My guest post at Kafila.org, “Child prodigies and television news scripts… aaaw!”. The essay critically analyses the script of NDTV‘s news report on Lavinashree and what possible meanings it might offer. Read it in Kafila.org here.

This advert for Sunny hair care products (Hindustan Times, Del, 25 Dec 2008, p2), though explicitly not stating that it regrows hair nonetheless presents two pictures — before and after. The copy does say “Keep alive your hopes of healthy problem free hair”. What representation is Bakson’s advertisement for its products trying to promote? That [...]

Times Of India, Delhi edition 23 Dec, brought out a full page titled “Staying Safe: Security Solutions” with the tagline “A Consumer Connect Initiative”, whatever that may mean. Two articles, one headlined “Thwarting terror networks” and the other “Schools step up disaster management” perhaps aimed at helping advertisers connect their message with intended audience? Should [...]

An earlier post (read here) took a critical look at a report on primary education by Hindustan Times, especially when the subject of the report is a private education provider (KidZee) who has recently announced plans to invest Rs 350 cr (Rs 3.5 bn or $74.3 mn) to set up 300 schools across India. It [...]

Sport and nationalism mix well. Sport and mass media in a commercialised environment mix well. And now sport, terrorism, nationalism, televisuality mix well. And the newsrooms of all three major newspapers think alike. A minor gripe: would Sachin dedicate a win for the 100,000 Indian farmers who committed suicide in the last decade or the [...]

This advert for Maggi’s ready to use spice pastes (Times of India, Del, 16 Dec 08, p1)  promises us “naa kaatna, naa bhunana; perfect khana rojana” (no chopping, no frying; perfect food everyday). Modernising the kitchen for the modern woman. I guess we live in an age of post-gendered roles in which it does not [...]

Pakistani newspaper Dawn‘s investigation, a follow up to Observer‘s inquiries into surviving Mumbai attacks (26 Nov 08) terrorist Kasab, has been picked and relayed by all three key Indian newspapers from Delhi. The Indian Express, Times of India, and Hindustan Times used the Dawn report (read here) as irrefutable proof of Pakistani involvement. Indian media [...]

Times of India reports that in September this year the Indian airline company Jet Airways had sacked about 1000 staff as part of its organisational restructuring (read here). This had been  notified to its shareholders (and strangely the media had no wind of it). However, in the month of October the airline sacked over 1000 staff [...]

It has usually been argued that the mass mediated nature of terrorism works two ways. Terrorism afterall is symbiotically intertwined with the spectacle hungry round-the-clock media and its consumers. Thus, we are provided the spectacle of terror, to which we are transfixed with shock and awe. The security establishment has always struggled to keep up [...]

A look at the negative adverts of the BJP that appeared on Nov 28 in the Indian Express, Delhi, attempting to capitalise on the Mumbai attacks. The Congress party responded on Nov 29 by focusing on issues of governance.