Tidbits from the region’s media
News channels in Pakistan really need to get their fact-checking departments in order – and they need to stop the spooks of the country from playing with the citizenry's heads. A while ago, some major TV channels in Pakistan ran a story claiming that the entire match-fixing scandal involving Pakistani cricketers in the UK had been cooked up by – surprise, surprise! – the Indian intelligence agency RAW, and that Mazhar Majeed, at the centre of the brouhaha, was a RAW agent too. They sourced this information to the Daily Mail, the British newspaper. The only problem was that while the Daily Mail has been known to publish outrageous content, it had said nothing about India being involved in the match-fixing scandal in London. So where did this nugget of information come from?
It turns out that some time ago, some geniuses in spooksville in Pakistan decided to set up a bunch of websites, disguise them as 'newspapers', and use them to take 'information warfare' to a whole new level. One of these websites is called the Daily Mail, for which the boys even also stole the logo of the Daily Mail. The 'reports' on RAW's involvement in the match-fixing madness were therefore actually planted by spooks. For their part, the TV channels either decided to play hookey with fact-checking, or were pressured into running the 'story'. Word of advice to the 'intelligence' wallahs: stealing the identity of a known tabloid does nothing for your 'credibility' (and Chhetria Patrakar is using that term very, very loosely here).
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Bangladesh, meanwhile, might be getting a giant lunch break, thanks to social networking, an online game and a little creativity at the World Food Programme (WFP). For every correct answer that players give during a game hosted at freerice.com, the WFP gives 10 grains of rice, paid for by advertisers, to countries such as Bangladesh. Freerice.com, which was launched in 2007, is said to be attracting around 40,000 players every day, and will now be integrated with Facebook and Twitter for easier and more widespread access. The game was created by one John Breen to help his children prepare for college entrance exams; he donated it to the WFP when he realised the power of his creation. At the risk of sounding corny, CP would like to thank Mr Breen for helping Southasia with its greens.
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Now for a question: What is it with the Times of India's coverage of the Commonwealth Games? ToI's sudden turn from fluff to gruff in its coverage of the Games was amusing at first, but whispers were soon heard about whether considerations other than 'upright journalism' (ha!) were at play. According to some reports, the ToI craved 'official newspaper' status for the Games – a status that would have allowed the group to earn, well, let's say, quite a bit of money. It looks like the paper might have lost the game to a lower bidder, thus giving us a simple equation: publisher no win bid = publisher furious = Commonwealth Games coverage circus.
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A similar but less high-profile fiasco between Kantipur Publications, one of the largest media houses in Nepal, and the Indian embassy in Kathmandu, shows that this tendency to 'show advertisers who's boss' seems to be gaining traction in the Southasian media. Early last month, the Kantipur group went after Dabur with a vengeance, either because Kantipur was concerned about consumers' health (cue: snicker!) or, as some reports suggest, Dabur had cut ads in Kantipur publications. Certain staff members (no prizes for guessing who) from the Indian embassy decided, however, that this in itself wasn't entertaining enough. They enthusiastically jumped into the fray, converting a corporate battle into a diplomatic circus, finally forcing the Dabur-wallahs to issue a desperate plea to 'let business matters remain business matters'. Dear diplomats, it pains CP to say this, but please listen to the corporatti on this one.
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At the other end of the spectrum, the News Broadcasters Association (NBA!) in India has probably just given broadcasters license to create a circus over the Ayodhya judgment. It has issued 'guidelines' to them to neither speculate on the judgment nor show footage of the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition. It is surprising how the NBA-wallahs haven't understood the basic rule that Southasian journalists seem to live by: If you're ordered to not do it, make sure you do it – and with greater energy than you otherwise would.
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The Sri Lankan government also constantly fails to understand the futility of banning things. Earlier this month it blocked, for the umpteenth time, distribution of a new edition of The Economist. While concerned officials trotted out the old 'national security' excuse, the BBC reported that the powers-that-be in Sri Lanka were apparently unhappy with an opinion piece that criticised the new, oh-so-criticisable18th Amendment to the Constitution. Woe unto those who don't agree with granting sweeping powers to a president who likes to pretend that the country is still at war, eh? CP would request officials concerned to concentrate on the message instead of wasting time banning the messenger (or commentator).
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The Indian government, meanwhile, is becoming increasingly paranoid about the accessibility of Nepali and Pakistani television channels and radio stations within India's borders. According to one report, security agencies have warned the government that FM radio stations from Nepal, which are accessible fairly easily, particularly in the border areas of Bihar, might be misused by the Maoists and – drum roll – militants from Pakistan! Money is now being ploughed into telecommunications to improve programming on Doordarshan and All India Radio, to counter 'foreign misinformation campaigns', and increase signal strength along the India-Nepal border and the Line of Control in Kashmir.
Seriously, though, why would Maoists in Nepal need to use FM stations surreptitiously? They're not underground anymore, and are perfectly capable now of making public spectacles of themselves. As for the Indian Maoists, well, CP thinks that the way the government is [mis]handling the issue doesn't leave much room for misinformation campaigns by anyone else. And then, why would militants from Pakistan want to travel all the way through Nepal in order to 'abuse' local FM stations, when they've proved that they can set up the required infrastructure themselves? The Taliban FM station in Swat certainly comes to mind…
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Still on the subject of crossborder fiascos, politicos in Punjab (on the Pakistan side) seem to think Islam is under threat from cartoons. (Really? Again?) This time around, the target of ire are the Amar Chitra Katha cartoons, which are said to 'glorify Hinduism' (the horror!) by depicting stories from Hindu mythology and thus lead the righteous children of Punjab astray. The politicos have subsequently decided to take matters into their own paws and protect the faith – though one would think an all-powerful, vengeful, fire-breathing god would be able to do that without mortal help. A committee of mortal politicians was nonetheless dutifully formed, and a decision was made to ban the cartoons, which are aired by an Indian channel.
Not only was little thought given to the apparent frivolity, not to mention schizophrenic nature, of this move. But the powers-that-be in Punjab also seem to have forgotten the fact that the white portion of the Pakistan flag is supposed to represent religious minorities, and not merely depict Islam as a 'peaceful religion'. CP will simply follow the excellent example of one commentator and quote Bulleh Shah of Punjab here: 'Galh samajh laee te rola kee? / Eh ram, raheem te maula kee?' (If you have understanding, then why this hubbub / About who is ram, raheem or maula?)
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The first general elections in 20 years would have been good news for Burma were it not for the fact that the regime seems to perpetually live in 'opposite day'. Determined not to allow a repeat of the results of the last national elections, the State Peace and Development Council (*cough*repugnant dictators*cough*) dissolved ten opposition parties, including the National League for Democracy; placed pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest; and, just to be sure it had covered all its bases, announced that Suu Kyi would not be eligible as a candidate in the elections. The UN, meanwhile, has decided to sit this one out by merely 'noting with concern' the military junta's decision to decapitate (figuratively, not literally … yet) all competition prior to the elections. Three cheers for one-party 'democracies'!
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On a happy note, Himal's tendency to look at the world upside down now has some more takers! Our 'right-side-up' map and editorial policy of using Southasia as one word continue to catch on. Not only did the September cover of The Economist have a 'right-side-up' map of the Americas, a new online regional publication is now using Southasia as one word. Hats off to small victories and steps towards regional solidarity (at least in the media)!
~ Chhetria Patrakar