Digital...

The World Association of Newspapers is having their annual summit meeting out in Gotenburg, and one of the major topics of discussion is the emergence of the 'digital form'. As I wrote, many media organisations are having a huge problem coming to terms with the internet, some don't even have a proper strategy going forward prefering to stick their head in the sand and hoping it will go away. Anyway, I was just reading this recent report by the Associated Press, which reveals that young people are suffering from news fatigue thanks to the sudden explosion in information.
Many of us who have had to deal with the Arushi case being given wall-to-wall coverage over the past three weeks can relate to that (click the link for the latest Google News coverage, and I doubt any parents will be calling their kids Arushi for a while) it is as if the desi media latches onto something and refuses to move on until the next big story, milking it for everything it has got. I wonder if such a case had happened in a city other than one bordering Delhi if the coverage would have been so widespread. Don't get me wrong, I believe this was a horrific incident and the perpetrators should be brought to justice, and the media should put pressure on the authorities to resolve the case, but for god's sake, isn't there any other news. And now that the IPL is over, you don't even have 'buffer' news.
Oh wait, other than the fact that the economy is tanking and fuel prices are going up, or might go up when the government realises that 'off-balance sheet' expenses (oil bonds) can be rather destructive. After all, that is what brought Enron down. I don't believe the country will collapse, but it is in a rather dire state. Heck, if mis-governance has made cheerboy's like Vinod Mehta change their spots, I wonder what will be next. Will 'The V' dare criticise Manmohan and Madam in his column? Has hell really frozen over?
Anyway, if you haven't read Jug's brilliant article attacking The People's Daily of Chennai, you must!