The Bhanja Bihar Review - January 2011

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THE BHANJA BIHAR REVIEW is a compilation of features/articles presented by the student journalists in

the departmental seminars. The news and views expressed

in the laboratory journal are the author’s own and do not

necessarily reflect the views of Department or the

University. The journal is meant for students practice

and publication under the guidance of Prof. S.K. Behera,

Head, Dept. of Journalism and Mass Communication.

EDITORIAL BOARD:

PANKAJINI BEHERA & HEMANTA KU.PRADHAN



What is DTH?

DTH stands for Direct-

To-Home television. DTH is

defined as the reception of

satellite programmes with a

personal dish in an individual

home. DTH does away with the

need for the local cable

operator and puts the

broadcaster directly in touch

with the consumer. Only cable

operators can receive satellite

programmes and they then

distribute them to individual

homes.

How Does DTH work?

A DTH network consists of

a broadcasting centre,

satellites, encoders,

multiplexers, modulators andDTH receivers. A DTH service

provider has to lease Ku-band

transponders from the satellite.

The encoder converts the

audio, videos and data signals

into the digital format and the

multiplexer mixes these signals.

At the user end, there will be a

small dish antenna and set-top

boxes to decode and view

numerous channels. DTH is an

encrypted transmission that

travels to the consumer directly

through a satellite.

How does DTH really differ

from cable TV ?

The way DTH reaches a

consumer’s Home is different

from the way cable TV does. In

DTH, TV channels would be

transmitted from the satellite to

a small dish antenna mounted

on the window (Or rooftop) of

the subscriber’s home. So thebroadcaster directly connects to

the user. The middlemen like

local cable operators are not

there in the picture. DTH can

also reach the remotest of

areas since it does away with

the intermediate step of a cable

operator and the wires (cables)

that come from the cable

operator to our house. Asexplained above, in DTH

signals directly come from the

satellite to your DTH dish.

There are four serious

contenders for DTH services in

India. Like Doordarshan, Star,

Zee and Data Access.

Is DTH superior to cable

TV?

Yes, DTH offers better

quality picture than cable TV.

This is because cable TV in

India is analog. Despite digital

transmission and reception the

DTH- DIRECT TO HOME

Pankajini Behera

3rd Semester, 2010-11

cable transmission is stillanalog. DTH offers

stereophonic sound effects. It

can also reach remote areas

where terrestrial transmission

and cable TV have failed to

penetrate. Apart from enhanced

picture quality, DTH also allows

for interactive TV services such

as movie-on-demand, Internet

access, video conferencing and

e-mail. But the thing that DTH

has been going for it and that

the powerful broadcasting

companies like Star, Zee etc.

are pushing for it.

Why are broadcasters

pushing for DTH?

In DTH, the payments will be

made directly by the subscriberto the satellite company offering

the service. A big problem that

broadcasters face in India is the

issue of under-reporting of

subscribers by cable operators.

With no way to actually cross

check, the MSO’s (Multi Service

Cable Operator) and the

broadcasters lose a lot.

Broadcasters do not earn much

in subscription fees and are

mostly dependent on

advertisement revenue to cover

their costs, which is not

sustainable and does not offer

11



high growth in revenues for

broadcasters. For DTH,

broadcasters directly connect to

consumers and can actually grow

revenues with a growth in

subscriber base.Why do Doodarshan,

Zee, Star think DTH will work

in India?

Today, broadcasters

believe that the market is ripe for

DTH. The prices of the dish and

the set-top box have come down

significantly. Overall

investments required in putting

up a DTH infrastructure has

dropped and customers are also

reaping the benefits of more

attractive tariffs. The major thing

that DTH operators are betting

on that the service is coming at

a time when the Govt. is pushing

for CAS (Conditional Access

System), which will make cable

television more expensive,narrowing the tariff gap between

DTH and cable.

Will DTH be cheaper than

cable or more expensive?

DTH will be definitely more

expensive than cable as it exists

today. A set-top box is a must

for DTH. Earlier, when CAS

made set-top box mandatory for

households, the costs between

DTH and cable would not have

been too wide. On October

2002, siticable, which is owned

by ZEE, said that the cost of the

installation equipment, which

includes the receiver dish and the

set-top box, would be priced at

around Rs. 3,900. Siticable is

looking to rope in 1 million

subscribers in 15 months. Other

estimates say that digital cable

set-top box may cost Rs. 4,000, a

DTH decoder dish is unlikely to

cost less than Rs. 7,000. DTH’s

minimum subscription could be

priced around Rs. 500 per month.What is the history of

“India is not just a rising

power, it has already risen. Its

economy has risen at a

breathtaking rate…… we look

forward to a greater role for

India as the world state”,

marked by U.S, President

Barack Husain Obama in his

speech in Mumbai on his three

diplomatic benefit, they had no

importance like today; but in the

contemporary times U.S.

President has come to India forsolving the problem of

unemployment in U.S.. They

are giving much more

importance to India for

economic set up. Thirdly,

DTH in India?

DTH services were first

proposed in India in 1996. But

they did not pass approval

because there were concerns

over national security and acultural invasion. In 1997, the

Govt. even imposed a ban

when the Rupert Murdoch-

owned Indian Sky Broadcasting

(ISkyB) was about to launch its

DTH Services in India.

Finally in 2000, DTH

was allowed. The new policy

requires all operators to set up

earth stations in India within 12

months of getting a license.

DTH licenses in India will cost

$2.14 million and will be valid

for 10 years. The companies

offering DTH service will have

to have an Indian chief and

foreign equity has been capped

at 49 percent.

OBAMA IN THE LAND OF AHIMSA

Hemanta Kumar Pradhan

3rd semester, 2010-11

days tour to India.

It’s not a first time visit of

any US president to India; still it

is unique and memorable.

Firstly, Obama paid a visit to

India as the first Black American

president. Secondly,

predecessor’s of Obama were

visiting India for formality and

2



3

Obama touched many fields for

discussion and sang the glory

of India in his long stay ever by

any U.S, President.

Obama is trying to give

solace to Americans by creatingjobs, for which he came to India

for a strategic tie between India

and U.S. . President Obama

managed and announced

business deals worth $10 billion

in aviation, poser and other

sectors that will create 50,000

jobs in the U.S. Under fire at

home he also made a strong

pitch for New Delhi reducingtrade barriers. Seeking to

double bilateral trade and

create employment in the two

nations, he asked why India

could not be America’s top

trading partner from the 12th

position now.

Obama appeared too

strongly but for American

access to Indian market, saying

US Companies wanted to invest

more in India. He, however,

wanted India to cur barriers as

both could not be a one –way

street and effort should be

made for creation of jobs in both

the countries.

“Going forward that

commitment must be matchedby a steady reduction in barriers

to trade and foreign investments

from agriculture to

infrastructure, from retail to

telecom, because in a global

economy new growth and jobs

flow to countries that lose

barriers to trade and

investment,” Obama said in his

address to U.S.-India barriers

council as he began his maidenvisit to India.

Obama omitted the

“Pakistan” word in his sex-

minute speech at Mumbai’s Taj

Hotels- the site of the 26/11

terrorists attacks where he and

wife Michella stayed -

disappointed many, most of all

the BJP and the left.

Obama Like his

predecessors, avoided the

Pakistan matter because

Pakistan is a close assistance

of NATO and a Partner to

counter Terrorism in the soil of

Af-Pak border, America spends

heavy amount of revenue for

this act, from which Pakistanis

getting benefits out of it.

This Obama at the time of

Sworn-in to presidentship, had

told against India about

outsourcing of Jobs and to stop

the outsourcing, he called his

companies from Bangalore to

Buffalo city, which had given a

great suck to the IT sector. But

today same president has come

to India to borrow jobs fromIndia.

Obama started the policy

to make India happy by

supporting in the field of

terrorism eradication and a

permanent seat for India at a

reformed U.N Security Council.

“We welcome India as it

prepares to take seat at the

United Nations Security

Council,” said Obama in anaddress to members of both

houses of parliament. “And as

two global leaders, the United

States and India can partner for

global security- especially as

India serves on the Security

Council over the next two

years,” he said

Obama also sent a strong

message to Pakistan, saying

terrorist “safe haven” with in its

borders were “unacceptable,”

and asked it to bring terrorists

behind the Mumbai attacks to

Justice.

“… We will continue to

insist to Pakistan’s leaders that

terrorist safe-havens within their

borders are unacceptable, andthat the terrorists behind the

Mumbai attacks be brought to

justice,” the President said in his

35 minute address. Obama

said India and the U.S. were

working together, more closely

than ever, to counter terrorism.

After visiting the house of

Mahatma Gandhi whom he

looked for inspiration, U.S.

president Barack Obama on his

first day of visit, hailed the

Father of the Nation as “a hero

not just to India but to the world.”



4

Obama, for whom Gandhi

is his self-confessed hero

accompanied by his wife

Michella spent about 45 minute

going around the simple, old

style, two storeyed building onLabunan Road in ‘south

Mumbai where the Father of the

Nation stayed during his visits

to Bombay. He said that Gandhi

is the root of his inspiration,

where he is today, only for

Gandhi. He saluted the Land of

Ahimsa with its owner Gandhi.

During his Visit, Obama

met Mumbai’s 26/11 victim

family members, school

children and orphans. He is

very much pleased with the

hospitality and with India’s

concept ‘Atithi Devo Bhavo’. Ithas given a special place to

India. Obama expressed with

astonishment on Mumbai ‘R

Kar’s patience and work culture

after 26/11 havoc. He praised

the heterogeneous culture of

India.

Obama discussed with

Sonia Gandhi over nuclear

The highly controversial

multi storeyed adarsh co

operative housing society scam

is spurning out new revealationswith every passing hour and a

lot needs to be done before the

real picture comes infront of the

nation. The 31 storeyed building

named adarsh housing society

in kolaba mumbai has become

the catchment area for a

massive poltical controversy.

The 100 metre tall housing

society complex,which is

spread over an area of 6490

square metres in the highly

expensive kolaba region of

mumbai has instigated a lot of

debate. The adarsh society is

ADARSH: HOUSING SCAM

Dhananjay Patra

1st Semester, 2010-11

located in one of the world’s

most expensive region. This

apartment block being

constructed in mumbai hasbeen hit by allegations of

corruption including the charges

that the flats meant for kargil

heroes and war widows ,were

given to top bureaucrats, relative

of politicians, former army and

navy chief and many others.

This land was under the

possession of colaba army

station. After the kargil war, fewarmy personnel demanded the

land for building flats to

accommodate and reward the

heroes of the kargil operation

and those who had laid down

their lives for the protection of

their motherland. Initially society

members comprised of 40

members and included only thedefence personnel. The present

list had 103 members out of

which only 37 belonged to the

army and only 3 members had

any connection with the kargil

war. And the scam is completely

related to the allotment of land.

Documents revealed that

the land had been handed over

by the revenue department of

Maharashtra govt. to adarsh

society in 2003. Promoters of

the society were given a notice

by the defence ministry

However the agreement was

liability Act and to identify

Pakistan as 26/11 perpetrator

with Sushma Swaraj Leader of

the opposition. Then talked

about India, V.S. pact on clean

energy Technology.Obama’s visit has given a

new horizon of partnership with

India and U.S. This visit will

show our importance in front of

the world mass. Whole world

will know, India is a world power,

to whom America is giving much

more importance. It’s

beginning….! Jai Hind.



5

nullified a year later in 2004. At

this point of time both the

revenue and defence ministry in

Maharashtra says that they

were not involved with the

project or land from the verybeginning other than handing it

over to the adarsh society. The

revenue dept. said that the land

of adarsh society is owned by

the state government.

In the year 2008, the scam

was exposed by the NAPM

(National Alliance People Moment)

led by medha patekar ,by filling

complains with the defence

ministry and the environment

dept. and also the state govt.

On the basis of the complaint ,

defence ministry initiated action

and the dept. of environment

issued a showcause notice to

the society. Complain was also

filed at the Brihan Mumbai

Municipal Corporation and the

Mumbai Metropolitan Region

D e v e l o p m e n t A u t h o r i t y

(MMRDA).According to the

investigation report by major

Indian news channels, atleast

three former chief ministers of

Maharashtra were involved in

the allotment of housingprocess. Former chief minister

of Maharashtra Vilas Rao

Deshmukh, Sushil Kumar

Shinde and Narayan Rane, not

just gave clearance to the

controversial building but also

helped in the allotments of

choosing one.

Sucked into a controversy

over corrupt allotment of flats,

meant for kargil war widows in

Mumbai the former

Maharashtra chief minister

Ashok Chavan, offered his

resignation to congress

supremo Sonia Gandhi and it

was accepted later. Congress

had also appointed two

members panel comprising

senior ministers Pranab

Mukherjee and A.K.Antony to

look into the affair while the

opposition BJP had demanded

immediate resignation of

Mr.Chavan. No doubt, it is a

shame on the Indians those

who are involved in adarshscam. Corruption in defence

sector is definitely a matter of

great concern. Really, its an

insult to kargil martyres.

An extensive probe is

required in the case to ensure

all the culprits involved in the

scam should face a strict action.

CBI is on its way to investigate

the scam. The adarsh housing

society scam is still in deep

controversy with a lage number

of questions, being left

unanswered. Let us hope

proper enquiry and justice will

be there after the conclusion.

SAVE INDIA AND ITS

DIGNITY.

1. Calculate the time taken to commute to the location.

2. Be conservative in your calculation.

3. Get a central organizer.

4. Be clear on the location you need to go to and how to reach it.

5. Get everything ready beforehand.6. Wake up immediately when your alarm rings.

7. Bring something to engage you during the trip.

8. Synchronize all your devices to the same time.

9. Plan enough time for the task you are doing before.

10. Set an alarm to inform you when you need to leave.

10 Tips to Be On Time



6

As we all know that twitteris the latest and largest

networking mode of

communication. It is essential

for all of us to know the basic

aspect of twitter and how it

functions. As it is becoming

more popular in this present

world, it is the need of the time

to know more about twitter.

What is Twitter?

Twitter is a social

networking and micro blogging

service that enables its users to

send and read messages

known as tweets. Tweets are

text-based posts of up to 140

characters displayed on the

author’s profile page and

delivered to the author’ssubscribers who are known as

followers . Since late 2009,

users can follow lists of authors

instead of following individual

authors. All users can send and

receive tweets via Twitter

website, Short Message

Service (SMS) or external

applications. While the service

itself costs nothing to use,

accessing it through SMS may

incur phone service provider

fees.

Since its creation in 2006,

by Jack Dorsey, Twitter hasgained notability and popularity

worldwide. It is sometimes

described as “SMS of the

Internet.” The use of Twitter’s

application programming

interface for sending and

receiving text messages by

other applications often eclipses

direct use of Twitter. What is

Twitter is the new and unique

question, the modern man asks

today? It has many different

things to many different people.

It can be used by a family to

keep in touch, or a company to

coordinate business, or the

media to keep people informed

or a writer to build up fan base.

Twitter is micro-blogging. Itis social messaging. It is an

event coordinator, a business

tool, news reporting service and

a marketing utility. Micro-

blogging is defined as a quick

update usually containing a very

limited number of characters. It

is a popular feature of social

networks like Face book where

you can update your status, butit has become best known

because of Twitter.

In essence, micro-blogging

is for people who want a blog

bur don’t want to blog. A

personal blog can keep peopleinformed on what is going on in

your life, but not everyone

wants to spend an hour crafting

a beautiful post about the

vibrant colors seen on a

butterfly spotted in the front

time. Sometimes, you just want

to say “went shopping for a new

car but didn’t find anything” or

“watch Dancing with the Stars

and Warren Sapp sure can

dance.”

So what is Twitter? It’s a

great place to keep people

informed on what you are up to

without the need to spend a lot

of time crafting an entire post

on the subject. You just say

what’s up and leave it at that.Twitter is Social

Messaging

While Twitter may have

started as a micro-blogging

service, it is grown into much

more than simply a tool to type

in quick status updates. So

when asked “ What is Twitter?”,

I often described it as a cross

between blogging and instant

messaging, though even that

doesn’t do it justice.

Put simply, Twitter is social

messaging. With the ability to

TWITTER IS A MINIATURE BLOG

Sagar Kumar Bhuyan




7

follow people and have

followers, and the ability to have

interacted with Twitter on your

cell phone, Twitter has become

the perfect social messaging

tool. Whether you are out onthe town and want to coordinate

with a group of people as to

what hot spot to hit next, or

keeping people informed of

developments at a company-

sponsored event, Twitter is a

great tool for quickly

communicating a message to a

group of people.

Twitter is News

Reporting:

Turn on CNN, Fox News or

any other news-reporting

service and you’ll likely see a

news ticker streaming across

the bottom of the television set.

In a digital world that is relying

on the internet more and more

for news, that streaming tickeris twitter.

Outdoor festivals like the

South-by-Southwest festival in

Austin, TX and major events like

the E3 conference have shown

what a great resource Twitter

can be for quickly reportingnews to a huge group of people.

Faster and more immediate

than a blog, Twitter has been

embraced by the “new media”

of the blogosphere and has

slowly won acceptance among

traditional media outlets.

Twitter is Social Media

Marketing:

Twitter has become a

favourite target for social media

marketing. This new form of

getting the message out has

been used effectively by Barack

Obama during his Presidential

campaign, and is used by

everyone from magazines to

movie stars as a quick way to

connect with the audience.With utilities like Twitter feed, it

is easy to convert an RSS feed

into Twitter updates. This

makes it easy to use Twitter as

a form of social media

marketing.

In this modern era everything is becoming simple and

accessible to everyone. The

message and the mode of

message is reaching far and

beyond to the reach of the

people. Unlike the electronic

media the new invention that is

the twitter plays very vital role in

reaching the short message

within the fraction of second.

Thanks to the modern inversion

which has provided us to be

equipped and enlighten with the

mode of communication. Thus

the blog, twitter and face book,

are very essential to the modern

man. It is the need of time to be

equipped with these latest

developments so that it will

enhance in our social networking.

When Internet was

developed, the founding fathers

of Internet hardly had anyinclination that Internet could

also be misused for criminal

activities. Today, there are

many disturbing things

happening in cyberspace.

CYBER CRIME- A THREAT TO SECURITY

Abhisekh Patnaik


Cybercrime refers to all the

activities done with criminal

intent in cyberspace. These

could be either the criminal

activities in the conventional

sense or could be activities,

newly evolved with the growth

of the new medium. Because

of the anonymous nature of the

Internet, it is possible to engage

into a variety of criminalactivities with impunity and

people with intelligence, have

been grossly misusing this

aspect of the Internet to be

responsible for criminal



8

activities in cyberspace. The

field of Cybercrime is just

emerging and new forms of

criminal activities in cyberspace

are coming to the forefront with

the passing of each new day.The only difference between

crime and cybercrime is that a

computer or computer network

is necessary to complete the

crime or is the target of the

crime. Despite the tools both

criminals and cybercriminals

use, they can find potential

victims of predators, fraud,

piracy, destruction, robbery,

harassment, money laundering

and any other nasty intent.

The first recorded cyber

crime took place in the year

1820. That is not surprising

considering the fact that the

abacus, which is thought to be

the earliest form of a computer,

has been around since 3500

B.C. in India, Japan and China.

The era of modern computers,

however, began with the

analytical engine of Charles

Babbage. Cyber crime is an evil

having its origin in the growing

dependence on computers in

modern life. In a day and age

when everything from

microwave ovens andrefrigerators to nuclear power

plants is being run on

computers, cyber crime has

assumed rather evil

implications. Major Cyber

crimes in the recent past include

the Citibank rip off. US $10

million were falsely transferred

out of the bank into a bank

account in Switzerland. A

Russian hacker group led byVladimir Kevin, a renowned

hacker, committed the attack.

The group compromised the

bank’s security systems.

Vladimir was allegedly using his

office computer at AO Saturn,

a computer firm in St.

Petersburg and Russia to break

into Citibank computers. He

was finally arrested onHeathrow airport on his way to

Switzerland.

Cyber crimes are generally

defined as any type of illegal

activity that makes use of the

Internet, a private or public

network, or an in-house

computer system. While many

forms of cybercrimes revolved

around the appropriation of

proprietary information for

unauthorized use, other

examples are focused more on

an invasion of privacy. As a

growing problem around the

world, many countries are

beginning to implement laws

and other regulatory

mechanisms in an attempt tominimize the incidence of

cybercrime.

Cyber crime can also

involve illegal access to

company information. Just as

with individuals, criminals can

steal financial information and

make purchases using the data.

The criminal may also withdraw

funds from company reserves,

transferring the stolen fundsthrough a verity of accounts and

making it virtually impossible to

locate stolen assets. In other

cases, it is not money or credit

information the criminal seeks;

obtaining proprietary client

information and selling it to

competitors is another example

of this type of high tech criminal

activity.

In many countries

around the world, nations have

passed cybercrime law

packages that make the

issuance of spam a criminal act.

Spam is loosely defined as

unsolicited emails that are

simultaneously sent to

thousands or even millions of

emails accounts. Some nations

have enacted specific

conditions that must apply in

order for the spam to not be

considered a cybercrime, such

as providing a means for the

recipient to pick out of receiving

further email solicitations from

the sender. As the problem

grows, more politicians promotethe idea of some sort of national

or international cybercrime act

that would specifically address

the use of spam and either limit

or eliminate the practice



9

altogether.

Mr. Pavan Duggal, who

is the president of

Cyberlaws.net and consultant

of India, in a report, has clearly

defined the various categoriesand types of cybercrimes.

Cybercrimes can be

basically divided into 3 major

parts:

1. Cybercrimes against

persons

2. Cybercrimes against

property

3. Cybercrimes againstGovernment

Cybercrimes committed

against persons include various

crimes like transmission of child

pornography, harassment of

any one with the use of a

computer such as email. The

trafficking, distribution, posting

and dissemination of obscene

material including pornography

and indecent exposure,

constitutes one of the most

important Cybercrimes known

today. The potential harm of

such a crime to humanity can

hardly be amplified. This is one

Cybercrime which threatens to

undermine the growth of the

younger generations as alsoleave irreversible scars and

injury on the younger

generation, if not controlled.

A minor girl in Ahmedabad

was attracted to private place

through cyber chat by a man,

who, along with his friends,

attempted to gang rape her. As

some passer-by heard her cry,

she was rescued.

Another example whereinthe damage was not done to a

person but to the masses is the

case of Melissa virus. The

Melissa virus first appeared on

the internet in March 1999. It

spread rapidly throughout

computer systems in the United

States and Europe. It is

estimated that the virus caused

80 million dollars in damages to

computers worldwide.

The second category of

Cyber-crimes is that of

Cybercrimes against all forms of

property. These crimes include

computer vandalism

(destruction of others’ property),

transmission of harmful

programmes. E.g. - A Mumbai-based upstart engineering

company lost a say and much

money in the business when the

rival company, an industry

major, stole the technical

database from their computers

with the help of a corporate

cyber spy.

The third category of

Cyber-crimes relate to

cybercrimes against

government. Cyberterrorism is

one of the distinct kind of crime

in this category. The growth of

internet has shown that the

medium of Cyberspace is being

used by individuals and groups

to threaten the international

governments as also to terrorise

the citizens of a country. This

crime manifests itself intoterrorism when an individual

“cracks” into a government or

military maintained website.

In a report of

expressindia.com, it was said

that internet was becoming a

boon for the terrorist

organizations. According to Mr.

A.K. Gupta, Deputy Director

(Co-ordination), CBI, terrorist

outfits are increasingly using

internet to communicate and

move funds. “Lashker-e-Taiba

is collecting contributions online

from its sympathizers all over

the world. During the

investigation of the Red Fort

shootout in December 2000, the

accused Ashfaq Ahmed of this

terrorist group revealed that the

militants are making extensive

use of the internet to

communicate with the

operatives and the

sympathizers and also using the

medium for intra-bank transfer

for funds.”

Researchers must explore

the problems in greater detail tolearn the origins, methods and

motivations of this growing

criminal group. Decision-

makers in business,

government and law



10

enforcement must react to this

emerging body of knowledge.

They must develop policies,

methods and regulations to

detect incursions, investigate

and prosecute the perpetratorsand prevent future crimes. In

addition, Police Departments

should immediately take steps

to protect their own information

systems from intrusion. Internet

provides anonymity: This is one

of the reasons why criminals try

to get away easily when caught

and also give them a chance to

commit the crime again.

Therefore, we users should be

careful. We should not disclose

any personal information on the

internet or use credit cards and

if we find anything suspicious ine-mails or if the system is

hacked, it should be

immediately reported to the

Police officials who investigate

cyber-crimes rather than trying

to fix the problem by ourselves.

Computer crime is a multi-

billion dollar problem. Law

enforcement must seek ways to

keep the drawbacks from

overshadowing the great

promise of the computer age.

Cybercrime is a menace that has

to be tackled effectively not only

by the official but also by theusers by co-operating with the

law. The founding fathers of

internet wanted it to be a boon

to the whole world and it is upon

us to keep this tool of

modernization as a boon and not

make it a bane to the society.

Journalism caters to the

unbiased objectivity of

presenting news to the

enmasse. But what counts

more is the ethical issue that

gets demarked while the

concept of ‘paid news’ comes

into existence. This

phenomenon is a rising concern

that feels it’s presence in the

present scenario. Private

entities are making their profit

which elevates the malpractices

of media houses therebycreating corrupt personnel.

While services and studies still

continue on this section by

various authorities and

departments, media seems to

lose its original motto. The

practice of offering envelopes

to reporters remained visible

across Asian media and

especially India and china for

decades. But lately the practice

appears to be becoming

institutionalized, not by poverty-

stricken reporters but by the

publishers themselves. It is

alleged that many media

houses inIndia irrespective of

their volume of business have

started selling news space aftersome understanding with the

politicians and corporate people

without disguising those items

as advertisements.

The India media, as a

INTEGRITY RISK- PAID NEWS

Priya Priyadarshini


whole, often plays the role of

constructive opposition in the

Parliament as well as in various

Legislative Assemblies of the

State. Journalists are, by and

large, honoured and accepted

as the moral guide in the Indian

society. While the newspapers

in Europe and America are

losing their readership annually,

the Indian print media is still

going stronger with huge

circulation figure and market

avenues. For the democraticIndia, the media continues to be

acclaimed as the fourth

important pillar after judiciary,

parliament and bureaucratic

set-up. But unfortunately a



11

cancer in the form of paid news

has been diagnosed with the

Indian media in the recent past.

Millions of rupees have been

reportedly paid to media

houses.Recent assembly elections

in Maharashtra and elsewhere

revealed the spread of the

pernicious practice of accepting

money for giving editorial space

to contestants. The

Maharashtra election campaign

formed to be the leading

example in this direction. Paid

news phenomena were

considered while the election

campaign was carried on by the

Chief Minister of the state in the

year 2009.

Even the role of Election

Commission of India (ECI)

comes as a noteworthy one. On

October 4, 2010, the ECI met

the representatives of severalnational and state political

parties to discuss issues related

Electronic Voting Machine, paid

news, money and power in

elections and the criminalization

of elections. The meeting came

out with certain suggestion

regarding the checking of ‘Paid

News’. The officers felt that

amendments can be made inthe election laws thereby

including the concept of ‘paid

news’ in the list of corrupt

electoral practices. It will be a

serious entry in record or

registers maintained by poll

observes. Adding more to it

comes the joint venture of ECI

and Press Council of India

(PCI). ECI has asked help from

PCI in order to monitor themedia related practices like

“Paid News”.

The Press council of India

is the body that tries to maintain

decorum in the media world of

India. It has its own way of

defining the concept. Paid

news as defined by the PCI-

Any news or analysis appearing

in the media (Print and

electronic) for a price in cash or

kind as consideration. PCI

report states it as an

undermining democracy

parameter for the country. The

report was prepared by the sub-

committee member of the PCI

comprising Paranjoy Guha

Thakurta and K. Srinivas Reddy

which states “Paid News” as a

menace that has taken the form

of epidemic. The report speaks

of fraud created by such works

further categorizing it into 3

levels.

Firstly, the reader of the

publication or the viewer of the

television programme is

deceived into believing thatwhat is essentially an

advertisement is in fact,

independently produced news

content.

Second, by not officially

declaring the expenditure

incurred on planting “Paid

news” items, the candidate

standing for election violates the

conduct of election rules, 1961

which meant to be enforced bythe ECI under the

Representation of the people

Act, 1951.

Thirdly, by not

accounting for the money

received from the candidates

the concerned media company

or its representatives are

violating the provisions of the

Companies Act, 1956, as well

as the Income Tax Act, 1961,

among the other laws.

Although, it is not a

concern for the election

department only, yet the pre

election proceedings of Bihar

added more to this malpractice.

Bihar was assumed to be a test

cause in this regard. Though,muscle power rules over there

yet the paid news phenomena

cannot be overlooked.

A man can doevery work, whattype is it, but a

lazy man can notdo a work, howeasy it is.

Swamy Vivekananda



12

Online news as it existstoday is great for 24/7 access,

real-time updates, increased

transparency, and discussions.

Online journalism has certain

attributes of print journalism and

of broadcast journalism and

other attributes that are unique

to the Web. Frequently

websites offer news articles to

be read, just as they would be

in a newspaper. At other times,

the audience may select a video

clip, so the website resembles

a TV broadcast. An online story

that takes full advantages of the

new medium allows the reader

to become a participant,

choosing his or her own path

through the information

presented.

Online journalism may

allow readers to respond

immediately and directly to the

writer or editor via e-mail or even

in a live chat. In addition, many

sites provide space for readers

to post their feedback or

opinions, so others can read

what they have written andrespond.

Every day, millions of

people use search engines to

find products or services. 90%

of those people will click links

on the first page of the searchresults. In online journalism, it

is important for the site to reach

a large number of readers.

However, this cannot be

achieved unless your website is

functioning properly and looks

good to visitors and search

engines.

Most importantly, online

journalists should be able to

learn how to utilize a balanced

mix of editorial and marketing

techniques and tools in their

normal day-to-day work. Being

capable of writing great content

and knowing how to distribute

it and market it efficiently online

is definitely one of the most

valuable pair of skills of anonline reporter.

Search engine

optimization (SEO) is the

process of improving the

visibility of a website or a web

page in search engines via the

“natural” or un-paid search

results. SEO helps to bring

more visitors/readers to the site.

An Online Journalist should

need to know how the news can

reach to readers through search

engines. There are many sites

with good content that are not

visible by readers. SEO is a tool

A SPOON OF SEO IN ONLINE JOURNALISM

Sriharsha Barada

1st semester, 2010-2011

which will help online journalismto reach its readers and

potential customers. An online

journalist should use a spoon of

SEO elements that are given

below.

Keyword Research:

Search Engine Optimization

services start with identifying

the keywords your target visitors

uses when searching for your

products or services. It is an

important step of the

optimization process. You have

to reach the right audience to

generate a high return on

investment. Choose the best

keywords based on search

frequency and relevance to

your website. Carefullytargeting your campaign from

the start will lead to a greater

success.

Competitive Analysis:

The internet is an extremely

competitive market place.

There are other companies

targeting your keywords and

reaching your potential

customers. Analyzing your

competition’s online strength

and weakness can reveal

opportunities for you.



The blog and the twitter are

the latest and largest

networking mode of

communication. In the modern

world this net working is quite

easy, simple and accessible to

many. For the better translation

of one’s ideas, opinions and

feelings the mode of

communication is very essentialin the present day. The human

beings are the most progressing

being because they are never

satisfied with the present. The

earnest search and research

BLOG: A NEW VOICE TO CYBER WORLD

Ashok Kumar Nayak


13

keeps them going in discovering

new and noble things. Ever

since his existence, the journey

is from the Paleolithic age to the

cyber age, it is an unending

process. The blog and the

twitter play very vital role in the

new mode of communication.

A blog, or weblog is

defined as, ‘It is a personalonline journal that is frequently

updated and intended for

general public consumption’.

Blogs are defined by their

format: a series of entries

posted to a single page in

reverse-chronological order.

Blogs generally represent the

personality of the author or

reflect the purpose of the

website that hosts the blog. A

blog is a website in which items

are posted on a regular basis

and displayed in reverse

chronological order. The termblog is a shortened form of

weblog or web log. Authoring a

blog, maintaining a blog or

adding an article to an existing

blog is called “blogging”.

Mobile SEO: With the

development and Optimizing

for mobile SEO is a unique

strategy with keywords that

facilitates quick and easy

viewing of the most importantinformation about your site.

International Search:

Global search marketing

targets international and

multilingual news so that

companies can reach out

beyond their national borders

to a worldwide reader. This is

the right strategies to

effectively market the site and

build international search

engine rankings. The site

should be indexed in more

Video SEO: Modern

search engine optimization can

include a range of multimedia

strategies to build rankings and

drive traffic to site. Search

engines provide video results

on related keywords. This will

help to develop a multimedia

campaign that complements

your SEO efforts and allows

online journalism to reach a

broader audience by

optimizing videos for search.

Web MarketingAnalytics: The website should

be by closely and regularly

analyzed. Web Analytics

provides all the relevant

metrics and data related to site

visitors to determine what

keywords and search engines

are driving the most traffic, and

what changes need to be made

to your site to increase relevanttraffic and conversions.

All the above actions will

take a site to stay in first page

of search engine but nobody

can give guarantee for this.

However, the site will come with

a higher position than earlier.

It’s not important for an online

journalist need to be a

programmer but should be

multi-talented to understand the

readers and potential

customers.

than one search engines.



14

Individual articles on a blog are

called “blog posts,” “posts” or

“entries”. A person who posts

these entries is called a

“blogger”. A blog comprises text,

hypertext, images, and links toother web pages and to video,

audio and other files. Blogs use

a conversational style of

documentation. Blogs are

usually written by one person

and are updated pretty

regularly. Blogs are often written

on a particular topic.

There are many

different types of blogs, differing

not only in the type of content,

but also in the way that content

is delivered or written. There is

personal, corporate and

organizational and media types

blog being used in the

communication. The personal

blog, an ongoing diary or

commentary by an individual, is

the traditional, most common

blog. Personal bloggers usually

take pride in their blog posts,

even if their blog is never read.

Blogs often become more than

a way to just communicate; they

become a way to reflect on life,

or works of art. Corporate and

organizational blogs- Blogs

used internally to enhance thecommunication and culture in a

corporation or externally for

marketing, branding or public

relations purposes are called

corporate blogs. Similar blogs

for clubs and societies are

called club blogs, group blogs,

or by similar names; typical use

is to inform members and other

interested parties of club and

member activities. By mediatype-A blog comprising videos

is called a blog, one comprising

links is called a link log, a site

containing a portfolio of

sketches is called a sketch blog

or one comprising photos is

called a photo blog. Blogs with

shorter posts and mixed media

types are called tumble logs.

Blogs that are written ontypewriters and then scanned

are called typecast or typecast

blogs.

Twitter is a social

networking and micro blogging

service that enables its users to

send and read messages

known as tweets . Tweets are

text-based posts of up to 140

characters displayed on the

author’s profile page and

delivered to the author’s

subscribers who are known as

followers . Senders can restrict

delivery to those in their circle

of friends or, by default, allow

open access. Since late 2009,

users can follow lists of authors

instead of following individualauthors. All users can send and

receive tweets via the Twitter

website, Short Message

Service external applications.

Since its creation in 2006 by

Jack Dorsey, Twitter has gained

notability and popularity

worldwide. It is sometimes

described as “SMS of the

Internet.” The use of Twitter’s

application programminginterface for sending and

receiving text messages by

other applications often eclipses

direct use of Twitter.

Twitter is News Reporting:

turn on CNN, Fox News or any

other news-reporting service

and you’ll likely see a news

ticker streaming across the

bottom of the television set. In

a digital world that is relying on

the Internet more and more for

news, that streaming ticker is

twitter. Twitter can be for quickly

reporting news to a huge group

of people. Faster and more

immediate than a blog, Twitter

has been embraced by the “new

media” of the blogosphere and

has slowly won acceptance

among traditional media outlets.

Twitter is Social Media

Marketing Twitter has become

a favorite target for social media

marketing. This new form of

getting the message out has

been used effectively by Barack

Obama during his Presidential

campaign, and is used byeveryone from magazines to

movie stars as a quick way to

connect with an audience.

Blogging and twitter can

result in a range of legal



15

liabilities and other unforeseen

consequences. Defamation or

liability- Several cases have

been brought before the

national courts against bloggers

concerning issues ofdefamation or liability. One can

be panelized under the court of

law if the blog or the tweet

contains some remark against

some individual or the

organization or the renowned

company. The popularity of the

Blog and twitter came by 2004

and 2006 respectively. The role

of this new technology became

increasingly mainstream of

communication. As political

consultants, news services and

candidates began using them as

tools for outreach and opinion

forming. Blogging and twitter

were established by politicians

and political candidates toexpress opinions on war and

other issues and cemented

blogs’ role as a news source.

The impact of blogging upon the

mainstream media has also

been acknowledged by

governments.

Thus in the globalization

era, whole world seems as a

village. Due to this new media

technology and the blog and the

twitter uniting all of us in a single

thread. In the journalism era, all

citizens can be a reporter

through a blog and tweet. Within

a few movements we can share

our ideas, opinion, feeling,

experience and all sorts ofknowledge to any person in any

part of the world. The cyber

world provides us to share our

personal things with others. The

cyber world enhances our

knowledge and widens our

horizon of the mind set. Thanks

to the cyber world which not only

facilitate us, but also enable and

equipped us to know manythings in connecting the social

net working.

YELLOW JOURNALISM : A MUTATED VERSION

Ankita Ray


Yellow Journalism is amutated division of Journalism

that goes against the key

principles of reporting as an

unbiased and objective tool for

conveying the news. Yellow

Journalism is “journalism that

exploits, distorts, or

exaggerates the news to create

sensations and attract readers.”

Yellow journalism ‘believes’ in agross misreporting and

underreporting of facts, in

playing up news that is likely to

create a frenzy, stringing an

emotional chord with the

masses, feeding the appetite forsensationalism, scandal

mongering and exciting public

opinion. Yellow Journalism or

the yellow press is a type of

journalism that presents little or

no legitimate well- researched

news and instead uses eye-

catching headlines to sell more

newspapers. By extension

“Yellow Journalism” is usedtoday as a pejorative to decry

any journalism that treats news

in an unprofessional or

unethical fashion.

When a paper or magazine

is accused of yellow journalism,it means they have ignored real

news-worthy topics in favour of

sensationalized headlines and

stories that are strictly designed

to sell the magazine or paper.

For instance, rather than

focusing on the budget deficit,

a newspaper runs a front cover

story on a celebrity that has

been spotted in a rehabilitationfacility. Or, rather than focusing

on disasters in other countries,

a news television spends it time

covering the shocking affairs

and allegations against a



16

popular sports star.

It all started, some

historians believe, with the

onset of the rapid

industrialization that was

happening all round the world.The industrial revolution

eventually affected the

newspaper industry, allowing

newspapers access to

machines that could easily print

thousands of papers in a single

night. This is believed to have

brought into play one of the

most important characteristics

of yellow journalism- the

endless drive for circulation.

And unfortunately, the

publisher’s greed was very

often put before ethics.

The phrase was coined in

the 1890s to describe the tactics

employed in furious competition

between two New York City

newspapers, the World and theJournal . The term was first

coined based on a series of

occurrences in and following the

year of 1895. This was the year

in which William Randolph

Hearst, the son of a California

mining tycoon, purchased the

New York journal, quickly

becoming a key rival of

Pulitzer’s. The term was derivedthrough a series of peculiar

circumstances from a cartoon

by the famous 19 th century

cartoonist; Robert outcault

called “ The Yellow Kid”. The

cartoon was first published in

The World, until Hearst hired

him away to produce the strip

in his newspaper. Pulitzer then

hired another artist to produce

the same strip in his newspaper.This comic strip happened to

use a new special, non-smear

yellow ink and because of the

significance of the comic strip

the term “yellow journalism” was

coined by critics.

India has increasingly

fallen prey to this contagion and

stands today under its heavy

and gaudy canvas. The

average Indian will identify the

symptoms of this jaundiced

journalism with ease. On one

level the foul play is visual.

Large fonts, dramatic colours,

irrelevant and theatrical

photography are used in an

attempt to embellish the most

trivial news. At the same time

the language used for the bold

headlines or newsflashes is

inflaming and exaggerated,

forcing the reader or viewer to

halt abruptly and take notice.

The media often plays along

with the rumour mill not

bothering to verify fact, faking

quotes and printing bogus

interviews.It is natural, therefore, that

Indian Journalism has begun to

struggle with credibility ratings.

It can be ranked somewhere

between jorno-politicans. With

the advent of cable and satellite

news, the print media has also

embraced a manufacturing

news culture and a docudrama

culture. The dividing line

between fiction and non-fiction,good and bad have begun to

blur. Precious human values,

family values, age old and

tested, healthy moral principles

are being trivialized just for

making quick money.

The media in India, in a

number of ways, exists as a

degraded inferior version of

itself, compromised in its ethics,

stirring panic and grappling for

attention in ways that should

have been outgrown long ago.

India as a newly born country

needs pure unbiased news of

relevance. As all infants, Young

India can’t always be expected

to tell the difference between

what it needs to know and what

it wants to know. One would

expect the experienced media

moguls to be in a better place

to decide upon what news

deserves notice and what can

be thwarted. But perhaps this

discretion is blurrier than

anticipated. India needs facts,

not biased opinions. Our media

needs not to stand big andlooming, but instead, to mature

and grow.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011

