MR NO NAME NO FACE: HENCEFORTH, THAT'S WHAT WE'LL CALL GT REPORTERS*
Some breaking news fellas...
Monday onwards, the Gomantak Times is likely to pluck the name of the editor and publisher Derek Almeida off the print line to avoid the possibility of him being poached by The Times of India... And from Sunday both the news editor Thapa and the deputy news editor Ashley have been asked to report to duty with one eraser each to ensure that reporters' bylines are scrubbed off the page before it's released.
Of course we are funnin' guys. But the issue we comment on below, isn't exactly funny, its dumb and worthy of ridicule.
From the bit of thread that we've picked (after being alerted by a couple of remarks in the comments section, thanks to our ever vigilant readers) the Gomantak Times has stopped dishing out bylines for fear of the author being poached by the TOI.
WHAT?!?!? Exactly what are we saying here...
Was sanity the last person to quit the GT for TOI? What on earth is this policy?
Figure out this for a minute.
Say X files a good story in the GT and its published minus the byline. Does the management really feel that no one in the TOI would realise who has filed it? Especially with the number of GT folks already crammed in the TOI?
A writing style is a signature and colleagues/former colleagues will spot it.
This Taliban like ban needs to be criticised in the strictest words. Cause if such silly whims are allowed to prevail, journos would be reduced to mute, naked pawns in the games that these big newspapers play with each other.
Whether you like us or hate us. Please do make it a point to write back about what you have to say about this issue guys. We'll pile the comments as a separate post.
* http://penpricks.blogspot.com/2007/12/penpricks-impact-voice-drifts-into.html
Monday onwards, the Gomantak Times is likely to pluck the name of the editor and publisher Derek Almeida off the print line to avoid the possibility of him being poached by The Times of India... And from Sunday both the news editor Thapa and the deputy news editor Ashley have been asked to report to duty with one eraser each to ensure that reporters' bylines are scrubbed off the page before it's released.
Of course we are funnin' guys. But the issue we comment on below, isn't exactly funny, its dumb and worthy of ridicule.
From the bit of thread that we've picked (after being alerted by a couple of remarks in the comments section, thanks to our ever vigilant readers) the Gomantak Times has stopped dishing out bylines for fear of the author being poached by the TOI.
WHAT?!?!? Exactly what are we saying here...
Was sanity the last person to quit the GT for TOI? What on earth is this policy?
Figure out this for a minute.
Say X files a good story in the GT and its published minus the byline. Does the management really feel that no one in the TOI would realise who has filed it? Especially with the number of GT folks already crammed in the TOI?
A writing style is a signature and colleagues/former colleagues will spot it.
This Taliban like ban needs to be criticised in the strictest words. Cause if such silly whims are allowed to prevail, journos would be reduced to mute, naked pawns in the games that these big newspapers play with each other.
Whether you like us or hate us. Please do make it a point to write back about what you have to say about this issue guys. We'll pile the comments as a separate post.
* http://penpricks.blogspot.com/2007/12/penpricks-impact-voice-drifts-into.html
posted by Pen Pricks at
20:40
10 Comments:
so let penpricks name the journalist behind a good/bad/ugly story.....
Excellent post.
Apart from exposing the sheer insecurity of the top brass at GT, the job of erasing bylines of GT reporters(or whatever that is left there) smacks of the DOG IN THE MANGER ATTITUDE currently prevailing at GT. Guys GT is s**t scared and is trying to save whatever it can from the TOI onslaught. Good luck to them. And yes finally good sense has prevailed on this post who have stopped treating GT as a holy cow. Need I say Talibans are BARBARIANS and GT is following in its footsteps?
Read the latest issue of Goan OBserver? Another hypocrite is facing TOI heat. Until yesterday, Rajan Narayan was pontificating through his Stray Thoughts about the pressing need of Goan journos to make the best of TOI offer and accepting it without further delay. He wanted Goan journos to direct their newspaper establishments to match the offers made to them by TOI. However, one attack of TOI on their reporter Gauri Malkarnekar has delivered a stinging slap on Rajan's face and has made him take a U-turn on his SERMON. Read Rajan's outpourings against TOI in his Stray Thoughts in the latest issue of Goan Observer to get a hang of the vitriol and hatred that has been the hallmark of his brand of journalism all these years. Gosh, he calls TOI a prostitute and wants Goans to boycott it. Talibanism of the worst variety aka GT?
Incidentally, TOI didn't poach on Gauri Malkarnekar. She herself was keen on quitting 'Weekly' Goan Observer and joining a 'Daily', a fact conveniently ignored by Rajan Narayan in his column.
Hey penpricks!
Keep up the buzz... and if you really believe that bylines should be attributed, let's start by you signing your real name/s too:-)
I've started by abstaining from an anonymous identity to signing this.
Cajetan Vaz
We Goans should be proud of Derrick Almeida and should support him in his endevour of being the only Goan editor of a newspaper. Times of India will never approach Derrick Almeida as he has done wonderful work in turning around Gomantak Times into a paper which carries intellectual content.
Hey pricks, U guys seem to have missed Abdul Rauf Beig's over-the-top attempts to 'promote' the use of contraceptive pills. After claiming that the use of the pills is rising 'manifold' in Goa, he advises caution in their use. He even got an elusive byline for the first story. Both stories read like product literature. Ridiculous!
GT is now having sex with condoms after TOI has already impregnated it. A case of too little too late.
Penpricks dekh, tera Munda(GT) bigad gaya
Hamam mein hum sab nange hai including GT.
(Loose translation: All are birds of same feather including GT)
it is apparent that all penpricks are from GT. GT and to some extent Herald were the only papers that allowed a reporters by-line. TNT has always withheld the identities of its reporters and used the " By a NT Staff Reporter". I do not see why this should be a problem or be considered as "curtailment of freedom". You are all working for your respective organizations as a team (cohesive i'm assuming) and not to showcase your individual skills. And so, a great piece provides your consumer (the reader) with a delight/thrill thereby satisfying his needs and in turn scores a point for the publication that you work for. A badly written piece on the other hand only ends up scoring a demerit and exposes the lack of teamwork in making the same readable.
As a team, you can all contribute to making up for each others deficiencies by pitching in and let everyone grow professionally or have pitched battles and score points against each other and all lose as the overall quality of the publication degrades.
Again, i must insist that the overall quality of the publication depends upon the team work that is put into making it better.
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