2005-2014

NEW DELHI, September 5: The first casualty of war is the truth. And the reporters of the truth have been among the many casualties of the bloody conflict in Iraq. The truth dawns starkly on one when told that more journalists have been killed over the last two years in Iraq than were during the long-drawn Vietnam war. More than 80 members of the news media have died since the war began in March...

Here is a look at the toll since hostilities began in March 2003, as compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists. JOURNALISTS KILLED ON DUTY: 53 CPJ considers a journalist to be killed on duty if the person died as a result of a hostile action–such as reprisal for his or her work, or crossfire while carrying out a dangerous assignment. CPJ does not include journalists killed in accidents...

The story of Hattiesburg, Miss., is being told worldwide through journalism of a new kind. After Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Louisiana/Mississippi coast Monday it churned through Hattiesburg about 75 miles to the north. Destruction was widespread and conditions deteriorated in the days after the storm. Worldwide media attention focused on the disintegration of New Orleans because of the...

The axiom that journalists should be dispassionate interpreters of events, no matter how harrowing, has been severely tested in the deadly wake of Hurricane Katrina. The magnitude of the destruction left by the storm and the desperate straits of thousands of its victims were challenge enough. Many reporters, clearly affected by what they were seeing, showed their empathy in their stories, and some...

NEW DELHI, September 4: Wildlife photos do not always make for good posters. Especially, when they are politically incorrect – when they are insensitive to wildlife in general, and when they violate exisiting wildlife laws. A few days back, a collection of three photographs in Rajasthan Patrika did just that. Wilfelife conservationists woke up on the morning of August 30 to see close-up pictures...

NEW DELHI, September 4: India's ranking as the second largest newspaper market in the world also has a flipside to it. In terms of percentage of reach (of newspapers), it lags way behind developed countries. The gap between India and leading countries on this count would depend on which source you would like to go by – World Press Trends 2005 (which draws on the National Readership Survey 2002...

It may sound callous, but the truth is that the thousands of middle class Indians who sat glued to CNN watching and discussing, of all things, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, weren't remotely driven by a sense of Christian charity or Hindu compassion. On the contrary, you could detect their smirk at the descent of the American Dream into a Third World nightmare. Don't get me wrong, the Indian...

(KRT) - The Sun Herald and its predecessor newspapers, The Daily Herald and the Sun, have a proud 121-year tradition of never having missed a publication day. That is pretty amazing when you consider that we do get the occasional hurricane in these parts. Last Sunday afternoon, our staff hurried to put the finishing touches on our Monday edition so that everyone could speed to a place where they...

Deccan Chronicle is looking to consolidate its position in South India, and may look at the acquisition route to establish a presence in the Karnataka market. The publication claims to have garnered a circulation figure of 255,000 copies in Chennai on weekdays and 290,000 on Sundays. Of these, only 23,000 copies are through the ICICI cardholders’ subscription tie-up. While on acquisition plans, a...

Any Weblog or podcast in one of theBOBs' nine languges (English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Persian and Arabic) can participate in the Deutsche Welle's 2005 theBOBs -- The Best of the Blogs. THE CATEGORIES The Deutsche Welle is organizing an international Weblog award. The competition is aimed at supporting the free flow of information on the Internet and will be...