MONKEY MENACE AT THE HERALD... HEY AND THEY'VE GOT SWORDS IN THEIR HANDS

Hi guys, the Herald's really taking the fight to the Times of India. It's trying every which way to stave off the challenge. Here's an excellent strategy adopted by them to throw TOI off track. To start off they have failed to renew their web domain and since May 24, the website is not available online (we last saw it when were uploading this post). This is what the home page says. This domain name expired on May 24, 2008. Click here to renew it.
We are pretty sure, the TOI guys are rattled by this. Amazing strategy by the Herald isn't it? What do you call it.. Guerrilla warfare? Or should we call it monkey meddling?
Hey did you guys hear this? The Herald management has yanked off the internet connection from some more computer terminals. Reason? They've got a bill of close to Rs 1 lakh for internet usage? Man how much stuff are these fellas downloading from YOUTUBE?
There's another tidbit this GM fellow who's been strutting about like a peacock before the monsoon showers has a small confrontation with the edior Ashwin sometime back. The GM wanted the issue to be put to bed at 12 midnight and was being pretty fussy bout it. Thing is in the Herald 12 is the time when reporters and deskies roll up their sleeves and really start working... No no we are just funnying. Ashwin is reported to have told him to lay off in no nonsense terms... Hope this happens more often. The GM along with Raul's PA Michael have been interfering a bit too much in the newspaper's editorial affairs in recent times.

SOMETIMES 'GRASS' DOES THIS TO YOU

If one were to believe this report in The Navhind Times, carnivores in Goa's Bondla zoo are actually made to eat grass? How many of you fellas believe this guys? Roque may have been trying to make a point about food shortage, but leopards eating grass?!?!? Roque otherwise is a very industrious bugger, but this is really bizzare stuff from him...

Steady decline of animals at Bondla zoo
by Roque Dias
Ponda, March 5 The Bondla zoo that once boasted of having many species of animals is steadily losing its charm, with eyebrows being raised over the steady decrease of animals at the zoo.
Six animals, including a fox, a peahen, a jackal, and a leopard, have died in the last few months, according to zoo sources.
Visitors and sources alleged that most of the animals were not properly fed; though the range forest officer, Mr Pradeep Vernekar disputed this.
To make matters worse for the animals, there is only a lone visiting doctor who examines the animals, once a week.
A source from the zoo who did not wish to be named said, “A permanent doctor is needed here. A peahen died few days back, while few weeks back a fox lost its life.”
Apart from this a couple of bears also died allegedly due to the apathy of the zoo officials. “If everything was well, why would these animals die,” he queried.
The source further alleged that food meant for the animals does not reach them and added that the animals even carnivorous ones are fed grass, grass and more grass.
The source further claimed that a tiger was allegedly released in the Anmod Ghat allegedly to avoid feeding it.
It must be noted here that the veterinary hospital at the zoo which was opened in 2005 lacks a permanent doctor since the Pune-based doctor who was appointed left the place after her contract expired
The forest department never bothered to fill up the vacant post which would reduce the work load. There are a total of 99 other staff posted at the zoo.
A visit to the zoo revealed that the lone bear was housed in a small congested room despite there being an huge open space that has been marked for the bear by cutting huge trees and shrubs.Apart from this most of the cages were either corroded or broken and just fixed together.
Forest officer in-charge of Bondla, Mr Verenkar on his part said that all the animals are treated well and fed properly as per their specific dietary habits.
On the poor living conditions of the bear, the officer said that the bear would be shifted to the open space soon. On the death of the peahen, the officer pinned his hopes on the post mortem reports for the cause of the death.
“The Central Zoo Authorities ( CZA), had considered Bondla and we are drawing a bigger plan for more animals,” he said adding that health conditions are “perfectly maintained” and there was no question of shortage of feed.
The deputy conservator of forest (wild life and eco-tourism) could not be contacted despite constant attempts.

CHOR BAZAAR JOURNALISM

First it was Herald's mysterious Mumbai correspondent... whose stories are without a doubt 'lifts' from Mumbai based newspapers. But now it looks as if these guys have sowed wild oats all over the country... Just the other day there was this story in the Herald with a Srinagar dateline... the story -- which we have reproduced below -- has been lifted from JK newspaper called Greater Kashmir. The story which has been published in the newspaper's SPOTLIGHT section has been written by Arif Wani. Wani claims that the piece on Goa chief minister Digambar Kamat is the result of an exclusive interview? So is Wani Herald's correspondent in Kashmir? If he is, then why has this story been touched up such a way to appear different?
We have highlighted the portions which have been lifted by the Herald. You could check the original Greater Kashmir story by following this link. Make your own conclusion...

Kamat on holiday in Kashmir

HERALD CORRESPONDENT
SRINAGAR, MAY 20 — Chief Minister Digambar V Kamat yesterday had a close look at Kashmir’s snow-capped mountains and lush green meadows when he took a ride in the world’s highest cable car, Gondola, in the famous ski resort of Gulmarg, to top of the area’s highest peak, Apharwath. Earlier, he had a shikara ride in Dal Lake and stood by the gushing streams of Pahalgam, on his maiden visit to the Kashmir Valley along with his family.
“I am mesmerized by Kashmir’s natural beauty. It is really out of the world... I feel like I am in paradise,” an elated Kamat told reporters. Till now, the CM had seen Kashmir only in Hindi films. He had wanted to honeymoon in the Valley in 1979, “But some untoward incident happened in Kashmir and I went to Mount Abu,” he said
Kamat told the Kashmir Tourism officials to organise cultural exchange programmes like a Kashmir festival in Goa, which is thronged by tourists of various countries. “We have been organising such events in other states, and it has helped us to attract tourists,” he said.

THE BROTHERHOOD OF PRICKS

Hey guys a couple of media blogs picked up our plagiarism story bout Sakaal Times... here are the links, if you wanna go through them...
PRESSTALK
WEARETHEBEST

MOTTLED DAWN -- TWO WEEKS INTO LAUNCH, SAKAAL TIMES PLAGIARISES EDITORIAL

Launched less than a fortnight ago, Sakaal Times has already started plagiarising content for their editorials.
The piece published on page 6 'PERSPECTIVE' of the Sakal Time's May 19 edition has lifted a huge chunk (a little less than half the piece) from an article published on www.cehat.org which has been subsequently published on various websites.
Here's the original piece and the link to it. The bold text is the portion that's blatantly lifted by Sakaal Times.
This is not the first time that we have exposed plagiarism in the Sakaal Times. In earlier posts we have cited two instances where editorials in Sakal's Goa edition Gomantak Times were plagiarised.

REVIEW OF HEALTHCARE IN INDIA
Editors: Leena V. Gangolli, Ravi Duggal and Abhya Shukla
India pledged along with other WHO member Nations, 'Health for All by the Year 2000' at Alma-Ata in 1978; and in the same year signed the International Covenant for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – Article 12, in which the State is obliged to achieve the highest attainable standard of health. However the health scenario in India is abysmal.
In India, annually 22 lakh infants and children die from preventable illnesses; 1 lakh mothers die during child birth, 5 lakh people die of Tuberculosis. Diarrhoea and Malaria continue to be killers while 5 million people are suffering from HIV/AIDS.
In context of poverty, access to public health systems is critical. However, since 1990s, the public health system has been collapsing and the private health sector has flourished at the cost of the public health sector.
Health policy in India has shifted its focus from being a comprehensive universal healthcare system as defined by the Bhore Committee (1946) to a selective and targeted programme based healthcare policy with the public domain being confined to family planning, immunization, selected disease surveillance and medical education and research.
The larger outpatient care is almost a private health sector monopoly and the hospital sector is increasingly being surrendered to the market. The decline of public investments and expenditures in the health sector since 1992 has further weakened the public health sector thus adversely affecting the poor and other vulnerable sections of society. Introduction of user fees for public health services in many states has further reduced their access to health services.
The time has come to reclaim public health and make a paradigm shift from a policy-based entitlement for healthcare to a rights based entitlement. For this healthcare has to become a political agenda.

If you guys are convinced with what we have written here, call these numbers and remind these guys, that they cannot get away with this shameful practice forever.
Sandeep Bamzai (Editor) -- 020-24405500
Dhananjay Sardeshpande (Resident Editor) -- 020-24405500
Derek Almeida (Editor -- Sakal's Goa edition) -- 0832-2422701-05
editor@esakal.com

SANDESH WRITES BACK... CONFIRMS SWITCH TO PRUDENT

Hi guys, we finally got the reply we'd sought from Sandesh, before we wrote this post on his reported switch to Prudent from Sunaparant. Here's what he wrote back to us. We got this mail on May 19. Its nice that he has put his position on record. Anonymous comments to this post will be deleted if they are slanderous to Sandesh, who has lent his name to this input. Or else, send in your name with a genuine email ID along with the comment.
Here's what we had mailed Sandesh...

Dear Sandesh,

Is there truth to the reports that you are switching from Sunaparant to Prudent media? If yes, could you state the date of switch and the designation you would be taking up there?

We are running a small post on the issue. your reply could be of assistance

regards

PP

And this is Sandesh's response

Dear PP,
Extremely sorry for the delay. I was away from the office for over a week (in my village Mashem in Canacona), hence could not open the mail. Secondly, I was also busy with our annual new look for the daily issue on 13th May, our anniversary.
Yes, I have resigned from Sunaparant. I am joining Prudent Media as the Editor-in-Chief to start 24-hour News & Infotainment tv channel. Satellite is the ultimate target, but we will go step by step.
Unfortunately, none of us, including myself, have any experience of running such a 365-day channel. It’s much different from running a one-hour capsule a day. We thus need time to launch it, before we build necessary infrastructure and get all of us properly trained. Then will begin the dry run and soft launch, before the actual launch.
Before I leave, I need to make alternate arrangements here. The date of joining Prudent thus cannot be specified at this stage.
I have been speaking publicly about this concept for the last three years, especially at Konkani Parishad etc and was even invited in Mangalore and Kochi to explain the concept. My organization was fully aware about this and I am leaving my Sunaparant responsibility only after consulting them.
Hope we succeed in this venture with the help and co-operation of all my colleagues in the fraternity.
Thanks and sorry for the delay.
Sandesh Prabhudesai

0 % NEWS, 100 % PLUG

The Navhind Times seems to have run out of steam. After a week and more of fancy layouts and byline stories that did give Herald and GT a scare, they have finally run out of ideas. We will come to this (the pic above) sham of a story later, but let's run through a couple of stories which were played up by these fools earlier.

First they carry a story on May 15 Goans throng beaches for healing bath, which -- like the header suggests, reads that Goans are thronging to the beaches for their annual sea-bath. The story is credited to the NT team and claims that this ritual was verified by its team of reporters who went to various beaches in the state to cover the story. Phew... Thanks guys...

The very next day they run a story which says Goans turning away from beaches . How silly is that fellas. The very next day? So what did the team of reporters do when they visited the beaches before they filed the first story? Ogle?

Now we come to the plug which was published on May 17. As journalists who work in Goa, we know that when Dinesh Patel's byline's appears in a newspaper, the story is generally a plug, with absolutely no journalistic intent. The Dinesh kind of articles are either compensated with money, ads or at least a free meal. But when Dinesh's stuff flies high on page 1, just below the masthead we have to admit guys that it's not very healthy. How can this story be featured as a page 1 lead? How can it be even taken seriously? For a moment, just for a moment lets forget the fact that Dinesh filed this story. The story does not quote anyone? It does not credit the figures stated to any source or published material. Crediting a story like this rough estimates and running it as a page 1 lead? Its simply bizarre. Its worse that the TOI's pay for newspace stuff.

Not done... Not done at all. Whats the trade off Sinha?

Why are you guys suddenly sucking up to the casino lobby? Are the Dempo's applying for a casino licence too?

TOMCAT TAKES A DIP

Hey guys, this is the pic we had mentioned sometime back. Editors taking a dip in their own pages... That's Ashwin on the right... Someone ask him to haul Raul off the Caravela Deck and teach him how to swim too please...

FROM FATORDA GROUND TO WEMBLEY

Its pretty clear that Herald misses Marcus Mergulhao.

Had this guy been around, mistakes like these could be checked. We are sure its not Gilu's fault too... He says it himself... that the information 'came' from Churchill Alemao's office.
Guys, the FA Cup final this year is between Portsmouth and Cardiff city...
Its really funny the way both the words have been spelt. Check the words in bold below.
'Port Mouths' for Portsmouth still has a classic Churchill's 'pallbearer' stamp on it, but Derban for Cardiff city? Bizarre

Churchill to address British House
MARGAO, MAY 15 – PWD Minister, Churchill Alemao will celebrate his 59th birthday in London on Friday.
According to information available from Alemao’s office, British Labour MP Keith Vaz has invited Churchill for lunch in the House of Commons, which will be attended by British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown and other Cabinet Ministers.
Information sent by Alemao’s office says that the PWD Minister will deliver a speech on the occasion.
Back home, there’s no major public programme chalked out for the day, but Alemao’s Varca residence is bracing up to celebrate the birthday, expecting the normal flow of visitors, friends and well wishers to extend birthday wishes.
Alemao along with MP Keith Vaz will witness the Finals of the Federation Cup at the Wembley stadium, between Port Mouths and Derban, before returning back to Goa.

SHIV'S THIRD EYE...

Hi fellas, Shiv Kumar from Bombay had written to goajourno about an article in The Navhind Times, which he felt didn't do justice to the subject it addressed. We invited him to conduct a post-mortem on the same article. It was published a couple of days ago. Here it is, interspersed with comments by Shiv... A note here again guys, if you have any comments please lend your name to it and send a genuine email ID along (for confirmation), since Shiv has stuck out his neck to make these observations. Anonymous comments will be entertained on this post, only if they make sense and contain no slander against the writer...

Undersea ecology changing along Goa's coast
by RAMNATH PAI RAIKAR
Principal Correspondent
PANAJI: Fish production in the state has dropped by 10 per cent after recording successive growth for the past seven years, fuelling the suspicion that sea ecology along the Goan coast might have changed, after a tsunami hitting the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004.
Just who said fish production has fallen after recording successive growth for seven years? the ramponkars have been crying for years that fish production is declining. now their leader Matanhy is crying for entirely different reasons... did the reporter ever ask nio, why fish production fell ten per cent if it really did.
Actually, fish production should have been treated as a separate story altogether. just how much of fish is farmed off the goan coast? For all you know, trawlers may be moving into the deep seas off Karnataka and bringing in the catch. for instance, pomfrets available in Mumbai.
Come from the Gujarat coast. And the joke is the link to the tsunami which happened four years ago! For three years after the tsunami, fish production had been rising!
The former chairperson of the Mandovi Fishermen Marketing Co-op Society Ltd, Mr Victor Gonsalves told ‘The Navhind Times’ that the ecological conditions along the Goan coast changed after the tsunami, with an increase in the intensity of the water currents along the coastline.
Since when did small-time politicians become experts on climate change? Why was this quote not verified with NIO
No more stable netting can be achieved in the sea along the state for the nets are being pulled by strong currents,†Mr Gonsalves informed, observing that the sea bed might have been disturbed and raised a bit. “The waters too are murkier, which affects fish
production as well as fish haul,†he pointed out.
This quote actually points to something serious that could be happening. But a nice opportunity to build on the story has been wasted.
The National Institute of Oceanography sources informed that investigations undertaken by the NIO on board ORV Sagar Kanya in 2005, about hydrophysical manifestations of the tsunami on the Indian coastal environments revealed changes in sea surface temperature and
variation in salinity as well as mixed layer depth. This may have caused changes in ecology, water currents and fishing habits, it was informed.
It seems this is how scientists whisper sweet nothings to their wives as well! One needs to actually sit besides a scientist and ask him or her to explain things. usually, the real story comes at the end of an hour-long session when one needs to extend the meeting
As if endorsing these observations, the department of fisheries is now contemplating handing over the investigative study, into 10 per cent drop in the fish production as witnessed by the state during the year 2007, to the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi, in
Kerala.
Std calls are cheap these days, always helps to call some scientist in kochi and discuss things over the phone followed by a detailed interaction by email. One needs to work on good stories for two-three days instead of rehashing some gibberish which doesn't make sense. It also says a lot about editors who are willing put any cheap local story in print only because a pair of jumbos from next door have moved into the drawing room to munch up the chow. Such stories also need to be supported with strong visuals. I can imaging what the situation is in Goa: till recently even photographers were not provided with cameras.....

चिठ्ठी ना कोई 'संदेश'... कहाँ वो चले गये!!!

Hey... heard this some days ago... do tell us if you have any more dope on this.
Sandesh Prabhudessai is parting ways with Sunaparant and is likely to join the Timblo run Prudent media. Does anyone know why? Was it just a professional move? Or were there any issues. We did write Sandesh a mail asking him to confirm this bit of news a couple of days ago, but there has been no response from him.
One thing must be granted to the bugger... Sunaparant did look good under Sandesh than under any other editor before him, whether it was Raju Nayak or the highly over-rated Uday Bhembre... The layouts were cool and some of the stories pretty much out of the box. In short, Sandesh had managed to push out that atmosphere of monotony, which vernacular newspaper are generally associated with.
But there are some things which we think he should not have indulged in. For example allowing a lot of his friends to roll on his pages in the manner Phantom and Diana used to roll on the half gold and half sand beaches of Keela-Wee beach (you guys don't know this? check this link)... With Sandesh joining Prudent you are no longer going to read about the exploits of guys like Satish Sonak, Dharmanand and the other slick tongued species, you are going to see them henceforth. Hey, you may even see live footage of Ashwin Tombat swimming the Mandovi next time round on Prudent, i.e. if HCN forgets to cover it.
We heard another tidbit guys vis a vis an editor guys, and this comes not from the horse's mouth, but from the mouth of the groom who cares for this testosterone charged stallion. Some months ago, an editor of an English language newspaper was about to be sacked by the management for a nefarious act, the editor was accused of having committed. The editor apparently went on leave and guess what, a few days later the owners of this newspaper received a call from a Central minister dealing in mines, asking these guys to 'review' their decision. No surprises as to what happened next.

SPEAKER SIR... WATCH THAT FINGER

If one of us pricks were the Robert Langdon sorts, we would have certainly done more than just upload this post. Surely that's some kind of a sign isn't it? You guys see... Speaker Pratapsing Rane's forefinger pointing at something right...? What's he saying... what's he trying to tell? Wonder wonder wonder!!! (A DI photo)

THE LEANING TOWER OF BENAULIM!

HMMM... IS IT CHURCHILL OR THE ELECTRICITY POLE? (pic courtesy Department of Information, Goa)

'काला और गोरा' AND WHATEVER ELSE LIES BETWEEN

Hi guys... Rico sent us this mailer yesterday... It's a bunch of articles he'd earlier put together as an e-book. He's managed to bring it out in print now... Got a lot of dope on the Goan media as seen through the eyes of these journos... Hope you stumble on it sometime and you have some spare cash in your pockets then. Here's Rico's note

Dear PP,
Given your close involvement with media issues, blogs and theprofession, may I introduce you to a new book on the region?
In Black and White: Insiders' Stories about the Press in Goa May 2008. Pp 216 (including index). Rs 195. Published by Goa1556 and Broadway Book Centre.
Available with Broadway Book Centre, 18th June Road, Near Pharmacy College/Raga and Rock, Panjim 403001 Ph 6647037 or 9822488564. If you would like to media literacy and debate about press issues in Goa, please consider buying a copy you can gift someone!
Frederick FN Noronha

SEX AND THE SHITTY

So this is the pitch The Navhind Times wishes to fight the TOI on. MORALITY!
Have you seen the header today? Its a seven column banner that says 'GOANS SAY NO TO NUDITY IN MEDIA'.
Hmm... strange that nudity should raise the hackles of these fellows at TNT especially with the newspaper's editor Arun Sinha facing grave charges of molesting a minor at his residence.
Hey, but did you see this ad on the TNT front page today? The one on the right here... Fosters?
You could not get a more graphic illustration of blatantly dodgy (surrogate or whatever) advertising. How moral is this ad then... It clearly offers you a free Hollywood movie VCD with "SIX LARGE ONES"... On large bottles of water? Its beer what else... Someone read out the law on advertising alcoholic products please.
And guys remember the story we did on massage parlour ads which regularly appear in the TNT, Herald and Gomantak? Pick up any edition, you'll still see these ads in TNT and Herald which explicitly solicit paid sex.
Today's leader has made it pretty clear now that both the biggies TNT and Herald will use morality as a pitch to fight TOI. (remember that silly story in the Herald about marketing guys wearing red traipsing around town?)
Don't be surprised to see Arun Sinha step into office tomorrow dressed in a nine yard saree, pallu over his head and not an inch of skin visible...
The newspaper doesn't like skin you see, except when its underage.

TOI... THREE DAYS ON, CRACKS BEGIN TO SHOW...

This is exactly how fallible these buggers are.
Getting a story on mangoes so messed up!!! Look out for the crime stories in TOI guys... Look like a right pretty coconut on the outside, but it has a hollow sound of a vaz (is that how you spell it? A dud coconut? The one we used to tie to our waist, while learning to swim?) from within...
Lack of quality shows fellas
Miguel Braganza had mailed this to goajourno... Read on...

Dear Editor,
It is rather disconcerting to read half-truths that are more than full lies in the pages of the 3-day old "Goa Edition" of the TIMES OF INDIA. I have earlier pointed out to inaccuracies in Goa related news about Scarlett's autopsies in the Mumbai edition and have had one of your Principal Correspondents accuse me of being vindictive towards her. I am not. I would just like to see truth in print. There are readers who may just believe that everything in the TOI is verified and, hence, truthfull. It is not the case with Raju Nayak's report entitled "Requeim for the Goan mango" with the plug "THE SEED OF WORRY" [TOI Goa Edition of Friday 09 May, 2008 page 2]. Truth is a casualty in an otherwise interesting and thought provoking write-up that could well be a piece of "creative" writing by a pro.
First the visuals that will grab any reader's attention. The caption for the photographs, PULP FICTION, is accurate: it is fiction about about the pulpy mango varieties. The "Colaco" [Culas, Kulas], the "Fernandina" [Fernandin] and the "Furtado" [Furtad] mango varieties are far from extinct. There trees of the Colaco variety and its variant, Santo Antonio, at many places including the Duler Farm in Mapusa. Fernandina mango trees are available in large numbers all over Goa, including the road corner near the Goa Archbishop's residence at Santerxeth in Aldona. Only Furtado variety may be under threat, but it is definitely not extinct as yet.
May be one can see the fresh, ripe fruits of at least one EXTINCT variety, Fernandina, at the Konkan Fruit Fest [KFF] this year. TOI reporters welcome to see the fruits from 16 to 18 May, 2008. It is a bit late in the season for the Colaco and Furtado varieties, but I am sure that the Directorate of Agriculture and the ICAR-Goa would help find a few fruits though they may not be of exhibition quality.
That brings us to the second point: I am NOT the current President of the Botanical Society of Goa or BSG. Dr. K.G.Hiremath, Head of Botany Department in Dhempe College-Panaji, was elected on 30 March and assumed office of BSG President on 01 April, 2008, for a three year period. We are organising the KFF under his leadership this year. The ICAR-Goa is an integral part of the KFF right from the start in 2003. Read more about it in my column in the GT also published today[Friday 9/5/08]
The words attributed to me , QUOTE But Braganza underlined the basic difficulty, "Singh doesn't have any fruit with which to take forward his research." UNQUOTE are malafide and malicious. Further, the one who is supposed to have told the reporter QUOTE "Some 10 years ago, ICAR created a variety called Cardozo-Mancurad, but it was a fruitless experiment." UNQUOTE needs to re-confirm that statment. The "chance seedling" that was christened "Cardozo" in the tradition of Goan mango names is still there in the compound of Dr. Armando Batista Cardoz [since deceased and survived, among others, by his children Ivo and Maria de Ceu Cardoz] on the road to St. Britto HS at Dattawadi-Mapusa. Grafts made therefrom by Mathew have been planted elsewhere in Goa.
A photo of the "Cardoz Mankurad-A seedling selection" fruit can be seen at Fig. 68 opposite page 53 of the book "MANGOES OF GOAN ORIGIN" Technical Bulletin No.1 of ICAR-Goa published in 1997 and which has been read by the people who put together the TOI report as the text has uncanny similarities with what P.A. Mathew wrote in the book after 12 years of research in Goa. Manga Hilario or Mangilar is similarly a "chance seedling" mango named after the father of former Education Minister, Raul Fernandes, from Fernandes vaddo of Siolim now famous because of Remo. I had explained this to Nicole Suares when she phoned me for information to write her piece [Goa Times page 3 08 May, 2008]. She has done her article faithfully. One wonders why my inputs given to her had to be used unauthorisedly and in such a perverse manner by someone else thereafter. Even thieves have some ethics that we journalists in Goa would do well to emulate.
One wonders if the words atrributed to him were truly said Mr. Purshottam M. Colvalcar, former Joint Director of Agriculture who had the good fortune to retire while officiating as the Director, a post he richly deserved but age was not on his side. He has been infirm for some time now ...... and the last KFF was held in 2006 as the Panchayat and Assembly elections last year put paid to our efforts to hold it in May, 2007. I do not know if he did any research on mango but can vouch for the fact that he does not do any professional photography. I will leave it to his contemporary and computer savvy, Mr. Fernando do Rego, to comment on that. Mr. Rego has publication on mango in English and Portuguese to his credit. It is Mr. Rego and my former superior, Mr. K.A.Kazi, who listed the 77 Mango varieties known in Goa in 1979 and is the basis of Mr. P.A. Mathew's research.
The Bispo [Bhism, or Bishop] is a huge, generally insipid mango as I explained to Nicole. It is far from extinct. Infact, the Goa Archbishop's neighbour, Carlos Figueiredo, has a bearing tree of this variety. For those who are really interested in preserving mango varieties of Goa, may I suggest an investment of Rs.50/- to buy the book form ICAR-Goa, a visit to one of the agriculure offices to get the phone number [listed in the Agri Diary 2008] or email ID of one of persons on the acknowledgement page thereof and a free call from any Rs.99/- scheme BSNL telephone. For the doomsday sayers let me quote the Good News according to John: "I have come so that they may have life, life in abundance." [John 10.10] For those who believe, these mango varieties will never die. The KFF is doing its bit to fulfill this prophesy. One may accuse me of quoting the Bible out of context. I plead guilty. However, at least the quote is correct. That is not something I can concede to Raju Nayak in the TOI of 09 May, 2008, unless he believes that mango varieties like Fernandina, Colaco, Bispo can also be resurrected from extinction! Hallelujah!!

TOI GOA, FIRST EDITION -- READER'S REVIEW

Hi guys, here's a brilliantly crafted piece sent to us by one of our readers. There's a take by Caje on TOI Goa below it. If PP readers have more to say, send your stuff to penpricks@gmail.com

Too Good to be in Goa.
For starters, TOI's Goa edition which's been hovering along for a long time made an unimpressive landing. For a paper with national credentials to boot,its frontpage fare in terms of content left much to be expected.Except for a taboo subject story, the TOI dished out aperitif that was rather drab. There was nothing besides, that could be termed exclusive or investigative for a paper of calibre. The broadsheet seemed to be starving of local coverage which constitutes it main course since it calls itself the Goa edition. The inside pages had pay parking and mega projects reports which were rehashed pieces sprinkled with a few routine droppings that any journalist could cover. The only refreshments after a bad aftertaste were Joaquim Fernandes' piece on power consumer bills and Paul Fernandes'take on fallow lands.There a dearth of hard-hitting stuff, the kind that has tongues wagging and the gossip mills churning.You call features great stories Mr Cajetan Vaz? I think you have your eyes on the ground. Moreover, like the Navhind Times and Herald, TOI Goa seems to be following the same trend of relying on political patronage to stay afloat. Digambar Kamat has been comfortably ensconced in a sofa ostensbily browsing a Times copy (as if the bloke will dare read the GT when in the Miramar office) and spewing his usual political rhetoric to Alexandre Barbosa on how he really cares for the common man and the development of the State. How come Raju Nayak, the metro editor didn't give his former political rival some laxative to defecate his concerned for the aam admi rot and corner him on a host of issues? For all of Rajib Borah's terms of endearment about owing Goans a debt of gratitude, the paper, missed a local editorial.So much for Goa "not being too far from our consciousness" Maybe it was too good to be in GOa. That good, the essentials were forgotten. Nevertheless Borah's writing compared to Arun Sinha's lamentations is a much superior appeal and appease literary effort. Just as an aside,how could the Times Property show organisers allow Borah to write stuff like "This robust vigilantism is also at evidence in the grassroots movement to protect the rich red earth from the mindless bulldozer."And hey! did you notice the world's largest English newspaper even has its own cheerleaders. Eight of them displaying Goa Times on their bare backs in its Goa Times supplement? Gosh! I am sick of this Goa is beautiful rhetoric. As a Goan, I need not be reminded with monotonous cliches like these. Isn't the Times of India Goa edition to be read predominantly by Goans or is the converse true--that Goa is being projected to the outsiders as a hop and stop destination? Which Goan isn't aware of overcrowded buses and tourists ogling scantily clad firangi girls a la Marcellus Baptista? Ill sure need to take an afternoon siesta if the Goa Times carries on its Goa is Paradise, it's a good place for a tan rant. Sure, its a good place to burn your butt too if your not aware of what's going on. It's a newspaper job to wipe the dirt behind the gloss not indulge in sycophancy,official or unofficial even in its magazine sections.Although the Goa edition premiere has gone slightly off pitch. considering the hype about a national daily making its debut , be assured the paper is worth a buy. I would recommend that every Goan household subscribe to it. Not just for its advertisements and its eye-catching graphics but for much more. For the way it analyses issues while other newspapers don't go beyond mere narrative. However it's a gross misconception to treat the Times like a cynosure and ignore the other local newspapers. Each newspaper despite its drawbacks covers territory that the others don't or cannot. For instance editions that are saddled with advertisements upto page 3 are bound to trim their regional ware. So you could miss out on something really exclusive. It may have been a staccato start but it need not be jerky run. The running's just begun and more national dailies will be chipping in. The more, the merrier the competition.One last thing, for your own sake please don't heed NT editor Arun Sinha's advice to "Feel a Goan." You could be arrested for molestation .

CAJE'S TAKE
My subscriber copy is yet to reach me despite informing my newsagent. The subscriber helpline of TOI could not be accessed. But I read the e-paper. And TOI goa edition has my vote as a superior offering. Great stories, except in the business section and sport (need more local fare). Missed a local editorial too. The advt for TOI goa edition displays poor copy with errors and typos. NT today looked smart but was a far second. Good attempt though. Herald has its nose in the ground. GT was average. TOI's classifieds hold promise. Hope they will maintain the standard they've set on day one! Cajetan Vaz

CAJE'S RANT
I wish to bring to your notice that Mr P. Naik, newsagent in my area (Porvorim, behind Holy Family School) delivered my first copy of TOI Goa edition today and demanded that I pay Rs 50/- (Rupees Fifty only) per month as his delivery charges.
This is unacceptable and I request you to please sort the matter to ensure that I get my subscriber copy from a newsagent who you have commissioned at no extra cost beyond the subscription fee already paid.
Don't the newsagents already get a commission?
My Order No. is GAB0020025
Paid on 28/02008 RRE
Name: Prathamesh NaikRRE Code: CR 0131
Mr Cajetan J. VazA8, Devashri Bhavan, Behind Holy Family School, Porvorim Goa 403501Mobile: 9822131277

CHANGING TIMES

Hey fellas... one good thing may have come out of TOI's entry here.
Raul Fernandes has finally stepped into the real world by shutting down his 'Furniture World', his furniture store at Campal. Hope he can devote more time to the newspaper now.
BTW the changes in TNT are good to see. Ramu's byline story on the film fest was a refreshingly fresh drift when compared to the sludge they pass off as news. Was also good to see that the newspaper which used to literally dry-gulch bylines now even mentions the reporters designation (check out the web edition)... But then they should stay away from copies like this one below filed by Shyam Zambaulikar.
Hey you guys know Sanjay Banerjee's been transferred to Margao right. We can say this with a straight face, that the master of eloquence with that misleading suffix will be following Shyam Zambaulikar's footsteps in Margao. Shyam has had the honour of being TOI's south Goa correspondent when they tried to peddle the Bangalore edition to Goa, a concept which was rejected by the readers. TOI then had had this lousy team comprising of Shyam, Vidyut Kumar Ta, Rupesh Merchant, R V Prabhugaonkar and Cyril D'Cunha. Looks like its HR team has failed miserably again. Let's see they've managed to get one malkurad, one maangilaar, a couple of pairis, the rest of the guys TOI's recruited are quite the mango mongrels.
And GT how have they reacted? Let us see... they've surely cut their engines, pulled down their sails and brought out the oars. They've paddling their boat now... Oars alternating between Derek, Ashley and Thapa. The rest of their crew grabbed their lifejackets and jumped off a long time back.

HMMM... THIS BABY'S HORNY AT BIRTH!!!

Hi guys... So the TOI has launched on the auspicious occasion of Akshay tritiya. You guys have anything to say about the first issue? Do write back...
This here is a mail on goajourno by Miguel Braganza in his inimitable style.
PP

Dears,

It has delivered. Bennett, Coleman and family has a new addition. The baby is appropriately named the "GoaGoa, it's good to be here." Over the days and weeks and years, we hope we can say the same about the Times of India! Edition". The front page Edit reads "Good morning

It is good to see the familiar bylines in yet another newspaper: Sanjay Bannerjee,Paul Fernandes,Joaquim Fernandes, Preetu Nair, Andrew Pereira, and others. Caju feni loving Goans like Cecil Pinto now can have the company of Govind Kamat Maad.

It has SEX in Goan schools on the front page in an article that begins provocatively with "Go for sex..." and, like any Government scheme, ends up rather uninterestingly with ".... education in schools, say parents." Right next to it is the story of the "CBI probe in Scarlett case".

My surname is on the TOI agenda, but in the other gender. The story about "Sr Braganza" tells one not of Senhor Braganza [as my friend Floriano would insist] but of Sister Karuna Mary Braganza. Nothing pro-Goan or anti-Goan about her. I do not know if she is even a Goan with a name like Karuna [meaning compassion] and a Padma Shree to boot!

Good morning. It is nice to have TOI here.

Mog asundi.

Miguel

JOURNALISTS AND THEIR PSYCHEDELIC HALOS

Sure this post took eight years coming. Too bad the book, whose excerpts we have quoted from, was only published in the year 2007 or something.
In a way, this story is a logical extension of the series of posts which we put up following Preetu Nair's startling observation. Here's what Preetu had stated in her response to Miguel Braganza.
"Fortunately, readers are quick to realize that much of what goes on in the tourist paradise of Goa goes unreported because a few local journos and their editors play host to the corrupt system."
We wonder now if Arun Saldanha's book Psychedelic White -- Goa Trance and the Viscosity of Race puts Preetu's comment in perspective.
So what does Arun Saldanha say...
Saldanha draws a line between "the abrupt demolition of Goa2000 by an army of cops and thugs was great news for Dolce Vita, Bamboo Forest and Hilltop."
The author states that Dolce Vita was run by Roy Fernandes. (Roy, some of you guys may know, is former minister Fatima De Sa's PA, who was sentenced to life by a lower court on a murder charge... dunno the status of that case now. Roy, incidentally is a wonderfully resourceful chap along the coast in North Goa. You'd be amazed. He can get you exotic varieties of 'mushrooms' in middle of winter, get you nice scented sort of dry grass even in the middle of monsoons. If you want some of those deliciously intoxicating cookies or a non liquified form of Cola, Roy's one of those guys who can get it for you)
Next, the author also tells the reader that Roy is in fact a cousin to journo Peter D'Souza of Gomantak Times, who had started a 'crusade' against Jeh Wadia's Goa2000 mega rave, which was set to corner the rave and its allied notorious businesses, which Roy had set his sights on, during that heady season of 2000.
While Saldanha has diligently added Peter's denial of the 'purported favor', he does not deny the surge in the economics of Roy's various businesses, which followed his cousin Peter's 'crusade' against Goa2000 on grounds of environment and morality.
We wonder if this is the kind of thing Preetu was referring to, when she alleged that media-persons play host to a corrupt system?
Hmmmm you tell us guys comeon... Preetu also claims that "readers are quick to realise". Maybe she knows best. After all, she's shared bylines with Peter De Souza on several award-winning stories... Hope you're quick to realise that too fellas.

COMING UP SOON...

We'll take a day's break fellas... but coming up soon... A fascinating media angle to the 10 day rave which was planned by Jeh Wadia at Anjuna in the year 2000. We will reproduce excerpts from a book written by an Indian author, which sheds light on reasons, other than 'patriotism' and 'environment', that led to the Wadia bash being eventually banned. We too were glad that the mega bash was stopped by the authorities. But the rave story just did not end there. Soon...

THE RISE AND FALL OF GOA'S FIRST 24 HOUR NEWS CHANNEL -- PART II

This is the concluding part of the interview. We have one request here. Responses to this interview (and other such interviews in the future) would be approved only if they are accompanied by a name and a legit email ID. We will upload the post only after confirming the identity of the chap who has made that comment.
Look guys, whether Ajay Thakur is right or not, whether he is a good guy or a bad guy, it is to his credit that he has lent his name to the story shared on the blog, unlike us cowardly pricks who use the shield of anonymity. Doing what Ajay has done, takes courage. So if you are gonna pass a remark on this issue, we would request you to lend your name too.
We are glad that we could get something of what transpired at STV GOA NEWS on record. There was too much info flying about to make sense of.
So if you have any comments to share please do tell us who you are and leave behind your legit email ID.

Q) There were several reports of a regional rift between Goans and non Goan employed there. Can you confirm and elaborate on this continuous sense of discord?
A) I remember reading that on your blog and was amused. The man who is said to have led the Goan Camp, who talked only in Hindi, could not correct a Konkani script being a Goan, spoke Marathi properly being a president of a Marathi state journo body, who made calls from a colleagues phone to tell journos in a Press Conference. This fact is the truth of the matter. There was no Goan and non-Goan divide. Yes, initially the ‘experienced’ technical staff from Delhi hauled onto us by the Management did ride rough shod over the staff which was hired locally. It actually could be a Metro versus non-Metro divide. But then with time, guys recruited here outshone them and the guys from Delhi started resorting to cheap tactics to save face. But that was it. No regional rift. Except of course when the management showed the door to the former executive editor. Newspaper which were friendly to him reported some stuff. Can an out-of-state entrepreneur survive in an alien area without the involvement of locals? No.

Q) STV GOA NEWS boasted about a professional set up with prior experience in other states, and yet, the news output only appeared to be PR driven. As someone who was up there in channel's editorial hierarchy, could you tell us why?
A) PR driven? Are you talking about the news per se or the lone chat show that we had, since we had not much in terms of programming? No, I don’t agree that we were PR driven. In fact, all that drove us was ‘US’. When the news coverage came in, our job was to put on air what had happened or was covered, uncut and quickly. Some guys were shown more (some guys were covered more than the others) and I don’t deny that. Familiarity at times breeds PR. It can happen, but then it was never consciously done? In democracy, the party in power always gets more footage (coverage) than the opposition normally. Till, the party in power fumbles, then the equation of coverage changes but I remember this SMS I received, which said “You look like a BJP Channel!” My reply was “Ya, last week we were NCP, next week Congress and the week later, a Save Goa Channel”. The guy sheepishly said “You are right”. For an aggressive channel, I know most guys want us to shout from the rooftops or maybe even do a sting with no sense of purpose, but even for that you need the right team, one television man does not make a channel. A few good journos and proper technology backup can change the content and quality of news. What you guys saw was what we could manage with the limited resource and sans management support.

Q) Was there a stated editorial policy you were asked to pursue? Are you in a position to tell us about 'holy cows' in the editorial policy, if there were any?
A) How many channels and newspapers in India have a written editorial policy? None. It is more like the Vedas, passed on by word-of-mouth down generations. There were arguments with the management but generally there was no interference in reporting on the usual suspects – mining, health, infrastructure etc, etc. But then the Holy Cows were there. Real Estate, for obvious reasons and coverage of opposition leaders again for the channel Management’s had a history of playing partisan elsewhere too. There was no diktat. But then yes, specific instances… Stories were held back in order to not upset local business interests. But the amusing part is that often when they would see others covering it, they would quickly change their stance.

Q) There has been a lot of criticism about the way STV GOA NEWS ended its operations abruptly, leaving several of your colleagues in a lurch. You even say that the police were called to ensure all the employees left the office on March 1. Can you tell us what exactly happened?
A) The Police would have been called ‘cos of an earlier incident where the former executive editor’s driver tried to force his way in and his kin locked herself up to cook a case of wrongful confinement, which fell through. The management clearly wanted no trouble there. But one is baffled by the speed and secrecy. I, as the Editor, didn’t know what the Management or its Administrator had on their minds. At 1 pm, we were able to buy time to shift out of the premises after a specific period from the Housing Board; everything was hunky dory until at 3 pm a notice told us that the Channel is going off air tonight at 12 pm. Period. Nobody was traceable from the management’s side and the administrator was telling us to quietly take our dues and that’s it. There were meetings, and surprisingly our ex-executive editor along-with his bunch of cronies surfaced out of nowhere to take charge. But there were too many chinks in the employees armour. More than 75% were working without a Contract Letter (they never demanded one!). Moreover they had signed on a voucher before the Adminstrator which read “Full and Final Settlement”. Everyone became a leader and reason went out of the window. What happened was sad and bad. But then Goa News was never one big family, it was a bunch of ghettos and the internal fabric of the company looked very disturbing. So what happened to my colleagues is something like “what we gave is what got”.

Q) STV GOA NEWS had been in the news for the wrong reasons. To begin with the set up was established in a residential area, which is a gross illegality. STV GOA NEWS' hasty exit has only reinforced speculation that the outfit was in Goa not for news alone.... Your observation
A) Yes, the High Court and the Housing Board made us realize that too ;-) But then, the promoters who would wave a ‘letter to operate’ from the panchayat on my face everytime I cried foul against these decisions. This happened much before I was a part of the organisation. The deal had been struck earlier. I have read on your blog about a part of the Herald being illegal, but does that stop those amazing reporters from turning up at the workplace day in and day out. But yes, your observation that the outfit was in Goa not for news alone may have some merits. Goa News is shut down, but cars and vans carrying screaming stickers still shuttle around. Lots of non-journos carrying PRESS tags still move amongst us. Reporting from a certain section of the Coastal belt which was usually out of our bounds is witnessing major developmental projects. Questions still remain unanswered but then it takes a journalist to do so. Goa News might have been shut but the journalists are still out there. At least one of them is. Truth will have to be dug out and told.

THE RISE AND FALL OF GOA'S FIRST 24 HOUR NEWS CHANNEL -- OF BAD EGGS IN NIRVANA'S NEST

When reports of a 24 hour news channel in Goa first started filtering in, there were varied reactions. Some scoffed. Some said Goa wasn't big enough. Some called it a fly-by-night operation. Some said oh... finally some relief from these numerous one-hour-news-bulletin rackets.
Less than a year has lapsed. The 24 hour news channel we are talking about STV GOA NEWS has already shut shop in a very very suspiscious manner. For a few days before its closure, all that was bombarded on the channel were ads for Nirvana's Nest, a residential complex which the promoters of STV GOA NEWS had a stake in.
A few days ago we interviewed former input editor (designated) Ajay Thakur over email about the functioning of this 24 hour media-mushroom, which showed up and disappeared as quickly as that. Here's the first part of that interview. The second part will be uploaded tomorrow. It has a very, very interesting disclosure about STV GOA NEWS' holy cows in the channel's editorial policy. Do look out for it.
If you guys have any counter questions, mail them to us. We'll see if we can get some responses from Ajay.

Q) In what capacity were you associated with GOA NEWS?
A) I was interviewed as a News Editor with a total editorial command. In charge of both Input (news identification, collection, gathering & updates) as well as Output (news production, processing, bulletins, news packaging, the form & content). But when I joined in I was handed a contract saying that I was to be the Input Editor only reporting to an Executive Editor. Later, after the unceremonious exit of my senior, Executive Editor in last August, I was handling the entire Editorial Operations till the last Bulletin was aired on February 28th, 2008. You could call me the Editor but then (a) I was given no written orders stating to the effect, I just ‘took’ over & (b) according to the Law of the Land, to be an Editor my name should have been submitted when we applied for the license. I dunno if they did that.

Q) What were the levels of investment, technology, manpower used by STV GOA NEWS?
A) I think the overall investment would not have been more than Rs 1.5 crore. Analog (read dated) technology was used. Machines were sourced from their Delhi stable. Skilled manpower was brought in mainly from Delhi. They were paid peanuts by Goa yardstick forget the Industry Standards. The Channel was supposedly losing 25 lakhs a month! On what, I ask myself sometimes. Reporters used cameras that lasted for not more than 10 minutes & conked-off periodically. Producers were freshers out of college, but with attitudes of industry veterans. Equipment was dated almost archaic. Softwares were pirated (quite paradoxical to the profession that upholds truth). There were no vehicles to ferry reporters. Telephones & cellphones would be discontinued without notice.

Q) In retrospect Ajay, do you believe that Goa has enough fodder for a 24 hour news channel?
A) Yes, I strongly believe so. Back in journalism school I had learnt the definition of news and we stuck to that. Report everything that happens in your neighbourhood. Bad News and Good News too. Yes, Goa News didn’t look all that forceful, but then in an audio-visual medium you need graphic tools & animation to supplement a story. The management hadn’t invested in it. But then, check remote & unrepresented news areas like Sanguem, Pernem, Bicholim, Satteri and even Salcette. We were a force to reckon with. People wanted us to tell their story. I still marvel at the fact that people would call Goa News before they would call the administration or the police. Goa has enough for a 24 hour Community Television Station more on the lines of NY1 or CSB, etc. Please don’t expect a BBC, CNN, NDTV or CNN-IBN over here. In fact, I was amazed to see that the news that we reported would appear in the leading dailies in the State even after a week. Hey, we used to file in and show 45+ stories a day (that was besides what our Maharashtra based reporters sent). Someone needs the proof, I still have the registers on my iBook and the rundowns that we have to mandatorily store for three months for I&B Ministry, daily, to prove the point.

Q) As a senior editorial hand, whom did you perceive as competition on the news gathering front. a) HCN? b) The numerous one-hour bulletins? c) The channel's management? Tell us why.
A) Competition in news gathering? I don’t think so. A section of the Herald & GUJ did try to run a campaign against us. Our reporters and cameramen were threatened but that was initially. People powered us and they reported to us. The leaders followed suit. The people (refers to the one hour news-bulletins) that you mention above didn’t compete with us from news-gathering point of view. The problem between us and these people was to do more with distribution. It is like this. You switch off the TV and who will watch you. Television business has this one big elephant that you have to rear, its called Distribution. The bigger channels give carrier fees to the Cable Operators to broadcast them. That is where they make their money and not from providing cable connection to your house or mine. Everywhere we were asked for these fees ‘cos we were a satellite Channel. We paid everywhere including Panaji and Porvorim. From newspaper legends to cable operators to fellow journalists, everyone said that we muscled them off different regions in the State. That is incorrect, we had to pay carrier fees and in the bargain if the cable guy wanted to do what he felt like, he could. HCN and the one hour bulletins, all have people as well as Government patronage. “How could we and also, why should we bump them off” was what went misinterpreted. The channel’s management actually came down on its knees when the question of visibility in the Capital came up. I don’t think there was ever a problem on news gathering front.

Q) Spell out the reasons, why GOA NEWS failed.
A) Direction, People, Money…just about everything was questionable. And Yes, it was a beautiful idea but something that was not well placed. 1) IF IT WAS WELL BEGUN…The Editorial Face of the Channel was a certain gentleman who has a string of NBWs for cheating & forgery against him. The management included people who travelled in PRESS sticker-ed cars to sell real estate, the majority of people working were political recommendations or the Executive Editor’s kin. 2) PAY PEANUTS GET MONKEYS…Barring me and three journalists with some experience, there were no journalists in the set-up. If there were some, they had their own political agenda (showcasing certain people but that was restricted to Konkani Bulletins). We simply could not attract and retain senior journalists or good people. HCN did take a gamble and weaned away quite a few of our colleagues, but then if You have a Satellite Channel you have to pay them. Most importantly, it also works the other way. If You get, freshers from the College who are more interested in hanging on to their mobile phones or celebrating birthdays, than getting a solid angle to a story, how frustrating can life get. 3) SHOW ME THE MONEY…We never invested in a good marketing team to sell slots, gestures like wishing a certain Minister on his Birthday by a certain section of staff got us more brickbats than bouquets. We were running losses not because we were not delivering but because the Management was not willing to get GOOD people to sell the slots. I was shocked when my Reporters were asked to sell slots. We unitedly put our foot down. But the fact remains that no money was coming in. 4) DROP THE DEAD DONKEY…in this case, it was technology. We were a Satellite Channel showing news by a 30 minute delay. We had not used (invested) in an OB Van. Where was the live news? Plus, every time we needed a vehicle to cover the vicious cycle from where is the money to why we can’t cover an event ran hundreds of time everyday. No cameras, no transport, no technology (Broadband, NRCS, Digital Newsroom, etc), A Hindi expression explains this situation well… Bhagwan hi malik tha. 5) WRONG HIERARCHY…wrong managers manning operations and crucial decisions like transport, salaries, staffing. There was no Chain of Command, anybody could say anything to anybody. There was no understanding of why someone was positioned above another. Check this…a wannabe MBA suddenly surfaces as an Administrator but is more interested in the News Operations. So while there is no transport, no phones working, the said person is holding meetings on how news should be covered somewhere. A 9th Class pass chappie is suddenly hauled in as Head of Administration with powers to stop coverage of news, knock off anchors from a bulletin. And hold your breath… even stop bulletins from being aired!!! 6) FOCUS…Dear Penpricks, this is the moral of the story. Any Channel can succeed anywhere. If you have your focus right, your homework right, your effort (not just attempt!) right. GOA NEWS failed on all those counts, other issues are related and just explanations of this.
(to be continuted)

TO THE VICTOR BELONG THE 'SPOILED'

Herald's dumb-asses are at it again.
Can't they even file a decent victory copy? Sure they could have been dripping in champagne around the time this guy filed the copy. But that still doesn't explain mistakes like the one's that have happened here.
'Herald steal'
'Three times defending'
Now look at this. If they 'easily outsmarted' (first line) Navhind Publications, then how was it a 'thrilling and keenly fought match' (second para, first line)? And if it was a 'thrilling and keenly fought match' then how could Herald have 'dominated the proceeding right from the word go'?
Another huge error in the copy guys... Managed to spot it yet? Lets see if you can get it. If you can't scroll to the bottom of this post. :)

Herald steal limelight for 4th time
HERALD SPORTS DESK
PANJIM, APRIL 12 -- Three times defending champions Herald Publications easily outsmarted Navhind Publications 3-1 to lay their hands on the Inter-Media football tournament title for the fourth consecutive year.
In a thrilling and keenly fought final match played at Don Bosco ground, here, Herald dominated the proceeding right from the word go.
Herald’s star player Minguel Carvalho, who scored a brace was to be watched as he showed some profound footballing skills.
Pradeep Vengurlekar, who scored the winner was also at his best.
Gonsal Rebello was the lone scorer for Navhind Publication.
Navhind Goalkeeper Anirudh Raul effected a good save off a penalty kick by Pradeep Vengurlekar.
Individual winners of the championship are: Man of the Final – Minguel Carvalho (Herald), Highest Scorer — Minguel Carvalho (Herald) 8 goals, Man of the Tournament — Pradeep Vengurlekar (Herald), Best Goalkeeper — Anirudh Raul (Navhind), Best Defender — Gonsal Rebello (Navhind), Best Midfielder — Paul Fernandes (Times of India), Best Forward – Kishore Kamat (Navhind), Fair Play Trophy – Times of India.
Dr Susana D’Souza, Director, Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairs was the chief guest and gave away the prizes in the presence of Herald Editor Ashwin Tombat.
Earlier, President of SJAG Sharadchandra Naik welcomed the guests.
General Secretary of SJAG Manguesh Borkar compered and proposed the vote of thanks.
The tournament was organised by Sports Journalists Association of Goa in association with the Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairs.


Note: Didn't spot it yet? No problem. Check out the para which talks about the winners. Check the last line.... Still cannot figure it out? It's a huge error maan... the story says Times of India won the 'fair play trophy'. 'Fair play' and the Times of India!!! When did that happen? hehehe

THE RISE AND FALL OF GOA'S FIRST 24 HOUR NEWS CHANNEL -- AN INSIDE STORY

Hi guys, on May 1 and May 2, we will run a two part interview featuring Ajay Thakur, former Star News correspondent in Goa and the guy who was input editor at STV Goa News.
Although, this is the first time we are conducting a full fledged interview, it is not a shift in direction vis a vis the blog. Our rantings will continue as usual.
Ajay's interview which was carried out by email contains interesting/fascinating revelations about a slice of history in the Goan media, which was created surreptitiously and whose sudden end was shrouded in mystery. The interview puts on record (through inputs of a senior ranking employee) one side of the Goa News story and the issues/controversies surrounding Goa's first '24 hour' news channel.
Looking forward to your response on this, once we run the interview.
PP