The death of fourth estate (Media) –Lets form fifth estate to fight back

If my understanding of history is correct it is more than 405 years since the first great battle for the freedom of the press was fought by dissenters, dreamers and visionaries, who went against the wish and will of establishments. They had to pay heavy price for the act, terrible penalties. Way back Thomas Hytton was executed by William Tyndale, who translated the bible in to English. Now the time has come that to repeat the fight.

According to David Bowman, “is that, having thrown off one yoke, the press should now be falling under another, in the form of a tiny and ever contracting band of businessmen-proprietors. Instead of developing as diverse social institution, serving the needs of democratic society, the press, and now the media have become the property of few, governed by whatever social political and cultural values the few think are the second great battle of the freedom of the press.”

Now the giant public relations companies, which is employed by the state and other corporate houses which is also vested interests, now account for much of the editorial content of the media, especially, print media, however, insidious their methods and indirect their message. Their range is ideological and it is phenomenon: from corporatism to war. This is another form of embedded journalism; the crook ways to kill the truth has been institutionalized by PR agencies.

One can say that this is cry of common reporter, but how do we react to all this? How can we defend ourselves? There may be hundred answers. Ignacio Ramonet had an answer, he wrote, “The answer is simple. We have to create a new estate, a fifth estate that will let us pit a civic force against this new coalition of [media] rulers. Many international journalist and Indian writers, including Arundathi Roy proposes an international association of Journalists, academics, newspaper readers, radio listeners and television viewers that operates as a counterweight to the great corporations, monitoring, analyzing and denouncing them. I would not be surprised if the, media, like governments and the international financial institutions; itself becomes an issue of popular action in the future.

Current technology and business atmosphere does have potential to form an unofficial media which can reach to the large section of the society.

In the recent Iraq war, best stories appeared in the websites. This was done when all mainstream news media suppressed the truth. Dahr Jameel, a Labnese American reporter, who has provided a source for eye witness truth telling during the bloody occupation of Iraq, is striking example of alternative media that efficiently challenge the corporate media. Though she was not an accredited journalist, but one of the new breed of Citizen Reporters.

Some has come down and blew the whistle; there is a society which will endorse it. According to John Pilger, “One needs to realize that the world has two super powers now: the power of the military plutocracy in the Washington and the power of public opinion.”

Abu Haniyya

AAM AADMI should have upper hand

The election has clear cut message that the so called AAM AADMI is step ahead in thinking about the inclusive development.

Now the power given to the parties are huge, some they might ride the masses to the darkness during their feast of power, however, public is now queue up to read them properly. The election was a lesson for all the party, especially Left which has tried to be right and the BJP, for the congress too, which has left out from the UP in the last decade.

There is a specific intuition that this election has yielded, only the fools can ignore it. The class of people who were neglected and marginalized by all means in the society, they wield great power. They are not looking for lessons; rather they are there to assert the things.

Indian corporate seems to have forgotten that Dr. Manmohan Singh has to look in to whole country, not mere business houses that are bee making money even during recession. Most of the news papers are filled with instructions for Finance Minister, thinking that UPA is now free from the shackles of Left front. But Indian corporate should know that the left was drowned not because it stalled the triumphant march of capitalism, but it has leached the leftist impulse out of itself. The BJP learnt this in 2004, if Congress also repeats the same formula, no amount of Gandhi family magic or revival of party will keep it in the power in the next election.

Whole corporate world is crying about their losses that occurred during recent economic slowdown, which has marginally taken Indian economy to its fold. Will they have same voice, if they were asked to spell out the real profits that they have made during good days? Thus, its time to realize that AAM AADMI has awakened; many people’s movements have stalled number of giant corporate projects across India and the SEZ act. Political parties seems to have learnt the lesson, are the corporate? If not, then this is the time learn that AAM AADMI is always ahead on the carve of knowing what is good for India.

Now, educated middle class just don’t want a share in the spoils, but they want to debate the nature of development. The common man has already started to have comment on every thing, if the ruling government don’t tune I, and prepare budget for all—then there will be a another surprise in coming assembly elections and same could repeat in the next general elections.

EXPRESS EXPOSE---NICE sitting on 7,000 acres excess land

NICE sitting on 7,000 acres excess land

Express News Service

First Published : 15 Jul 2009 04:14:00 AM IST

Last Updated :

BANGALORE: Twelve years after the Framework Agreement (FWA) between the Government of Karnataka and the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) to implement the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project (BMICP) was signed, startling information on the acquisition of excess land for the project has come into the public domain, thanks to the Right to Information Act.It is now established that over these years, the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) acquired excess land of nearly 7,000 acres for the controversial project in violation of the FWA.The documents, obtained by many individuals and activists under the RTI Act, and in the possession of Express, disclose that the KIADB, as early as 1998-1999, notified 21,000 acres of private land as against the sanctioned area of 13,237 acres in FWA.These docume nts have been compiled into a book titled “White Paper on BMICP fraud” published by the Dalit Sangharsha Samiti The KIADB, in 1999, notified 5,688 acres of government land to be given to the project as against the sanctioned area of 6,956 acres in the FWA. In all, the KIADB agreed to give 26,688 acres of land to NICE instead of 20,193 acres as agreed in the FWA.Section A comprises 41 km of peripheral road, 9.8 km of link road and 13 km of expressway from Bangalore to Bidadi.The documents also point out that KIADB notified 5,675 acres for peripheral road portion alone as against 2,193 acres required in FWA.For the link road, the KIADB has notified 563 acres of land as against 278 acres required in the FWA. For the expressway, KIADB notified 6,348 acres against the requirement of 4,568 acres of land.The NICE spokesperson said, “The expert panel formed to study this issue has given clear guidance. We are following the same. All allegations are baseless.The matter is still in the court and we will adhere to the court orders given earlier.” Clause misused All these years, officials have buried these violations under the confidentiality clause in the FWA. The clause says, “Each party shall hold in strict confidence all confidential information received by it from the other party. The party receiving such confidential information shall not publish or otherwise disclose or use the confidential information for its own purposes.” Thanks to RTI activists and farmers, the issue came out in the open. Acting on this, the government on July 17, 2008, wrote to the chief executive officer of KIADB seeking explanation about the basis on which these lands were notified and in some cases, given to NICE.In Section A alone, KIADB has notified 12,586 acres of land instead of 6,999 acres sanctioned. The then special DC had said that KIADB had admitted that land acquisition notifications were issued based on requirement indicated by promoter company and not on the basis of any technical drawings approved by the government or PWD or the FWA.