~ Be nice ~

The following are extracts from a girl who experienced a change in how people behaved or interacted with her in public domain, purely based on her attire. I suggest you to read her blogpost & adopt the same in your daily life.

"The power of this experience lies in the fact that it was not an intentional experiment. It happened simply because of the Chiberian weather which required me to cover as much of by body with warm pieces of cloth. Apparently, the type of cloth you place or wrap around your head defines how you will be treated."

"I pray one day, and soon, that people will be familiar enough with all other cultures and beliefs that they are not afraid or have reservations, and that the thing that stands out to them is not the wrap around my head, but the smile on my face."

Good learning for all. Time to change one's perspective about people, based on how they dress or look. If you are a parent then suggest you to groom your young one(s) about the moral of accepting people from diverse back grounds, cultures, belief systems & different sexual orientation. As in Urban India, we are seeing a lot of people from different states living in a city. We need different kind of social education in the younger ones where they mingle with everyone & not just flock by their feather. 

~ Media blacks out Snowden interview ~

This past Sunday evening former NSA contractor Edward Snowden sat down for an interview with German television network ARD. The interview has been intentionally blocked from the US public, with virtually no major broadcast news outlets covering this story. In addition, the video has been taken down almost immediately every time it’s posted on YouTube.

~ Dirty Wars ~

We all have come across the popular idiom "All's fair in Love & War". One can relate to it if they have either waged a war or has been in love. I can relate to it as I have experienced the taste of Love and at times you become uncanny to get what you want.

Well this post ain't about Love nor the side-effects of it. Rather it's about War which the United States has waged over last decade in the name of National Security. No doubt every country has it's right to protect citizens and their right to live peacefully. I believe War might not be the ultimate solution for buying security in the long term. The victory might come with a shelf life, as the same War might be creating monsters thereby a vicious cycle that doesn't have an end.

Jermey Scahill, a war journalist who has covered wars in Iraq & Afghanistan and the author of International bestseller "Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army". His investigation journalism into the deaths of many innocent civilians across countries -Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia & other countries, threw light into the operations of US President's elite armed force named JSOC. 

Jermey Scahill's latest book and the film Dirty War gives an insight into the various operations of JSOC across the world and how they operate. 

After watching the film, don't think we will see any large scale war in the future. The JSOC seems to be the likely force that will be used to derive the necessary outcome anywhere in the world. President Obama might seem very liberal unlike his predecessor George W. Bush; but has definitely given JSOC upper hand in getting things done. Not sure if this is a good or bad thing for US and other countries. 

The questions at the end of the film leave you thinking as to what would happen next. The war on terror turned into a self-fulfilling prophecy. How does a war like this ever end? And what happens to us when we finally see what's hidden in plain sight?

Reading: Jeremy Scahill: the man exposing the US Dirty War | Jeremy Scahill Profile

~ News is entertainment ~

Post the Doordarshan era when the Govt of India allowed private players to broadcast, we initially had a bouquet of sports & entertainment channels. As far as the News channels were concerned, back in late 90s we had - DD, Zee News & Aaj Tak. The alternative source of news were magazines - The Outlook, The Week, India Today & regional cousins - and traditional Newspapers.

Step into 21st Century, we have 120 News channels operating across India. Of these 120 channels, guess about 5 English channels are watched by most urban population, discounting the Regional news channels. 

Thanks to these channels, am disillusioned by how information is feed to us & at times they have constant supply of *Breaking News*. Thanks to FDI &  politicians / political parties who want a medium to reach out to the masses, we now have many of them who own or control some of these channels. Most of these channels are biased towards a specific party, religion or an issue. Very rarely do we see these channels take a neutral stance &  get the bottom of an issue. 

After the Radiagate exposè, I lost faith with some of the main stream media professionals {& their organizations} whose names have appeared in the deal making. I feel the role of media today has changed to that of a *Middleman* who brokers deals between different political parties, business men, corporations than their primary objective of delivery quality information to the people of the current affairs. My view holds good w.r.t Indian media only.

I have been watching Madhu Trehan's episodes today morning & agree with her points. Wonder how those anchoring the shows fail to miss the obvious. I wish those Media professionals watch Madhu's show & take it as feedback about their work & bring some change. Have been following the alternative media - bloggers or websites - which cover/offers another perspective to the main stream media. Some of them which I frequently visit are:

Open The Magazine

The Caravan

Kafila

Churmuri

Media Crooks

News Laundry

Faking News *Satire 

Move over bloggers or websites, we now have  realtime crowd-sourced news being covered by people across the globe powered by Twitter. Any major event {Political | Sporting | Festival | Product Launches} or Catastrophe being delivered instantaneously with videos & pictures. This breaks the hold of mainstream media on coverage of events. The below pictures were taken by Andrew Kitzenberg, in the night when Tsarnaev brothers had a show down with police.

Here it’s clear to see the brothers taking aim and firing on the officers. (Taken at 12:47:57AM)

This is a zoomed in view from the last image. The red circle highlights the pressure cooker bomb that was used just moments after this photo was taken. These are the only pictures which I have come across on the internet captured by Andrew. For first hand account of the event witnessed by Andrew visit here

However, the normal public do not have access to information when it comes to Govts or Corporations. That's where we bank on the these Media Corps to deliver news AS IS versus interpreting or transforming before reaching us.

We have hacktivist style of news reporting from YourAnonNews & WikiLeaks. Even though their means of obtaining information is not considered ethical by majority their intent isn't *always* wrong. From the recent Boston bombings, we have seen online vigilantism which caused a lot of rumour & chaos in the already stressed environment. This is one of the major drawbacks of digital world when data is available for everyone to piece together & offer their own versions.

One of the politicians I admire is Mr Obama. How I wish our PM Mr Manmohan Singh shared some wit or at least spoke, at times, when it mattered. Enjoy this talk, Obama taking digs at the entire media during his speech at the White House Correspondent’s dinner.

Additional reading: A week inside India's media boom {FT} | Inside the Anonymous Hacking File on the Steubenville 'Rape Crew' {The Atlantic} | THE LESSONS OF STEUBENVILLE {The NewYorker} | Breaking news is broken {Slate} | Hey Reddit, Enough Boston Bombing Vigilantism {The Atlantic} | Security alert: notes from the frontline of the war in cyberspace {The Guardian} | The trolls among us {NYT}

Update 13 May 2013

Anubha Bhonsle has a very good write up on how Twitter plays a role in how we consume news & also the responsibility of the journalists to get their basics right & provide meaningful context to the raw data. Do read 'News in the time of Twitter' on News Laundry. 

There is no denying that social media platforms can today spread information and misinformation far quicker than they would have spread a decade ago. The problem though isn’t with technology. The problem is many of us have all but abandoned standards of good reporting, the very basics. The need of the hour is a reporter who will shape a narrative in a cacophony of noise, conversation and abundant content around him/her or on the social web. A reporter who will dig, question, unearth and make the linkages.

Biz Stone, the co-founder of Twitter has been quoted as saying, “We provide the information. That’s when we hand off the baton to journalists, to provide context.”

~ Fools gold ~

Kudos to BBC for producing the Panorama on "The Spies Who Fooled the World". Journalism at its best. BBC doesn't hesitate to take on politicians irrespective if there were British or American and the Intelligence agencies of Britain, America, Germany, France, Italy & Iraq.

They expose the whole shady Intelligence which was built up to go for the war against Iraq in the name of WMD. The lies which cemented the British & American troops to attack the Iraqis for 10 years which has left 4000 allied soliders & between 100000 to a million Iraq ˆ. Not sure if either Blair or Bush would be ever tried for believing in the murky Intelligence which their own Intelligence Officers had warned. They shall carry the guilt to their graves for so many lives that was lost in the war, which was built of lies.

One could summarise the war with John Lyly's proverb, "All Is Fair in Love and War".

Image:Luke Macgregor/Reuters | What Britons say on the 10-anniversary of the war.