‘WELFARE PARTY OF INDIA’- A New Horizon…

If anybody ask what is the need of a new political party in India, we can’t call his/her question is baseless. All political parties existing now in India are responsible to give answer. The seven decades of their service after the independence of the nation made the people passive and submissive. People have lost faith in political parties and even in leaders. A new political party, WELFARE PARTY OF INDIA has launched in India on yesterday. I found difference in this party compared to other parties as WPI is rising a new slogan, a value based political system which is exactly new and strange in this current political scenario. They are also talking about a WELFARE STATE, SOCIAL JUSTICE, EQUALITY and NEW DEVELOPMENT THOUGHTS.

Vision and Values of the Party
Party shall try to promote an alternative politics in the country that is firmly rooted in high standards of morality and ethical values and that is free from crimes, corruption, selfishness and all kinds of narrow-minded prejudices
Party will aim at the establishment of a welfare state. Party believes that sufficient nutritious food, decent clothing, proper shelter, essential health care and elementary education are among the fundamental human rights and it is the duty of a welfare state to fulfill these basic needs of each of its citizens.
Party envisages speedy growth in industry, trade, commerce and the national economy. But it shall try to reform the economy in a way as to ensure that the processes of development and wealth creation are properly regulated by the obligations of justice and equality.
Party shall promote the true spirit of democracy. Party believes in democracy not in the sense of mere majorityism but in the sense of inclusiveness and pluralism. A true democratic society is one that addresses the needs and demands of every section of the society and that ensures that every section contentedly fulfills its aspirations.Party envisages a society where all cultures have full opportunities to thrive and develop. The concept of federalism that party believes covers the cultural federalism along with geographic and linguistic federalism.

Office Bearers of Welfare Party of IndiaPresident Mr. Mujtaba Farooque. Vice Presidents Mr Ilyas Azmi, Fr. Abraham Joseph, Maulana A W Khilji, Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan, Mrs. Lalitha Naik. General Secretaries: Dr S Q R Ilyas, Prof Sohail Ahmed Khan, Prof. Rama Panchal, Mrs. Khalida Parveen, Mr. P. C. Hamza. Treasurer: Mr. Abdus Salam MSecretaries: Prof. Rama Surya Rao, Akhtar Husain Akhtar, Adv. Aamir Rasheed, Mr. Subramani.

A relentless ‘Satyagraha’

C Jamsheel

“If you ask what our political affiliation is, we would like to say that we belong to ‘anti-thermal power plant party’ workers.” These words that came from Madini Raghavulu, the vice president of Pariyavarana Parirakshana Samithi are enough to understand the protest of people of Sompeta against NCC (Nagarjuna Construction Company). “This fight is not against government, but it is for our freedom. We are not ready to forfeit our right to breathe fresh air, to drink pure water and to live in untainted soil”, Madini continued.

The proposed NCC thermal power plant at Sompeta of Srikakulam district could not even get off the ground because of the people’s agitation. The one and half year agitation is being termed a ‘Satyagraha’ initially called Pariyavarana Parirakshana Sangam, the movement was registered Pariyavarana Parirakshana Samithi in 2008.

“The authorities have been saying that the ignorant inhabitants are dissenting against the thermal power plant for nothing. We are not against any developmental activities, but we are not ready to give up our peaceful life for anything. We are really happy to be called as anti-development buddies, if you call this development” while sharing their grievance to Vantage the eyes of Beena Delhi Rao, the General Secretary of the Satyagaraha Movement turned moist.. Why the responsible department is propagating lies among the public is that it wants to create a favorable atmosphere. They are arguing that the bela (people of Sompeta usually call wet land as bela) is not wet land and it is waste land. How will the characteristics of a land change overnight? The government officials certified that the land is not bela, and hence it was all for NCC. “This should not be tolerated”, says, raising his jist.

“A Police firing took place at Sompeta against the protestors on July 14, 2010. Two people lost their life in the firing that took place while the populace gathered in a paddy field to protest against the thermal power plant. Gonapa Krishnamurthy (60) from Lakkavaram outskirt and Gunna Joga Rao (36) from Plasapuram are the living memories of that revolt and brutality”, says EAS Sharma, President of the Satyagraha Movement.

“We are not accepting any financial assistance from outside. Since we are getting good support from the public we can carry forward our agitation smoothly. We, the leaders of Satyagraha, don’t belong to a particular political party. We are the victims of development” said T Rama Rao, the vice president of the people’s movement.

It is a completely mass based protest. They have a monthly time table for the relay agitation to make sure that there will not be any break in the agitation. Based on this table they will allocate the dates for each protester. Most of the court proceedings are handled mainly by EAS Sharma with the help of some good advocates to assist him.

“The Government must trust the people of Sompeta. At least they should show the patience to listen to the voice of the common masses. We too have something to say. We don’t want to be like the NTPC (National Thermal Power Plant Corporation) victims. It is better to raise our voice before we get into the trap”, Rama Rao pointed out.

This is not the first such agitation in India. The number of protestors is increasing day by day. The Sompeta protesters also want the world to hear their grievances. They realized the socio-environmental impact of thermal power plants that even before the plant came into reality. As the Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen said ‘Development is Freedom’.

A village resurrected

By C Jamsheel.

It had been raining for the last three days. This was not the first time the inhabitants of Kodipunjuvalasa, a village in Northern Andhra had seen a shower of this magnitude. The scene was not unfamiliar, but the tribes of the village knew there was something bad coming their way. On the wee hours of August 4, 2006 the villagers lost everything when the nature showed its face of fury. Most huts were uprooted along with trees and earth when the flowing water consumed everything on its way.

The hill located behind the tiny huts was partially destroyed due to the heavy rain. The rain and flowing water resulted in a landslide eaten away, killing 20 people. Tanks and canals were infringed, resulting in crop loss, and roads were smashed. This dark day has not faded away from the minds of the people here.

“You will never be able to imagine what we went through that day. Big boulders came down, the mud and sand flowed through our fields and some beloved, smiling faces too were washed away,” T Madhu, a farmer from the hamlet wiping his tears. The district administration had acted swiftly and did its best to reduce the damage to life and property. “We were not able to do anything at that time. If we didn’t get the help from the authority and kind hearted people the loss might have been greater”, he added

“The torrential rain not only smashed our huts and took the lives of our beloved ones, but it also wiped out our livelihood. The soil is not useful for cultivation anymore as the land became infertile. We were forced to shift our livelihood to that of a coolie”, rued Janimoddu, an inhabitant of Kodipunjuvalasa.

The tribals had demanded for five lakhs rupees as damages for the families, who lost their beloved ones in the mudslide. The reparation had rightful reason as it was to build their village from scratch. But the government addressed the demands partially.

“Former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajashekara Reddy visited us and announced an ex-gratia of three lakhs to each family, who lost their life in the heavy rain. All victims of the landslide got 95,000 rupees compensation from the government. The compensation includes Rs. 35,000 for construction of houses and Rs. 60,000 for buying livestock.” said Bheemanna, an inhabitant of Kodipujuvalasa village.

The people here hold no grudge against nature for it has always been their provider. They are happy with their present occupation. Their other thought is to put their infertile land to good use. “How can we curse others for our fate, it was really a challenge for us to recover from the untoward incident. But we had to get out from those bad memories as no one will fill our kids’ stomach,” Janirambha, a mother of three, speaking with determination in her eyes. “And life goes on; we shared our pain and worked hard to re build our community burying any differences. It took us around two years to get back on our feet” she added.

This is not a tale but it is a real story of Kodipunjuvalasa tribal village of Araku Mandal in the Vishakapatanam district. How the people of this village overcame this disaster is a symbol of strong will, determination and hard work.

My Movie: “do you dare to dream”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68vaHajZoqI

UoH collaborates with UJ for research

By
Jamsheel C & Sidharth K Varma

Department of Sociology, University of Hyderabad (UoH) and Centre for Sociological Research, University of Johannesburg (UJ) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on January 10. The MoU will facilitate collaboration between the two universities in areas of research, student exchange, faculty exchange and video conferencing.
“The immediate areas that will be in focus are ideas for seminar and workshop and video conferencing,” the delegates decided. Prof. Jairath invited participants from UJ for the annual seminar conducted by the department from March 2 to 4 on Natural Resource Governance.
This tie-up intends to bring together researchers from both departments based on individual research interest or identifying a broad theme such as students, politics, economic survival, identity, sports, family, health, whistle blowers and corruption.
As part of the student exchange programme, two doctoral students per year would benefit both ways. The time period could be flexible up to three months with the best time between September and November.
Faculty exchange could overlap with that of students with one person each year, both ways. The time period could be between ten days and three weeks. Faculty swapping was another area under consideration.The MoU will be seen as a test case with reciprocal arrangement in terms of the finance. The faculty exchange programme is a new venture, it will be an advantage for the teachers to understand and differentiate the academic system of both universities, said Prof. Vinod K. Jairath.
The delegates from UJ were Prof. Rory Ryan, Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Prof. Tina Uys, Head of Department (HoD) Sociology, Centre for Sociological Research.
“The project will be implemented in the next academic year on an experimental basis; further steps will be taken on the basis of the feedback,” says Prof. Rory Ryan. This programme allows the students to conduct their research or plan field work as guest of either university.
UoH was represented by Vinod K. Jairath, HoD Department of Sociology and Prof. Sujata Patel, Department of Sociology. This could also bring about a new phase of academic collaboration among the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) nations, said Prof. Vinod K. Jairath.

Drink Iranian tea with a taste of history

By
Mohammed Anvar T

Hyderabad is famous for its cuisine. If Hyderabadi Biriyani is the King among them, Iranian tea is the prince. Most Hyderabadis, whether they are local or not, will feel mouth watering when they talk about Iranian tea. As the name suggests, the credit of the tea goes back to the famous family of Iranian dishes. In India, Hyderabad is the second largest city in terms of the number of Iranian shops and popularity, after Mumbai. The tasty tea, popularly known as Irani chai, is made from Assam tea leaves in almost all Iranian tea shops.

If you miss this famous beverage while you are in Nizam’s city, you will miss a fine opportunity to 'taste' the Iranian culture as well. There are many interesting stories behind the origin of Iranian restaurants. The 65 year old Hajji Mansoor Ali recalls one of such stories like this: During Nizam’s era, Iranians who had come to Hyderabad in search of better prospects usually came together for casual talks in the evenings. Gradually, natives also started to come and they were occasionally provided with refreshments such as tea. Soon, this tea became an inevitable item in the evenings. When these gatherings began to grow, the popularity of tea also spread.

People rush to Iranian tea shops in the cold evenings of the winter to enjoy the hot and savoury flavour of Iranian tea. “There will be big crowds in front of the tea shops in the winter. People warm themselves by drinking tea,” says Arun, a daily customer who works in a private company.

Chotta samosa and mirchi bhaji are the 'close friends' of Iranian tea in Secunderabad while people prefer Osmania biscuits in Old city. “People usually eat chotta samosa and mirchi bhaji with iranian tea,” says Mansoor, waiter of Hotel Alpha, opposite to Railway station. “Here we serve osmania biscuits with the tea,” said Amarudhin, the supplier of Hotel Shadab, near Charminar.

There are hundreds of Iranian tea shops in the twin cities. We can see a cross section of Hyderabadis in the shops. People from every walk of life including students, professors, doctors, advocates and bureaucrats are among the customers of Iranian tea. Tourists, within and outside the country, go in search of this famed beverage.

If one ask whether all Iranian tea shops have an Iranian cook, the answer is no. “Many Iranian hotels don’t have any relation with ‘real’ Iranians who came here long back. Real Iranian hotels are very rare nowadays. Cooks from Iranian tradition are no longer available. So we ourselves prepare Iranian tea and serve it,” explains Ayyub, cashier of Nimrah cafe & Bakery.

Understanding the popularity and 'market' of Iranian tea, other hotels like Paradise in Secundearbad also started serving it. The only difference is, of course, the cost. Old city hotels Irani chai cost Rs. 4 to 7 while city hotels charge you Rs.10/-. “Here we prepare more than 2500 pots of tea every day,” says Krishna Reddy of Alpha hotel, opposite to Secunderabad railway station. This shows the popularity of the beverage.

Even In the busy city life people flow to hotels for their favourite beverage. “Since it is a general eatery, many people come daily. But for Irani chai we have a special counter inside the hotel. Sometimes we can’t control the crowd in this counter, especially at evenings,” says a waiter of Alpha hotel at Secunderabad. Hotel Paradise is famous for its special Hyderabadi Biriyani. “Though people prefer Paradise to eat Biriyani, most of them taste of Iranian tea. Definitely people will love it once they taste it,” opines Anoop after taking a sip of hot Iranian tea from Paradise.

The legacy of Irani chai continues in the twin cities. Drinking the chai has become a fashion rather than a habit for some people. This beverage has brought popularity for the twin cities and it recalls the culinary tradition of Hyderabad during the time of Nizams. Thus, for Hyderabadis, Iranian tea is not only refreshment but also reminder of its past. The saga of Iranian tea will never end in these cities as it has many stories to say, many experience to share and many people to taste its flavour.

Now let us hold the hands together

By
Musthafa and Jamsheel

One more students’ union election has over in our campus without much noise and disturbances. The new students, union body elected with high margin majority. As the last year’s election voters elected all the candidates from the same panel. Out of 4343 total voters 2738 votes were polled, it comes around 63 percentage.
Election held as per the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations 2006, which meant for regulating the students’ politics and controlling students’ union elections in colleges and universities. When we analyzing this years’ election, we can find that the political awareness of the students are really pathetic. It is very dispiriting to know that students from a top ranked university are politically unconscious. Our knowledge should go beyond the back covers of the books and walls of the lab. It gives a wrong message to a society that our future citizens are depoliticized.
Another important factor is the lack of women students’ representation in the panel lists. Out of 14 candidates for General posts, we had only one women candidate. Every party have their own women cadres for campaigning and protest demonstrations, but knowingly or unknowingly we couldn’t find much women representation in their panel list except one women student for the post of cultural secretary. The time exceeded to ask does it sound enough to say that our politics is not male dominated.
The whole mess which happened in the last years’ election might teach some lessons to the student leaders and to the authority. These years’ election seems very peaceful and couldn’t hear any unwanted noise from any corner of the campus. New political formation and changing equations of campus politics might helped to conduct such a peaceful election. Let us congratulate newly elected union members, students’ union election committee, who conducted the election peacefully and transparently and also the students they vote for marking their commitment to the students’ community as a whole.
Now let us forget the political differences, let us hold hands together for our own progress.

Karachi Biscuits: The Taste of Hyderabad

By
Noufal Koduvally and Jameela Aboobacker

Hyderabad is famous for its delicious flavors varying from a wide range of hot and sweet dishes. This makes the city a lovable place for many of the food lovers of the famous brands of Hyderabad. The one famous for sweets is the Karachi Bakery. This Bakery is famous for the unique Karachi biscuits – fruit biscuits, Badam and Almond biscuits. Many of the city’s visitors often get to this bakery for buying the special biscuits, when they return to their families, back home.
The Karachi bakery has six decades experience in this area and still going strong, they have emerged as an icon of Hyderabad baking with a reputation that is unmatched to the core. It focuses on innovation, developing new products while improving their existing products to evolving consumer needs.
Karachi bakery is situated at the Mozzamjahi Market, Nampalli. Now a new branch has been opened at Banjara Hills. The bakery is always seen crowded. When we get inside the shop, by excitement, we see a good number of people rushing to the counter at one end. This is where we get the unique biscuits. Verities of delicious biscuits are arranged in packets of 500gm, ready to deliver. Out of the different flavors, fruit biscuits are the most demanded by the customers. Cashew flavor came second to it. If anybody enquires, which one to take, to any of the city

Residents, they will definitely suggest these two. The other verities available are Badam, Almond and Chocolate. All verities cost at a range of 120-200 rupees. So the customers are satisfied with the taste and cost. Usually one tries different verities at a time.
The taste of this biscuits usually makes the customers return for their favorite flavors. And those who once experience it will spread the word among their friends and family. Usually one customer suggests his friend to get to this bakery. The mouth publicity makes the brand name more famous than any advertisements.
The Karachi bakery also features, many type of usual bakery item, in its own flavor. A good number of cake items are available there. Those who love to have dry fruits can also have them. Apart from this, the counters are filled with top branded sweets and biscuits.
Another counter inside the bakery where people usually crowd is the one of the pickles. These pickles are also famous as the biscuits. Good verities of pickles are available at low cost. Fruits biscuits and pickles are the main items in the customers’ baskets while them waiting at the counter for payment. Once you go there, these items will attract you again there. That is the magic of the taste of Karachi bakes. In addition, Karachi Bakery maintains good working relationships with suppliers and customers fortified by appropriate employee care towards a common goal of mutual proficiency.

Beware of thieves on campus

By

Jamsheel

University of Hyderabad Campus: India’s top ranked university, University of Hyderabad’s students is facing the everlasting threats from thieves. These thefts are making headache for both students and authority. Bicycles and mobile phones are the favorite things for the thieves. It seems that bandits are so social, so that from the valuable things like laptops and iPods to cheaper things like T-shirts and daily utensils are there in their stolen account.
“In this ongoing academic year three cases were formally reported from hostels, and one laptop recovered in raids by hostel officials,” says The Chief Warden, Prof. R S Sarraju, when asked about the matter. Thefts issues come under the University’ Security Section, not only from the students’ belongings but from hostel equipments also are missing regularly. As of this university is spending a lot of money to reconstruct the things, he added.
The only solution is nothing more than the self vigilance on own things. The security is still insufficient and there is no security person in some hostel even now, he maintained.
There are lots of thefts are happening in the campus is a reality, but the security section is not responsible for the missing of personal belongings of students and staff as security persons are only responsible for university’s properties, says G Victor Kumar, the Security Officer of UoH .
Missing of Bicycles is mainly because of the carelessness of the students. There are no sufficient security persons and no proper mechanism to prevent thefts in the campus. All reported thefts cases are dealing by Chandha Nagar Police station directly, we have no role in it, he revealed.
Some students argue that the bandits are outsiders but others opine that inside thieves are more threat than outsiders. I lost my Bicycle when I parked it on near the university main gate, it was happened in front of the security persons, said Asfar, IInd year M A History student.
Nine mobile phones have stolen from Men’s Hostel H only within one year, no one get back their phones so far, said Mohammed Shafi, General Secretary of Men’s Hostel H. I lost my mobile phone from my room itself when I went to my friend’s room to take my book, within a fracture of minutes I lost it, said Preema Paul, IInd year M-tech student.
Both my T-shirt and jeans pant stolen by someone when it kept in the outside of the room for washing, said Aneesh, 1st year M A History.
The lack of proper mechanism in the campus to prevent theft issues is one of the main helping factors for the thieves. Students are now carrying their laptops every time with them as afraid of bandits. And now it is also becoming a daily practice to putting ‘lost notice’ in hostels and public places in the campus. The number of thefts in the campus is increasing while recoveries are rare.

Let justice be done, though heaven falls...

Fortunately India has luckily shown its maturity.

Roman Proverbs

A diamond is valuable though it lies in the dirt.
A few complications in life are an excellent tonic to the brain.
A joy that is shared is a joy made double.
A mother does not hear the music when her children cry.
A tailor has no time to mend his own cloths.
Against God’s wrath no castle is thunder-proof.
Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.
Candles light others and consume themselves.
Do not make yourself a mouse for the cat to eat you.
Everyone is a damn fool for at least five minutes every day.
From our ancestors come our names; but from our virtues come our honours.
God never closes one door without opening another.
He that eats till he is sick must fast till he is well.
He who considers too much will perform little.
Hold your temper for a moment, and avoid a hundred days of sorrow.
If you are too fortunate, you will not know yourself; if you are too unfortunate, nobody will know you.
Keep conscience clear, then never fear.
Laugh and world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone.
Love is the wisdom of the fool and folly of the wise.
Men know where they were born, not where they shall die.
Never think too much of yourself.
People are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges.
Pluck not where you never planted.
Proverbs are all old; if they are new they’re not proverbs.
Quiet minds are richer than crowns.
Riches are like salt water, the more you drink the more you thirst.
Self-preservation is the first law of nature.
Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned.
Some people are so afraid to die than they seldom begin to live.
Speak not of my debts unless you mean to pay them.
Spit not against heaven, it’ll fall back on your face.
That is but an empty purse that is full other men’s money.
The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the diseases.
The better workman, the worse husband.

We need to prove we are employable; says Kathi Mahesh Kumar

UoH Campus: “No mass communication institutions can’t offer job for its students, it is our duty to prove we are employable,” says Kathi Mahesh Kumar, the Communication Manager of Clinton Foundation at Hyderabad. He was delivering a speech in an orientation class for the first year communication students of UoH on Wednesday at department of communication of Sarojini Naidu School.
Being a student of S N School will be a greater advantage to you in your career as you are guided by the outstanding faculties from the country, he added. He was a student of S N School during the period of 1998 to 2000. “What Prof. Vinod Pavarala taught us at our Development communication classes, I realized its real and practical sense only after joined in a NGO at Hyderabad,” he revealed.
Communication is commonsense, but communication knowledge is not common at all. Without effective communication, we cannot change the attitude, knowledge, and policies of the public, he opined. He also talked about the different trends and ethical dilemmas existing in the current Journalism field. By illuminating his previous experience as a news production assistant at the ETV, he said that cooking up of news stories are only for the subscription purpose and no media organizations existing in India without any bias today.
Cinema is his passion than anything; he has some experience in film industry too. “Absence of good script and screenplay is the real cause of crisis existing in the film industry now, we have to overcome it by developing good script writers,” says Mahesh Kumar.
Dr. E. Sathya Prakash, a faculty member of department of communication, introduced Kathi Mahesh Kumar to the students. The orientation classes will be held for a week and eminent personalities from media industry will take classes.

Patriotism, charity and activism, freedom celebration takes a new look

UoH Campus: It is not the first time that an Independence Day celebration is taking place in this campus. Nothing was new, but everything seemed to be new for the ones who were gathering at Gurubhurg Singh Maidan as it was the 64th anniversary of the Independence of India.
The function started 10 minutes late than the schedule. VC Prof. Seyed. E Hasnain hoisted the tri-colour flag with the background music of national anthem and he also addressed the gathering. He takes the salute at the Independence Day parade of the University campus school students.
Then it was the time for the cultural programmes of the campus school student s. The colourful programmes like group dance, group song, which highlighted the patriotism and the skit by Karthavya students were the programmes.
Environmental Action Group (EAG) of UoH also had to contribute something special on that occasion. VC inaugurated the ‘say no plastic’ campaign of EAG by buying two cotton carry bags a cost of RS 25 each from the activists. VC requested the crowd to take part in the EAG’s progrmme.
Sweets were distributed among gathering after the official progrmme. In the backdrop of Independence Day, ‘Freedom run for health’ programme is being organized by centre for physical education department was also conducted at early morning. About 450 students participated in the programme.
Impetus club of school of management studies collected the garments and utensils from hostels for orphanages and NGOs working for the betterment of the struggling people as of their celebrations. Bike rally of ABVP workers also held as a part of the Independence Day in the campus.

Bid adieu to the seniors of mass communication

Truly speaking, it was not just a Farewell.. It was actually a festival, a colourful one, which originated in the hearts of the seniors, and came out in the form of laughs, cries and all such emotions they had carried inside them for the past two years. The Junior’s batch of Mass Communication had created a perfect arena for their seniors to come and design one of the most memorable days in their life, which was named as their Farewel.Even though the thought, that they will be missing each other in the near future, had started haunting them; there was no such clue from their part on Wednesday. They just came to enjoy the night..
The Farewell started one hour late than the scheduled time. The seniors were first invited for the buffet arranged by their younger brothers and sisters.Soon after that, it was time for games and other cultural programs, specially planned for the outgoing students. In between, anchor Sidharth, with his humorous and catchy dialogues, was a centre of attraction throughout the program.For the games, senior batch students were divided into four groups. Games like Musical Chair, Mime, etc. were conducted to add flavor to the party. They dedicated their full energy for the games. No one was ready to give up and each one had the thirst for victory.
But finally, it was team Tigers headed by Ardra Balachandran, who came out as the winners and were given a Joker’s cap as the prize. After the games, was the most awaited program of the night- D J, which continued for 3 hours. Next, it was Award giving ceremony, to the best performers from the senior batch, who were polled as the best by their own classmates. At the end was Farewell cake distribution. It was finally Taijrani Ramprasad, program organizer, who brought a change to the smiling faces, by announcing that the event is going to end shortly. It was only then they realized that the talks, the dances, the games and all that took place a few hours before are now going to become just a golden memory in their respective lives.

Ethical Use of New Media by Journalists

Members of society are always communicating with each other in one way or the other, whether they do so interpersonally or with the use of mass media. Throughout the ages, as the world began to evolve, mass media have begun to play a more important role in communicating messages across large areas as we learn of the existence of other nations. We saw an evolution from oral communication to print and then electronic; a shift from interpersonal communication to mass communication. In order to have mass communication, there was the necessity to have mass media, such as newspapers, radio, television, popular books and periodicals, which are used to transmit messages to large audiences.[1],[2] Within the past decade there has been the creation of new media. For all purposes, new media are “a broad communication concept which can refer to …emerging digital technologies and platforms; online journalism; and electronic and multimedia publishing (particularly on the Internet and World Wide Web).”[3]
However, the form of new media which has been the main focus is the internet, which is a “series of interconnected networks allowing communication of data among millions of computers worldwide.”[4] (The terms new media and internet have begun to be used interchangeably, even though new media encompass so much more.) Due to its’ ubiquitous nature, the internet has proven to be a space where many are able to be the consumers as well as the creators of content. Should we trust the information we receive on the internet? Whether the information that is available via the internet is accurate or not is not a concern of the creators. It is the responsibility of the users to be responsible and double check their sources and ensure that all information are accurate. Many items used as reference are just opinions of others or bear many inaccuracies, since anyone can become an author, a scientist, a professor ... a reporter.
Therefore, the questions of what is journalism and who is a journalist have been asked as a result of the advent of the internet. Journalism is referred to as a process that encompasses finding things out and telling them to different audiences through the use of the mass media while making sure that the message is accurate, balanced, complete and objective.[5],[6] The journalist is the person who practises journalism and strives to be fair in his/her reporting of the facts. However, the internet has drastically changed things. As long as someone has access to the internet, they can broadcast any kind of information they wish which is accepted since the internet is a space of democracy. But, the area for concern is that journalists are also using the internet for information and in many cases just “copy and paste” the information and call it a news article which is a vivid display of bad journalism. “This is where the journalist’s role of interpreter of information becomes especially pertinent”[7] and not just that of reporting what information was supplied.
As can be seen, there are many ethical problems associated with the internet such as plagiarism, misinformation and invasion of privacy, to list a few. Plagiarism is the “unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work.”[8] This can be seen in the story about the bloggers from Goa who tricked gullible journalists into believing that there was a Nazi German war criminal living in Goa who was subsequently arrested.[9] According to Thakurta (2009) “In June-July 2008, a group of bloggers based in Goa called ‘Penpricks’ successfully pulled off an elaborate hoax on mainstream journalists belonging to a number of reputed Indian newspapers like The Indian Express, The Telegraph, The Asian Age and Deccan Herald...” The journalists of the mentioned media houses accepted the story from their sources as it was and did not double check facts. Thakurta (2009) goes on to state that some of the journalists also invented other “occurrences” in an attempt to make their stories more sensational to gain sales even when it was not their work to begin with.
The act of plagiarising also borders on laziness of journalists which had far reaching consequences on journalism. Had the journalists done their work, did some simple research, they would have found out that it was a prank and averted much scandal from their media houses. However, the internet is available to almost every media house now and it is easier and less stressful to log onto a website and just get the information necessary to make the story. Is this journalism? Also in doing this, journalists tend to gather that data which supports the side of the story they want to show and provide those websites as references. Thus, the reporting of facts is very ineffectively done.
Another problem of using the internet for information is misinformation. “Journalism as a profession suffered numerous setbacks as a result of online misinformation, as reporters found it all too easy to build their reporting and columns on the basis of information, often ambiguous or outright false, they retrieved off the Internet.”[10] As mentioned earlier, anyone can become a journalist online. They need not have any proof of qualifications since the internet operates largely on anonymity. Thus, many are of the belief that information on the internet is accurate and can be trusted. An example of this can be seen in the suspension of Jeff Jacoby, an opinion columnist of the Boston Globe, who was suspended for ‘serious journalistic misconduct.’[11] Jacoby had simply plagiarised inaccurate information from an e-mail and published it without rechecking for accuracy.[12]
Invasion of privacy is another problem of using the internet unethically and occurs when “offensive or unjustifiable access [is] obtained to someone's personality or personal affairs without his or her permission and/or knowledge.”[13] Whether it is being done to discredit other journalists, sneak into people’s lives to get a story or just out of curiosity, there are journalists who misuse the internet through hacking. One such incident occurred in 2008 when “three journalists working for the French publication Global Security Magazine were booted Thursday from the hackers' conference after they were allegedly caught hacking into the private computer network set up for the media.” [14]The invasion of privacy of others has been a standing issue for a very long time. With the advancement in technology and the development of the internet, it is becoming easier to sneak into other peoples’ lives.
As can be seen the internet is a very powerful means of communication with many problems attached to it. As a result, those in authority saw it fit to implement regulations so as to have uniformity of content and to respect and protect the creators and users of the content broadcast. With laws in place, there would be some amount of control over the content being broadcast via the mass media. However, in many countries across the world, such as Guyana and India, there are still no specific laws governing the media (the broadcast bills are still in the authoring and editing stages). Added to this, with the rise in technology, it is becoming harder to regulate the media since their reach and content are very wide and countless, respectively. Thus, in an attempt to protect themselves, media organisations and journalists have come up with codes of ethics in an attempt to protect themselves as well as to appear credible in the eyes of the audiences. Ethics, simply put, are “the moral principles, reflected in rules, written or unwritten, which prescribe how journalists should work to avoid harming or distressing others, e.g. when gathering information; when deciding what to publish; when responding to complaints about their work.”[15]
Should one be governed by his/her own principles then it would be easier to regulate the content on the internet and the use of said content. Ethics, although not legally binding, are a perfect guideline for journalists who use the internet for research purposes as this information superhighway is not regulated. There are regulations relating to the architecture and infrastructure, such as the Internet Society and the Internet Engineering Task Force.[16] However, these bodies do not regulate the content on the internet, for the content are so vast. Additionally, there is no owner to the internet, thus, it is hard to implement any laws governing it since there has to be a worldwide consensus for this to happen. Thus, journalists and those who operate within media environment must ensure that they use the internet responsibly.
In order to avoid problems associated with plagiarism, misinformation, invasion of privacy and many more when using the internet, there is a need for journalists to be responsible. They need to be ethical when using the internet as a source of information. Journalists should aim to: seek the truth and report it, minimize harm when possible, act independently and do not give in to pressures and be accountable for their actions, among many other things.[17] There is a need to double check the information that is found and do not simply copy, paste and print a story from an online source. Stories should follow the TUFF (truthful, unbiased, full, fair) formula as suggested by Merrill.[18] In order for a story to be fair it should be accurate, balanced, complete, detached and ethical.[19]
Granted, the new media, especially the internet, have given rise to a new face of journalism referred to as citizen journalism. However, this does not mean that those trained in the profession should become lazy and misuse the internet. Ethics are important, especially in an area where there are no laws governing the medium. Additionally, one should be ethical least people think he/she is not a credible source of information. It stands to reason that the democratic medium of the internet would be better off not being controlled by any one entity since it is standing up for the “freedom of expression” basic human right. However, should individuals continue to misuse it people will attempt to regulate it. The new media are the voices of the masses...it should not be suppressed. Thus, it should be used ethically.