little bloodshed, the victory will send a strong
> message to anyone trying to turn Pakistan into "Talistan."
It's actually General Musharraf, not Mr. Musharraf, as that country's head of state keeps too his military rank.
What message will it send? That military force can solve any crisis? This is not a bank robbery in progress; brute force is usually not at its most effective in suppressing ideas.
> The nation's problem is compounded by the bungled attempts
> of Musharraf, who is both president and chief of the army,
> to restore a full democracy in Pakistan after his eight
> years in power.
Ah, now it's just "Musharraf"!
What, I wonder, is a "full democracy"? Where every single member participates in the state's decisions? Such a system of government - and it is only one of many systems of government - does not exist in any society, nor has it ever existed.
Systems of government are the means, leading to an end: a life of dignity, justice and freedom, perhaps.
How curious that the means, democracy, is now hailed as the end.
> He has the quiet support of much of Pakistan's political
> opposition.
Quiet support? So they really want him to stay, but are going to keep it secret? Not usually the nature of a politician, is it?
> This crisis also represents, in a microcosm, an attempt
> by the world's 1 billion, mainly moderate Muslims to stand
> up to zealots. Al Qaeda and other such groups have lost
> their "war" to create a united Muslim state because of
> their violent, antidemocratic tactics. It only takes a
> civilized response to reveal their lack of appeal.
This appears premature. I believe the clash continues; as evinced by the situation in Iraq, Pakistan, the south of Thailand, England, Afghanistan, Palestine etc.. In fact, the evidence is so strongly in support of the "war" not having ended, that one wonders what the brief of the writer is; it does not appear to be objective.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Contemptible prevarication
The Pakistani newspaper Dawn (http://www.dawn.com/2007/07/08/top2.htm) states:
> For the first time during the five-day battle, the government
> tried to impose a censorship on the media by not allowing
> its personnel to proceed close to Lal Masjid.
This is not censorship. If a media story about the five-day battle was not allowed to be published, that would be censorship. I imagine that, in most free countries, the media is also not allowed into a citizen's home - that's not censorship either. It's called privacy. Ditto for access to certain government offices, crime scenes, military conflict, operation theatres - for various reasons, many entirely unrelated to censorship.
As an aside: certainly an amusing phrase, that (its personnel). And, also a telling one; the media has begun to regard itself as a unified organization, with uniformed drones entitled to be beyond laws and norms of civilized behaviour.
The Pakistani newspaper Dawn (http://www.dawn.com/2007/07/08/top2.htm) states:
> For the first time during the five-day battle, the government
> tried to impose a censorship on the media by not allowing
> its personnel to proceed close to Lal Masjid.
This is not censorship. If a media story about the five-day battle was not allowed to be published, that would be censorship. I imagine that, in most free countries, the media is also not allowed into a citizen's home - that's not censorship either. It's called privacy. Ditto for access to certain government offices, crime scenes, military conflict, operation theatres - for various reasons, many entirely unrelated to censorship.
As an aside: certainly an amusing phrase, that (its personnel). And, also a telling one; the media has begun to regard itself as a unified organization, with uniformed drones entitled to be beyond laws and norms of civilized behaviour.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Cameras and human life
An article in the Pakistani newspaper Dawn (URL: http://www.dawn.com/2007/05/13/top1.htm) has the following:
> Many camerapersons were injured and their expensive
> cameras smashed while they were beaten up.
Expensive cameras? One wonders whether they were sleek as well? Perhaps at the cutting edge of photographic technology?
Why is the cost of these inanimate, mass-produced objects of relevance, when their bearers were attacked and hurt?
Especially puzzling, for this is an article that starts with "At least 34 people were killed and over 140 others injured...."
Human tragedy, and we are told of expensive cameras. I can understand that some journalists value their own kind above the populace. That they should so prefer their equipment is a little shocking.
An article in the Pakistani newspaper Dawn (URL: http://www.dawn.com/2007/05/13/top1.htm) has the following:
> Many camerapersons were injured and their expensive
> cameras smashed while they were beaten up.
Expensive cameras? One wonders whether they were sleek as well? Perhaps at the cutting edge of photographic technology?
Why is the cost of these inanimate, mass-produced objects of relevance, when their bearers were attacked and hurt?
Especially puzzling, for this is an article that starts with "At least 34 people were killed and over 140 others injured...."
Human tragedy, and we are told of expensive cameras. I can understand that some journalists value their own kind above the populace. That they should so prefer their equipment is a little shocking.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
On ugliness and faintly pathetic pseudo-rhetoric
Comments on a recent article by a Mr. Jawed Naqvi in a Pakistani newspaper (URL: http://www.dawn.com/weekly/jawed/20070705.htm) titled "The ugly American is passé; welcome the ugly Indian".
> IT is legitimate to doubt the credibility of the Pew opinion poll that once showed
> Indians as supportive of the US, when the rest of the world, including its
> European allies, seemed to have deserted America over the Iraq fiasco.
This is not even specious reasoning. The opinion of the rest of the world is distinct from that of the Indians, and hence is no reason to doubt the credibility of any poll. (It is entirely legitimate to do so, of course, given the nature of opinion polls.) Also, one finds it hard to believe that the rest of the world is indeed unanimous in its criticism of the "Iraq fiasco".
> It can be conceded that in a country of a billion people, it’s not impossible to
> find a million something holding the view, which Pew mistook for endorsement
> from an entire nation.
This is downright silly, and I so did wish to avoid that word. Opinion polls do extrapolate. If one wishes to poll the Indians, done fairly regularly in that country (they call them elections), one does not solicit every single one of the billion people there.
> A majority of Indians would instinctively agree with Michael Moore rather than
> with Donald Rumsfeld about the causes that led to 9/11.
It is, of course, fairly interesting, and not a little pathetic, how Mr. Naqvi claims be able to characterise the views of a majority of Indians. Also, one wonders why the Indians would "instinctively" agree with Mr. Moore - because he wears jeans? He's younger?
> Similarly, more Indians would identify with the views of, say, Noam Chomsky rather
> than George W. Bush and his spin doctors about ways to bring peace to this planet.
Like the previous one, this too is an unsubstantiated claim. It reveals the author's preference for Chomsky over Bush, and also his inability to construct a cogent chain of reasoning, but little else.
> Pew representatives, if they mean serious business, should try out this experiment.
> Give Chomsky or Moore one tenth the space that Bush and Rumsfeld have been
> getting on Indian TV channels and then take an opinion poll about which side we’re
> really on.
Here's another interesting experiment. Show pictures of physically attractive men and women, and then we'll really know what the Indians wish to see.
A person P, at time T, has a certain opinion O on a given matter. If you give him books by Chomsky, Hitler, Gandhi, Mandela, Marx and Camus (or TV programmes on), he might well change his opinion. However, the study is about what his opinion is, not what it might be if he's influenced in a certain direction.
> Indian expatriates, more popularly known as NRIs, are known to hold diverse
> opinions not too different from the way the cookie crumbles back home.
What does this dubiously constructed sentence wish to express? - that NRIs hold a) diverse opinions and b) these opinions are not different from the situation at home? But then they cannot hold diverse opinions, can they?
> And sharply differing opinions have always existed in India
And in Colombia, Madagascar, China and Germany. Members of human societies tend to hold varying opinions.
> (so let’s not confuse this with virtues of recent democracy).
This is the most innocuous looking sentence of all! Recent democracy? India has been a democracy from the moment of its birth, which was not too long ago, of course. But I don't see the point here - is democracy being reviled? Or is a tendency of Indians to hold different opinions being stressed?
The rest of the article goes on in a rather disconnected tone about how the Indians are ugly, except for the extremely poor - which opinion Mr. Naqvi is, of course, entitled to.
My opinion is that Indians should also be entitled to believe in the vision of Bush et al, should they choose to, without being called ugly. Free society, common civility, the rules of debate and all that sort of thing.
Comments on a recent article by a Mr. Jawed Naqvi in a Pakistani newspaper (URL: http://www.dawn.com/weekly/jawed/20070705.htm) titled "The ugly American is passé; welcome the ugly Indian".
> IT is legitimate to doubt the credibility of the Pew opinion poll that once showed
> Indians as supportive of the US, when the rest of the world, including its
> European allies, seemed to have deserted America over the Iraq fiasco.
This is not even specious reasoning. The opinion of the rest of the world is distinct from that of the Indians, and hence is no reason to doubt the credibility of any poll. (It is entirely legitimate to do so, of course, given the nature of opinion polls.) Also, one finds it hard to believe that the rest of the world is indeed unanimous in its criticism of the "Iraq fiasco".
> It can be conceded that in a country of a billion people, it’s not impossible to
> find a million something holding the view, which Pew mistook for endorsement
> from an entire nation.
This is downright silly, and I so did wish to avoid that word. Opinion polls do extrapolate. If one wishes to poll the Indians, done fairly regularly in that country (they call them elections), one does not solicit every single one of the billion people there.
> A majority of Indians would instinctively agree with Michael Moore rather than
> with Donald Rumsfeld about the causes that led to 9/11.
It is, of course, fairly interesting, and not a little pathetic, how Mr. Naqvi claims be able to characterise the views of a majority of Indians. Also, one wonders why the Indians would "instinctively" agree with Mr. Moore - because he wears jeans? He's younger?
> Similarly, more Indians would identify with the views of, say, Noam Chomsky rather
> than George W. Bush and his spin doctors about ways to bring peace to this planet.
Like the previous one, this too is an unsubstantiated claim. It reveals the author's preference for Chomsky over Bush, and also his inability to construct a cogent chain of reasoning, but little else.
> Pew representatives, if they mean serious business, should try out this experiment.
> Give Chomsky or Moore one tenth the space that Bush and Rumsfeld have been
> getting on Indian TV channels and then take an opinion poll about which side we’re
> really on.
Here's another interesting experiment. Show pictures of physically attractive men and women, and then we'll really know what the Indians wish to see.
A person P, at time T, has a certain opinion O on a given matter. If you give him books by Chomsky, Hitler, Gandhi, Mandela, Marx and Camus (or TV programmes on), he might well change his opinion. However, the study is about what his opinion is, not what it might be if he's influenced in a certain direction.
> Indian expatriates, more popularly known as NRIs, are known to hold diverse
> opinions not too different from the way the cookie crumbles back home.
What does this dubiously constructed sentence wish to express? - that NRIs hold a) diverse opinions and b) these opinions are not different from the situation at home? But then they cannot hold diverse opinions, can they?
> And sharply differing opinions have always existed in India
And in Colombia, Madagascar, China and Germany. Members of human societies tend to hold varying opinions.
> (so let’s not confuse this with virtues of recent democracy).
This is the most innocuous looking sentence of all! Recent democracy? India has been a democracy from the moment of its birth, which was not too long ago, of course. But I don't see the point here - is democracy being reviled? Or is a tendency of Indians to hold different opinions being stressed?
The rest of the article goes on in a rather disconnected tone about how the Indians are ugly, except for the extremely poor - which opinion Mr. Naqvi is, of course, entitled to.
My opinion is that Indians should also be entitled to believe in the vision of Bush et al, should they choose to, without being called ugly. Free society, common civility, the rules of debate and all that sort of thing.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
What I did before breakfast on Sunday morning
Took me a while to compose this review of some randomly chosen RSS articles from the Doordarshan website. I would like the country's foremost media house to be an example to others, even internationally. However, this is far from being true, as I shall point out in the context of some recent article of yours, enclosed here. Note that these are all from RSS feeds of one single day! (Sunday, 06 May 2007). The URLs do not appear, from their nomenclature, to be permanent at all (I expect from a web based media agency to have permanent URLs to their articles - with or without subscription).
1. Campaigning for last phase of UP polls to end today
(URL: http://www.ddinews.gov.in/Homepage/Homepage+-+Headlines/end+on+Sunday.htm)
> "The Lacklustre electioneering,......."
Incorrect punctuation: Why is the first letter of "lacklustre" in uppercase?
> ".....political leaders and cinestars canvassing for the respective party candidates."
Perhaps "for their respective", and not "for the respective"?
> Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati is taking on the rivals with single handidly......"
"single handidly"? This couldn't even have passed the electronic spellchecker. I presume the writer means "single handedly". With the i in the second word, and not an e.
> "....Mayawati is taking on the rivals with single handidly...."
Unnecessary use of the word "with" here.
> ".....by addressing series of meetings daily."
Missing article: "by addressing a series of meeting" is preferred.
> "......and cricketer Navjot Singh Siddhu sought vote for their respective candidates."
Missing article: "sought a vote", and not "sought vote". Unless they were seeking more than one vote - in which case, it should be "sought votes", and not "sought vote". At least, here it's "their respective", and not "the respective" as a couple of paragraphs before.
Apart from this, the twice used word "cinestar" does not exist in the O.E.D., and "supremo" (for Mayawati) is only an informal term. I wonder why she should be designated as a "supremo", but Sonia Gandhi gets to be called "president" (of their respective political parties)?
2. Rahul is fine: Shastri
(URL: http://www.ddinews.gov.in/Sports/Sports+-+Top+Story/Dravid+hit+by+a+bouncer.htm)
> "...team's manager Ravi Shastri.."
Missing article: "the team's manager" and not "team's manager". Also, commas are missing before and after "Ravi Shastri".
> "....he is on rest following doctor's advise."
"Advise" (with an s) is a verb, the correct noun form is "advice" (with a c); hence "doctor's advice", and not "doctor's advise".
> "....from Rudra Pratap Singh Saturday, the penultimate day of the...."
One presumes that the gentleman's name does not include a day of the week: hence, a comma is missing after "Rudra Pratap Singh", and a preposition ("on") before "Saturday".
> "Team's Administrative Manager Surendra Bhave said...."
Missing article: "The team's" and not "Team's". Also, two commas are missing; hence "..Manager, Surendra Bhave, said.." and not "..Manager Surendra Bhave said..."
3. 2-member committee to discuss contracts issue
(URL: http://www.ddinews.gov.in/Sports/Sports+-+Headlines/IGNOU+to+host+Brainstorming+session.htm)
> "The committee will reportedly discuss the issue with the players after the Bangladesh tour."
Error in semantics: "Reportedly, the committee will discuss...." or "The committee will, reportedly, discuss....", but not "The committee will reportedly discuss...".
> "The two-member committee will also decide the future coach for Indian cricket team. For this they will meet in the third week of May."
Missing article: "the Indian..." and not "Indian". Also, the latter sentence, in a four sentence article, does not add to the professional appearance of the article. I would prefer the two to be combined into "The two-member committee, in the third week of May, will also decide the future coach.....".
4. Praful Patel to welcome first Delhi-Surat Indian flight
(URL: http://www.ddinews.gov.in/Business/Business+-+Other+Stories/Cabinet+approves+setting+up+of+aviation+regulator.htm)
> "The first flight of Indian from New Delhi will land at Surat..."
But this is not the first flight of Indian from New Delhi! Perhaps the first flight of Indian from New Delhi to Surat.
> "This flight will operate on daily basis..."
Missing article: "on a daily basis" and not "on daily basis".
> "...sprucing up the airport facilities in order to...."
Superfluous article: "sprucing up airport facilities" is preferred.
5. Absconding TRS MLA likely to surrender today
(URL: http://www.ddinews.gov.in/National/National+-+Headlines/Karnataka.htm)
> "...against him on May three and..."
May three? This is no way to designate the the third day of May. Funnily enough, the article goes on to use another, more appropriate, representation "...police on 3rd May in..".
> "...to obtain fake passport....."
Missing article: "obtain a fake passport" and not "obtain fake passport".
6.Delhi chess festival to begin today
(URL: http://www.ddinews.gov.in/Sports/Sports+-+Other+Stories/Delhi+chess+festival+to+begin+on+Sunday.htm)
> "A month-long Delhi State Chess Championships is....."
Choose from "The month-long Delhi State Chess Championship...", or "A month-long chess championship in Delhi....". In any case, the "s" at the end of "championships" is to be dropped.
7. India go down 1-0 to Aus in Azlan Shah hockey
(URL: http://www.ddinews.gov.in/Sports/Sports+-+Headlines/India+to+take+on+Aus+in+Azlan+Shah.htm)
> "Indian hockey team has opened campaign with..."
Missing article: "The Indian" and not "Indian". Also, prefer "opened its campaign" to "opened campaign".
> "..satisfied with his boy's performance."
Misplaced apostrophe. "his boys' performance" and not "his boy's performance".
> "......denying them any clear shot in the goal."
Prefer "clear shot at the goal" to "clear shot in the goal".
> "William Xalxo and Harpal Singh was effective...."
"Were", not "was". I.e. "William Xalxo and Harpal Singh were effective....".
> "Prabodh Tirkey and Vikram Kanth, who arrived just a day earlier to replace Ignace Tirkey, was up to...."
Prefer "..who had arrived..." to "...who arrived". Again, "Were", not "was".
> "It was the Australians...."
Yet again, "Were", not "was".
> "....reducing India's attack to far and few."
Prefer ending the sentence with "....reducing India's attack." (singular). Or ".....India's attacks...". (plural)
> "Indians made last ditch...."
Missing article: "The Indians made" and not "Indians made".
> "...it was good a showing.."
Switched words: "a good showing" and not "good a showing".
> "...we are moving in right direction.."
Missing article: "the right direction" and not "right direction".
Took me a while to compose this review of some randomly chosen RSS articles from the Doordarshan website. I would like the country's foremost media house to be an example to others, even internationally. However, this is far from being true, as I shall point out in the context of some recent article of yours, enclosed here. Note that these are all from RSS feeds of one single day! (Sunday, 06 May 2007). The URLs do not appear, from their nomenclature, to be permanent at all (I expect from a web based media agency to have permanent URLs to their articles - with or without subscription).
1. Campaigning for last phase of UP polls to end today
(URL: http://www.ddinews.gov.in/Homepage/Homepage+-+Headlines/end+on+Sunday.htm)
> "The Lacklustre electioneering,......."
Incorrect punctuation: Why is the first letter of "lacklustre" in uppercase?
> ".....political leaders and cinestars canvassing for the respective party candidates."
Perhaps "for their respective", and not "for the respective"?
> Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati is taking on the rivals with single handidly......"
"single handidly"? This couldn't even have passed the electronic spellchecker. I presume the writer means "single handedly". With the i in the second word, and not an e.
> "....Mayawati is taking on the rivals with single handidly...."
Unnecessary use of the word "with" here.
> ".....by addressing series of meetings daily."
Missing article: "by addressing a series of meeting" is preferred.
> "......and cricketer Navjot Singh Siddhu sought vote for their respective candidates."
Missing article: "sought a vote", and not "sought vote". Unless they were seeking more than one vote - in which case, it should be "sought votes", and not "sought vote". At least, here it's "their respective", and not "the respective" as a couple of paragraphs before.
Apart from this, the twice used word "cinestar" does not exist in the O.E.D., and "supremo" (for Mayawati) is only an informal term. I wonder why she should be designated as a "supremo", but Sonia Gandhi gets to be called "president" (of their respective political parties)?
2. Rahul is fine: Shastri
(URL: http://www.ddinews.gov.in/Sports/Sports+-+Top+Story/Dravid+hit+by+a+bouncer.htm)
> "...team's manager Ravi Shastri.."
Missing article: "the team's manager" and not "team's manager". Also, commas are missing before and after "Ravi Shastri".
> "....he is on rest following doctor's advise."
"Advise" (with an s) is a verb, the correct noun form is "advice" (with a c); hence "doctor's advice", and not "doctor's advise".
> "....from Rudra Pratap Singh Saturday, the penultimate day of the...."
One presumes that the gentleman's name does not include a day of the week: hence, a comma is missing after "Rudra Pratap Singh", and a preposition ("on") before "Saturday".
> "Team's Administrative Manager Surendra Bhave said...."
Missing article: "The team's" and not "Team's". Also, two commas are missing; hence "..Manager, Surendra Bhave, said.." and not "..Manager Surendra Bhave said..."
3. 2-member committee to discuss contracts issue
(URL: http://www.ddinews.gov.in/Sports/Sports+-+Headlines/IGNOU+to+host+Brainstorming+session.htm)
> "The committee will reportedly discuss the issue with the players after the Bangladesh tour."
Error in semantics: "Reportedly, the committee will discuss...." or "The committee will, reportedly, discuss....", but not "The committee will reportedly discuss...".
> "The two-member committee will also decide the future coach for Indian cricket team. For this they will meet in the third week of May."
Missing article: "the Indian..." and not "Indian". Also, the latter sentence, in a four sentence article, does not add to the professional appearance of the article. I would prefer the two to be combined into "The two-member committee, in the third week of May, will also decide the future coach.....".
4. Praful Patel to welcome first Delhi-Surat Indian flight
(URL: http://www.ddinews.gov.in/Business/Business+-+Other+Stories/Cabinet+approves+setting+up+of+aviation+regulator.htm)
> "The first flight of Indian from New Delhi will land at Surat..."
But this is not the first flight of Indian from New Delhi! Perhaps the first flight of Indian from New Delhi to Surat.
> "This flight will operate on daily basis..."
Missing article: "on a daily basis" and not "on daily basis".
> "...sprucing up the airport facilities in order to...."
Superfluous article: "sprucing up airport facilities" is preferred.
5. Absconding TRS MLA likely to surrender today
(URL: http://www.ddinews.gov.in/National/National+-+Headlines/Karnataka.htm)
> "...against him on May three and..."
May three? This is no way to designate the the third day of May. Funnily enough, the article goes on to use another, more appropriate, representation "...police on 3rd May in..".
> "...to obtain fake passport....."
Missing article: "obtain a fake passport" and not "obtain fake passport".
6.Delhi chess festival to begin today
(URL: http://www.ddinews.gov.in/Sports/Sports+-+Other+Stories/Delhi+chess+festival+to+begin+on+Sunday.htm)
> "A month-long Delhi State Chess Championships is....."
Choose from "The month-long Delhi State Chess Championship...", or "A month-long chess championship in Delhi....". In any case, the "s" at the end of "championships" is to be dropped.
7. India go down 1-0 to Aus in Azlan Shah hockey
(URL: http://www.ddinews.gov.in/Sports/Sports+-+Headlines/India+to+take+on+Aus+in+Azlan+Shah.htm)
> "Indian hockey team has opened campaign with..."
Missing article: "The Indian" and not "Indian". Also, prefer "opened its campaign" to "opened campaign".
> "..satisfied with his boy's performance."
Misplaced apostrophe. "his boys' performance" and not "his boy's performance".
> "......denying them any clear shot in the goal."
Prefer "clear shot at the goal" to "clear shot in the goal".
> "William Xalxo and Harpal Singh was effective...."
"Were", not "was". I.e. "William Xalxo and Harpal Singh were effective....".
> "Prabodh Tirkey and Vikram Kanth, who arrived just a day earlier to replace Ignace Tirkey, was up to...."
Prefer "..who had arrived..." to "...who arrived". Again, "Were", not "was".
> "It was the Australians...."
Yet again, "Were", not "was".
> "....reducing India's attack to far and few."
Prefer ending the sentence with "....reducing India's attack." (singular). Or ".....India's attacks...". (plural)
> "Indians made last ditch...."
Missing article: "The Indians made" and not "Indians made".
> "...it was good a showing.."
Switched words: "a good showing" and not "good a showing".
> "...we are moving in right direction.."
Missing article: "the right direction" and not "right direction".
Thursday, March 29, 2007
And Doordarshan yet again
Writing to them about errors in their articles doesn't seem to stop them from producing shoddy pieces on a consistent basis; my letter to them:
Your recent article "BJP launches UP campaign"
(http://www.ddinews.gov.in/Homepage/Homepage+-+Headlines/BJP.htm)
contains some fairly evident grammatical errors.
> Talking to reporters in Lucknow after addressing a workers' meet,
> Arun Jeitley former Union minister and BJP general secretary
> said Kalyan Singh would be party's Chief Ministerial candidate
> for upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.
There's a comma missing after 'Jeitley' and before 'said'.
There's an article missing before "party's Chief Ministerial candidate",
and another before "upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.".
> It is probably the first election when the entire BJP top
> brass is pitched in for simultaneous poll campaign launch
> covering almost the whole state.
There's an article missing before "simultaneous poll campaign launch".
> In Varanasi Former national BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu
> said the party manifesto for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections
> will be released after the festival of Ram Navami.
Why is the first alphabet of "former" in uppercase?
There is a missing comma after "Varanasi".
Writing to them about errors in their articles doesn't seem to stop them from producing shoddy pieces on a consistent basis; my letter to them:
Your recent article "BJP launches UP campaign"
(http://www.ddinews.gov.in/Homepage/Homepage+-+Headlines/BJP.htm)
contains some fairly evident grammatical errors.
> Talking to reporters in Lucknow after addressing a workers' meet,
> Arun Jeitley former Union minister and BJP general secretary
> said Kalyan Singh would be party's Chief Ministerial candidate
> for upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.
There's a comma missing after 'Jeitley' and before 'said'.
There's an article missing before "party's Chief Ministerial candidate",
and another before "upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.".
> It is probably the first election when the entire BJP top
> brass is pitched in for simultaneous poll campaign launch
> covering almost the whole state.
There's an article missing before "simultaneous poll campaign launch".
> In Varanasi Former national BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu
> said the party manifesto for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections
> will be released after the festival of Ram Navami.
Why is the first alphabet of "former" in uppercase?
There is a missing comma after "Varanasi".
DD strikes again
I write once again to point out the poor presentation of a news article on the Doordarshan website. The URL is http://www.ddinews.gov.in/International/International+-+Other+Stories/Navy+chiefs+seek+bullet+proof+cars.htm.
1. "Concerned about their security amid rising suicide attacks, the Chiefs of Pakistan's Air Force and Navy have asked the government to provide bullet vehicles to them. "
Here, one presumes the author means "bullet proof vehicles" and not "bullet vehicles".
2. "Presently, the air chief has a Mercedes car at his disposal but it is not bullet proof."
Incorrect punctuation, "the air chief" should be "the Air Chief".
3. "....on Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS) Lt-Gen Ahsan Salim Hayat, who was then Corps Commander Karanchi."
I'm not sure what Karanchi is, but it doesn't sound like the name of a Corps, like XII Corps etc.. Is it the location of the Corps HQ? The officer in question did command V Corps, which is based in Karachi. I can only presume that this is a typograhical error, and also one of nomenclature.
I write once again to point out the poor presentation of a news article on the Doordarshan website. The URL is http://www.ddinews.gov.in/International/International+-+Other+Stories/Navy+chiefs+seek+bullet+proof+cars.htm.
1. "Concerned about their security amid rising suicide attacks, the Chiefs of Pakistan's Air Force and Navy have asked the government to provide bullet vehicles to them. "
Here, one presumes the author means "bullet proof vehicles" and not "bullet vehicles".
2. "Presently, the air chief has a Mercedes car at his disposal but it is not bullet proof."
Incorrect punctuation, "the air chief" should be "the Air Chief".
3. "....on Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS) Lt-Gen Ahsan Salim Hayat, who was then Corps Commander Karanchi."
I'm not sure what Karanchi is, but it doesn't sound like the name of a Corps, like XII Corps etc.. Is it the location of the Corps HQ? The officer in question did command V Corps, which is based in Karachi. I can only presume that this is a typograhical error, and also one of nomenclature.
Appalling pieces of editing - Doordarshan
I'm shocked at the appalling lack of professionalism I'm dismayed to witness in what might be regarded as India's flagship media outlet. The letter I wrote to them follows:
Your recent article http://www.ddinews.gov.in/Homepage/Homepage+-+Headlines/bermuda.htm "Millions of Indians praying for our victory: Bermuda captain" published on Sunday 25 March 2007 contained a large number of faults - grammatical errors and misspelt words.
> In a highly improbable scenario in case Bermuda wins againsd Bangladesh then India has a chance
> to make it to the super eights and this very thought that hopes of a mighty country of one billion
> people rest on one of the smallest nation in the world makes Romaine happy.
Complete lack of punctuation here. Choose perhaps "In the highly improbable scenario that Bermuda wins...." or "In a highly improbable scenario - the case that Bermuda wins......"
Against, not againsd.
> ''Millions of Indian supporters will be backing us, it's good to have this Additional support,'' he told
> newspersons at Queen's park Oval after team's work out.
Why is the first letter of 'additional' capitalized?
The article before "team's work out" is missing.
> We've suffered two big losses, but we're looking to finish with a win tomorrow,'' he said with a chuckle.
The reported speech here should end with a period, not a comma.
> Romaine was thrilled that ''Bermuda fans appreciate what we've achieved by qualifying for
> the World Cup, and was confident that things will improve for Bermuda cricket after this exposure.
Incorrect switch from reported to direct speech. This is unforgiveable, at least on a professional's part. Or do you employ bored schoolchildren?
> ''The lack of good pitches back home has meant that we've played all our games away durinf the
> past year. As amatdurs, we're `lways relaxed in our approach.
During, not durinf.
Amateurs, not amatdurs.
Always, not 'lways.
> 'It's an important game for us as we low have a chance of advancing to the Super 8s.
Now, not low.
Also, the terminating double-quote is misplaced.
> So expect our nerves will be okay going for this tie.
Missing terminating double-quote.
> MaKilg the Super 8s will be a very significant moment for Bangladesh cricket,
Making, not MaKlig.
> Cricket's a big game back home. people back home are waiting for us to enter the Super 8s.It
> will make them happy,''Bashar said.
When starting a new sentence, the first letter of the first word ought to be in upper case. Hence "People", not "people".
A space is required between the period and the start of a new sentence. Hence "Super 8s. It will", not "Super 8s.It will".
A space is also required between a terminating double quote and the next word.
Hence *happy," Bashar said* and not *happy,"Bashar said*.
The reported speech here should end with a period, not a comma.
All this is bad enough - I've noticed shoddy editing of this sort on a fairly consistent basis. I wish I could offer some words of encouragement alongwith what I hope is castigation sufficient to cause you to take your editorial team to task. Perhaps even ask them to consider another line of work - as professional snake charmers, or assistant window cleaners; they seem to be entirely at sea with their current calling.
I'm shocked at the appalling lack of professionalism I'm dismayed to witness in what might be regarded as India's flagship media outlet. The letter I wrote to them follows:
Your recent article http://www.ddinews.gov.in/Homepage/Homepage+-+Headlines/bermuda.htm "Millions of Indians praying for our victory: Bermuda captain" published on Sunday 25 March 2007 contained a large number of faults - grammatical errors and misspelt words.
> In a highly improbable scenario in case Bermuda wins againsd Bangladesh then India has a chance
> to make it to the super eights and this very thought that hopes of a mighty country of one billion
> people rest on one of the smallest nation in the world makes Romaine happy.
Complete lack of punctuation here. Choose perhaps "In the highly improbable scenario that Bermuda wins...." or "In a highly improbable scenario - the case that Bermuda wins......"
Against, not againsd.
> ''Millions of Indian supporters will be backing us, it's good to have this Additional support,'' he told
> newspersons at Queen's park Oval after team's work out.
Why is the first letter of 'additional' capitalized?
The article before "team's work out" is missing.
> We've suffered two big losses, but we're looking to finish with a win tomorrow,'' he said with a chuckle.
The reported speech here should end with a period, not a comma.
> Romaine was thrilled that ''Bermuda fans appreciate what we've achieved by qualifying for
> the World Cup, and was confident that things will improve for Bermuda cricket after this exposure.
Incorrect switch from reported to direct speech. This is unforgiveable, at least on a professional's part. Or do you employ bored schoolchildren?
> ''The lack of good pitches back home has meant that we've played all our games away durinf the
> past year. As amatdurs, we're `lways relaxed in our approach.
During, not durinf.
Amateurs, not amatdurs.
Always, not 'lways.
> 'It's an important game for us as we low have a chance of advancing to the Super 8s.
Now, not low.
Also, the terminating double-quote is misplaced.
> So expect our nerves will be okay going for this tie.
Missing terminating double-quote.
> MaKilg the Super 8s will be a very significant moment for Bangladesh cricket,
Making, not MaKlig.
> Cricket's a big game back home. people back home are waiting for us to enter the Super 8s.It
> will make them happy,''Bashar said.
When starting a new sentence, the first letter of the first word ought to be in upper case. Hence "People", not "people".
A space is required between the period and the start of a new sentence. Hence "Super 8s. It will", not "Super 8s.It will".
A space is also required between a terminating double quote and the next word.
Hence *happy," Bashar said* and not *happy,"Bashar said*.
The reported speech here should end with a period, not a comma.
All this is bad enough - I've noticed shoddy editing of this sort on a fairly consistent basis. I wish I could offer some words of encouragement alongwith what I hope is castigation sufficient to cause you to take your editorial team to task. Perhaps even ask them to consider another line of work - as professional snake charmers, or assistant window cleaners; they seem to be entirely at sea with their current calling.
Could not be reached for comment
Consider the statement in a news-article:
"A Dell spokesperson could not be reached for comment."
snipped from the article "Dell launches low-cost PC in China " (at http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/03/21/HNdelllowcostpcchina_1.html).
This is plainly incorrect, for in any reasonable universe, it will always have been possible to reach a Dell spokesperson.
Consider an expedition to locate an incarnadine unicorn. It's possible one may not find one such a beast, and one may said that "a unicorn was not found". One may not say "a unicorn could not be found", for it's quite possible that a herd (or appropriate collective noun) of unicorns was grazing across the street, the vista blocked by a giant hoarding. Hence a unicorn could indeed be found, even though it was not.
For "could not be" implies that a unicorn cannot exist (or rather, could not have existed). My thesis is that a unicorn can exist, and Dell spokespersons can be reached.
This is not pedantry, but an insistence upon truth (or upon the desire for truth).
The statement "A Dell spokesperson could not be reached for comment." reeks of perfidy. My brother mislaid the phonebook, and so I couldn't find Dell's number. I called Dell, but they put me on hold for three whole minutes and I lost patience. I was busy finding my grill for summer. Dell was too busy. Dell didn't give me a free T-shirt and a return ticket to Hawaii. Dell is not obliged to answer everyone who calls or writes to them. I failed to get a response from Dell, and went ahead with my piece anyway, as I don't get paid if I don't publish. The hotel where I was staying had a problem with their switchboard, and kept routing me to a pizza delivery firm in Lisbon, instead of to the Dell customer relations number.
One can accept this sort of thing only if a reasonable attempt was made, over a reasonable period of time. However, this is very subjective, and unless this information is also provided alongwith the article, I suggest the path of greatest truth be taken, and "could not" in such cases be replaced by a "was not". If Dell was contacted, and they refused, then one may state that. As long as the journalist realizes that this refusal is no great assault against freedom of speech, or any civil liberty; on the contrary, it is the exercise of freedom. The freedom to refuse contact with the distasteful, or impertinent - or merely because one chooses so.
Consider the statement in a news-article:
"A Dell spokesperson could not be reached for comment."
snipped from the article "Dell launches low-cost PC in China " (at http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/03/21/HNdelllowcostpcchina_1.html).
This is plainly incorrect, for in any reasonable universe, it will always have been possible to reach a Dell spokesperson.
Consider an expedition to locate an incarnadine unicorn. It's possible one may not find one such a beast, and one may said that "a unicorn was not found". One may not say "a unicorn could not be found", for it's quite possible that a herd (or appropriate collective noun) of unicorns was grazing across the street, the vista blocked by a giant hoarding. Hence a unicorn could indeed be found, even though it was not.
For "could not be" implies that a unicorn cannot exist (or rather, could not have existed). My thesis is that a unicorn can exist, and Dell spokespersons can be reached.
This is not pedantry, but an insistence upon truth (or upon the desire for truth).
The statement "A Dell spokesperson could not be reached for comment." reeks of perfidy. My brother mislaid the phonebook, and so I couldn't find Dell's number. I called Dell, but they put me on hold for three whole minutes and I lost patience. I was busy finding my grill for summer. Dell was too busy. Dell didn't give me a free T-shirt and a return ticket to Hawaii. Dell is not obliged to answer everyone who calls or writes to them. I failed to get a response from Dell, and went ahead with my piece anyway, as I don't get paid if I don't publish. The hotel where I was staying had a problem with their switchboard, and kept routing me to a pizza delivery firm in Lisbon, instead of to the Dell customer relations number.
One can accept this sort of thing only if a reasonable attempt was made, over a reasonable period of time. However, this is very subjective, and unless this information is also provided alongwith the article, I suggest the path of greatest truth be taken, and "could not" in such cases be replaced by a "was not". If Dell was contacted, and they refused, then one may state that. As long as the journalist realizes that this refusal is no great assault against freedom of speech, or any civil liberty; on the contrary, it is the exercise of freedom. The freedom to refuse contact with the distasteful, or impertinent - or merely because one chooses so.
Friday, February 23, 2007
A basic lack of style
The BBC article "Scheme to aid duped Indian brides" published on the Web on Friday, 23 February 2007 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/6389365.stm)seemed to me a sample of shoddy journalism. My reasons follow.
1. It had two pictures, the first of which showed the backs of vaguely Indian looking unidentified women at an unstated venue, not engaged in any particular activity, apart from the act of standing. How this picture was germane to the article is beyond me.
2. "Once dumped, there is little these women can do."
This is disgusting language. Human beings are not objects to be dumped. They may be abandoned, abused, deceived, betrayed, misled and maligned - but not dumped. Of course, I understand that various American TV shows and movies will disagree with me; I expect better from the BBC.
3. "In India a financially well-established son-in-law living in the UK, US or Canada is highly coveted."
What is also desirable is a well-established comma after "India". Furthermore, what the writer presumably means is that prospective sons-in-law are coveted - for it is strange to covet one's own son-in-law!
4. "A Green Card holder in the US [which gives a foreigner right of residency and right to work]...."
The comment in the brackets is misplaced. The US does give a foreigner (millions, actually) the right to work - like almost every country in the world, but that is probably not what the writer meant. The brackets should have followed the phrase "Green Card".
5. "Because of social stigma, they are unable to remarry."
This is a ludicrous generalization, and quite untrue. Divorced women and men do marry again - in their thousands. A woman (or man) who has been left by her or his mate might indeed face some amount of embarrassment and veiled (or not) contempt, but it does not take away their ability to remarry.
6. The caption to the first picture is "The women will be entitled to financial assistance"
Which women, one wonders. Also, I see no connection between the caption and the picture.
7. The second picture is captioned "Dowries have been the subject of much debate in India"
This is banal to the point of silliness. "Dowries" can be replaced with almost anything without detracting from the truth, and triteness, of this assertion. E.g. cricket, the weather, politics, sex, money, religion, language, movies, tigers etc..
The BBC article "Scheme to aid duped Indian brides" published on the Web on Friday, 23 February 2007 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/6389365.stm)seemed to me a sample of shoddy journalism. My reasons follow.
1. It had two pictures, the first of which showed the backs of vaguely Indian looking unidentified women at an unstated venue, not engaged in any particular activity, apart from the act of standing. How this picture was germane to the article is beyond me.
2. "Once dumped, there is little these women can do."
This is disgusting language. Human beings are not objects to be dumped. They may be abandoned, abused, deceived, betrayed, misled and maligned - but not dumped. Of course, I understand that various American TV shows and movies will disagree with me; I expect better from the BBC.
3. "In India a financially well-established son-in-law living in the UK, US or Canada is highly coveted."
What is also desirable is a well-established comma after "India". Furthermore, what the writer presumably means is that prospective sons-in-law are coveted - for it is strange to covet one's own son-in-law!
4. "A Green Card holder in the US [which gives a foreigner right of residency and right to work]...."
The comment in the brackets is misplaced. The US does give a foreigner (millions, actually) the right to work - like almost every country in the world, but that is probably not what the writer meant. The brackets should have followed the phrase "Green Card".
5. "Because of social stigma, they are unable to remarry."
This is a ludicrous generalization, and quite untrue. Divorced women and men do marry again - in their thousands. A woman (or man) who has been left by her or his mate might indeed face some amount of embarrassment and veiled (or not) contempt, but it does not take away their ability to remarry.
6. The caption to the first picture is "The women will be entitled to financial assistance"
Which women, one wonders. Also, I see no connection between the caption and the picture.
7. The second picture is captioned "Dowries have been the subject of much debate in India"
This is banal to the point of silliness. "Dowries" can be replaced with almost anything without detracting from the truth, and triteness, of this assertion. E.g. cricket, the weather, politics, sex, money, religion, language, movies, tigers etc..
Sunday, August 13, 2006
We, the fools
I just read this in today's Observer.
"Withing minutes of the airports being closed, angry emails arrived.......... 'Funny how these terrorist "threats" seem to knock other more important stories off the news agenda', railed another."
Titled "Save us from the crackpots who see Zionist conspiracies in everything" by a Nick Cohen, it goes on to state:
"Since modern technology allows every fool with an internet connection to broadcast his or her ravings, I would be making too much of the emails if they didn't exemplify a wider culture of denial."
Ah, the refuge of the journalist without an argument - the ad hominem attack. Call the other party a fool, and label their opinions as mere ravings.
Also, Mr. Cohen probably meant to write "....I would NOT be making too much of the emails.......".
Let's ignore that (possibly Freudian?) slip and remember the remainder of the name-calling. If journalists were obliged to follow certain rules of formal debate which were current during my college days, I imagine many wouldn't have much to say.
I just read this in today's Observer.
"Withing minutes of the airports being closed, angry emails arrived.......... 'Funny how these terrorist "threats" seem to knock other more important stories off the news agenda', railed another."
Titled "Save us from the crackpots who see Zionist conspiracies in everything" by a Nick Cohen, it goes on to state:
"Since modern technology allows every fool with an internet connection to broadcast his or her ravings, I would be making too much of the emails if they didn't exemplify a wider culture of denial."
Ah, the refuge of the journalist without an argument - the ad hominem attack. Call the other party a fool, and label their opinions as mere ravings.
Also, Mr. Cohen probably meant to write "....I would NOT be making too much of the emails.......".
Let's ignore that (possibly Freudian?) slip and remember the remainder of the name-calling. If journalists were obliged to follow certain rules of formal debate which were current during my college days, I imagine many wouldn't have much to say.
Saturday, August 12, 2006
noun; deliberate exaggeration, not meant to be taken literally.
That's how the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines the word "hyperbole". Perhaps a suitable word to describe the preamble to a story I read in the tube in yesterday's Metro, reproduced verbatim here.
"The deadliest terror atrocity in history was foiled by British police yesterday. More than 4,000 people could have been killed if bombers had succeeded in blowing up ten flights from the UK to America - a death toll worse than September 11."
When compared with the deaths and depredation from the southern European conquest and pillage of South America, the Holocaust (which, incidentally, according to the OED, refers to the the killing of only one of Roma, Jews, Sinti and homosexuals etc. during World War II - I'd always imagined it covered all the victims of that part of our history) , the bombing of Nagasaki, the rampages of Gengiz Khan, the Vikings, the ancient Persians, the Arabs and Alexander the Great and many other bloody events, it pales into insignificance.
Especially when one remembers that it did not actually occur. So one might imagine the journalist would not have erred by starting his spiel with "The terror atrocity which, had it taken place, would have been the deadliest in history........".
However, when one reads further, one encounters our learned gentleman's yardstick - September 11.
(presumably a reference to the deaths which took place on that day in 2001 in the USA as a result of aircraft hijacking)
So perhaps he means - the deadliest terror atrocity involving aircraft in history.
But Nagasaki was pretty terrifying, wasn't it? As were Serbia/Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan and now Lebanon.
So perhaps the preamble refers to - "what might have been the deadliest terror atrocity involving civilian aircraft.....".
NB: This blog is _about_ journalism. Not directly for op-eds on events. For that, Search The (F) Web, or buy a paper from your local newsagent.
That's how the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines the word "hyperbole". Perhaps a suitable word to describe the preamble to a story I read in the tube in yesterday's Metro, reproduced verbatim here.
"The deadliest terror atrocity in history was foiled by British police yesterday. More than 4,000 people could have been killed if bombers had succeeded in blowing up ten flights from the UK to America - a death toll worse than September 11."
When compared with the deaths and depredation from the southern European conquest and pillage of South America, the Holocaust (which, incidentally, according to the OED, refers to the the killing of only one of Roma, Jews, Sinti and homosexuals etc. during World War II - I'd always imagined it covered all the victims of that part of our history) , the bombing of Nagasaki, the rampages of Gengiz Khan, the Vikings, the ancient Persians, the Arabs and Alexander the Great and many other bloody events, it pales into insignificance.
Especially when one remembers that it did not actually occur. So one might imagine the journalist would not have erred by starting his spiel with "The terror atrocity which, had it taken place, would have been the deadliest in history........".
However, when one reads further, one encounters our learned gentleman's yardstick - September 11.
(presumably a reference to the deaths which took place on that day in 2001 in the USA as a result of aircraft hijacking)
So perhaps he means - the deadliest terror atrocity involving aircraft in history.
But Nagasaki was pretty terrifying, wasn't it? As were Serbia/Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan and now Lebanon.
So perhaps the preamble refers to - "what might have been the deadliest terror atrocity involving civilian aircraft.....".
NB: This blog is _about_ journalism. Not directly for op-eds on events. For that, Search The (F) Web, or buy a paper from your local newsagent.
Monday, August 07, 2006
Editing pictures after taking them
I read a story of a photographer working for Reuters who has been accused of "doctoring" an image of a war zone in Lebanon. [1] I would have been suitably shocked, but a photographer friend of mine assures me that photographs are routinely touched up. Pictures of cars, models, food etc.. Of course, adding extra smoke to a bombed building to show more intense destruction is perhaps not cricket.
When I look at pictures from a city devastated by air strikes, and all that can be seen is smoke billowing out amidst rubble, then I doubt if I could tell the difference between the east end of the city and the west. Particular features might be recognisable, like the Eiffel tower in Paris, or the London Eye in London, but apartment blocks have a distressing tendency to look similar. What is such a picture meant to convey - that man-made buildings are in need of repair and there's lots of smoke? The picture in question (from the JP website, attributed to Reuters) might easily belong to a city of an African or Asian country afflicted by civil war, or even the same city ten years earlier. News pictures rarely contain any supporting text which asserts their provenance and their fidelity, unfortunately.
I wish that each picture might have the name of the photographer, location where the picture was taken, a description of the subject or subjects, and date when the picture was taken, and whether there was any modification at all done to the picture (including cropping, colour balancing, sharpening etc.) or not. If this information is not available to the publisher, then this fact too should be mentioned.
With these criteria in mind, I couldn't find a single picture on the handful of news websites I browsed which passed muster. (and I even relaxed the first and last of these)
Before we achieve more transparency concerning the provenance of news-images, an extra plume of smoke, or even two, coming out of an apartment building seem trivial.
[1] http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID
=2006-08-06T214325Z_01_L06301298_RTRUKOC_0_UK-MIDEAST-REUTERS.xml
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525816599&pagename=
JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
I read a story of a photographer working for Reuters who has been accused of "doctoring" an image of a war zone in Lebanon. [1] I would have been suitably shocked, but a photographer friend of mine assures me that photographs are routinely touched up. Pictures of cars, models, food etc.. Of course, adding extra smoke to a bombed building to show more intense destruction is perhaps not cricket.
When I look at pictures from a city devastated by air strikes, and all that can be seen is smoke billowing out amidst rubble, then I doubt if I could tell the difference between the east end of the city and the west. Particular features might be recognisable, like the Eiffel tower in Paris, or the London Eye in London, but apartment blocks have a distressing tendency to look similar. What is such a picture meant to convey - that man-made buildings are in need of repair and there's lots of smoke? The picture in question (from the JP website, attributed to Reuters) might easily belong to a city of an African or Asian country afflicted by civil war, or even the same city ten years earlier. News pictures rarely contain any supporting text which asserts their provenance and their fidelity, unfortunately.
I wish that each picture might have the name of the photographer, location where the picture was taken, a description of the subject or subjects, and date when the picture was taken, and whether there was any modification at all done to the picture (including cropping, colour balancing, sharpening etc.) or not. If this information is not available to the publisher, then this fact too should be mentioned.
With these criteria in mind, I couldn't find a single picture on the handful of news websites I browsed which passed muster. (and I even relaxed the first and last of these)
Before we achieve more transparency concerning the provenance of news-images, an extra plume of smoke, or even two, coming out of an apartment building seem trivial.
[1] http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID
=2006-08-06T214325Z_01_L06301298_RTRUKOC_0_UK-MIDEAST-REUTERS.xml
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525816599&pagename=
JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Taboo
We live in the free world, or one where we may openly dream, speculate, question, compare, express etc. within certain boundaries of libel, slander, taste and intellectual property. I was amused to read in two different UK newspapers the following phrases over the weekend, relating to the war in Lebanon. Sadly, I did not purchase the periodicals or have the opportunity to make detailed notes at the time so I must paraphrase. The subject, however, is taboo (hence the heading, and the use of blanks).
"We are soon reaching a point where it has become exceedingly difficult to tell people off for making ludicrous comparisons between the _______ and the ________ in after-dinner conversations."
".....there are those who have started to make shameful comparisons between the _______ and the _______"
I shall not fill in the blanks, but it did amuse me that guardians of the truth treat some subjects with kid-gloves, resorting to treating even comparisons with words like "shameful" and "ludicrous". I wonder what words they would use to talk about clueless people being killed, in the first instance, and Stalin style justification for the removal of doctors, in the second? This was just a "comparison". When people start equating the two blanks above (and they already have - to an extent), I wonder if our good journalists will use the words "despicable", "horrendous", "disgusting", or even "abominable".
I, on the other hand, would love them to use the word "untenable", followed by a reason why, in the opinion of the writer, such a comparison does not hold water.
(A tough call indeed, for we are already in the realm of morality, where one opinion is as good as another)
We live in the free world, or one where we may openly dream, speculate, question, compare, express etc. within certain boundaries of libel, slander, taste and intellectual property. I was amused to read in two different UK newspapers the following phrases over the weekend, relating to the war in Lebanon. Sadly, I did not purchase the periodicals or have the opportunity to make detailed notes at the time so I must paraphrase. The subject, however, is taboo (hence the heading, and the use of blanks).
"We are soon reaching a point where it has become exceedingly difficult to tell people off for making ludicrous comparisons between the _______ and the ________ in after-dinner conversations."
".....there are those who have started to make shameful comparisons between the _______ and the _______"
I shall not fill in the blanks, but it did amuse me that guardians of the truth treat some subjects with kid-gloves, resorting to treating even comparisons with words like "shameful" and "ludicrous". I wonder what words they would use to talk about clueless people being killed, in the first instance, and Stalin style justification for the removal of doctors, in the second? This was just a "comparison". When people start equating the two blanks above (and they already have - to an extent), I wonder if our good journalists will use the words "despicable", "horrendous", "disgusting", or even "abominable".
I, on the other hand, would love them to use the word "untenable", followed by a reason why, in the opinion of the writer, such a comparison does not hold water.
(A tough call indeed, for we are already in the realm of morality, where one opinion is as good as another)
Darwin and the slave
My remarks on the Charles Darwin discussion page on Wikipedia (the English version), referred to in an earlier post, attracted rejoinders and counter-response.
How am I being offensive? I'm asking for people to be treated as human beings and not labelled as colours!
May I respectfully raise two questions:
1. Are we to specify the race of everyone on wikipedia? Or only that of those called "blacks"?
2. What terms are used for describing those who are neither "white" nor "black"?
The gentleman's skin colour might well be perfectly described by the word "black". However, I don't think the word describes the gentleman himself. To repeat, I have no hassle with a person's _race_ being pointed out, where relevant (and it has been highlighted as relevant here). The word "negroid" describes a race; "black" does not.
I believe that words are central to the way we perceive our world in the first place, and (re-)interpret it in the second. My edits were fuelled as a personal campaign against the usage of the words "black", "white" and many such others to refer to human beings. The techincal racial terms are (obviously) fine. Skin may be black! The extension from skin to person is the sort of linguistic short cut which I object to, for it tends to shape how we think - in addition to the far more intuitive flow of our thinking influencing words we choose.
My remarks on the Charles Darwin discussion page on Wikipedia (the English version), referred to in an earlier post, attracted rejoinders and counter-response.
How am I being offensive? I'm asking for people to be treated as human beings and not labelled as colours!
May I respectfully raise two questions:
1. Are we to specify the race of everyone on wikipedia? Or only that of those called "blacks"?
2. What terms are used for describing those who are neither "white" nor "black"?
The gentleman's skin colour might well be perfectly described by the word "black". However, I don't think the word describes the gentleman himself. To repeat, I have no hassle with a person's _race_ being pointed out, where relevant (and it has been highlighted as relevant here). The word "negroid" describes a race; "black" does not.
I believe that words are central to the way we perceive our world in the first place, and (re-)interpret it in the second. My edits were fuelled as a personal campaign against the usage of the words "black", "white" and many such others to refer to human beings. The techincal racial terms are (obviously) fine. Skin may be black! The extension from skin to person is the sort of linguistic short cut which I object to, for it tends to shape how we think - in addition to the far more intuitive flow of our thinking influencing words we choose.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Well, well - if it isn't Potter!
Two days ago I was part of an interesting workshop on the skills of professional presentation. Our instructor explained how we might use emotion as a hook to grab our audience's attention. I was asked to present a mock subject myself highlighting this and other techniques. I was to present Perl - a programming language which is apparently widely used in WWW server side scripts. This what I came up with.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome! Let me begin by writing down on this flip-chart a name.
Harry Potter
Anyone heard of him? Good, I see all of you have!
Nietzsche
(simultaneously writes on flip-chart)
What about him? I see two raised hands.
Ankh-Morpork
Anyone familiar with the name? No one?
So, as you can see, we have Harry Potter, the protagonist of the eponymous novels by Ms. Rowling, whom everyone here knows. Friedrich Nietzsche, the freethinker, is known to just two people. And no one here has heard of Ankh-Morpork, a city from the Discworld novels of Terry Pratchett, a delightful fantasy writer and cultural-political satirist.
Now, if you wished to learn more about them, or anything else for that matter, how would you go about it?
(audience murmurs - Internet, yahoo, google, wikipedia, WWW, STFW etc.)
Indeed! I too would look them up on the Internet - and 95% of all Internet servers are powered by Perl - which is what I wish to talk to you about today."
So began my spiel. I was gratified by the approbation my little attention-grabbing ploy received.
I wonder whether techniques like this form any part of serious journalism? Whether newspaper and online articles are written without any devices of this sort - just plain old truth, and nothing but?
Perhaps I won't answer these questions - the weekend's almost here: I plan to visit family tomorrow, and I'd like to do it in a pleasant state of mind.
Two days ago I was part of an interesting workshop on the skills of professional presentation. Our instructor explained how we might use emotion as a hook to grab our audience's attention. I was asked to present a mock subject myself highlighting this and other techniques. I was to present Perl - a programming language which is apparently widely used in WWW server side scripts. This what I came up with.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome! Let me begin by writing down on this flip-chart a name.
Harry Potter
Anyone heard of him? Good, I see all of you have!
Nietzsche
(simultaneously writes on flip-chart)
What about him? I see two raised hands.
Ankh-Morpork
Anyone familiar with the name? No one?
So, as you can see, we have Harry Potter, the protagonist of the eponymous novels by Ms. Rowling, whom everyone here knows. Friedrich Nietzsche, the freethinker, is known to just two people. And no one here has heard of Ankh-Morpork, a city from the Discworld novels of Terry Pratchett, a delightful fantasy writer and cultural-political satirist.
Now, if you wished to learn more about them, or anything else for that matter, how would you go about it?
(audience murmurs - Internet, yahoo, google, wikipedia, WWW, STFW etc.)
Indeed! I too would look them up on the Internet - and 95% of all Internet servers are powered by Perl - which is what I wish to talk to you about today."
So began my spiel. I was gratified by the approbation my little attention-grabbing ploy received.
I wonder whether techniques like this form any part of serious journalism? Whether newspaper and online articles are written without any devices of this sort - just plain old truth, and nothing but?
Perhaps I won't answer these questions - the weekend's almost here: I plan to visit family tomorrow, and I'd like to do it in a pleasant state of mind.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
No translation needed
The BBC carried this report on Iraq today: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5233660.stm
Abdul Hassan Muhammed, a 62-year-old teacher, told AP: "A big explosion slammed me four metres (12 feet) into a wall. My friends took me to one of their stores, gave me water and asked me to relax... I didn't get my pension."
I wonder if Mr. Muhammed told this to AP in English? Were those his exact words? How sacrosanct are the double quotes in today's journalism? Do they always contain verbatim speech?
I believe that if Mr. Muhammed had indeed spoken in Arabic (which, in Iraq, is as natural as is speaking English in England), and AP translated, this fact should have been mentioned. And if the language of someone who speaks English as a second or third tongue, especially someone who just escaped with his life, isn't grammatically polished enough for the newspaper or TV station - then just use a reported speech summary.
In any case, one may assume that he didn't convert the four metres into
twelve feet whilst speaking to the reporter. Or maybe he did - perhaps he is a stickler for accuracy. But then he got it wrong - it's actually 13.1232 feet.
So in Arabic he actually fell a foot shorter than in English!
That reminds me of a packet of South African instant soup a houseguest once left behind. I chanced upon it on a winter's evening and decided to give it a shot. The instructions were in English and what I presume was Afrikaans (the script was the same, but the words sounded very Dutch). In English it said, "...and boil for 15 mins.".
The equivalent numeral (the only numeral) in the other language was 10.
As far as powdered soup is concerned, this is trivial. In the realms of explosives and journalism - this could cost lives, or worse - the truth, or both.
The BBC carried this report on Iraq today: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5233660.stm
Abdul Hassan Muhammed, a 62-year-old teacher, told AP: "A big explosion slammed me four metres (12 feet) into a wall. My friends took me to one of their stores, gave me water and asked me to relax... I didn't get my pension."
I wonder if Mr. Muhammed told this to AP in English? Were those his exact words? How sacrosanct are the double quotes in today's journalism? Do they always contain verbatim speech?
I believe that if Mr. Muhammed had indeed spoken in Arabic (which, in Iraq, is as natural as is speaking English in England), and AP translated, this fact should have been mentioned. And if the language of someone who speaks English as a second or third tongue, especially someone who just escaped with his life, isn't grammatically polished enough for the newspaper or TV station - then just use a reported speech summary.
In any case, one may assume that he didn't convert the four metres into
twelve feet whilst speaking to the reporter. Or maybe he did - perhaps he is a stickler for accuracy. But then he got it wrong - it's actually 13.1232 feet.
So in Arabic he actually fell a foot shorter than in English!
That reminds me of a packet of South African instant soup a houseguest once left behind. I chanced upon it on a winter's evening and decided to give it a shot. The instructions were in English and what I presume was Afrikaans (the script was the same, but the words sounded very Dutch). In English it said, "...and boil for 15 mins.".
The equivalent numeral (the only numeral) in the other language was 10.
As far as powdered soup is concerned, this is trivial. In the realms of explosives and journalism - this could cost lives, or worse - the truth, or both.
Lighting candles
In the aftermath of the bomb blasts in Mumbai, India on 11 July 2006, IBN Live (in partnership with CNN) offered users of the WWW to "light" a candle on their webpage.
The original URL was http://clients.ibnlive.com/features/mumatt/index.php
The text read:
"Mumbai came to a shocking standstill on July 11 when serial blasts ripped through its local trains, killing and wounding hundreds. But the city of dreams stood fearless and fighting fit.
Salute Mumbai's never-say-die spirit and Light a Candle for those who succumbed to the blasts or got injured. For every candle you light, CNN-IBN and Channel 7 will donate Re 1 for the relief of the victims."
All very well - but they also asked for name, email and phone number.
I wrote a letter to the editor (editor AT ibnlive.com) on 17 July 2006:
_______________start quoted letter_______________
Will I be correct in assuming that the email addresses and phone numbers you solicit during this "candle lighting" will not be used by you to promote your website or for other marketing purposes, or sold (or bartered, leased, donated etc.) to any other third-party organization? I wonder why you request this information (for the apparently randomly generated text image seems to be an effective enough deterrent against automated "candle lighting") and how long you intend to store this information and if you will strive to keep this information private?
> For every candle you light, CNN-IBN and Channel 7 will donate Re 1 for the relief of the victims.
I congratulate you on your humanitarian gesture. May I ask how you intend to pass this money on to the victims? Will you donate to a private charitable organization or organizations, or to the State, or undertake the task of dispensing it yourself?
Thanks for your kind attention.
_______________end of quoted letter_______________
I haven't received any response so far. It's been two weeks.
I wonder if I made a difference.
In the aftermath of the bomb blasts in Mumbai, India on 11 July 2006, IBN Live (in partnership with CNN) offered users of the WWW to "light" a candle on their webpage.
The original URL was http://clients.ibnlive.com/features/mumatt/index.php
The text read:
"Mumbai came to a shocking standstill on July 11 when serial blasts ripped through its local trains, killing and wounding hundreds. But the city of dreams stood fearless and fighting fit.
Salute Mumbai's never-say-die spirit and Light a Candle for those who succumbed to the blasts or got injured. For every candle you light, CNN-IBN and Channel 7 will donate Re 1 for the relief of the victims."
All very well - but they also asked for name, email and phone number.
I wrote a letter to the editor (editor AT ibnlive.com) on 17 July 2006:
_______________start quoted letter_______________
Will I be correct in assuming that the email addresses and phone numbers you solicit during this "candle lighting" will not be used by you to promote your website or for other marketing purposes, or sold (or bartered, leased, donated etc.) to any other third-party organization? I wonder why you request this information (for the apparently randomly generated text image seems to be an effective enough deterrent against automated "candle lighting") and how long you intend to store this information and if you will strive to keep this information private?
> For every candle you light, CNN-IBN and Channel 7 will donate Re 1 for the relief of the victims.
I congratulate you on your humanitarian gesture. May I ask how you intend to pass this money on to the victims? Will you donate to a private charitable organization or organizations, or to the State, or undertake the task of dispensing it yourself?
Thanks for your kind attention.
_______________end of quoted letter_______________
I haven't received any response so far. It's been two weeks.
I wonder if I made a difference.
Monday, July 31, 2006
Continuing the campaign
A post or two ago (http://orthojournalism.blogspot.com/2006/07/against-name-calling.html), I had written about replacing the word "black" with "South American" in the Charles Darwin article on Wikipedia. The original line is:
"He learned taxidermy from John Edmonstone, a freed black slave who told him exciting tales of the South American rainforest."
This change was reverted, and I responded by simply deleting the word "black", as South American was evidently speculation on my part. This time, I did write my reasons on the talk page. Here they are:
Mankind, as we know it, is marked by distinctions, some more immediately apparent than others. Race (= ethnicity?) is a complicated question. Specifically, it is not easy to pinpoint any person's race on the basis of photographs, or literary evidence (the latter especially when derived from a time where race theory was far different than it is now, or did not exist). In some churches in Poland (so I've read in a German book), Jesus was shown with blue eyes. In one American movie (I think it was American anyway), he was shown with black skin. These obviously contradictory representations merely illustrate that race is often a matter of identity, and in the case where peoples mix, often the race of either the mother or the father decides what race the child will identify himself with, or be deemed by his community to belong to. Some years ago I visited a natural history museum in Edinburgh which declared that there were three races of man. Kant said there are four. Others create races at will - in phrases like "our great island race" or "Jewish race" etc.. Hence, I suggest that the concept of race, as used commonly, is not in keeping with honest scientific straightforwardness. It is also accepted that skin colour does not automatically fix a person's race. (there are additional factors such as eye colour, hair, skull shape etc., or so I understand, not being a anthropologist myself)
What does the word "black" here mean? That the person (if something described by just its colour can still be accorded the dignity of human identity) had black skin all over? Or that he belonged to the negroid race? Can we be sure that he indeed was a pure-blooded negroid? Does it make any difference to our perception of him as one who inspired Darwin with stories? I usually avoid using the word "racist" as I think it has meanings beyond what it really should. (similar to democracy, holocaust, Bosnia, terrorist etc.) However, making a reference to his skin colour here is just that - racist. Actually, it's not even racist - it's just petty, and slightly insulting.
What next? In a similar vein, we might have the Wikipedia article on Schopenhauer which states "Schopenhauer, a white Pole, indicated that he was influenced by Kant, a white philosopher, and Buddha, a brown prince." Or the brown crown prince, as he hadn't inherited when he left his father's kingdom behind.
I'm certain there are occasions when a person's skin colour, or race if you will, need to be pointed out. For example, if a certain medical drug causes different reactions based on a person's genetics. Or if a dark skinned person is being photographed - perhaps more light is needed, as compared to when a fair skinned person is the subject. Or commandos with dark skin might be chosen for a covert mission in Ghana, where those with fair skin might stand out. Or in museums of ethnology, where the actual race is defined. And numerous other such situations. But these are far from commonplace.
Everytime we use pejorative words like black, white, brown, kook, eyetie, commie, chink etc. to refer to a human being, we reinforce an image of him which uses his skin colour, race, nationality, religion, political views etc. as his defining attribute. We strip him of his dreams, songs, poetry, ability to make us laugh and think and love - all that makes him human.
A post or two ago (http://orthojournalism.blogspot.com/2006/07/against-name-calling.html), I had written about replacing the word "black" with "South American" in the Charles Darwin article on Wikipedia. The original line is:
"He learned taxidermy from John Edmonstone, a freed black slave who told him exciting tales of the South American rainforest."
This change was reverted, and I responded by simply deleting the word "black", as South American was evidently speculation on my part. This time, I did write my reasons on the talk page. Here they are:
Mankind, as we know it, is marked by distinctions, some more immediately apparent than others. Race (= ethnicity?) is a complicated question. Specifically, it is not easy to pinpoint any person's race on the basis of photographs, or literary evidence (the latter especially when derived from a time where race theory was far different than it is now, or did not exist). In some churches in Poland (so I've read in a German book), Jesus was shown with blue eyes. In one American movie (I think it was American anyway), he was shown with black skin. These obviously contradictory representations merely illustrate that race is often a matter of identity, and in the case where peoples mix, often the race of either the mother or the father decides what race the child will identify himself with, or be deemed by his community to belong to. Some years ago I visited a natural history museum in Edinburgh which declared that there were three races of man. Kant said there are four. Others create races at will - in phrases like "our great island race" or "Jewish race" etc.. Hence, I suggest that the concept of race, as used commonly, is not in keeping with honest scientific straightforwardness. It is also accepted that skin colour does not automatically fix a person's race. (there are additional factors such as eye colour, hair, skull shape etc., or so I understand, not being a anthropologist myself)
What does the word "black" here mean? That the person (if something described by just its colour can still be accorded the dignity of human identity) had black skin all over? Or that he belonged to the negroid race? Can we be sure that he indeed was a pure-blooded negroid? Does it make any difference to our perception of him as one who inspired Darwin with stories? I usually avoid using the word "racist" as I think it has meanings beyond what it really should. (similar to democracy, holocaust, Bosnia, terrorist etc.) However, making a reference to his skin colour here is just that - racist. Actually, it's not even racist - it's just petty, and slightly insulting.
What next? In a similar vein, we might have the Wikipedia article on Schopenhauer which states "Schopenhauer, a white Pole, indicated that he was influenced by Kant, a white philosopher, and Buddha, a brown prince." Or the brown crown prince, as he hadn't inherited when he left his father's kingdom behind.
I'm certain there are occasions when a person's skin colour, or race if you will, need to be pointed out. For example, if a certain medical drug causes different reactions based on a person's genetics. Or if a dark skinned person is being photographed - perhaps more light is needed, as compared to when a fair skinned person is the subject. Or commandos with dark skin might be chosen for a covert mission in Ghana, where those with fair skin might stand out. Or in museums of ethnology, where the actual race is defined. And numerous other such situations. But these are far from commonplace.
Everytime we use pejorative words like black, white, brown, kook, eyetie, commie, chink etc. to refer to a human being, we reinforce an image of him which uses his skin colour, race, nationality, religion, political views etc. as his defining attribute. We strip him of his dreams, songs, poetry, ability to make us laugh and think and love - all that makes him human.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
What's happening around us right now?
Well, it depends upon what one chooses to see, and to whom one listens and what one reads, or can read. Here are some of the "top" stories from news websites I happened upon - around 2140h here in the UK. It's not done very scientifically - with any rigorous definition of "top" headline, nor is there any accounting for the fact that websites are updated all the time etc. However, it should still be an interesting review of what those who read English content on the Internet have available to them (no account has been taken of the fact that many sites allow one to customize content). They make interesting reading - do keep in mind that not everyone around the world has access to the Internet, and most people do not read English. Still, see if you find an interesting link here - go someplace you've never been before. This list contains sources from the UK, Ireland, Australia, USA, South Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Bangladesh, Mongolia, New Zealand, Canada, Iran, UAE (I think) and Russia.
1. cnn.com
U.N.: 14,000 Iraqis killed in 2006
Death toll jumps in Java tsunami, quake
3 charged with murder in Katrina hospital deaths
2. bbc.co.uk
Israel claims Iran link to crisis
Java tsunami death toll increases
'U-turn' claim over house packs
3. foxnews.com
U.S. Military Moves to Protect Americans
Rocket Barrage Slams Israel
Olmert: Could Last Weeks
4. news.google.com
IAF again drops leaflets on Lebanon
Sector Snap: Stem-Cell Biotechs Near Lows
Nortel, Microsoft Forge Comm Alliance
5. msnbc.msn.com
Beirut Evacuation
After five years, Bush to speak before NAACP
Gay marriage ban amendment fails in House
6. news.yahoo.com
Israelis say offensive could last weeks
Violence in Iraq spinning out of control
Death toll in Indonesian tsunami hits 341
7. abcnews.go.com
A New Member of the Axis of Evil?
House Rejects Gay Marriage Ban Amendment
Iran's Hezbollah Threatens Israel, U.S. Attacks
8. news.com.au
'We kill those we need to kill'
Survivor search continues
PM risks Bush nuke challenge
9. cbsnews.com
U.S. Steps Up Evacuation From Lebanon
Doc, Nurses Arrested In Katrina Deaths
Bush Finally Says 'Yes' To NAACP
10. cbc.ca/news
Military operation could take weeks: Israel
Child killer Clifford Olson denied parole
Some passport exemptions likely: U.S. Homeland Security boss
11. washingtonpost.com
Toll Climbs in Mideast As Fighting Rages On
Gonzales: Bush Blocked Probe
Blast Kills Shiite Day Laborers
12. theglobeandmail.com
Sit tight one more day, stranded Canadians told
No quick end to offensive, Israeli officials say
Parole Board rejects serial killer Olson's appeal
13. hindustantimes.com
Peace moves with Pak hit after blasts: Manmohan
'IGNOU casts aspersions on Gods'
Iran issue: PM against 'coercive diplomacy'
14. deccan.com
Kalam pitches for more farmer loans
Profit Bill decision in 2 days, says PM
Boucher confirms sequence change
15. indianexpress.com
Final seal on N-deal by year-end: US
Mumbai echo in Moscow: G-8 warns terror sponsors
Naxals massacre 26 in Chhattisgarh, many are missing
16. english.aljazeera.net/HomePage
Lebanon toll passes 230
Tsunami death toll tops 340
Violence ahead of DR Congo poll
17. gulfnews.com/home/index.html
Lebanon on brink of disaster
Dubai to get first double decker road to increase traffic in new areas
Tsunami toll passes 350 mark, over 200 others missing
18. jpost.com
125 rockets fired on northern Israel on Tuesday
IDF drops flyers over south Lebanon mocking Nasrallah
Katyushas kill one in Nahariya
19. nzherald.co.nz
Two arrested after teenager shot dead
You lie in bed thinking, how did she die? Why did it happen?'
Sightings of murdered teacher's car crucial
20. mg.co.za
Olmert: Israeli offensive will continue
SA 'not doing enough about Aids'
DA slams Nqakula's absence in current violent climate
21. tehrantimes.com
Israel’s dream to dominate Lebanon will never come true: Leader
Bush escalates the hate
UN involvement will block nuclear talks: Iran
22. graphicghana.com
Justice Annan Passes Away
Bank Fraud, Five arrested, One On The Run
US Experts To Monitor Millennium Account Projects
23. ubpost.mongolnews.mn
Rallying for Mongolia
The complete Naadam menu
Treasure trove
24. sundayobserver.lk
SLMM waits, LTTE won't release cop - 'Despicable' says Kohona
Govt. will honour truce - Keheliya
No TV today, courtesy foreign film suppliers?
25. dawn.com
No evidence of Pakistan’s hand in blasts: US
Talks delay negative development: Riaz
Export target $18.6bn, trade deficit $9.4bn: Trade Policy 2006-07
26. thedailystar.net
More taken out than pumped in thru FDI
Counting from desk continues too to justify expenditure
SC Bar mulls going to president, CJ to raise its objection
27. timesonline.co.uk/global
Lebanon evacuations mount
Katrina hospital murder charges
Suicide bomber kills 53 near shrine
28. ireland.com
Israeli PM blames Tehran over criss in Lebanon
Lebanon Air strikes kill 42 as rockets rain down on Israel
Summer heat set to peak at 30-plus degrees, says Met office
29. herald.co.zw
Cancel copper licences: Police
Inquiry into Chideya’s conduct postponed
70 GMB workers walk free
30. english.pravda.ru
Israel uses Russia's experience in its operation against Lebanon
Group of Eight declines without Russia
Pamela Anderson appears to be a soccer mom at heart
Well, it depends upon what one chooses to see, and to whom one listens and what one reads, or can read. Here are some of the "top" stories from news websites I happened upon - around 2140h here in the UK. It's not done very scientifically - with any rigorous definition of "top" headline, nor is there any accounting for the fact that websites are updated all the time etc. However, it should still be an interesting review of what those who read English content on the Internet have available to them (no account has been taken of the fact that many sites allow one to customize content). They make interesting reading - do keep in mind that not everyone around the world has access to the Internet, and most people do not read English. Still, see if you find an interesting link here - go someplace you've never been before. This list contains sources from the UK, Ireland, Australia, USA, South Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Bangladesh, Mongolia, New Zealand, Canada, Iran, UAE (I think) and Russia.
1. cnn.com
U.N.: 14,000 Iraqis killed in 2006
Death toll jumps in Java tsunami, quake
3 charged with murder in Katrina hospital deaths
2. bbc.co.uk
Israel claims Iran link to crisis
Java tsunami death toll increases
'U-turn' claim over house packs
3. foxnews.com
U.S. Military Moves to Protect Americans
Rocket Barrage Slams Israel
Olmert: Could Last Weeks
4. news.google.com
IAF again drops leaflets on Lebanon
Sector Snap: Stem-Cell Biotechs Near Lows
Nortel, Microsoft Forge Comm Alliance
5. msnbc.msn.com
Beirut Evacuation
After five years, Bush to speak before NAACP
Gay marriage ban amendment fails in House
6. news.yahoo.com
Israelis say offensive could last weeks
Violence in Iraq spinning out of control
Death toll in Indonesian tsunami hits 341
7. abcnews.go.com
A New Member of the Axis of Evil?
House Rejects Gay Marriage Ban Amendment
Iran's Hezbollah Threatens Israel, U.S. Attacks
8. news.com.au
'We kill those we need to kill'
Survivor search continues
PM risks Bush nuke challenge
9. cbsnews.com
U.S. Steps Up Evacuation From Lebanon
Doc, Nurses Arrested In Katrina Deaths
Bush Finally Says 'Yes' To NAACP
10. cbc.ca/news
Military operation could take weeks: Israel
Child killer Clifford Olson denied parole
Some passport exemptions likely: U.S. Homeland Security boss
11. washingtonpost.com
Toll Climbs in Mideast As Fighting Rages On
Gonzales: Bush Blocked Probe
Blast Kills Shiite Day Laborers
12. theglobeandmail.com
Sit tight one more day, stranded Canadians told
No quick end to offensive, Israeli officials say
Parole Board rejects serial killer Olson's appeal
13. hindustantimes.com
Peace moves with Pak hit after blasts: Manmohan
'IGNOU casts aspersions on Gods'
Iran issue: PM against 'coercive diplomacy'
14. deccan.com
Kalam pitches for more farmer loans
Profit Bill decision in 2 days, says PM
Boucher confirms sequence change
15. indianexpress.com
Final seal on N-deal by year-end: US
Mumbai echo in Moscow: G-8 warns terror sponsors
Naxals massacre 26 in Chhattisgarh, many are missing
16. english.aljazeera.net/HomePage
Lebanon toll passes 230
Tsunami death toll tops 340
Violence ahead of DR Congo poll
17. gulfnews.com/home/index.html
Lebanon on brink of disaster
Dubai to get first double decker road to increase traffic in new areas
Tsunami toll passes 350 mark, over 200 others missing
18. jpost.com
125 rockets fired on northern Israel on Tuesday
IDF drops flyers over south Lebanon mocking Nasrallah
Katyushas kill one in Nahariya
19. nzherald.co.nz
Two arrested after teenager shot dead
You lie in bed thinking, how did she die? Why did it happen?'
Sightings of murdered teacher's car crucial
20. mg.co.za
Olmert: Israeli offensive will continue
SA 'not doing enough about Aids'
DA slams Nqakula's absence in current violent climate
21. tehrantimes.com
Israel’s dream to dominate Lebanon will never come true: Leader
Bush escalates the hate
UN involvement will block nuclear talks: Iran
22. graphicghana.com
Justice Annan Passes Away
Bank Fraud, Five arrested, One On The Run
US Experts To Monitor Millennium Account Projects
23. ubpost.mongolnews.mn
Rallying for Mongolia
The complete Naadam menu
Treasure trove
24. sundayobserver.lk
SLMM waits, LTTE won't release cop - 'Despicable' says Kohona
Govt. will honour truce - Keheliya
No TV today, courtesy foreign film suppliers?
25. dawn.com
No evidence of Pakistan’s hand in blasts: US
Talks delay negative development: Riaz
Export target $18.6bn, trade deficit $9.4bn: Trade Policy 2006-07
26. thedailystar.net
More taken out than pumped in thru FDI
Counting from desk continues too to justify expenditure
SC Bar mulls going to president, CJ to raise its objection
27. timesonline.co.uk/global
Lebanon evacuations mount
Katrina hospital murder charges
Suicide bomber kills 53 near shrine
28. ireland.com
Israeli PM blames Tehran over criss in Lebanon
Lebanon Air strikes kill 42 as rockets rain down on Israel
Summer heat set to peak at 30-plus degrees, says Met office
29. herald.co.zw
Cancel copper licences: Police
Inquiry into Chideya’s conduct postponed
70 GMB workers walk free
30. english.pravda.ru
Israel uses Russia's experience in its operation against Lebanon
Group of Eight declines without Russia
Pamela Anderson appears to be a soccer mom at heart
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