Thursday, July 03, 2008

N.Ram wins the contest

N.Ram with 65% votes wins the CBCNN award for the most biased journalist. At a distance second is Harish Khare with 27% votes.

Congratulations to N.Ram!!! He is now an "eminent journalist" a la "eminent historians".

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

We should expand our targets to include the other papers too. Check this out!

http://penpricks.blogspot.com/

NAZI-GATE -- HONOURING THE REAL PRICKS IN THE MEDIA

Hi guys, we thank all of you for dropping by and taking time to comment... We've been running this blog as an underground forum for critiquing the media in Goa for more than a year now. Your comments will keep the fire going...
Starting now, we're running the first of the three part series on how the media manipulates news.
How the media houses manipulated the information we had furnished in the Perus Narkp pressnote we provided, to pass it off as their own, attributing it to 'sources'.
This is a malaise in most investigations conducted by the media. While in a lot of cases hiding a source is necessary, this licence is often abused by the media to peddle spurious reports. If you guys can, just think back, re-read/watch the media coverage of the Scarlett Keeling or Arushi murder over the last few weeks. Analyse what the media has said in the light of 'Nazi-gate'...
Think back how the media regularly covers these police encounters stories or those 'terrorists apprehended on the eve of independence or republic day' stories. We've been there guys. It never happens like the cops tell it. Siddharth Vardharajan rightly calls it poppy cock. Over the next three parts we have decided to dish our pricks awards to the media houses which fell for this Johann Bach con. The harder they bit, the more prick points they get...

So, here goes fellas...


DECCAN HERALD -- THE-HONEST-BUT-DUMB PRICK AWARD

3 pricks out of 10
To their credit, the Deccan Herald stuck to the press note. It did not deviate from the ‘facts’ mentioned in it. Looks like they approached this story the old school way... The kind of way journalism that used to be done in the times when the internet was non existent and phones were a luxury. There was no effort on part of the DH to even contact the local authorities to verify the details mentioned in the press note. This, inspite of the fact that DH is a paper headquartered in Karnataka, the state where ‘Bach’ was apprehended according to our Perus Narkp press note. The distance between Khanapur and Bangalore is not much. And yet no efforts were made by them to check up facts on this story. The newspaper is a household name in Karnataka did real bad no that front.


CALCUTTA TELEGRAPH – THE COCKY, RIBBED, CROOKED PRICK AWARD

9 pricks out of 10

The Calcutta Telegraph appeared to go schizophrenic once we made the prank public. The newspaper almost bungee-jumped into the story with a striking graphic charting Bach’s journey across the globe, before he landed in Goa. This is the newspaper, which has lied the most. They added such fibs to the already fake press note, its not funny. Allow us to present a few examples.

1) The press note we had sent, never did mention that Bach escaped from Bardez, Goa to Khanapur, Karnataka in a taxi. Telegraph made this up.

2) We never said that the German Chancellor’s Core (the damn thing does not exist) had contacted the Intelligence Bureau saying that it wanted to trace an Argentinian passport holder. Telegraph made up this fact too.

3) Our press note did not mention that Bach -- an old German, had told an Israeli tourist couple at a rave party to having liquidated Jews. Telegraph made up this fact too.

4) Telegraph also claims that Bach was arrested at Anmod ghat, a fact not mentioned in the note we had circulated.They created this fact.

5) The world map graphic mentioned nations like Canada, Argentina, Bulgaria and Yemen as some of the places which Bach traveled in after his escape from Berlin. That’s fine, cause that’s we said in our Perus Narkp press note. Now alongside Yemen, Telegraph guys have put in the word ‘unconfirmed’ in brackets, to convey the impression to the readers that ‘phew… man we’ve confirmed Bach’s presence in all other countries except, Yemen… hope you guys don’t mind his yet-to-be-confirmed Yemen’s stint. We tried, but could not ascertain it'. The bloody liars.

Telegraph has without a doubt fibbed its readers the most. These guys have actually attributed this story to sources, another blatant lie. How can these sources explain a sequence of events with such graphic details, when the event itself hasn’t happened?

This isn’t a news story fellas, this reads like a ‘lulla’by filed by Telegraph’s Anil Budur Lulla. Kya Lulla bhai, itna imagination hai to script writer bano yaar, journalist nahin.

We have another bone to pick with the Telegraph over its follow-up. After promising to apologise to its readers, if they got the facts in the case wrong, the newspapers follow up is very misleading.

The follow up is another pack of lies. In a hasty cover-up, Telegraph lies through its teeth when it says that the press note carries a group photo of Johann Bach with other young SS officers. Guys, you’ve seen the copy of the press note in the last post right? You’ve seen the picture we’ve sent. The old gramp… So what pic are these guys talking about?

Telegraph claims that it had received information from sources in the Intelligence Bureau about the Bach operation, before they filed the story? So where were the quotes? Where were the details?

They have blamed the Intelligence guys for not providing them with the right information. But what’s important is that these guys have not admitted that it was a mistake. They have not apolologised to their readers for furnishing them with rubbish to read.

Instead what Telegraph has done is source a long barreled gun and fire it all the way from Calcutta from the shoulders of one R Auradkar (Inspector General, Northern Range) who says this. “Auradkar, however, said he would not like to dismiss the news stories as the result of a rumour or a prank, as suggested in certain blogspots.”

The dumbasses at Telegraph. Although they’ve been caught with their pants down, all they seem to be doing is covering their rear, when it’s their exposed nuts and bolt that they should be worried out.

To be noted guys... although the newspaper maintains a ‘could-be-hoax-maybe-true’ line, they have deleted the page, which carried the original story from their archives. What’s that police investigation dictum guys, ‘A criminal always returns to the crime scene’. Telegraph did just that and tried to wipe out their prints off the cookie jar.


DAILY TIMES KARACHI AND SRI LANKAN GUARDIAN – THE RAW PRICK AWARD

5 pricks out of 10
The two papers have carried this story on pretty identical lines and have attributed the information to 'sources'. In fact the writer Iftikhar Gilani has pre supposed that the German intelligence agencies had tied up with the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). In the press note we had only stated that it was the Ministry of Home Affairs folks from the Government of India, who were on the case. Guess it’s quite likely, that a Pakistani newspaperman would shout ‘RAW’, even when he scoops up a spoonful of uncooked rajma-chawal from a food stall behind the Raisini Road Press Club of India office.

Another fake detail, which the writer Gilani mentions in his story, is that the ‘Bach’ would be flown to Mumbai, before being taken to Germany. We never said, but seems like his sources did ;)


NEW INDIAN EXPRESS – THE MOST RI’DICK’ULOUS PRICK AWARD

7 pricks out of 10
The editorials staffers in this newspaper need a good thorough spanking. When their bluff was called by penpricks. These guys at the New Indian Express called us ‘mischief mongers’. But we’ve been called a lot of things, by a lot of people and institutions, we glad accept this brickbat, as a compliment to our expose.
The NIE in its initial story claimed that after it received the information about ‘Bach’, it cross checked and verified the information from their sources. They also claim that us pricks had also sent the same press note to the authorities at the same time.

We would like to clarify here that we had sent the press note only to journalists and media houses. There is no truth the comment made by NIE that we had also tipped off the cops about the ‘Bach’ capture. But heart of hearts, maybe NIE had wished we had done that.

Now we have one question to ask the NIE chaps here.

If these guys had taken to pains to verify and cross check facts. Why did they not quote anyone on this story. Not single guy has been quoted, who’s admitted to the incident. The only chappie they’ve quoted is Superintendent of Police Hemant Nimbalkar who categorically says, he does not know about any such incident.

There are more questions to be asked about the NIE coverage?

Where did they source the information about Bach being in the German government’s 'most wanted list'? Has this been said on the basis of an official document? Where is it? If some authority has told them this, then why haven’t they quoted the authority? What’s the need for being so secretive about a ‘most wanted list’? Aren’t such lists public information? India’s Central Bureau of Information has its most wanted list available online for all to see? So where did NIE source this information from? Tell us guys? Looks like its the NIE which is mischief mongering in this case… It is these guys who have virtually manufactured facts to suit their ends.

Ok now for another loophole in the NIE story?

How can these guys claim that ‘Bach’ announced his intentions to sell his piano through an AD? Its not in mentioned the press note? So where did this ad part come from? An ad in an English daily? Fertile boy… as fertile as the black soil of Khanapur.

Another point to be made. These fibbers at NIE also claimed that their sources told them that Perus Narkp had passed on the Bach lead to the Interpol which in turn passed on the information to the MHA, government of India? Oh really? Sources again… NIE sources are like Frederick Forsythe, Colin Forbes, Leon Uris, Jack Higgins all rolled into one.

Rich very, very rich imagination.


THE TIMES OF INDIA -- SOBER PRICK AWARD

2 pricks out of 10

Frankly we expected worse from Times of India. But looks like they came off pretty well. Initially they must have been shell-shocked when they realized that they missed the story. Thankfully there was an element of restraint in the way they reported the affair, quoting the release consistently. These guys also got Karnataka home minister on record, who claimed he did not know about the incident.


THE ASIAN AGE -- THE TWIN PRICK AWARD

5 and a half pricks out of ten

For The Asian Age, it took two bylines to churn out three paragraphs of pure fiction.

And we have a problem with Messrs Bhaskar Hegde and Naushad Bijapur. Come on guys, you could have atleast credited our Perus Narkp press note. All these two chaps appear to have done is glean info from the press note and credit it to their sources in the intelligence... Damn you guys… Jis thali se khaoge usi mein chedd….

Apart from creating a chase drama, there’s another interesting element in the copy. Like the Calcutta Telegraph, The Asian Age too mentions that Bach was arrested at Anmod… Where the f…. does this Anmod come in from guys? Sure its on the way to Belgaum from Goa, but its not mentioned in the press note… Why are they obsessed with Anmod then?


(Coming up next, a close look at the coverage by Indian Express, rediff.com and other national media followed the stories which appeared in Goan newspapers)

Srinath said...

Congratulations to N.Ram!!! He is now an "eminent journalist" a la "eminent historians" and "EMMINENT SECULARIST"

You forgot to add that!!!

Anonymous said...

i think this is like one of the bogus Undie TV sms polls where 4-5 people vote but they show the results in percentages, haar haar!

Anonymous said...

Hi, how come "The HINDU" if it is so bad did not fall for the Nazi war crimes hoax??

Anonymous said...

Dear Anon,


>Hi, how come "The HINDU" if it is so bad did not fall for the Nazi war >crimes hoax??


The Hindu guys are not fools; they are crooked; they carefully look everything and try to spin everything pro-CPM and pro-China.
For that they have to be smart!
Falling prey to such hoaxes is a measure of stupidity and not a measure of "badness"!

What this blog has been proving, as far as i can see, is that

0)The Hindu and its writers are hypocritical when it comes to CPI(M) and China issues.

1) The Hindu suppresses news to favor China and communist parties

2)The Hindu writes as if it is a Chinese national newspaper and writes anti-India when it comes to issues like border issues with China and so on

3)The Hindu is very much like the mouthpiece of CPI(M) -- never writes editorials opposing ANYTHING CPI(M) -- highly biased.

Isn't that "bad" enough for you ?

Anonymous said...

Anon asked :

"Hi, how come "The HINDU" if it is so bad did not fall for the Nazi war crimes hoax??"

If you look, what those who fell to the hoax have done is to report stuff without verifying it.
This Blog has shown many times that Chindu has been doing the same when it comes to reports from Xinhua. They blindly copy many Xinhua reports without verifying them and end up being fools themselves.
(and just like other news papers Chindu also spice up pro-china news)

Anonymous said...

Well. This is what "so bad" Chindu reported. It is for folks to decipher whether Chindu really fell for the Nazi hoax (if so, how deep). Anyhow, it is interesting to note that Chindu not reject the matter prima facie as outlandish.

We can see that the words of the Karnataka police were careful and measured. So, Chindu did not get a chance to browbeat the police in the new saffron state.

--------------------------------


http://www.hindu.com/2008/06/29/stories/2008062953860400.htm

Karnataka - Belgaum

World War II criminal arrested ?

Staff Correspondent

Belgaum: The district police is unaware of the reports stating that the German Intelligence wing along with the help of its Indian counterpart nabbed Johann Bach, who was allegedly responsible for World War II genocide of Jews and missing since then.

There were reports in the media that he was reportedly arrested in the forests of Khanapur taluk in Karnataka-Goa border recently.

Raghavendra Auradkar, IGP, Northern Range, expressed ignorance on the matter stating that there was no official information or confirmation about it so far.

He said the police have gone through the reports from Goan media but there was no information about Mr. Bach's arrest from any quarter, he added.

Anonymous said...

I THINK THE REPORT IN "THE HINDU" YOU HAVE GIVEN SUPRA IS THE MOST PROFESIONAL OF THESE IN INDIAN NEWSPAPERS.

ALSO I DO NOT THINK IT CAN BE CALLED THE "PRO-CHINESE" NEWSPAPER. THAT IS AN INSULT TO CRORES OF US WHO READ IT EVERY SINGLE DAY AND TO THOSE WHO USE IT LIKE "THE BIBLE" FOR GETTING THROUGH THE COMPETITIVE EXAMS!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

"Chinese Bible"?!

What will be the position of these future babus (who are fed on the Chinese Bible) on Indo-Chine issues?

Anonymous said...

Crores of readers? The paper with the highest circulation claims a readership of just over a crore and not CRORES. The Hindu is miles away. I think it has a readership of around a million or less. And post ToI, the figure should have shrunk.

Well, if you "don't think" The Hindu is pro-China, I wonder whether you think at all.It is more Chinese than even Xinhua.

Anonymous said...

// THAT IS AN INSULT TO CRORES OF US WHO READ IT EVERY SINGLE DAY AND TO THOSE WHO USE IT LIKE "THE BIBLE" FOR GETTING THROUGH THE COMPETITIVE EXAMS!!!!!!!!! //

This should say a lot about the kind of questions and answers used and expected by the boards running our 'competitive' exams. And the kind of world-view that those 'competitive' exams reward. The competitive exams clearly refer to IAS, UPSC or various state government services. obviously not CAT or anything respectable.

This alone should help realize why our bureaucracy stinks so much of not just corruption but also plain treachery.

good luck with those 'competitive' exams, fellas.

Anonymous said...

Hi Anon,

It seems you have a high opinion of yourselves when you say "The competitive exams clearly refer to IAS, UPSC or various state government services. obviously not CAT or anything respectable"

do you think CAT is respectable and others are not? it shows you have nuts insted of grey matter. what exactly makes CAT respectable as against others?