MxMIndia

Tag: Mediaah

  • Vijayadashmi or Dassera is said to mark the celebration of good over evil. Mediaah! Lists 10 evils must be banished asap

    10 evils media can do without

     

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    Vijayadashmi or Dassera is said to mark the celebration of good over evil. While many celebrated Dassera yesterday, for Bengalis in particular it’s ‘Shubho Bijoya’ today.

     

    I had written a similar feature two years back on MxMIndia and as I compared the list that I made for 2013 vis-à-vis the one in 2011, I was saddened to note that most of the evils are the same. In fact things have only gotten worse. Except one, which was on the issue of ratings where measures are being taken to cleanse the systems as per the expectations of the stakeholders. While work on the all-new IRS for print readership is still on and BARC has not yet finalized the vendor for television measurement, the fact is that all stakeholders are united in their efforts now to produce a robust system (as they ought to have been earlier), hence one has done away with the problems of ratings as a malaise.

     

    So which are the Top 10 evils that deserve to be banished from Indian medialand? Read on…

     

    01.  Corruption

    It’s public knowledge. There’s more corruption in private enterprises than there is in government and public sector undertakings.

     

    Bribes and various other commercial considerations are commonplace in television channels, advertising agencies, newspapers and magazines. And then there are awards and placement of reports. Not all of it is in lieu of monies though. Some could even be for just ol’ times sake.

     

    02.  Paid Content

    There are three types of paid content which rule Indian news media. The first is the one where political parties and politicians pay publications and channels for favourable content on them or negative content on their rivals or both. The second is for business and lifestyle content where you pay for content that appears. And the third is when publications only carrying reports on those who advertise and not on the basis of merit.

     

    The incidence of each of them has grown, and since the last time I wrote this, more publications are now publishing lifestyle content in lieu of dosh.

     

    03.  Government interference

    A senior Doordarshan functionary this correspondent spoke to said he/she was disgusted with the I&B ministry for its interference in the Doordarshan’s affairs. Especially in the case of news. If the government wants DD to improve and prosper it mustn’t get into the day-to-day functioning of the channels.

     

    Also, there’s no reason why the government should get involved with the functioning of various stakeholders. With regulators in place and players adopting self-regulation

     

    04.  Ass-ociations

    Save a few, some of the key industry associations have failed the industry. There is groupism in many of them, and they don’t seem to working enough for the common good of the fraternity and the business. While there is a Goafest and a few other association-led and individual compay-owned events, the two biggest events of the trade – Frames and Big Picture – are organized by FICCI and CII respectively. Meanwhile, some of the associations could do with better equipped secretariats.

     

    05.  Shabby Abby

    Abby 2013 were indeed Shabby, and although attempts were made to clean up the system, it’s going to require quite an effort from recently appointed president, Pratap Bose, to ensure there is enough participation from all agencies and the rules are watertight on fake/proactive work and plagiarism. The Abby Awards needed to be reinvented, else they will lose relevance.

     

    06.  Abuse of intellectual property

    Many of us in the Indian media are responsible for picking up material (ideas, text, pictures, audio, video, graphics) without permission and attribution. There is no respect for intellectual property in India and it’s a matter of time when the laws and penalties on intellectual property theft get stiffer.

     

    07.  Talent

    Talent continues to be a big problem in the media. As organizations go on to value-add their offerings and attract a premium for their services, they must remember they cannot achieve it without quality manpower. And this talent doesn’t come cheap which will mean an impact on the bottomline.

     

    08.  Job security

    The current slowdown has had a huge impact on some organizations with retrenchment in many sectors. In some organizations, even if there was no direct sacking, there were no replacements found for those who left. Media organizations must remember that they shouldn’t lose the human touch while effecting these. And also the next time when the going is good, perhaps they should not hire indiscriminately.

     

    09.  FDI Blues

    The government continues with its bizarre rules on FDI, and it’s possibly being egged on by organizations whose interests could be harmed if foreign powers come in. While the government is indeed mulling an increase of foreign direct investment in news media and FM radio to 49 percent, one wonders why not make it 100% when such restrictions aren’t imposed on equally critical sectors like telecom.

     

    10.  No ethics!

    This is a huge peeve. Yes, that there are still various ways to fool a system, but the only way in which way there can be some order in media organizations is when there is no tolerance rule on ethics. Get everyone – employees and promoters – to agree to adhere to them. And expose those who break the rules.

     

    The views expressed by Pradyuman Maheshwari, Editor-in-Chief and CEO, MxMIndia in Mediaah! are his own and not necessarily those of MxMIndia Private Limited. Email him at pradyumanm (at) mxmindia.com

     

  • Pradyuman Maheshwari is surprised with the response he received from NDTV ombudsman Soli Sorabjee to his mail on the Barkha Dutt-Niira Radia controversy. Is one of India's best known legal luminaries sitting on the fence on the issue, he asks in Mediaah!

    Mediaah! Bizarre! NDTV ombudsman Soli Sorabjee’s response to mail on Barkha Dutt-Niira Radia episode

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

    I was delighted with the news that Soli Sorabjee was to be the Ombudsman of NDTV, the news-to-cookery information network. Sorabjee is one of India’s best legal eagles, is a former Solicitor and Attorney General and is known to be a wise man. He’s frequently on television, his views are much sought after by people who matter. He’s not a Ram Jethmalani.

     

    NDTV is one of India’s best known news vehicles, although just 25 years in the business. And it’s well-respected too.

     

    However, the last five years has seen question marks being raised about the network. And this goes beyond its performance in the stockmarket, its decision to get into entertainment television and then exit it, staff cuts and more recently the trimming of operations of business channel NDTV Profit.

     

    What has caused considerable loss of face for the channel’s reputation goes beyond its business decisions. After the Mumbai terror siege, there was an uproar against the coverage of some news channels and consequently there was a vicious online attack on Barkha Dutt. Yes, it was vicious, but as I look back, Barkha and NDTV should’ve just let it be. Instead they took legal action against techie Chaitanya Kunte. They may have won the battle and silenced Kunte, but there was much anger building against them.

     

    And then there was the Niira Radia controversy. While journalists do often indulge their sources and help them with info (and even fix stuff), what happened in the Barkha Dutt episode was unfortunate. Especially the way she and NDTV handled the issue. She should’ve apologized on camera rather than defend herself on the show where questions were posed to her by a few top editors. NDTV, a channel until then known to have a squeaky clean reputation, too ought to have handled the crisis better and should’ve instituted an internal enquiry (headed by an outsider and asked Barkha to go off the newsroom or at least off air in that period). It didn’t, and went down several notches in the eyes of its core viewer – the Indian intelligentsia.

     

    However, that’s not the reason for writing this. When I heard about Soli Sorabjee being appointed Ombudsman, I wondered how he would’ve handled the Barkha Dutt-Niira Radia issue. That was reflected in the report we carried on his announced (see link: http://www.mxmindia.com/2013/09/ndtv-appoints-soli-sorabjee-as-ombudsman-now-will-he-clear-air-on-barkha-dutt-episode/ ).

     

    I wrote two letters to the Ombudsman. The first was on my name getting exposed to NDTV, to which Sorabjee responded writing: “I do not appreciate the need for anonymity.”

     

    I found this a little weird. If a corporate’s name gets exposed to a journalist who he/she is complaining about, there’s bound to be a backlash.

     

    But it’s the second exchange that has had me shocked and surprised.

     

    Here goes the mail I received from Sorabjee’s Ombudsman id (See letter image).

    QUERY

    Hello, Mr Sorabjee. Thank you for accepting NDTV’s invitation to be the media group’s Ombudsman.

    I would like to bring to your notice the controversy around Barkha Dutt and her telephone conversation with lobbyist Niira Radia. While Ms Dutt’s defence was subjected to a cross-exmination on television by eminent journalists, there is a view that her act brought disrepute to the profession and the NDTV group. There is also a view that Ms Dutt’s services or appearance on television should’ve been suspended pending investigation. It would be good to have an eminent jurist like you to comment and give your ‘verdict’ on the issue/episode. Your views may well clear Ms Dutt’s name once and for all. Or we may have you aver that Ms Dutt was incorrect by doing what she did and she deserves a stiff reprimand. In both cases, it will be a great service to Indian journalism. Sir, since this episode happened, many have questioned the ethical standards that prevail in the Indian news media and have even gone on to say that our news entities do not have the moral authority to question others on inefficiencies/corruption etc since their own houses may not be in order.

    Your comment on the matter will help clear the air on this.

    Thanks, Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    RESPONSE

    The role of the Ombudsman is not judgmental but to ensure that dissemination of news is fair, accurate and balanced. However, Ms. Barkha Dutt should not participate in any programme concerning her and the Radia Tapes. I have advised NDTV to inform Ms. Barkha Dutt accordingly.

    Soli Sorabjee,

    Ombudsman, NDTV

     

     

    Is Soli Sorabjee refusing to take a stand on an issue that has a strong linkage with the “role of the Ombudsman to ensure that dissemination of news is fair, accurate and balanced”. And what’s this bit about “However, Ms Barkha Dutt should not participate in any programme concerning her and the Radia Tapes. I have advised NDTV to inform Ms Barkha Dutt accordingly.”???

     

    Mr Sorabjee is a wise man, but why is he sitting on the fence on the issue? Has NDTV asked him to not comment on the controversy? We don’t have the answers, but at the time of writing on October 9, 2013, when we tried visiting the Ombudsman’s page/corner/whatever on the NDTV.com site, we couldn’t find any label/tag on the homepage. Perhaps, viewers are expected to remember the ndtv.com/soli url. Or perhaps the network doesn’t want us to go complaining to Soli Sorabjee.

     

    The views expressed by Pradyuman Maheshwari, Editor-in-Chief and CEO, MxMIndia in Mediaah! are his own and not necessarily those of MxMIndia Private Limited. Email him at pradyumanm (at) mxmindia.com

     

  • The Businessworld acquisition clearly propels Anurag to a different league of media-owners. From being a Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of a B2B media group he is now the man spearheading one of India’s best known and respected media brands.

    Mediaah! by Pradyuman Maheshwari: The Rise and Rise of Anurag Batra

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    If Anurag Batra had his way, he would possibly want the day to have a few hundred hours. Reason? He could then network several times over. Widely regarded as kingmaker in the media, Mr Batra loves his food and meeting people. He is known to have multiple breakfast meetings, followed by a couple of lunches and then a dinner or two. And not to forget the early evening snack or juice and post-dinner coffee.

     

    He is passionate about helping people across all levels and strata and then at times seeks help for his businesses and his friends. So depending on who you are and what kind of stuff you like, he’ll gift you a book with a personalized note. And if you are the type who wears printed socks, he’ll even bring you those from one of his various international travels.

     

    I have had the fortune of knowing him well for over a decade – first as a friend and then employed with the exchange4media group that he co-owns. After I quit e4m over an ethical issue in 2011, he was a friend too. He gave me a fond farewell and insist I keep an iPad he had gifted me the previous year. He unfriended me on Facebook a year after I set up MxMIndia.

     

    Anurag (or Annurag, as his publications spell his name) was invited by his friend and co-partner Amit Agnihotri to join the group in the late 1990s. A textile engineer and MBA by education (TIT Bhiwani and MDI Gurgaon), he started working in the real estate sector and then with ad agency JWT (then HTA). While Amit is designated Editorial Director, he now spends most of his time running MBAUniverse, an MBA-preparatory service provider. The third partner is Nawal Ahuja who moved to Mumbai in the company’s early days to kickstart operations. He now runs exchange4media.com and Impact editorially as well as heads the business end in Mumbai. There were two sets of partners – adman and BJP loyalist Sushil Pandit and the husband-wife duo of Nitin and Mona Jain. A few years back, Pandit was fighting the Anurag, Amit and Nawaltrio in the Courts. Pandit couldn’t be reached at the time of writing while Nitin Jain said he had virtually written off his investment.

     

    The litigation may have taken its toll on the group’s expansion plans, but that hasn’t stopped Anurag from forging ahead. He set up fashion site Stylekandy and the now-defunct media school FMCC. There were a few other media operations that he has rumoured to have funded, but these are unconfirmed. Earlier this year, he is said to have bought a digital marketing site in Singapore.

     

    The Businessworld acquisition clearly propels Anurag to a different league of media-owners. From being a Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of a B2B media group he is now the man spearheading one of India’s best known and respected media brands.

     

    Will Anurag be able to turn around Businessworld? As a genre, all news magazines and business mags in particular are under tremendous pressure. But the loads of enthusiasm and energy that he comes with, networking with people who matter, and the desire to achieve the impossible could get him there with organising events and look at innovative ways to earn revenues. Businessworld already has a top-grade editorial team and a few tweaks in content and packaging could help it shore up the offering. Friends and those who’ve been tracking his career believe he can turn the fortnightly magazine company profitable if the investors he represents are not impatient and continue to invest. There are some though who believe he is playing with fire and a failure could cost him much as it has with big media aspirants in the past.

     

    Clearly Businessworld needs to reinvent, and Anurag/Annurag Batra can bring in the energy to the enterprise. Good luck to him.

     

  • The idea of getting Ashvini Yardi (who had earned her stars as programming head at Zee) was a great one. But could CEO Rajesh Kamat and she be able to match the maharathis and former Star India CEOs Peter and Sameer?

    Mediaah!: How underdog Colors won the great GEC battle

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    Having tracked the journey of both Television 18 and Viacom from their early days (in India in the case of Viacom), there was much desire to see both groups succeed.

     

    But I thought they were being too ambitious to launch a Hindi GEC in 2008. The market was already very crowded and with the whizkids of broadcasting Peter Mukerjea and Sameer Nair also in the fray, the sentiment then was that it was going to be well-nigh impossible for any new channel to be a success.

     

    I was sure the Network 18 team wouldn’t get it right. They had had success with CNN-IBN but entertainment wasn’t like news. Good content doesn’t necessarily maketh a GEC.

     

    The idea of getting Ashvini Yardi (who had earned her stars as programming head at Zee) was a great one. But could CEO Rajesh Kamat and she be able to match the maharathis and former Star India CEOs Peter and Sameer?

     

    I think what changed my outlook to the channel’s launch was the news that Akshay Kumar was signed to do a Fear Factor. The folks meant business and Akshay was then the reigning king of Bollywood. Plus the team was young, friendlier (than the others) and indulged us in the media.

     

    A week before the launch, most of us had wanted Colors to succeed. Even advertisers and media agencies longed for a worthy alternative to the existing slew of channels. And after the ratings for the first two weeks came in, we were sure the channel was a winner.

     

    Even then there were naysayers telling us that the magic would fade away. Regrettably for them, it didn’t. Soon Colors dethroned Star Plus as the numero uno Hindi GEC.

     

    I remember writing then that it was complacency that had seen Star Plus go down, a comment that didn’t work very well with some people internally and of course the biggies in the business. But a year-odd later, when I spoke to Star India CEO Uday Shankar, he admitted that the channel getting complacent. I asked him just to let people know that my earlier statement was based on some digging in, and not speculation.

     

    **

     

    My first major interaction with Rajesh Kamat happened only when I had this interview on the first anniversary of the channel in Impact magazine. It was an extra-long 6000-word interview. Rajesh had then told me how it helped being an underdog. “It made us focus on our own efforts. Also what happens is when you’ re an underdog, you push yourself to give 200%.” He mentioned how he learnt several tricks of the trade from Sameer Nair, and knowing that the former Star India CEO would’ve tracked the rise and rise of the channels, we invited him to do an appraisal for this fifth anniv package.  The Impact interview isn’t on the Net, but I found a Word version on my Gmail archives. Inbox me if you want a copy.

     

    ***

     

    In many ways, the launch of Colors also marks a little over five years I have spent in the M&E media. I can’t claim the same kind of success that the channel has achieved, but, yes, the ability and desire to try and do stuff that has not been done before is there.

     

    Here’s to many, many more colourful years for Raj Nayak and Team Colors (and the folks at Network/TV 18, Viacom and Viacom 18)!

     

  • If I were with the PR agency handling the group and the Tata Steel business, I would be worried about being delivered the sack, writes Pradyuman Maheshwari

    Mediaah! Remembering Charu & PR disaster for Tatas

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    I always had admiration for Charu (as Charudatta Deshpande was known to friends). This was because he had made the perfect switch from a being a senior journalist (and who wasn’t really floundering as one) to corporate communications.

     

    Having failed at doing so twice over, I asked him how he managed the transition, and how it was dealing with journalists who one wouldn’t care much about had he been on this side of the fence. Or dealing with corporate bosses who don’t care much about the news media and think everyone’s ‘buyable’.

     

    Save a few occasions, our paths didn’t cross professionally over the last decade or so, but our relations were always cordial. Since he possibly had another view from being part of the corporate sector, I would ask him for his perspective on Maharashtra politics and the state government. At heart he was a journalist, and one with a very sharp mind.

     

    Even though the Tatas instituted an enquiry committee with top speed, I am not sure if it will yield any result. If the allegations made against Tata Steel are true, then surely there’s someone right at the top who is behind all that happened. If the PR agency went about on a disinformation drive, then one can be certain it was asked to do so by a top functionary with their client (Tata Steel).

     

    While the group’s Chief Ethics Officer Mukund Rajan is reportedly no-nonsense and one can expect fairplay from Ishaat Hussain, will they publicly indict a Tata Steel biggie if the need arises?

     

    **

     

    For the Tatas, it’s a huge PR disaster, and if I were with the PR agency handling the group and the Tata Steel business, I would be worried about being delivered the sack.

     

    The Tatas have carefully built an image which could see no wrong in employee care and welfare. This has taken a huge beating.

     

    **

     

    A severe cold held me back from being at the Press Club Mumbai condolence meet for Charu on Wednesday. You don’t find too many senior journalists and corporate execs writing letters to big business captains. And even if they do, these don’t find their way to the media. While the Tatas may not be in the same bracket, corporates are not known to take very kindly to their reputation being questioned in public. It’s also nice to see an ICICI executive director and an L&T corp comm manager sticking their neck out for Charu, albeit in their personal capacities. My salute to all of them.

     

    Pradyuman Maheshwari is Editor-in-Chief, MxMIndia. The views expressed here are his own

     

  • Was it right for Times to send a lawyer's notice to student blogger Aparajita Lath? Pradyuman Maheshwari, who has been in a similar position in the past, examines the case in Mediaah!

    Mediaah! Now, BCCL’s Times Publishing House takes on law student-blogger

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    I have been receiving various smses and calls since yesterday about the legal notice that Bennett Coleman’s Times Publishing House is said to have sent a student blogger on Spicy IP, a site that deals with intellectual property issues. It was a flashback to some of the stuff that I was subjected to many years back.

     

    But eight years since that happened, I am wiser, understand the law and what can be construed as defamation.

     

    My view on the episode:

    I have read the offending article, the TPH lawyer’s notice that the website has put up, the website’s reply to TPH and its coverage of the entire issue. (here, here, here and here).

     

    The student Aparajita Lath’s article discusses the two decades-old battle that Financial Times of London has had with BCCL’s company Times Publishing House (TPH) over the use of the Financial Times title which TPH has been using for a special edition published from a few centres.

     

    I don’t think it’s correct to use the words fair or unfair in business, but it would be perhaps be right to say that it was a smart business strategy which obviously BCCL has protected over the years.

     

    Over the last few years, Financial Times (of London) has been flexing its muscles with an eye on launching in India. Mint, the Hindustan Times group’s business daily, has covered the issue extensively. Mint, has been covering media extensively since launch, so it’s not an issue of a rival media group embarrassing BCCL with these reports. That it happens (the embarrassment) is I guess a welcome byproduct.

     

    Is Aparajita’s article defamatory? No, it isn’t, though it’s laced with some opinion. She bases her article on four Mint reports and a few posts from Spicy IP.

     

    Is it embarrassing for BCCL? Not at all, because Spicy IP isn’t read by the masses. It’s a site for a special interest group, and even if it’s popular amongst a small section of legal practitioners and the judges, it would hardly make any impact on the case.

     

    Yes, the reply from Spicy IP is strong, and I am not sure if all that the editor/publisher has written is warranted, but Aparajita’s post is hardly of the nature that TPH should’ve employed a lawyer to send a legal notice. There’s a technical error, admits Spicy IP, which it would’ve corrected.

     

    What is upsetting is why The Times of India group did not engage the student and the site either informally with a call or a face-to-face meeting or via a letter or simply a post on the site. By doing what it has done, it’s not only going to earn the wrath of the large and aggressive online fraternity but also have people digging for more negatives of the group. All very avoidable at a time when flagship daily The Times of India celebrates 175 years of existence. After all, doesn’t the group believe in Aman Ki Asha to foster peace with Pakistan and promote various improve-the-country-and-the-world movements like Lead India, Teach India and now I Lead India?

     

    Pradyuman Maheshwari is Editor-in-Chief and CEO, MxMIndia, but the views expressed here are his own and aren’t necessarily the stated position of MxMIndia. Reach him at Twitter at @pmahesh or BBM at 29fea79c.

     

  • Readers expect the content in the newspaper to be published based on the decision of the editor, and not an advertiser paying for it, writes Pradyuman Maheshwari

    Mediaah! Are disclaimers enough to pass off paid content?

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    Last week, as part of The Times of India’s announcement of its 175 years, there was a full-page edit by editor Jaideep Bose. There’s an interesting bit from this note that I would like to highlight:

     

    “Truth is, we have no masters and no hidden agendas. Our dharma is to serve our readers. Which is why we take constructive criticism seriously and listen when you speak. Political parties go to the people once every five years; we seek your mandate every day of the year. The relationship between The Times of India and its readers is a nuanced one. There exists an invisible line of tension between what the editor thinks the reader should be interested in, and what the reader thinks the editor should offer him or her. It is the editor’s job to strike that delicate balance. What appears in the paper is often the product of hours of intense debate and introspection over content and tone.”

     

    There is no denying that the TOI has improved hugely in the last eight years. In fact even before – from the time of the Gujarat riots to this day, the paper has taken up issues and campaigns that have one would expect a newspaper to do.

     

    However, along with all this, its paid content practice called ‘Medianet’ has flourished too. The city-specific supplements may carry the disclaimer ‘Advertorial Editorial Promotional Feature’ under their mastheads, but the fact that the owners persisted with what’s clearly a regressive practice has got a lot of people questioning whether other parts of the paper are also similarly compromised.

     

    When Bose, who I have much regard for, writes that what “appears in the paper is often the product of hours of intense debate and introspection over content and tone”, he obviously doesn’t mean that the city supplements are part of the main paper, or it’s possibly that paid content has been so internalized that he doesn’t really think there’s anything wrong with the practice.

     

    A few years back, at the Pitch CMO Summit, Suparna Mitra, the then Titan Industries global marketing head (now business head – south) spoke about the various ways in which Titan had marketed its watches so successfully. And one of these, she said in her presentation, was Medianet in The Times of India’s city supplements.

     

    What surprised me was that Mitra represented the Tatas, a business group known to not compromise on values. I was quite shocked to learn that a Tata group company bought editorial space to further its ends.

     

    When I met her a few months later on the sidelines of the Indian Magazine Congress in Delhi, I told her I was surprised that Titan was paying for content. She wondered why I was saying that and then a leading publisher in the room came to her rescue insisting that there’s nothing wrong with it since it was aboveboard.

     

    Calling it a legit activity is like saying there’s nothing wrong if you adulterate milk with water. When The Times of India started Medianet, the editors of many publications cried hoarse about the practice. Prominent among these were Vir Sanghvi in Hindustan Times, N Ram in Hindu and Aakar Patel in Mid-Day. While the Hindu hasn’t given in to the pressures of revenues, both Mid-Day and Hindustan Times have buckled under. Mid-Day has been in it for a few years now, albeit on the entertainment pages. The sections carrying these are tagged ‘Promotional Feature’.

     

    When Hindustan Times got into the act recently, it knew the practice was incorrect. Page 3 in ‘HT Café’ is tagged ‘Entertainment and Promotional Features’ and there is a disclaimer on the front page of the supplement which states: “We would like to inform our readers that some of the coverage of events that appear on the Party pages is paid for by the concerned brands. We would like to emphasise that no sponsored content does or shall appear in any part of HT without it being declared as such to our valued readers.”

     

    I think it’s great that HT says it in so many words that some of the content is paid for. However, the features inside aren’t tagged as such. Also, the disclaimers are in fine print and unless it was pointed out to them, the readers would miss them. I asked five regular and two first-time readers of the paper, and only one of them noticed it, when being told what to look for.

     

    If HT is serious about its intentions it must do what the group’s business daily Mint does: put a disclaimer on the front page of the main paper. In addition, it must tag each and every article that’s paid for. Ditto with The Times of India, Mid-day and all other publications charging for content.

     

    **

     

    Should a newspaper be published only for social good? If it’s got to make monies, why shouldn’t it be doing so from every conceivable way, one may ask. I agree and see no harm with profit being the primary motive of any business. I don’t think it’s right to expect a newspaper to be only reporting on political, civic and developmental issues. People are interested in a reading a lot more… including news on health, sports and entertainment.

     

    However, one would expect the content in the newspaper to be published based on the decision of the editor, and not an advertiser paying for it.

     

    Newspaper owners ask the powers that be for several favours – DAVP ads, land allotment at discounted rates, access to various official functions and the government grants them these because newspapers are supposed to be serving a larger social good.

     

    By passing off content for which it has charged and is published not on the discretion of the editor, the newspaper is cheating readers. Thankfully for the owners – and possibly because many of them are very powerful – the law-influencers (including the Press Council of India) havent’ really damned paid entertainment/glamour content. Various favours continue to be granted to newspaper owners despite them charging for editorial content.

     

    In private many editors and publishers have told me that they are against the cash-for-content policies of their publications. However, it’s only in the film and party pages that are edited by an entertainment editor, they add, trying to wash their hands off the regressive practice. So on one hand, editors carry campaigns against the various wrongs of society and even write editorials on these, on the other they allow part of their paper to be used to publish paid-for content.

     

    I asked a dozen readers from across four metros and the seven others I had spoken with earlier to comment on the issue. Here are the Top 3 observations:

    1. They don’t differentiate between the entertainment supplements and the main paper, even though Bombay/Delhi Times, HT City/HT Café and Hitlist are popular titles.
    2. As high as 60 percent of the respondents don’t trust the movie and restaurant reviews, even if they carry a disclaimer that the reviewers pay for their food bills
    3. They don’t really care that the content is paid for or not.

     

    The views of 19 people can of course not be extrapolated to the entire readership of these papers, but the last of these views left me wondering whether I was being a prude.

     

    Perhaps, but happily so.

     

    Pradyuman Maheshwari is editor-in-chief, MxMIndia. The views expressed here are his own.

     

  • Mediaah! does an Arnab Goswami and asks 6 questions, the answers to which the global A&M industry wants to have

    Mediaah!: 6 answers the industry wants to get

     

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    (as you read this, imagine it’s Arnab Goswami addressing us on Newshour… the same tone, the same aggression and the same energy!)

     

    Ladies and Gentlemen, we are facing with a situation which almost sullied the image of the grand and trusted empire that Ratan Tata and his ancestors have built. You’ve read elsewhere on MxMIndia on what really happened, here then are some questions that I would like to ask this second Tuesday of April. It’s important the questions are asked because the advertising and marketing fraternity wants the answers. Not just in India, the world over. From New York to Shanghai to Australia!

     

    My questions. Just 6. Simple questions, need simple answers.

    1. The Goafest Awards Governing Council (AGC) agreed to give away the award on Friday only – and I repeat only – after receiving a written letter from Tata Chemicals saying the ad was indeed commercially released by the company. Who wrote it? And why did he or she write after initially clearly stating in the letter to the organizers that the radio spots weren’t paid for? What really happened that fateful Friday?

    2. How did it occur to Tata Chemicals to send the (revised) letter? Did someone from the 10-odd-member AGC call them? Specifically, did someone from Leo Burnett (LB) speak to anyone at Tata Chemicals? This is no police case or CBI enquiry, but in the spirit of fairness and to allow for investigation and transparency, can we check the cellphone call records of some of the key LB officials present?

    3. That the Tata Salt Lite radio spots were scam ads has been exposed. And the spots withdrawn. Do we now have a declaration from Leo Burnett that all the other 67 metals it has won are for ads that are legitimate and paid for by clients and are not scam ads?

    4. Leo Burnett is an internationally reputed advertising network. Its Worldwide CEO Tom Bernardin is in fact in the country and was part of Goafest. While sacking people is not the answer, is there some kind of a disciplinary action happening so that other clients of the mighty ad network get the comfort that their brands are in safe hands?

    5. Will Bombay House now issue clear and explicit instructions to all its marketing and brand managers as well as its advertising agencies that they must not indulge in scam ads?

    6. Should Goafest authorities write to all advertisers and agencies winning metals that in case their awardwinning metals are indeed scam ads, they should return these honourably or stand the chance of getting exposed?

     

    Ladies and Gentlemen. MxMIndia hereby says that it will NOT name agencies and clients who take advantage of such an amnesty. However, those who don’t and have indeed ‘scammed’ and are not giving up their award stand the chance of getting exposed. Because your site will not just report the news, but will also interpret it for you. And your site does not shy away from asking the tough questions.

    Mr Sharma has referred to MxMIndia in his mail to the AGC chairman Shashi Sinha saying “a website alluded to this debate with unnecessary insinuations”. He was obviously referring to the Big Story on MxMIndia yesterday. Ladies and Gentlemen, we did not name anyone because we did not have any one on record. But now we do. And now, we are going to ask the questions.

    Ladies and Gentlemen, you deserve the answers. And we’ll come back with more questions, if they are unanswered.

    Until then, goodbye… ta ta!

     

    (Did we stretch our arguments a bit much? Put yourself in the shoes of Arnab Goswami on Newshour, and we are sure you’ll do the same 🙂 )

     

     

     

  • Every Creative Abby at Goafest has its share of controversies, and this year's was no better. Or worser. Mediaah! takes a look

    5 things we’ll want to forget about Goafest

    The controversies didn't seem to dampen spirits at the raindance at Goafest 2013. Photograph by Shailesh Mule/Fotocorp

     

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    Every Goafest has its share of controversies, and this year’s was no better. Or worser, pardon the use of the word. Now that the event has concluded, here’s a list of the five controversies about the Creative Abby that we’ll want to forget soonest. However, it may make sense for the Awards Governing Council to take measures to avoid an encore.

     

    #1 Big O Missing

    At first it was Ogilvy not participating. The folks have been maxing all these years, and have been producing outstanding work. A Creative Abby without Ogilvy is, as Anil Thakraney writes in Hard Knocks, like the World Cup Cricket without Australia and England.

     

    Well, we didn’t see Ogilvy get back and all the pleading from the Goafest folks couldn’t get them to reverse their decision.

     

    The result: a Creative Abby minus Ogilvy. That didn’t see Lowe get back as it stuck to its stand of boycotting the adfest.

     

    Leo Burnett has been winning a fair bit over the years, and it wasn’t much of a surprise that it won the maximum metals, even though none of them were a Grand Prix.

     

    #2 Scams – JWT withdraws Ford Figo

    Ford’s controversial, gender-inappropriate advertising cost CCO and Managing Partner Bobby Pawar his job a few weeks back. At first it appeared that the ad was just uploaded on ad showcase site adsoftheworld.com.

     

    But, as it emerged, that the creatives were also entered at Goafest and as is the requirement of the Abby, the ads should have been carried in media and must be entered with the clearance of the client. The Ford Motor Company took this very seriously and an as-yet-unnamed marketing department employee who cleared the ad lost his/her job.

     

    #3 Inner Circle member quits

    Much celebrated independent ad agency honcho Sajan Raj Kurup publicy quit the Goafest Awards Governing Council (AGC) and had CreativeLand Asia opt out of the awards. His rationale: “Personally, to me it just doesn’t feel right deep inside my heart to be associated with awards in any way in our country.” His letter to the AGC is reported to have said: “I have decided, with the support of my organisation, not to return to awards in this country till we take up the issues on scams seriously and take stringent steps against these.”

     

    Ahem. Kurup’s resignation was accepted, but his agency’s pullout wasn’t. CreativeLand Asia had 3 silvers and 4 bronzes to its credit.

     

    #4 Radio ga-ga

    Should similar entries of a campaign in a certain category be clubbed together for a metal or should these be put in separately. At the Creative Abby, many juries decide to club them together – esp if there are different renderings of a certain creative idea or theme. But in the collective wisdom of the radio jury, the various entries were retained as separate ones… ensuring the numbers of entries received by certain agencies leapfrogged. Not everyone was amused by this on awards night, but we’ve been told that we shouldn’t read too much into it.

     

    #5 When the client said it didn’t pay for the award

    Although the Creative Abby is a celebration of creativity, the awards are meant only for ads that have been published/aired/put up somewhere. After the shortlists are done, the auditor contacts each and every client to ascertain whether the ad shortlisted was indeed entered by it. Pretty sound procedure this.

     

    Now in the process this year, a certain company from one of the most trusted business conglomerates in the country told the auditor that it hadn’t paid for the entries and the agency did it for the sake of awards. This was enough reason for the authorities to say ta ta to the entries, but soon enough a communication was received from the client saying that it had indeed released the award.

     

    Evidently someone from amongst the ‘authorities’ went to the client asking him/her to send in the clarification. Since we don’t have anyone on record, we wouldn’t name names, but suffice to say that there was some sound-and-fury and lobbying over these developments.

     

    The episode doubtless left some aftertaste, making a wag remark: Namak mein kuch kaala hai! Or should it be dal mein…

  • Haridwar, April 1: The Times has decided to drop its controversial Media net practice, Mediaah! learns from a reliable source. It appears the management took this decision after a round of discussion and finally issued this statement after the board issued the diktat

    Mediaah! Breaking! Times stops Media net, controversial practice killed overnight 🙂

    HARIDWAR, April 1: The Times has decided to drop its controversial Media net practice, Mediaah! learns from a reliable source. It appears the management took this decision after a round of discussion and finally issued this statement after the board issued a diktat*.

     

    At what may have been a customary dip on Holi, a senior company honcho took a deep dip in the Holy waters and then got out looking at the skies and told one of his aides: “I dived in to find that the water is crystal clear. There were no impurities.” “Yes, sir, that is so true, sir,” the aide said. “So, if the water can be clear, why can’t our newspaper also be clear of impurities,” the guiding light said.

     

    “Let’s just stop this Net practice,” he said. “But, Sir, how can we reverse it when it’s making good money for us,” asked Aide #2. “No impurities. We will make more money. People will pay more for a purer paper.” “Yes, sir, just as we  all pay more for bottled water,” said Aide #1 with a chuckle.

     

    One of the aides wrote to all the managers and relevant editors announcing them of the decision.

     

    There could be no discussions on the issue, just as there couldn’t be when the net practice was started. And, as it happened, despite wide-scale condemnation, the scheme not only worked but turned out to earn the entire news media sector revenues in the region of around Rs 500 crore.

     

    Meanwhile, it is learnt that Caravaan magazine is planning a 20-page cover story on how Times has cleansed itself. The story will appear in the December 2013 edition of the magazine.

     

    It is likely that other publications which had started a content-for-cash practice may now drop the policy of charging for editorial content. It is hoped that with this, editorial content on the entertainment and party pages will become more meaningful. For instance, a restaurant will be named in the news of its opening and logos and brand names will not be blanked out from photographs.

     

    The Mumbai and Delhi hotel and restaurant association has welcomed the decision and is contemplating a felicitation of all newspaper publishers and owners.

     

    Hey guys, no such luck as yet. It’s April Fool’s Day… Cash-for-content flourishes, and how! Not just in politics, but for entertainment, fashion, events. As we know, the cash-for-content policy is no longer practised by just one news media company. It’s across various newspapers, magazines channels, FM radio stations, websites. Sigh.

     

    The names and entities mentioned in this story are fictitious. Any resemblance to any individual or organization is coincidental and in jest. Dil mein mat lena. Don’t take this to heart 🙂

     

     

     

  • The Indian bosses at Ford and JWT may have tendered their apologies, but is that enough? Not everyone thinks that justice has been done. Meanwhile, what about our own Markandey Katju? Time to send him packing?

    Mediaah! Should Ford sack JWT India for ad mishandling? + Cut the Katju!

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    Harsh headline? Should JWT indeed be crucified or should we let the agency off by allowing it to nail a few bachchas and then let the whole thing be forgotten?

     

    Yes, before we have someone saying that MxMIndia is shying away from taking on the high and mighty of advertising and marketing, here’s our two-bit, laced with comments from the Twitterati across the world.

     

    If the work of posting unapproved ad creatives is the handiwork of some upstart blokes – creative, client servicing whosever – then they ought to be asked to play Holi for the rest of their lives.

     

    For those not in the know, BusinessInsider broke the story of ad creatives posted on adsoftheworld.com one of which saw former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi with a set of gagged, wailing women in the trunk of a car. The creatives have since been withdrawn from the creative showcase.

     

    The apologies handed out are mere words of regret. It smacks of a cover-up. Ask anyone working in an agency of moderate size and you’ll be told that work such as this can’t not be seen and approved by the client and must have the blessings of the seniors.

     

    Okay, so it’s not that people don’t make mistakes. They do, and it would be nicer if the biggies involved were to own up to the act rather than blame kids at the agency.

     

    What they haven’t bargained for is that if there is indeed some funny stuff happening, it won’t take too long for it out to be on the social media.

     

    One industry captain texted us last evening to ask if there was a Chapter 2 to the Ford story? And added an extra-large smiley. We don’t know, but what we do know is that it could well be the beginning of an all-new story.

     

    Meanwhile, check this:

    1. The BusinessInsider.com story with the offensive creatives and the apologies from Ford and WPP: http://www.businessinsider.com /awful-ford-figo-ad-silvio-berlunsconi-gagged-women-2013-3 and http://www.businessinsider.com/ford-wpp-apologizes-for-offensive-car-ad-2013-3

     

    2. Since it’s not just about Silvio Belrunsconi but also about Paris Hilton and the Kardashian sisters, it also features in Hollywood chroniclers: http://hollywoodlife.com/2013/03/24/ford-kardashians-ad-leaked-poster-paris-hilton/

     

    3.  The much respected Slate.com had this damning comment titled ‘Ford India needs to fire its advertising execs’: http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2013/03/22/ford_india_should_probably_fire _its_ad_execs_for_depicting_bound_and_gagged.html

     

    4. On Twitter, reactions bordered from the extreme to the moderate. Sample this:

    Tom Becktold ‏@becktold: With the Ford/JWT India debacle, check your partner contracts to make sure spec creative cannot be shared. Shouldn’t need to, but..

    Louise Ridley ‏@LouiseRidley: JWT India taking serious action after ads featuring Silvio Berlusconi with gagged women in a car boot appeared online http://bit.ly/14jwKYP

    Seth Cargiuolo ‏@carge77: RT @rachebrun: Dear @Ford, you have no excuse. your ad is inexcusable: http://mashable.com/2013/03/25/ford-apologizes -for-ad-in-india-kardashians/…

    << Ford should sack JWT India, no question.

     

    5. There was also some debate. Like this one:

    Piyush Pankaj ‏@piyushpankaj: @sshibad u can’t hold agency responsible for this as ad would have passed through various brand managers at Ford India as well

    Sunil Shibad ‏@sshibad: @piyushpankaj I think some juniors did it for ad awards. I doubt Ford India even saw it.

     

    So did someone say Goafest 2013 is going to be a li’l dry this year given the absence of Ogilvy at the creative Abby? Well, now, there’s going to be a fair deal of action. And we’ll be waiting for that someone to get plastered and talk. Wicked us.

     

    Cut the Katju!

    Over the last two years, Markandey Katju has become a household name given his various outbursts, all of which have provided much fodder to us in the news media. Often, we’ve even been happy with what he’s said. For, Katju can be expected to shoot his mouth off on anything… and until now he appears to be getting away with it.

     

    But, remember, he’s also the Press Council of India chairman. And although the organization has got no teeth and the only print journalists who care much about it are those on its committees, it’s an important position and the Press Council’s role is quasi-regulatory.

     

    His appeal to the Governor to let Sanjay Dutt off is bizarre, his arguments are outlandish. Apart from serving the needs of the government to needle journalists and media organizations and providing some comic relief, Katju has done precious little as Press Council chief.  I think his time is up. He ought to go. Doesn’t any little country in South America or wherever need an Ambassador?

     

    Pradyuman Maheshwari can be reached at @pmahesh on Twitter and 29fea79c via BBM. The views expressed here are his own.

     

  • Get set for the Mediaah! Dubious Achievement Awards 2012 and the first ever Political Incorrect Media Quiz… on December 31 on MxMIndia!

    Announcing: The Dubious Achievement Awards 2012 + the Political Incorrect Quiz… on Mon, Dec 31!

    Hey Mediawaalon, get set for some naughty and spicy stuff on MxMIndia on Monday, December 31.

     

    It’s the last day of the year and on the day when half the world is busy dreaming up plans for the evening ahead and greeting each other (some silly “see you next year, haan”  asides), MxMIndia will see spirits soaring with the Mediaah! Dubious Achievement Awards 2012.

     

    If you want to send in your entries for these, inbox them to pradyumanm@mxmindia.com. Confidentiality assured. We will protect your identity if you don’t want it disclosed.

     

    The award titles should be fun (and we expect people to take them in the right spirit). For instance:

    The Colgate Sensitive Award

    to the UPA government for pouncing on to the news channels whenever it gets a lashing from them

     

    Or

     

    The King Dasarath Award to the IBF, ISA and AAAI

    to banish TAM for 9 weeks on a whim (and some machinations)

     

    Or

     

    The Tu Tu Main Main Award

    to WPP and NDTV for fighting each other over viewership ratings via press communiques

     

    Or

     

    The Manoj Kumar ‘Mera Bharat Mahaan’ Award

    to Arnab Goswami for boldly asking questions for India when nobody really cared (including many of us)

     

    And many more! How many other awards will Arnab Goswami get? And Satyamev Jayate? Who will get our Arnab Goswami award for the Most Sound News TV Editor? Or the Red Blue award for Reality Show Fatigue? And the Two-Timing Award. Also, the Kaju Feni Lifetime Achievement Awards for Promoting Goa… Read it all on Monday, Dec 31 on your favourite mid-morning destination!

     

    Over and above this, we are going to have the first ever Politically Incorrect Media Quiz. We will quiz your knowledge on stuff that you’ll never ever find on other sponsor-friendly quizzes. We will ask questions that are factual, but may not be comfortable to some. Hence, Politically Incorrect.

     

    Look out for it… 11am, Monday, December 31.