'COVER'ING A NEWS STORY

Here in India, in our jargon its called 'cover journalism' - the type of journalism where you accept cash (or freebies) for stories. So, journalists could be slipped an envelope or 'cover' containing cash and he/she will take care of the rest. There are lots of journalists who are very accepting of this sort of thing.

The American military has institutionalised 'cover journalism' - especially in Iraq. Following is a very brief excert from a New York Times article.

The most critical portion of the report concerns the military's creation in 2004 of an entity called the Baghdad Press Club, in which Iraqi journalists were paid if they covered and produced stories about American reconstruction efforts, such as openings of schools and sewage plants.

THE SUN RISES

HI all....Thanks for the comments to the previous post and apologies for not being able to reply. The new government is firmly in place and Vijaykanth has won afterall. The swearing-in ceremony was a disaster held in the nauseating heat of an indoor stadium bursting beyond capacity. Sun TV's pre-eminence was on display with their cameras getting the best positions and live coverage of a horribly organised event. Im not too excited about the DMK coming to power and obviously neither is Jayalalithaa. She has gone to the extent of saying that handing over power to the new government is like garlanding a monkey. I dont know about monkeys but what concerns me is the DMK's hold over the media and its ability to blot out all critical points of view. Tamil daily 'Dinakaran' is owned by them and its cut-throat pricing of 1 rupee is seriously threatening the existence of papers like the Dina Thanthi. SUN TV of course, continues to beam down propaganda and Dayanidhi Maran's ownership of the Telecom Ministry will cause even the most daring neutral channels to pause and think.