Because of the growing number of controversial news items in the
recent past, some journalists have come together and have decided to
institute a ‘newsmakers of the week’ award. Jest Kidding spoke to a
member of the group to know more about this interesting decision and the
award.
This is what the member had to say: “Of late, we have seen several controversies erupting around important people and institutions. These are typically actions that are widely condemned, statements that are usually retracted stating that they had been quoted out of context and the like. Essentially, these are incidents that dictate the content of newspapers and set the agenda for news channel debates for the next few days.
“The actions/statements can be funny, shocking, sensational, intriguing, politically incorrect or simply stupid. Though we journalists might condemn or even ridicule many of these, we are dependent on these newsmakers for our survival. Imagine how insipid and listless news would be without Digvijay Singh or Yeddyurappa or Swami Nityananda. The journalistic community is indebted to these newsmakers for giving us interesting content to write and debate on.
“We felt we have failed to recognise the valuable contribution of these people who are so critical for our survival. On Sunday, we came up with our first list of newsmakers for the week. The honourable home minister has made it to the list this week for his candid remark that citizens who can pay Rs 15 for a bottle of water should not complain about a Re 1 increase in the price of rice, failing to recognise that having to pay Rs 15 for a bottle of water itself hints at lack of availability of clean, potable water thus pointing at a failure of government in India over the years.
“Another person who has made it to this week’s list is Mr Salman Khurshid for fearlessly articulating the truth about the lack of ideological direction in the Congress and the cameo role of Rahul Gandhi. Both insist that they had been quoted out of context, as expected. The third person who has made it to the first list is Swami Agnivesh for defending the Viswa-Bharati warden. The ward boy who was caught performing a surgical procedure in UP has also made it to the list.
“This being the first list, a couple of representatives from our group will personally visit these people and hand them small gifts as a token of our gratitude. We will come up with a list of ‘newsmakers of the week’ every Sunday.
“We are also planning to come up with some kind of recognition for the biggest newsmaker of the year, maybe something like ‘The greatest newsmaker after Yeddyurappa’ along the lines of a similar series by CNN-IBN and History Channel,” he said.
Link: http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=417094&catid=39
This is what the member had to say: “Of late, we have seen several controversies erupting around important people and institutions. These are typically actions that are widely condemned, statements that are usually retracted stating that they had been quoted out of context and the like. Essentially, these are incidents that dictate the content of newspapers and set the agenda for news channel debates for the next few days.
“The actions/statements can be funny, shocking, sensational, intriguing, politically incorrect or simply stupid. Though we journalists might condemn or even ridicule many of these, we are dependent on these newsmakers for our survival. Imagine how insipid and listless news would be without Digvijay Singh or Yeddyurappa or Swami Nityananda. The journalistic community is indebted to these newsmakers for giving us interesting content to write and debate on.
“We felt we have failed to recognise the valuable contribution of these people who are so critical for our survival. On Sunday, we came up with our first list of newsmakers for the week. The honourable home minister has made it to the list this week for his candid remark that citizens who can pay Rs 15 for a bottle of water should not complain about a Re 1 increase in the price of rice, failing to recognise that having to pay Rs 15 for a bottle of water itself hints at lack of availability of clean, potable water thus pointing at a failure of government in India over the years.
“Another person who has made it to this week’s list is Mr Salman Khurshid for fearlessly articulating the truth about the lack of ideological direction in the Congress and the cameo role of Rahul Gandhi. Both insist that they had been quoted out of context, as expected. The third person who has made it to the first list is Swami Agnivesh for defending the Viswa-Bharati warden. The ward boy who was caught performing a surgical procedure in UP has also made it to the list.
“This being the first list, a couple of representatives from our group will personally visit these people and hand them small gifts as a token of our gratitude. We will come up with a list of ‘newsmakers of the week’ every Sunday.
“We are also planning to come up with some kind of recognition for the biggest newsmaker of the year, maybe something like ‘The greatest newsmaker after Yeddyurappa’ along the lines of a similar series by CNN-IBN and History Channel,” he said.
Link: http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=417094&catid=39
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