Wednesday 20 February 2008

TIMES OF INDIA'S LATEST WEAPON* -- MALLIKA SHERAWAT

What all isn't the TIMES OF INDIA trying to do to woo the local newspaper staffers... After the first round of negotiations received lukewarm reaction (apparently Thapa, Vijay, Guilherme and Julian have turned down their offer), here's proof of the newest and a more potent strategy...
TOI has unleashed Bollywood starlet Mallika Sherawat on the journos and technicians who are still fence-sitting... The rationale behind this being that Mallika may just do enough to nudge these guys off the fence and into their side of the yard...
The guy above -- of those who was targetted -- is Amit Soiru who handles all the computer-related stuff at the Herald... He is supposed to have had this rendezvous with Mallika recently, who reportedly coaxed him to make the switch to the TOI soon... 'TOI has bigger assets than even I do' is the pitch she is rumoured to have drilled into Amit. Perhaps Mallika is really not aware that this guy was trained by the legendary hardware engineer in the Herald named Sachin, whose only solution to computer related issued was, "Start jainaaa... Restart it!".
We dunno much about Amit's mettle, but after meeting Mallika it does seems like he needs to reboot himself too...


*Of course this is a joke guys... We found this pic on orkut... thought we'd just have some fun... Nothing personal against Amit, in case he reads it and finds it pissing off... And Mallika... doesn't read this blog anyway... sigh...

36 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

So, TOI Goa is left with how many reporters? Tch Tch Tch poor Raju will now have to take his comrade-in-arms Sushant Kukolienkar in TOI. That suits him fine- both know nothing about English.

20 February 2008 at 14:13  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

An open letter to the Times of India
------------------------------------------------------

Dear Times of India,

We have been getting the news of the entry of your
publication for many moons now. There has been talk of your
paper opening an edition in Goa for the past decade or so.

Finally it's happening. The journalists' world is agog --
with the thrill of getting access to new jobs and higher
salaries. But, for the most part, the average reader back in
Goa doesn't have a clue about the big news on the horizon.
Media often doesn't discuss media issues. As one colleague
would put it, "dog doesn't eat dog".

So, the times are changing, at least as far as the news in
our small State goes.

Welcome to Goa. The Times of India has long had some link
with Goa. Quite a few journalists of Goan origin have worked
for your publication. Quite a number of Mumbai-based Goans
read your paper as their first choice. In fact, during my
high-school days, The Times of India and India Today were the
only two outstation papers that reached my village, and gave
me an insight into the outside world. Some of my
most-respected colleagues have worked with the Times of India.

But it would be hypocritical not to state that we do have
mixed feelings about your decision to finally set up base in
our small place.

We feel flattered by your decision to finally
consider Goa worthy enough as a media-market worthy
of your attention. But, we have reason to feel
unsure about the impact your arrival here will have
on both the profession of journalism as also the
media industry as a whole.

Some of my colleagues argue that your entry here would "mean
a great deal of relief to under-paid, overworked journalists
in Goa". Others see your arrival here as a reason for
increasing media penetration and readership, reaching out to
youth and neo-settlers in Goa, creating a bigger market,
improve the salaries of journalists and the operations of ad
agencies or improved national and international coverage
(together with more sensational news, and more "Page 3
splashes"). Optimists see the arrival of the ToI into Goa as
possibly contributing to better proof-reading, more
application of the RTI Act, better advertising, better
sponsorships (the equivalent of Ganesh in Goa), synergies
with other members of your media empire (on the web with
Indiatimes, and on radio with Radio Mirchi, and in the world
of music with Times Music). But is the job of a newspaper one
of staging "great year-end parties"? Hardly so....

We are already seeing the impact of the Times
impact being felt here. To begin, the most obvious
impact is the fact that journalist salaries are
going up in Goa. Phenomenally.

In a way, the salaries on the media front in Goa have long
needed an upgrade. Things have stagnated for long. There has
been little media expansion since 1987 in the
English-language print media here (since the birth of
Gomantak Times). But should the hike in salaries come the ToI
way?

Yes, low and stagnant salaries have been a problems here. It
has forced many journos into changing their profession or
even going into a kind of exile. Journalists have become a
major export 'commodity' from Goa today. Whether they settle
in Mumbai or the Gulf, or even places as unexpected as
Bangkok, Sydney and Papua New Guinea, they have had to
migrate far and wide to get access to better jobs.

This is not a healthy situation.

Now, the situation has drastically changed. We are hearing of
Rs 30,000+ and Rs 40,000+ salaries for mid-career
professionals. Not too long back, Rs 12,000 was considered
quite significant by Goan standards. In other sectors, the
depressed Goan market pays people with our educational
background around Rs 5,000 to 12,000. It is only a few of the
entertainment-oriented, tech-focussed or black-money flush
sectors that can pay higher salaries.

So what effect will the hiked salaries have on the
media industry as a whole? Will they create 'gilded
cages' which people can't afford to leave? Will it
heighten the servility that media-persons have to
toe? Will it lead to the collapse of one or more
newspaper in the State?

As one editor-friend put it, those changing jobs primarily
due to the high-salaries bait might just be pricing
themselves out of the market. While media houses obviously
don't want to lose their staff, I suspect he just might be
right.

Trading high salaries for a lack of freedom -- as has been
the case -- is counterproductive to both the journalist's
self-esteem and the wider newspaper business as a whole.

On this score, the Times has still to prove its bonafides. It
needs to reassure the journalist community as well as the
English-language newspaper reader in Goa that its high-salary
gambit is not just meant to destroy the competition. Big
business from Boribunder should desist from playing the role
of corporate raiders on the existing media in Goa.

Which brings us to a related point....

The number of staff that you'll have lured away from the
existing papers -- with the deal of higher salaries -- is
surprisingly high. Is the ToI goal simply to bring out a new
product; or is it just to debilitate and crush the
competition? What's the impact of a policy that believes in
using its deep pockets to lure away 30-40 of local
journalists, and still recruiting? See
[http://groups.google.com/group/goajourno/browse_thread/thread/e1d2dd2...]

The Times of India comes here with a mixed reputation. For
the past some years, the Times has become an
advertiser-driven paper. It comes across as a well-packaged
free-sheeter of sorts, and sometimes I do buy it primarily
because the advertising is interesting!

We knew different Times, and your paper was very readable for
stints in the 'eighties. It has changed in other ways too.
Particularly in the manner in which it treats its staff.
Money and plush offices are no replacement for high-quality
journalism or job-satisfaction.

We've known other Times, when the ToI covered a large number
of social issues and concerns of relevance to a wide segment.
Today, ads dominate the paper, glamour is in, and there have
been lengthy debates about the policy about selling editorial
space at a price. Unfortunately, even before ToI's arrival in
Goa, your way of doing things has inspired others here, and
sections of our local papers have been implementing parallel
policies of glamour, the ad-focus, conflict-free journalism
and selling editorial space for a price.

We hear from our friends in the colleges that your
'product' will be sold for under Rs 300 a year
(with a free gift thrown in)! That's less than a
rupee a day! Does this not amount to dumping, and
is it not an anti-competition practice? Already,
India's newspaper's prices are among the lowest in
the world. What's the point in using your deep
pockets to depress newspaper prices further,
leading to the ruin of smaller papers and the
reality that the advertiser -- rather than the
reader or public interest -- would become even more
influential?

As mentioned above, sadly, many smaller newspapers, including
ones in Goa, have bought into the ToIsation of the media.
More glamour, more gossip. Less critical issues. Bigger
salary packets. Less scope for journalists to express
themselves. More corporate control over the media. Editorial
space for sale.

It's hardly likely that anyone could beat the Times of India
at its own game. One only hopes that this arrival of the
paper to Goa could be an opportunity for the local media to
wake up to the possibilities of reader-driven, truth-driven
journalism. But then, the experiences of other cities where
the ToI has set up shop (Bangalore, Pune, Chandigarh) hasn't
been a very happy one.

We hope that your arrival here will not further psyche local
newspapers into trying to beat the Old Lady of Boribunder at
her new game! The reader will only be the loser.

We hope your stay in Goa will be marked with a policy that
treats your staff well (not just monetarily). We urge you to
desist from trivialising the media, and to respect the media
diversity that exists in Goa.

It's time for all concerned media-persons, and every reader,
to urge influential papers like yours to avoid the
'raddi-isation' of the media -- in a way that produces thick
newspapers at throwaway prices, worth more for their resale
value as scrap-paper rather than readability.

Finally, welcome to Goa again ToI. Come in like a good guest,
and not like a corporate raider. Treat the existing
newspapers with the respect due. They have been unfair to us
journalists in the past (by not giving promotions when due,
or keeping salaries depressed, and treating staff poorly),
but we who believe in media diversity will stand by it, if
only to allow many voices to speak out.

Also, do look at your staff as intelligent persons, not just
purchasable brains. Goa needs a media that is relevant to its
needs, not one which is just going to kill the competition,
take the maximum amount of advertising revenue, and run!

Yes, there are many things wrong with the media in Goa. But
the approach you take hardly suggests that things are going
to improve with the way you approach it. Please reassure us
we are wrong in thinking this way. One of our colleagues
argued recently that newspapers in Goa need a "dose of
professionalism". But is this going to come from the ToI?

Frederick Noronha
f...@bytesforall.org

20 February 2008 at 19:52  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dear journo

I read your a open letter to the Times of India being circulated in the
cyberspace..I found the letter smacked with personal nostalgic experiences
rather than a open debate on the state of media in Goa.

Some querries which could have been addresed are the following

1. How much is a Correspondent working for a National newspaper being
paid in Goa?
2. Are local Journalists in Goa not worth being paid the same amount
which Correspondents based in Goa who work for National newpapers are being
paid?
3. What has been the salary of the Editors in Goa? Whether there has
been a huge gap between the salaries of the Editor and Reporters and
Deskies.Let us be frank here everyone knows the qualities of the
Editors who were based in Goa except for a very few most of them were and
are sychopants and mediocore journalists.
4. What do you mean by trading high salaries for a lack of freedom
?Apart from Rajan Narayan stint as Editor there has been hardly any instance
where newspapers in Goa have allowed Journalists to function
freely.There have been plenty of instances where they have ensured
that careers of young journalists are spoilt and Gulf boom is a direct
result of this level of frustration among the young journalist.
5. About Times of India as readable for stints in the 'eighties' .How
many times have open letters been written about the changes that have taken
place in NT, Herald,GT and how many times open letters like this were
written to them.
6. What do you mean by media diversity and where is this media
diversity.

Hoping that groups in Marathi like Lokmat, Maharashtra Times and others
please follow the Times way so that souls like us in the vernacular medium
works are appreciated and we get our dues.

20 February 2008 at 19:52  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Is TOI realy trying hard to get this guy out..??

20 February 2008 at 20:35  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

MORE THE MERRIER (PART 2)

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.

20 February 2008 at 21:39  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

If Pen Pricks are under some illusion that it can take on ToI like Robin Abreau, it is sadly mistaken. Robin had a shopkeeper owner who fell for some Filopinos who peruaded Raul to dump Robin for their slit eyes and......
No Goan newspaper will be able to pay the salaries being offered by ToI in the next 10-years.
If Vijay and the rest did not accept the offer it is becuase the ToI wanted them to sign a bond. They have never been tied down by an employer and the bond came as a surprise. It threw them off their seats. Wake up brother, this is the 21st Century.
If there are no Goans, the ToI has already kept a team ready to be airlifted to Panjim. Like when the Goan Leela staff went on a strike and the staff was airlifted from Mumbai and Banaglore and the operations were not disturbed in any manner.
Remember, the ToI is in Goa not becuase of some Prick or Goan, the project has been cleared in Delhi and is being implemented by Digu.
Lastly, no Goan including Pamela or Rico can write like a ToI staffer. Guess all the Goan journ's need to attend school again. The only exception could be Derek, but he was not even made an offer!!! So much for his professionalism. We are seeing what a lame duck he is in GT. Where is all his steam gone?

21 February 2008 at 07:01  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What nonsense is being circulated about morals and ethics in Goan Journalism. My question is that why is that Journalist working for local English dailies are now getting a hike equivalent to what the TOI fellows are getting.

That means that all this time the Goan managements were transferring the surplus value of their journalist s into their kitty bank. Now with the TOI coming they have to hike the salaries.

And some fellows who are jealous are creating and writing open letters in the cyberspace criticizing the moves made by TOI.

21 February 2008 at 13:05  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree some Journalist in Goa do not want local Journalist to get their dues or higher pays.

They keep on bragging about media ethics and others. While all these years they were controlling the cyberspace with their cock and bull analysis. Now face the competition rather than talking and writing nonsense.

Let us be frank why is the author of the open letter so pissed of with TOI salaries?

Is it because he is using this gain national attention with his fellow netwoekers in other parts of India by selling the name of Goan Journalism.

22 February 2008 at 06:03  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Pen Pricks or Dog in the mainger ?

22 February 2008 at 11:14  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"whose only solution to computer related issued was, "Start jainaaa... Restart it!"

Freudian Slip?

22 February 2008 at 14:55  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Shut up Frederick. Quit being a troll. You bore everyone to death with your mile long ranting!You still live in the past...while we live in the present!

22 February 2008 at 15:01  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

all you people are only concerned about salary hikes and big pay packets.... what bothers me more than that is Amit Soiru in the picture. Is he missing a left hand? is he handicapped?

22 February 2008 at 16:49  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Gomantak Times is being relaunched as Sakal Times. Let us see now who is going to write a open letter to Pune.

Nostalgic tips:
Sakal was one of the oldest and well respected Marathi newspaper and was associated with the Indian National Movement.

22 February 2008 at 21:00  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

February 22, 2008

Dear Frederick a.k.a. Rico
I have read with great interest the “open letter addressed to “The Times of India” (ToI) written by you dated 20 February, 2008.

I must thank you a.k.a. Rico for your long winding letter. If you were a priest, I would have fallen asleep at his sermon. You go on and on about nothing. You make the silliest excuses to justify the case. Not a single one of the excuses holds any water.

You start with a background. Telling us how there has been “talk” about the ToI’s arrival into Goa for a decade and how nothing concrete took place. The ToI does not do business the way Rico would want to suggest to them.
If the ToI is making the splash it is because they are fully aware of market projections, ad revenue, penetration and other marketing tools that they have utilized to understand the Konkan market.

Rico then welcomes the ToI as if he holds the keys to the state and the city of Panjim. Rico please enough of you and the aura built around you by your friends in the media. We as Goan welcome the ToI. We see ourselves getting a better product than what is available in the market as of now. A toilet paper, a Christao paper and a Marathi-English paper run by a novice (one of your friends). It is like the day before yesterday only Indian Airlines traveled to Goa, today many more airlines have Goa on their route. It is this healthy competition that provides better services for the consumer.

What mixed feelings are you talking about. The ToI is a professional paper. Do not mix sentiment with professionalism. They are paying the best to get the best. What is Rs. 30,000/- or Rs. 40,000/- in today’s world. Goa too must taste the thunder of money. Like Poona, Bangalore and Hyderabad. The problem is that we do not want to see change. We will cling to old values to satisfy our egos. Goa got to change. It got to come on par with the rest of India. Look at Chandigarh, Gurgoan and Maphe. These areas have lived their dream and are doing exceedingly well for themselves.

You go on with clichéd phrases and old images. Who do you think you are to teach the ToI how they should conduct their business? Looks like you are the moral doctor of Goa. Sentences like “Big business from Boribunder should desist from playing the role of corporate raider on the existing media in Goa.” You have been against the local media for long. You have had a bone to pick with the NT and the Herald all through your existence as a journalist. The only paper you have tolerated is GT because of your friends.
You make so many unproductive claims Rico. “Trading high salaries for a lack of freedom”. Which newspaper or media group in Goa follows this dictate? Even if you had started your own newspaper, you would have your own set of ideas as to how the paper would shape up – depending on ad revenue. It is like the devil trying to sell you heaven.

I do not think you are in any position to telling the ToI that, “the number of staff that you’ll have lured away from the existing papers ……is surprising high. Put yourself in the shoes of the ToI. They have the money. They are coming out with a product. They are marketing it in a particular style. They will do what they need to do. Did you ask Goa or your neighbour what color of the walls in your house should be? So please give us a break.

You talk about sale of editorial space. Rico wake up. It is the time of market economics. The day of the sacrosanct editorial space is long gone. Even N Ram promotes his daughter in ‘The Hindu’. It is Pen Pricks that raised the bogey of how Herald and NT sold editorial space to no effect. So what are you barking about?

I think you got to search your soul. The problem is that you have grown too large for your swollen head. Neither your wife nor you were approached with offers from the ToI. If the price would have matched your expectations, you too would have signed on the dotted line. It is a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black (to use a Rajan phrase). So do not cry over spilled milk. Await the arrival of the Express Group; or the Deccan group; or the Hindu group of newspapers into Goa to push your CV.

I must confess that I liked the comments by Cajetan Vaz over your “uneducated, rash and pot boiler” comments. Cajetan Vaz was any day more “professional, educated and erudite” in presenting his views.

You keep forgetting that TOI is the largest media group in India. We live in the 21st Century, please stop holding on to the crab mentality. Look beyond the horizon. I think the ‘sad’ Goan have given you too much of importance. It is time this ‘sad’ Goan realizes their mistake.

Before I end just like to point out some discrepancies in your letter:
1) The TOI is a product or corporate and is inanimate so it cannot be addressed as “Dear”.
2) The TOI has sold Times Music to Videocon and the Dhoots. So it is wrong to associate the brand with the owners Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.

Next time do not take everything for granted. There are better ways to let off steam instead of writing ‘open letters’.

All best wishes for the future
Regards
Maj Gen. P Ferns
Porvorim
February 22, 2008
PS: Although from the armed forces, I am a Goan alright!!

22 February 2008 at 23:00  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Rightly said, Major Sahib! Freddy's lame.... His pals just keep elevating his over inflated ego (Michael are you reading this?). The average Goan finds him boringly retarded!

23 February 2008 at 08:10  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

what is amit soiru's blog address?

23 February 2008 at 09:25  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Zindabad TOI, murdabad Herald.
Herald management for long has been playing with the sentiments of its staffers and caring a damn about their welfare.
With TOI entering Goa, Herald management has been shaken off its feet and they are running helter skelter to retain its reporters and sub-editors, the very one's whom they were ignoring by pleasing the likes of Joel and Sergio.
Shame on Herald, which claims it cares for Goa and Goans. Balls, the entire Herald is run by non-Goans, a ghantti Manjunath and the Filipinos.
In another two years time, the TOI will force the Herald to shut shop. What will the reporters like Vijay, Guilherme will do then?

23 February 2008 at 11:48  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Do you not think now that Rico's Open Letter is generating so much heat and dust, it merits a new Posting. If that is done, I will get more responses in favour or against Rico.

23 February 2008 at 23:16  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dear Maj Gen Ferns.
I salute you for taking on Rico. We have tolerated him for long and have got totally bored by his Marxist views.
I think what is contained in your letter and that of Cajetan Vaz is true. We cannot escape globalization.
Goans opposed Konkan Railway but today use it more than any other people to and from Bombay. It was Rico who had opposed it, that is why he continues using buses. He got to discover the scenery of the Konkan.
Rico needs to grow up. He is prompted by some evil organization (based in Germany) and thus continuously speaks against the Church and Priest. He calls the bishop a “Red Panther”. But Rico and Pamela puts their children in Convent schools and those run by the Church.
You have rightly said it that Rico needs a change of head and heart. He does have the crab mentality and spoils our (Goan) name in the world. Thank you for taking him on. You showed us that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Rico does have an inflated ego. This is because he has friends in the media – Ashwin Tombat, Derek Almeida and Ashley do Rosario. He gives the impression of the sage, the learned one but in reality he is just a geek.
You have rightly pointed out that we as Goan have to open up to the world. I endorse your views. I think instead of having agitations against various plans of the government, we should have a crusade to rid ourselves of the rot in our society and people like Rico.
Cajetan Vaz has made the same points that you have made. It shows that there are like –minded people on this issue. I join your band.
Hope many more join is in condemning Rico and his ‘old’ ideas.

23 February 2008 at 23:34  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

amit samball re, malika dhord nu!!!!

24 February 2008 at 09:28  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

will someone reading this please tell me the working timings of the desk and the reporters in the ToI.
Something like what time does a sub/reporter start work and what time does he end. And also
regarding the weekly offs.

24 February 2008 at 17:46  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree with Maj Gen. P Ferns.Finally we have a brave man among us who can lead us with his names. All of us the anonymous rats finally have got somebody who exposed us to the reality.

How much do freelancers get paid in Goa?

24 February 2008 at 20:16  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Not a single media entity (I came across) carried pictures of the injuries to the assaulted cops.

Cops didn't offer the media CCOC... is that the reason for the blackout? Or were there repurcussions if they did?

Someone keeps cutting HCN channel's inter taluka Optical Fibre cable. It has been a week since it has disappeared. This type of competition is unhealthy.

Goa News stops transmission at 2.30 a.m. on most days. Yet it calls itself a 24 X 7 channel.

Goa Newsline, Goa Plus and Goan Eye have vanished in some parts of Goa. The cable operators have become plain greedy, it seems.
--------------
On the topic of high salaries, one has to understand that when one says 'high', it implies that someone else needs to get 'lower' wages. This person sometimes works harder, is intelligent, yet he struggles to make ends meet.

I'm not a communist.
The disparity between the financially rich and the poor has increased. Perhaps a correction will take place.

The salary of Rs. 5,000 p.m does not reveal the true picture in Goa.

I know of a B.A. graduate who works for a monthly wage of just Rs. 850. There are instances of people toiling for free, working in conditions in contravention to labour laws.

The hard reality is that of Supply and Demand. Period.

One may try to use the pharse "you don't have the skill" or "you don't have the experience". In the earlier case that is a dismissive statement, while in the latter the person does not offer a concrete solution.

BTW if anyone has got an offer for the person earning Rs. 850, I'm listening.

25 February 2008 at 02:31  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That is the point there are many fellows who get peanuts as salaries.
And when competition is coming in these fellows write crap and get away with it. I think it should now stop with moral sermons being said about Goan Jounrnalism.

After starting a debate where is the author of the Open Letter?

25 February 2008 at 07:27  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Why did Penpricks not publish the open letter to TOI no comments also from Penpricks. Does this point to a conspiracy on the part of Penpricks that we will not attack friends and chums who can get away with any crap.

25 February 2008 at 07:28  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

if the ToI requires journos to sign a slavery bond, people should find some way to work around it.

To begin with the bond is with the newspaper organization and not some individual editor. so you want to quit and ToI doesn't let you, take panga with the baile RE and give him two tight slaps in front of the junior reporters.

Since ToI usually sides with its managers they will give the reporter three months' salary and ask him/her to leave.

Girls can always use their gender to harass any editor.

And if the bond says an employee who quits before three years cannot work for a competitor, then this clause cannot stand scrutiny under law. Even if ToI goes to court against the employee, it will have to pay salary for the period s/he is prevented from earning a living.

So don't get terrorized by ToI. You can really spoil BCCL's happiness if you want to.

25 February 2008 at 12:16  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

They do make a happy couple don't they? ;)

25 February 2008 at 18:37  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

instead of timse of india, this boy should join bollywood...

25 February 2008 at 23:15  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Is Frederick Noronha from the last century? wake up man. Are you waiting for the BIG Mac to come to Panjim.

25 February 2008 at 23:56  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

To the Zindabad TOI, murdabad Herald blogger,

I back your statement that Herald has been playing with the sentiments of its staffers and caring a damn for their welfare. But the Herald management doesn't seem to have learnt a lesson from the ToI onslaught. They continue pandering to manipulators like Francis Ribeiro, Joel Afonso and Sergio Caldeira who wasted no opportunity in obtaining higher stakes both in pecuniary terms and unmerited positions. These three disparate elements connived together to weave a plot to ensure that Vijay and Guilherme's remuneration did not surpass theirs.So Joel appeased Ribeiro to do the footwork with the management of how payscales should be implemented. Joel apparently forgot that few months back, Choppy had recorded him belittling Robin, the former editor on tape.Sergio, since he lacks a voice and even a head of his own, would use Ribeiro as his mouthpiece. Whoever said only politics had strange bedfellows? With the two cronies on his side Ribeiro tactfully moved his chesspieces to secretly influence the editor Tombat into ensuring a senior editorial berth for one of his chums. The chum who once emulated his master in working for one day and absenting himself for six is reportedly learnt to have been hovering in the personnel's manager's perch to get his demands met. His perserverance in reposing faith in his Saligao godfather or on using the flimsy threat that ToI was beckoning him finally paid off. The crux of the story is if bullshit can't get you to the top, call your godfather.

PS: Dearest Ribeiro, all the bone doctors know you no longer need those crutches.You lean on them to impress the management that you are coming to work in great difficulty.Cleverly stage managed. Its's easy to pull your bluff, all it needs is kicking your butt. Careful!! dont't reply to this in the office cause Vijay Gaonkar also reads this blog.

26 February 2008 at 00:06  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

they make quite a dishy picture dont they?

26 February 2008 at 18:28  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

All those who had opposed Konkan railway are now grouping together against TOI! Big frogs in small well !

26 February 2008 at 19:53  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello old pals penpricks

You were the guys who wanted to see the downfall of Herald. You guys targetted the Management, staff and your rivals through this blog. But now what? It seems you guys have are supporting the Herald all of a sudden. We Know it is not all of you pricks supporting Herald but for the exception of one 'prick' who is working in Herald and derives the maximum benefit in Herald by working the least but demanding the maximum for he has his 'Godfather' who protects him no matter what. And when he wants to get his work done he uses you pricks to settle scores with his rivals by making false allegations against them so that you pricks help him in achieving his mission. This prick from Herald who belongs to your group has royally taken you guys for a ride. we have been monitoring his actions for the past 3 years. The compositors, pasters and the sub editors have their story to tell against this prick. stop being fooled by his convincing talk. He tries to arouse your feelings so that he can settle scores with his rivals.
You pricks are good at investigation, right! then check out for your self and the truth will be out for yourself. start now. His modus operandi is - He tries to malign the image of his enemy by creating a false story against him and uses persons from Herald and others to spread the wrong info to others so that everyone is convinced that his 'enemy' is bad person and later uses you guys by using his convincing talk and false info to you guys to setttle scores against him. wow what a 'brain'. He deserves not to be in Herald but as a PA of a politician so that he can manipulate and get away with it.
We feel his days are numbered. Nobody can supress the truth for long.

27 February 2008 at 13:25  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Penpricks started the blog with Marathi press bashing. Then the next favorite of it was Herald and Robin because many of them were rejects of Herald or had been thrown out of Herald. Then for a very brief period of time these fellows attacked Navhind Times.

The catch is that they never attacked Gomantak Times in their postings. Strange but true. Why?

27 February 2008 at 16:41  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anon @ 27 February 2008 13:25

Choppy???

28 February 2008 at 17:11  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Choppy rawks

29 February 2008 at 21:45  

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