Ice, Fire, Smoke and Water

Makes no sense, does it? Nor did the massive amount of rumours concerning the leading business daily, but then again as a friend of mine over there told me, “something must be up, otherwise why would we be hearing all this.” Here is the thing, there are ways of keeping rumours in check, very good ways, namely not telling too many people and when things start to spread you could clamp down on the rumours. From one end, the palliative side at least, we have heard a flat-out denial. But from the other end, nothing at all, no denials, no messages, nothing. The more radio silence there is (like the Japanese fleet that attacked Pearl Harbour) the more phone calls others have to field. And the more suspicion is aroused (ref: Tiger Woods).
It would be a bit difficult to deny that the television channel has been a tad disappointing. It is also by now no secret that people at the very top want the horses out and models in, the opposite of Tiger Woods’ philosophy of women (other than the Jamie Jungers chick, but she does look a bit like his almost ex-wife) and that isn’t really surprising. It is also by now no secret that the ‘integrated newsroom’ concept has been a colossal failure, but then again how did they expect to maintain an integrated newsroom with differential salaries. Seems a bit too much like ‘want Cake, for free, will eat too’. Ugsters on the telly minus the reporters, something had to give, no?
Such is life. On another note, one heck of a lot of carbon is being spent on sending reporters to Copenhagen (at last count, UndieTV is sending at least four people) but some parts of the media have been giving the event the coverage it deserves from India’s perspective rather than only buying into what the West wants. I’m no environmental guru, but any agreement that India agrees to must balance India’s developmental needs along with environmental concerns. Above all else, the government should instead of ramming down environmentalism down people’s throats teach them a bit about the problems – get the guys who write the Hindi soap operas to incorporate green messages maybe.
And then there is the ‘Paid News’ brouhaha. Usually most people specify what is an advertorial in print, and people have used the paid news club to batter BCCL again, and if you read the first two paras, they have their own problems (EDIT: though the Maharashtra Times did carry the same Chavan electoral advert). The funniest however was UndieTV which did a few shows, but it would have been better if they did some soul-searching themselves. A good half (well, estimates of over 60 per cent usually) the content on Undie Profit is paid for by advertisers. In fact, every business TV channel is guilty of this in India, and there is nary an indication of this before, during or after the show.
There will very few posts until the end of next week though as I’m caught up in a horrible mixture of work, wedding season (including travel to Lucknow), Single Malts and a bad cold. Well, there has been far too little single malt, but you get the picture.

PS: Oh, and I must thank Joji and Saad for giving all us twitter users a magnificently entertaining time yesterday evening. Yes, it got a bit out of hand, but that was primarily because Chetan Bhagat was finally exposed as the arrogant twat that he is. Surprising that bad authors can be so arrogant! Actually, wait a second....

Aravali Destruction!

This is something personal this Saturday morning, so excuse me this, but I figured since so many journalists and mediapersons read this blog, it might just be a good idea to put something like this up here.

There have been a lot of reports in the papers about the destruction of the Aravali range and how mining should be banned and houses razed. Now I hear the guy who has been ruining the hills through mining claims that thousands of jobs will be lost. Yes, that would be tragic, but imagine the number of lives that can be improved if this insanity stops. Kant Enclave homeowners say that they are being persecuted for no fault of theirs (and the guy who developed it is a big Congress dude - his son hangs with Rahul and Robert).

At what cost? Of course, no reporter had the brains to put two and two together and do the rather simple thing I'm doing below - the picture is a screen grab from Google Earth. This is the hills southwest of Dhauj village and the village in the picture is called Sirohi. The destruction is immense. You can see it for yourself at these co-ordinates.

Spread the word, or the duststorms will get worse, and the winters warmer!

The state of environmental reportage! (Guest Piece)

Hi, as I had previously mentioned, I would start asking friends and senior people from the world of journalism to start writing guest columns for this blog on wider issues. This piece is a by a close friend and a journalist (of sorts) who is well-known member of the Indian conservation movement. I agree with a lot of what the writer is saying here. Possibly the best writer of environmental issues in the Indian media of the last few years, I would believe is Prerna Singh Bindra who I believe knows what she is writing about (unlike many of her peers), but that is just my opinion. Read on for this unsigned view of things!
EDIT : For those of you coming from DP, this piece is not by Prerna, but by an environmentalist who works in the media but is not a 'regular' writer or reporter. As one commenter picked up, he is popularly known as 'Birdy'.
-K

In a recent slide show presentation of ‘Birds of Delhi’ at the India Habitat Centre (IHC), the author and presenter who remains unnamed here stops on a slide showing painted storks and comments, ‘For all Indian journalists these are migratory birds and they only come from Siberia’
In one line he sums up the deplorable understanding and reportage of environment and natural history in the India media. To understand this phenomenon let us go through some recent coverage.
Migration of birds remains an annual subject and the degradation of Keoladeo National Park (Bharatpur). Where every one hopes that the Siberian cranes will suddenly turn up. The ICF (International Crane Foundation) has long declared the central flock which wintered in Keoladeo extinct.
However recently Telegraph (Calcutta) wastes valuable newsprint on a recent copy! What is even more surprising is that they declare Peter G Kaestner as the world’s third-ranked bird watcher. This is a first for the entire birding world. Birders professional and amateur never knew of the ranking system before this, and I can write about this with conviction as I have been involved with the international birding community for most of my adult life.
But it is the Hindustan Times surpasses all by putting this on Page 1 with a picture of a Manchurian crane on Feb 23. This was generated from a ‘Sibe Hoax’ by a zoology student traveling on a train through Palwal in mid January. (K’s Note : The web-story does not have the image and HT archives cost a bomb)
But, if you thought it ended there, move over, here comes another headline which reminds me of the Akbar – Birbal tale of the emperor questioning Birbal on the number of crows in his kingdom. Have a look here (though this is an agency copy)
How on earth someone can report on an exact figure?
Next, let us move to the reportage on Bird Flu/Avian Flu/H5N1 which has taken considerable airtime and newsprint in January. When the country most oldest and premier conservation outfit especially in avian sciences BNHS (Bombay Natural History Society) states that the migratory birds are not responsible for the disease.
And this is what Mail Today reported immediately on Jan 30.
And see what happens when someone goes to see birds and does a bird count which is below expectation in the peak of migratory season. Read on. Another annual favourite is the disappearance of sparrows. I personally have tracked from 2002 till time present that the India media cannot forget the house sparrow irrespective of its present status.
A few years back I still remember Outlook Traveller put up the enigmatic black necked cranes on the cover and captioned them as black storks. I read the TOI daily and I find species irrespective of its status whether it’s a stork, duck or a gull, everything is labelled as migratory. Off course they are local migratory is one has to put in the right sense and that they don’t sit out everyday for ones viewing pleasure.
Earlier in the week one reporter from a tabloid was quite desperate to do a story on a bird known as the pied harrier which I reckon is a seldom winter visitor to these parts but nothing to write on or worth a story. But after explaining her on detail about its frequency of sighting and status and that it doesn’t deserve newsprint attention she went ahead as she though it was the rarest sight to put it in newsprint and the photo supplied by an acquaintance.

The tiger remains the toast of the media and there sole concern is with the right statistical figure. How many? 2,500 or 3,500 or 1,411 tigers in India
Anything and everything to do with it is immediately reported while hundreds of other species are pushed everyday to extinction. I seriously contemplate if anyone actually seriously thinks of the word ‘Extinction’. Once gone you just cannot bring it back. Every species big or small has a definite roll in the ecological cycle. This is elementary school science not any higher than that.
After three years when Sariska was wiped off its tigers and the recent GoI’s disclosure of Tiger numbers (the field data is a good two years old). NDTV starts a campaign to save the tiger and reports last weekend how unprepared Sariska still remains. 1000+ villagers still inhabit the park and only one village has been relocated. The highway is still running through with a recent leopard road kill to boast. Thousands still visit the temple and forest guards with hardly any infrastructure to tackle poachers as well as highly understaffed.
Within 2 days of this television report TOI reported how 3 tigers will be released as the state government has given verbal assurance in the parliament
So here we are to sacrifice three more tigers? 3 more goes from 1,411. Though that said, the reportage of environmental issues in the Times, though patchy is usually decent, and better than other mainstream channels and papers.
Further leopards get the blame if they are spotted in cites and moreover if they attack humans then they are immediately ‘man eaters’. Not an explanation that why the poor creature has strayed.
Over the years the Asiatic Lion went ahead and got branded as the Gir Lion as a result of which the state of Gujarat declares them as their sole property and thwarted any possible relocation to a second home.
Issues are in abundance, and in the same scale they are ignored from fishing trawlers destroying our coasts, animal skins and body parts, medicinal plants to the illegal trade in butterflies which eventually come back to our living rooms as beautiful wall artifacts from the South-east Asian markets. Trade in wildlife in the third biggest after narcotics and firearms.
The plunder of our natural history goes on and on, the media just picks and chooses what will be a sensation a dead tiger skin or a dead otter skin.