November 2008 - Posts - A Romantic Realist

November 2008 - Posts

A Prime Minister Who Should Be An OpEd Writer

Posted by Raju Narisetti at 
Usually, it is the opinion page editors of newspapers who are in the habit of telling the government and the people as to what ought to be done. In India, however, it is Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's speciality as the man who can get things done and who is supposed to get things done has increasingly turned into an editorial writer (or editorial...

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A shameful silence

Posted by Raju Narisetti at 
As I write this, it is now 14 hours since news of terrorist attacks in Mumbai started trickling in and the situation remains both volatile and confusing. Since then, George W Bush, US President-elect Barack Obama, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Russian President Dmitry...

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Truth, lies and humor in political advertising

Posted by Raju Narisetti at 
((Postscript on 27 November morning: That pre-poll surveys can be fickle and advertising messages go by the wayside with the mood of voters likely to shift instantly was sharply reinforced with the Mumbai terrorist attacks targeting the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels by a new group that calls itself Deccan Mujahideen , which were clearly aimed at creating...

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Woman on Top or heads in the gutter?

Posted by Raju Narisetti at 
With predictable regularity, one can spot a label headline in Indian newspapers that says "Woman on Top." It could run on a story about Pepsico CEO Indra Nooyi, a chess team, a CEO appointment, any award for any woman...you get the drift. Examples of such a headline are all over including in this story I spotted over the weekend about a Sikh...

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Touché

Posted by Raju Narisetti at 
Regular readers of this Romantic Realist know he is a bit of an equal opportunity offender when it comes to the hand that feeds him. Still, in the face of smart creativity, one has give credit where credit is clearly due. The latest November 16-20 2008 issue of The Brand Reporter , the fortnightly trade publication that is widely read by Indian media...

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On a newspaper's birthday and an industry's birthday suit

Posted by Raju Narisetti at 
It was good to see a fat one-year-old show up at my house on 16 November morning in the form of a 96-page Mail Today, the slimline (a slightly longer tabloid) daily newspaper in New Delhi from the India Today group that turned 1. The 96-pager had a lot of ads, testimony to the special anniversary occasion perhaps, as well as that predominantly magazine...

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Heads Above (and Below) The Rest-2

Posted by Raju Narisetti at 
An occasional look at some great and not-so-great headlines, all trying to be clever and some pulling it off better than the others. Heads Above The Rest 1. Mail Today's 14 November front page headline " Billionaire Slide Show " is a clever way to talk about a new Forbes billionaires ranking of the richest Indians with many of them seeing...

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Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable

Posted by Raju Narisetti at 
Every once in a while, a story comes along that reminds this Romantic Realist that journalism--and newspapers--can still be about comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable . Here is one such story that ran on the front page of Mint on 12 November. High-profile hospital death raises questions By Shabana Hussain New Delhi A month after Jayant...

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Price on request? Well, why don't you request it?

Posted by Raju Narisetti at 
Coming out of one Indian holiday season and headed into Christmas and New Year, Indian magazines and newspapers are full (well, not too full in these tough economic times) of editorial features clearly aimed at getting readers to buy stuff. But what really gets my goat is how many of these features have everything about a product--including very attractive...

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Refugees blogging for real refugees

Posted by Raju Narisetti at 
If many bloggers are themselves refugees (either voluntary or involuntary) from the journalistic establishment, here is an idea worth blogging about. Bloggers Unite is a global, volunteer group of bloggers, podcasters and videobloggers who use their space and voice to try and unite--for one day every month--for a common cause or issue that, hopefully...

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The making of an Obama front page

Posted by Raju Narisetti at 
Barack Obama's election saw a surge in newspaper sales, temporarily lifting the mood in what has been a very gloomy year--full of layoffs and cutbacks--at American newspapers. While the story was quite compelling, powerful images also drove sales. To look at some of the more compelling front pages of American newspapers and read an analysis by Visual...

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I am No 1. No, I am No. 1

Posted by Raju Narisetti at 
Newspapers readers in New Delhi woke up on 6 November to front pages dominated by Barack Obama's clear win. But readers of the two main papers in town, The Times of India and Hindustan Times also got what amounted to dueling headlines on their front pages about another--albeit same--story. " TOI No. 1 in Delhi, NBT Second " said Times...

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Of Headhunters and their Cattle Calls

Posted by Raju Narisetti at 
Lost in the 21-month battle that Barack Obama waged to try and become president of the United States is perhaps the fact that, come 20 January 2009, when the 44th President is sworn in, it will be one of the most challenging assignments anyone can voluntarily and willingly take on. The chances that a new US President will fail to meet all the enormous...

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