NAZI-GATE -- THE GOAN JOURNO PRICKS
Herald -- The Humble Pricks
3 pricks out of 10
It was Herald which caught the bait hoot, line and s't'inker. They put this story on the front page, with a nice read duo-decked header and they put old gramps Bach pic on it… Was he grinning... hehe
And we were kicked.
That’s the paper we subscribe to at home.
But one thing you’ve got to give these guys. These guys did not stray out of line. They behaved as admirably as a conservative Laxmibai Rudranath Tokre would when faced with an opportunity for promiscuity.
But frankly we did not really expect them to run the story.
Reason… Editor Ashwin Tombat.
Now, although Ashwin has authored a book on the nuances of menstrual cycles, we do consider him somewhat well read… We thought he’d know something about the country which birthed Communist icons Marx and Engels in the first place. We really, really thought he’d find something amiss with the story…
But he did not.
But what we can share with you guys, is this funny email conversation we shared with Ashwin on this issue. We begin with the first response sent to the perus.narkp@berlin.com by Ashwin after he published the story…
Dear Mr Smit,
We have carried the item in our newspaper today.
Pl see: http://oheraldo.in/pagedetails.asp?nid=6200&cid=2
Tombat
Editor
To which we responded
Dear Sir
Thank you for your prominent coverage.
It was well reported. I wish to inform you however, that the press conference may be delayed by a few days due to visa issues for the German press team. The date is more likely to be Wednesday/Thursday. Hope to see you there.
The accused may also be paraded before the press teams from Goa, India.
regards
Smit
Then came this reply… Ashwin by this time was perhaps a touch edgy. Can you feel it in this mail?
Dear Smit,
I look forward to seeing you. Are you likely to be in Goa soon? Where can I contact you? Ashwin
By this time, we were just about to put a teaser on the blog. So we thought why not let Ashwin know that this was a hoax, so we sent him a one line mail saying, if he wants to get in ‘touch’ he should write to penpricks@gmail.com
Poor chap… this must have been the second time in history that Ze Germans let the Communists down.
Hey BTW, they are also the only chaps to have categorically told their readers that the story they carried was prank.
Gomantak Times – The Page 2 pricks
3 pricks out of 10
We are confounded. Look, we don’t like this 'shades of gray' business. We love things in black or white. Either these guys should have carried the story on Page 1 or they should not have carried it at all.
They insulted our artistry by carrying this masterpiece on page 2. Whatever happened to the acute artistry of the editor Derek or the wizened dexterity of Ashley. They must have been back from a rather late lunch break at Ritz around 7 pm, were they. Just about the time when the stories are readied.
But what we really missed was a Thapa touch to this story. We can actually fantasize the header he would have chiseled out for this one… hmmm ‘BACH TO SQUARE ONE’ or ‘SAB 'BACH'WAS’… 'BACH' KE REHNA' and so on.
We aren’t so good at this. But this story in Thapa’s hands would have really made our day. Instead the story got carried on page two with the requisite ‘says a press note’ tags, appropriately slipped in and credited to the GT NEWS ROOM.
GOA DOOT – THE DYSFUNCTIONAL PRICKS
8 pricks out of 10
These pricks rose late, but what a whammy they carried. Trust Parrikar’s paper to go hammer and tongs on such an issue. If a fake naxal issue can cause Parrikar a few dozen hemorrhages, then this was a full fledged Nazi. The story filed by these guys had all the requisites of a fraud. The usual intelligence inputs, sources bullshit.
PUDHARI, SUNAPARANT, NAVHIND TIMES, TARUN BHARAT
Guys, you must credit these fellas for not falling for this hoax. But we would still think twice before attributing this to rigor, chances are it must have been their lucky day.
NOTE: We are putting this small note out. We have reserved a special post for Dainik Gomantak on this issue. They way they have reacted to this story is really really disgusting. Now what we are going to do is whip these guys into shape in the next post.
Do look out for it.
Watch how we tear apart their story and Editor Sanjay Dhavalikar’s article published on Sunday on this issue sinew by sinew. Consistently Dainik Gomantak has been behaving quite like the Taliban in this liberal age.
Its time we tie them to their own stakes and…
3 pricks out of 10 It was Herald which caught the bait hoot, line and s't'inker. They put this story on the front page, with a nice read duo-decked header and they put old gramps Bach pic on it… Was he grinning... hehe
And we were kicked.
That’s the paper we subscribe to at home.
But one thing you’ve got to give these guys. These guys did not stray out of line. They behaved as admirably as a conservative Laxmibai Rudranath Tokre would when faced with an opportunity for promiscuity.
But frankly we did not really expect them to run the story.
Reason… Editor Ashwin Tombat.
Now, although Ashwin has authored a book on the nuances of menstrual cycles, we do consider him somewhat well read… We thought he’d know something about the country which birthed Communist icons Marx and Engels in the first place. We really, really thought he’d find something amiss with the story…
But he did not.
But what we can share with you guys, is this funny email conversation we shared with Ashwin on this issue. We begin with the first response sent to the perus.narkp@berlin.com by Ashwin after he published the story…
Dear Mr Smit,
We have carried the item in our newspaper today.
Pl see: http://oheraldo.in/pagedetails.asp?nid=6200&cid=2
Tombat
Editor
To which we responded
Dear Sir
Thank you for your prominent coverage.
It was well reported. I wish to inform you however, that the press conference may be delayed by a few days due to visa issues for the German press team. The date is more likely to be Wednesday/Thursday. Hope to see you there.
The accused may also be paraded before the press teams from Goa, India.
regards
Smit
Then came this reply… Ashwin by this time was perhaps a touch edgy. Can you feel it in this mail?
Dear Smit,
I look forward to seeing you. Are you likely to be in Goa soon? Where can I contact you? Ashwin
By this time, we were just about to put a teaser on the blog. So we thought why not let Ashwin know that this was a hoax, so we sent him a one line mail saying, if he wants to get in ‘touch’ he should write to penpricks@gmail.com
Poor chap… this must have been the second time in history that Ze Germans let the Communists down.
Hey BTW, they are also the only chaps to have categorically told their readers that the story they carried was prank.
Gomantak Times – The Page 2 pricks
3 pricks out of 10We are confounded. Look, we don’t like this 'shades of gray' business. We love things in black or white. Either these guys should have carried the story on Page 1 or they should not have carried it at all.
They insulted our artistry by carrying this masterpiece on page 2. Whatever happened to the acute artistry of the editor Derek or the wizened dexterity of Ashley. They must have been back from a rather late lunch break at Ritz around 7 pm, were they. Just about the time when the stories are readied.
But what we really missed was a Thapa touch to this story. We can actually fantasize the header he would have chiseled out for this one… hmmm ‘BACH TO SQUARE ONE’ or ‘SAB 'BACH'WAS’… 'BACH' KE REHNA' and so on.
We aren’t so good at this. But this story in Thapa’s hands would have really made our day. Instead the story got carried on page two with the requisite ‘says a press note’ tags, appropriately slipped in and credited to the GT NEWS ROOM.
GOA DOOT – THE DYSFUNCTIONAL PRICKS
8 pricks out of 10 These pricks rose late, but what a whammy they carried. Trust Parrikar’s paper to go hammer and tongs on such an issue. If a fake naxal issue can cause Parrikar a few dozen hemorrhages, then this was a full fledged Nazi. The story filed by these guys had all the requisites of a fraud. The usual intelligence inputs, sources bullshit.
PUDHARI, SUNAPARANT, NAVHIND TIMES, TARUN BHARAT
Guys, you must credit these fellas for not falling for this hoax. But we would still think twice before attributing this to rigor, chances are it must have been their lucky day.
NOTE: We are putting this small note out. We have reserved a special post for Dainik Gomantak on this issue. They way they have reacted to this story is really really disgusting. Now what we are going to do is whip these guys into shape in the next post.
Do look out for it.
Watch how we tear apart their story and Editor Sanjay Dhavalikar’s article published on Sunday on this issue sinew by sinew. Consistently Dainik Gomantak has been behaving quite like the Taliban in this liberal age.
Its time we tie them to their own stakes and…
posted by Pen Pricks at
17:44
6 Comments:
Hi Blogger,
1.Some guys in GT knew it was a prank.
2. Don't consider Ashwin Tombat as a good editor especially as he was out of journalism for many years. Pls give him some time to be back on the track.
3. Tarun Bharat don't believe in internet. So they missed the email. It's not their presence of mind but they missed the prank... so now we can call them wise.
4. Navaprabha too is in the line of TArun Bharat.
5. Sunaparant guys are too much lazy to confirm such news... German guys dont know Konkani... Sandesh is busy with prudent.
6. And Sanjay Dhavalikar was heard saying,`how can we take action against penpricks when those guys are working for us?.' I hope Vithaldas Hegde does not run the penpricks blog.. never know or may be Sadguru patil... never know.
"PUDHARI, SUNAPARANT, NAVHIND TIMES, TARUN BHARAT
Guys, you must credit these fellas for not falling for this hoax. But we would still think twice before attributing this to rigor..."
Rigor? The only rigor they're capable of is Rigor Mortis.
About GT: You say,
"We are confounded. Look, we don’t like this 'shades of gray' business. We love things in black or white. Either these guys should have carried the story on Page 1 or they should not have carried it at all."
With an arriviste called Ashley in charge of new selection and positioning, who finds it hard to distinguish his a******* from his elbow, what do you expect?
To to the folks @ Pen Pricks: Thanks for doing us a (much-needed) national service! We love you guys!
Pen Pricks, you can't even bend Dharvlikar's hair because his connections are strong in Pune. So please don't try to point fingers at him but do your work sincerely. Your integrity is at stake and no newspaper respects your.
Pen Pricks when will you present thase Awards. Please announce the date for awards ceremony. Last year's awards are also pending. Try to send them by post.
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