Opinion | Columnists
Beware! The bloggers are watching
The arrival of blogs means that the public can now go beyond what is presented by the media.
- By Vinita Bharadwaj, Staff Writer
- Published: 00:00 July 11, 2006
In India, sex on the internet, apparently doesn't sell so much. Not if you go by the recently released India Online 2006 Report, which is based on a land survey conducted in April this year.
In fact only 11 per cent of Indian users surf the internet for adult content.
Email tops the usage list and here's the big surprise - 88 per cent of all the net users polled said they regularly check out blogs.
Surprise, because until recently the phenomenon of blogging was largely considered to be an elitist domain.
With the ability to blog in regional languages now and a largely free platform, the medium it seems, can now truly be taken seriously as an alternative source of opinion and information.
The arrival of blogs means that the general public can now go beyond what is presented by the mainstream media and no longer need to see or know what they want us to see and know.
However, it also means that the members of the media need to be careful as their acts of plagiarism or inspired writing - depends on what side of the fence you're sitting on - stand a much greater risk of being exposed.
In recent history examples of open copying have received great attention online complete with name and shame.
One of the early exposes was of Nihat Kazmi's film review of Shark Tale, which was lazily lifted from Roger Ebert's review. Next on the hit-list was - another film critic - The Hindu's Gautaman Bhaskaran.
Really, how tedious or difficult can it be to watch a movie AND write your own thoughts on what you think of it AND get paid for it?
Bhaskaran, who has - and continues to - review films for India's national newspaper for the past 21 years even has his own website complete with photo of the man.
He was found out by a Chennai blogger to have tweaked around a New York Times review of Alexander by Manohla Dargis.
The world is truly our oyster and it's just a matter of time before some blogger decides to open it. Bhaskaran, the last one heard, didn't lose his job, but for sure he lost his credibility.
And the newspaper, by insisting on stoic silence over the issue, also disappointed readers, who wrote in about the shameless act.
The most recent act was that of Mahmud Farooqui of Outlook magazine.
Bloggers found similarities between Farooqui's book review of Jan Dalley's The Black Hole in The Independent by Anne Garvey.
Faroouqi for his part has responded to the accusations and it was posted on Outlook's website.
Copycats
Not only do the copycats have to be cautious, but journalists, writers and the rest also better be wary.
It's only a matter of time before the following faux pas finds its way to the blogosphere.
Popular Indian columnist Shobhaa De in the June 30 issue of one of the UAE's evening papers wrote in her weekly column - this time on India's UN Secretary General nominee, Shashi Tharoor:
"Tharoor has been spending a considerable amount of time lobbying in Delhi and going by reliable info, it's India's ex-Prezzie [sic], the very worthy Mr. Narayanan, (a Malayalee, like Tharoor himself), who has been pushing for the blue-eyed (literally!) boy of Kofi Annan."
That's fine, though how former president K. R. Narayanan managed that seven months after his death is beyond my comprehension. And imagination.
Opinion Editor's choice
-
Russia, China complicit in Syria carnage
By Fawaz Turki, Special to Gulf News
By their double veto at the UN, they have chosen to back the Al Assad regime that is already wet spaghetti
-
Two prime ministers in trouble
By Kuldip Nayar, Special to Gulf News
Gilani faces contempt of court charge while Singh encounters moral responsibility in 2G scam case
-
Moving towards honest democracy
By Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of Russia
Russia needs to unbundle power and property and separate executive power from system of checks over it
Your turn
