Tidbits of the region’s media

On 3 May, World Press Freedom Day, as seminar attendees around the world parleyed about whether the free media was actually free, journalists in the Swat Valley were more likely to be dodging bullets, due to threats by the Taliban against uncooperative reporting. Leaflets have recently been distributed to spread the Talibs' words of warning, backed by the sobering numbers of observed deaths in the turbulent region. By all means available, the Taliban has been relatively successful in swatting the Swat scribes, leaving only few intrepids to suction news out of the increasingly disastrous situation on the ground. No electronic media has been allowed into Taliban bases – although, to be fair, the military has also not exempted journalists from the imposed curfew. So, as the Pakistani military hone in on the Taliban, just a half-dozen journalists are left to work under dire conditions, with neither a newspaper to publish their words nor one in which to read the words of others. Chhetria Patrakar has to take a few timebytes out to comment on the crisp new website of the Office of the President of the Maldives, cleverly unveiled on the eve of World Press Freedom Day. Decorated with calm and collected earth tones, the website has, thus far, been updated regularly – notable for the sloth, if not abandonment, that usually afflicts Southasian government portals – with press releases and documentation of President Mohamed Nasheed's public appearances across the atolls. A who's who of the government and contact information can also be found there. Documents are posted in English and Dhivehi, and the Dhivehi font is available for download. Other important links: a Dhihevi translation of the Koran. Will the holy book's translation, free font or profiles of a smart-looking President Nasheed be the real reason for a website hit-numbers soar? CP wonders.

Not to be outdone, the Gyalpoi Dapoen Yigtsang, or Royal Office of Media (ROM) of Bhutan, has recently been launched. The idea behind it is not necessarily to improve Read Only Memory, but to "facilitate the works of media-persons by providing quick and accurate information for mass dissemination". This ROM, it appears, will function as a filtration hub for media coverage on the Bhutanese royal family. And given the ratio of royal family/non-royal family news coverage in the kingdom, it is set to play a pROMinent role in the country's media. In addition to managing the list and dress code of reporters at exclusive gatherings, the newly-instated mechanism will be the guiding force in the formation of a photography entourage – the Royal Press Group – to capture the aristocrats in their full magnificence. Looking at it from a Gross National Happiness point of view, His Majesty would probably not want to be caught looking grouchy on camera.\

The bloody battle on the tiny strip of land in the northeast notwithstanding, punchy tourism slogans are already being belted out to lure travellers to the once-idyll Isle of Lanka. Spearheaded by the Sri Lanka Tourism Board and devised by the market-analysis company Nielsen, the country is determined to boost tourism, which makes up two to three percent of Sri Lanka's economy. In this, it will be guided by the mantra "Sri Lanka, Small Miracle". Major TV stations and international trade magazines are soon to be approached, the website has already been upgraded, and the regular freebie giveaways produced. However, CP noticed that the web developers must not have gotten the memo that Sri Lanka has moved on from its anomalous days, since the old logo and motto – "Sri Lanka, Land like No Other" is still posted on the front page. Either that or, like all other miracles, exactly when and where they come to pass is left to chance. Reviving the serendipitous island from its war-tainted present will be no small miracle, even for a land like no other.

For more on the squatting Big Brother: UN satellite images have revealed government shelling in the 'no-fire' zone in the northern tip of Sri Lanka, despite adamant claims to the contrary. In response to the exposure, Sri Lankan officials have taken to accusing the UN of releasing confidential material to the public of an area where journalists and aid workers have been barred from entry. Without the backbone to stand up to the government on a matter involving the right to information, the UN cordially responded, asserting that authorisation had been granted at the time of release. Resident Representative Neil Buhne even admitted that the UN had "offered to get additional imagery for the government if that would be useful." Where did he learn his ABCs of diplomacy? Does the UN really want to be an accomplice to the government in such fragile times?

CP is reviewing Indian campaign news with healthy scepticism, since the Wall Street Journal's recent revelations about mega money-sidling in the nexus where politics meets the media. The mint-per-print system is reportedly more prevalent in the vernacular rather than the English press, with service prices varying according to the amount of publicity, public persuasion and candidate flattery involved. According to independent candidate Ajay Goyal, from Chandigarh, coverage in four newspapers for three weeks could set one back upwards of USD 20,000. Goyal bemoaned the state of news and investigation, admitting that he indulged in falsehoods once – though only to see whether the media would publish blatant lies. Verdict: positive. However, reports have surfaced claiming that Goyal leads the line-up of seven millionaires running for the Lok Sabha seat in Chandigarh alone, out of a total of 14 candidates. This could be a ploy to discredit the telltale. Regrettably, CP'll have to leave the truth hanging on this, unless of course someone's willing to pay up for some real investigation. Reporting will be free of charge.

Not to further taint the industry but just to even out the shares, Nepali radio could also look into the lucrative business of catering to cavalier campaigners. Reverberating through the airwaves, Nepal's FM stations are staying true to the natural undulation of their sound-ripple, rather than quivering into a muffle at the onset of border blockades. The seven stations in Janakpur, all serving up programmes in the shared Maithili language, are sustained not by their 2.5 million local listeners, but by the 30 million enthusiasts in Bihar. No Indian radio station caters to the language or culture in the state, after all. Reporters have even been cast across the border to make the radio experience a more mutually relevant affair. The influence these stations have achieved is reinforced by the fact that this past election season, some NPR 2.5 million was sent over from savvy southern campaigners – though more for political commercial space, rather than incognito advertisements masked as news. In awe of the resultant community-building from the Nepali radio programmes, CP too has grand plans to start a new campaign, running on a soon-to-be-established EAR (Enterprising Alliance of Radio) party slogan "Ride the wave of peace!"

But CP must give it up for the state-owned Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation's (MNBC), for its equal-opportunities stance on airtime. By dividing the visual pie fairly amongst its power-hungry children, it should reduce any unplanned plumping or pinching. All seven political parties will be free to buy 15 minutes of airtime on either Voice of Maldives or Television Maldives, through a luck-of-the-draw-type disbursement of timeslots. CP chuckles at MNBC managing director Ibrahim Khaleel, the idealist insisting that these airspace giveaways not be used to campaign for parliamentary elections, slated for 9 May, but rather for speaking to Maldivians on issues of importance to the parties.

Their advertising space is available, but not their loyalty. Prominent news websites in Pakistan had, in the run-up to the Indian elections, been giving significant space to advertising for the BJP and L K Advani, evidently motivated in part by the right party's hopes to soften its Hindutva image. The façade quickly crumbled as the election numbers came pouring in, however, and by the end of counting day the BJP advertisements had been scrubbed from the websites. Whatever its larger effect, however, the campaign didn't appear to have swayed the news sites themselves, with several reporting the victory over the "Hindu nationalist" BJP is notably snide terms.

Here's some news on news about the news coming from a place where news, let alone news about the news, is quite scarce. Local Burmese newspapers are waiting for permission from the censorship board to publish a second-hand story and associated photograph. Already printed in the state-run New Light of Myanmar, the story in question involves the bizarre recent story about a US Mormon well-wisher swimming across Inya Lake and intruding into opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's residence. The man was subsequently caught by authorities carrying almost USD 1500, a camera, folded pliers and a torch light. The intruder evidently fashioned himself a pair of flippers and plastic floaters to endure the mile-long swim. Once the board members grasp the repercussions of spreading reports that all it takes to break into the abode of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate under house arrest is a primitive set of pliers and some trained trapezius muscles, they'll start investing their own paper for undercover free-press agents.