RHYME AND REASON
Here, here, here we say
The Times of India’s coming here to stay
Why, why, why the fright
Cause the botoxed crone’s got diamonds and a scythe
Now we hear, the media
Is gonna wear a fancy gown
Then she’ll hitch it up
And cruise around
Here, here, here I say
The Times of India’s coming to stay
Journalists who switched
We hear, have hit pay dirt
Will lycra replace khadi now
Or the rare Bharne shirt
Here, here, here I say
The Times of India’s coming to stay
Finally, the local papers we hear
Did look inwards, but began to shiver and pee
Being scared they say at what’s left
To look-a-see
Here, here, here I say
The Times of India’s coming to stay
Why, why, why the fright
Cause the botoxed crone’s got diamonds and a scythe
posted by Pen Pricks at
16:06
12 Comments:
An 'imported goods' and women's wear shop in Santa Cruz called 'No Fly Buy Dubai' was smashed up by local residents after it came to their notice that the owner had installed a hidden camera in the changing room.
Among other garments, the shop sold a lot of women's underwear, so you should be able to imagine just how angry the villagers were.
The shop's owner was one Nelson, who used to be a journalist in the Herald. He was arrested by the cops, and spent a night in jail.
Not surprisingly, the Herald carried nothing about the incident. GT carried the story, but named neither the journalist nor the shop. NT did likewise, the next day.
What is surprising is that these sins of commission and, later, omission, find no mention on PenPricks. Is this Nelson a pal of yours?
What I'd really like to find out is, was he selling the pictures he took to Internet porn sites...?
From the pompous but gutsy Ashley D'Mello to the tarty Ta to the sozzled, Laloo Comrade Sanjay Banerjee...TOI has been more of a brand then brains. The fight is not much about journalism but about advertising pie. Good for the Industry as about time that IMRBs, ACNielsens, TAMs, TRPs of this world arrived. The search and lacunae of good Goan Journalism will remain. And TOI or no TOI like politics we'll be still searching for a few good men (read: Journos). Journos that have been named in Penpricks will make more money but will they stand up and give us HISTORY. Wait & Watch
Is it true that the local newspapers are planning a tie-up with The Times of India at a later date? That is the rumour. The Dempo's have already approached the Jains in Mumbai and so has Pawar. Is shop keeper Raul in the race too.....what will the Filopinos do then???
Pen pricks... Please do a follow up on the stories you break. For instance...
1. What happened to that plagiarising, in it's editorial, engaged by GT?
2. What happened to Joseph Zuzarte and that HCN girl?
3. What happened to the widow of the journo who died a pauper? Did Dempos employ her?
4. A few days ago you published a story, but apparently it did not appear as you stated in print? I'm talking about the road being 'dugged' story.
Oh Lord! thy jealous journo souls
born in Goa
fed on local gossip
survived on boot licking
now they scream TOI TOI TOI.
Oh Lord!thy jealous journo souls
run the penpricks and declare themselves great
for long they criticised the local newspapers.
but now are crying hoarse TOI TOI TOI
Oh Lord! why why the fright
Oh Jealous journo souls
Is the competition getting too tight.
MORE THE MERRIER
Regards brand positioning of Goa's english dailies, Herald has the strongest brand values, followed by NT. GT unfortunately, though it provides superior content quality comparatively, is a fuzzy brand.
Rajan N. while at Herald maintained Herald's "cristao" brand personality.
And Herald is clearly brand positioned as "cristao". This means the brand offering will have a strong mix of cristao cultural and social ingredients. This is very evident from the "cristao" stories, tiatr advertisements and cultural coverage...(the occasional ganesh supplements notwithstanding)
As regards TOI, their strategy is unfolding.
They will grow the market, and that will indeed benefit Herald and NT whose loyal local readership will stay and grow as well, although at a relatively smaller level.
Predatory pricing by TOI has commenced. For less than a rupee a day, annual subscriptions (starting May 08) are being offered at colleges, offices and residential colonies. A free travel bag is being thrown as well (great outdoor ambient strategy).
Soon TOI will advertise figures claiming higher readership, fastest growing numbers etc. to attract advertising revenue.
Their growth will also come from the ever increasing number of "non-goan" residents who prefer news sans local content or very little of it.
The good news is that the readership of english newspapers will increase. And that will benefit journalists and advertising agencies as well.
And as long as DAVP and Govt of Goa's "department/ministry/corporation" tenders, notices and Dir of Info's advertising support continues all current newspapers will stay above water.
More the merrier!
Competition is excellent. But selling a product below cost is dangerous. Run at a loss inorder to wipe out rivals is only a short term stratergy. Once the competition is decimated an overpriced product emerges.
This is similar to supermaket chains operating in Goa.
Award (penpricks' social worker) winner Pramod Salgaonkar is back on Sunday's NT.
Of all the people, Rajtilak Naik did some bootlicking photography!
Did Rajtilak, ask this Congress heavyweight about NT's editor?
Dempo's and Salgaonkar's never question each other's misdeeds, do they?
"the pompous but gutsy Ashley D'Mello"
Give us a break. Ashely DMello was anything but gutsy. Yes pompus. He depended on Rico and Pamela to feed him with stories, which he used to file a day late. His coverage of the Konkan Railway controversy was far from expected. It was rumoured then that rico wrote his copy during the Oza Commission. He was lazy and moved like a snail. He used to report the same articles that had appeared in the NT, GT and Herald and was the fruit of our labour with a byline. His knowledge of Goa and Goan culture was zero. He had befriended jouranlists like Paul Ferandes, Julio D'Silva, Rajan Narayan and Cyril D'Cunha and put on a mask of being serious when he was just a copy cat. His posting to Goa was becuase he was not wanted in the Bombay office. His Godfather and Resident Editor Darryl D'Monte had no choice but send him to Goa, where he did not shine in any manner.
Much is being made of Ashely D'Mello today but as a young journo who saw him work,it was often wondered how was he able to keep his job. He is a laughting stock for any hardworking jurno.
Penpricks, this is a lovely poem, I love the botoxed crone with diamonds and scythe stuff.
May we hope to see more poetry here? Obviously there is a hidden talent which needs more expression :-)
TOI has started a door to door campaign of Rs 170/ 6 months and 299/12 months with a free bag.... whoa... TNT and Herald and even GT are doomed. Will TOI deliver the spice and a lil tad of yellow that Goa loves? or will it be just a crappy Big City Rag that no one gives a damn?
It's great to understand the impact that TOI's pre-launch activity has
already created.
There are assumptions, fears, expectations, envy...and a whole lot of
emotional outbursts pouring.
Fact remains, things will change.
And with change, a new order will emerge.
It will mark a pre-TOI and post-TOI period in the english newspaper
space in Goa.
The positives will, in my opinion far outweigh the negatives.
Healthy competition is always welcome, and it invariably benefits the
end consumer.
So what if salaries of journos sky-rocket?
So also will job insecurity.
Let the best survive and flourish.
TOI won't rest with its english edition.
Maharashtra Times (MT) will be next in line to take on Gomantak and
Tarun Bharat.
Why the 'holier-than-thou' resistance to TOI's predatory pricing?
Didn't GT do it @ Rs 1/- ?
Didn't Herald dump free copies for months in Porvorim Defence Colony?
In the end readers will be loyal to brands (free or paid) that appeals
to their set of values.
And brands that understand that will survive.
TOI gives readers what they want, very much like TRP hungry
entertainment/news (infotainment) tv channels.
Leading perhaps to a degeneration of journalistic values.
One can expect very high levels of local event adoption and coverage.
Goa Plus will I'm sure mutate into Panjim Times, Margao Times, Vasco
Times, Mapusa Times, Calangute Times...
All split run editions with 'print-to-order' editorial and advertising
content.
The battle between Editorial and Marketing as it evolves in the
newspaper industry will continue to take different forms right here in
Goa.
Paid editorials. Paid Page 3 coverage. Advertorials. Response
supplements. Complementary multi-media plugs. Blanking out of
competitive commercial news/events....What's new?
Watch this space!
Cajetan Vaz
20 Feb 2008
P.S. Am looking forward to the advertising campaign that my batchmate
JWT's Agnello Dias will perhaps create for TOI's Goa launch. He is a
Goan and TOI specialist. His recent film for Nike (with a Lorna
soundtrack) won him international acclaim at Cannes recently.
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