What is Newswatch India?

Newswatch India, to borrow a worn-out dotgone cliche, is a portal. To steal another hackneyed phrase from the zillions who are quoted day in and out, we are "different". Newswatch is a website which provides news (and occasionally, views) about what is pertinent to newspeople.

So, Newswatch India is a media site?

Broadly speaking, yes. But we desist from dubbing ourselves "media people". Even advertising and PR professionals are mediapersons. We deal with journalists, journalism, and what is of immediate relevance for journalists. To be specifc still, we deal primarily with the news media.

Does that mean Newswatch India is different from existing media sites?

Isn't that obvious? :) On one hand, you have the big "media" sites which have precious little to do with journalists, but more to do with advertising, marketing, and sales. On the other, you have the media critics. That is why you have this site. Newswatch India does not stand anywhere in between; we are different. Browse through this site, and you will agree why.

To start with, it looks like a big site. How many people are involved with it?

When we started out officially on August 1, 2005, we just had the editor and an intern. Now we have a team of 15 associates and eight interns working with Newswatch India.

With so few people how do you plan to update it regularly?

In fact, it is to the contrary. With so little happening on the news-about-news front, we don't need too many people.

How authentic is the information provided on the site?

We carry information from sites / newspapers / magazines etc, which we perceive as having some credibility. We don't claim authenticity for any information provided by others since we believe the credibility of the information always lies with the source. All articles, especially those which have been published elsewhere, are properly attributed.

But then, why do you publish articles from elsewhere here on this site? Wouldn't it be better to just give a para and give the external link?

Quite often, sites change their links or the articles are deleted from the archives altogether. Since we are here to disseminate information, it would be self-defeating if we provide links that lead nowhere. Moreover, since we don't claim copyright over anything which has not been written by us, it should not matter. We abide by a crystal clear fair use policy.

So much for articles / news items that are not originally yours. How can I contribute write-ups to Newswatch India? For that matter, can I?

Yes, you can. Please see this page for details.

Why don't you have chatrooms or forums on your site?

We don't, as yet. We might in the days to come.

Can journalists write in their professional experiences / anecdotes here?

Of course.

I keep writing "letters to the editor" to innumerable newspapers. Can I send such (unpublished) letters to Newswatch India?

Yes, feel free to do so, as long as they are critiques of what has been published in newspapers / magazines or on websites or broadcast on radio / television. But please don't point out silly typos, which all of us can make. If you want to rebut / refute something that has been published/ broadcast, do so only if you can substantiate yourself. Please contact us through this page. And yes, don't forget to give us the correct reference.

UPDATE: Direct such opinions to the Media Culpa blog here: http://www.newswatch.in/mediaculpa/.

Do you publish anonymous articles?

If you mean articles without bylines, the answer is YES; in case you mean people we ourselves don't know, the answer is NO.

Do you offer jobs?

No, we don't offer full-time jobs as yet. However, we offer internship opportunities. For details, click here.

Do you carry advertisements on your site?

We sure do. If you care to browse through the site, you will not help noticing the advertisements. For more click here.

Do you have any policies about advertisements?

Of course, we do. Apart from what has been mentioned here, we just have a one-line policy for advertisements: they must blend with the site and not come across as intrusive. On Newswatch India, the content is king, and will forever remain so. The form is married to the content.

Why don't you have a press release bank?

That is not why this site has been launched. If you have releases to be circulated among journalists, please resort to the normal channels.

If we have press releases pertinent to journalists / media, can we post them here?

You cannot post anything. However, you can send us your press release through the contact form here. If it is pertinent, we will carry it on the site.

Subir Ghosh

Editor

Newswatch India

January 16, 2007

PS: If you have a query about anything that has not been either answered on this page or featured elsewhere on the site, please ask us through the contact form here.