#IamParsikHill - IamDying in Business India

#Shikshit Beti – Saksham Bharat: Educate Girls – Empower India

An Open Letter To Mass Communication Institutions

Hello Directors of Communication colleges,

As you are aware, the pan-India premier communicators’ body Public relations Council of India (PRCI) and its youth wing Young Communicators’ Club (YCC) have been on an overdrive with Social Communication (or communicating for society).

As part of this endeavour, each year around July 1, we focus on Daughters of India and undertake communication programmes. 

July 1 was the official birthday of  late Indo-American astronaut Kalpana Chawla, who had an illustrious career and died along with six crew members of the Space Shuttle Columbia which disintegrated over Texas during its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, just 16 minutes before landing. Even after her tragic death, Kalpana continues to be a shining example and icon for many girls around the world.

For this year’s Daughers’ Day, we at PRCI have planned the theme - #Shikshit Beti – Saksham Bharat (Educate Girls – Empower India)  focusing on the Role of Educate Girls For India’s Bright Future

Taking forward the Right To Education and Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao, PRCI zeroed on to the theme of  #Shikshit Beti – Saksham Bharat to focus attention on Girl Education to make India efficient and capable of realizing its dreams and ensuring progress.

The idea is to communication to the world that the mere Right To Education (RTE) or making primary education compulsory is not good enough. Girls need to move up and go for secondary, higher secondary and college education. Graduation should be the benchmark for both girls and boys to be able to achieve in life. UNICEF sees girl’s education as a lifeline to development.

-Pic from Hindustan Times

The recent relentless struggle by school girls of Gothra Tappa Dahina in Rewari district of Haryana in support of their just demand for higher secondary school in their village has inspired us to launch this communication drive on the theme of education, higher education in particular.

Apart from the necessity to walk for three km to go to higher secondary school in another village, the Rewari girls were subjected to regular eve-teasing, harassment and molestation by ruffians. These girls have won their battle with their determination and grit and the State Government ultimately granted the higher secondary school.

So, let’s salute the spirit of Rewari girls and discuss Role of Educated Girls For India’s Bright Future.

July 1, 2017 falls on Saturday. We planned the following activities involving mainly the communication students with your involvement and support:

.

• Twitter campaign : #ShikshitBetiSakshamBharat – twitter handle @PRCI_NOW
• Facebook comments: on FB pg: https://www.facebook.com/Shikshit-Beti-Saksham-Bharat-117137118883620/
• Essay/elocution/group discussion contests on: Role of Educated Girls For India’s Bright Future.
• Photo/poster contests
• Street Plays/Skits

Select tweets and FB comments, winnings essays, photographs and poters will be carried on PR industry e-mag: PRapport and printed in PRCI special magazine CHANAKYA.

Winners will also get PRCI Certificates.

The new academic year has just begun and let creativity from among the communication students be communicated to the world. PRCI and PRapport (with close 50,000 page views from across the world) provide an ideal platform for this.

We will be happy to meet you for further coordination. Let’s get going right now.

Yours sincerely,

B N KUMAR

National President - PRCI

Veteran journo & litterateur Dr Manohar Prabhakar is no more

Dr Manohar Prabhakar, veteran journalist, litterateur and PR academician, passed away after a protracted illness at SDMH Hospital in early Saturday. He was 82.
Dr Prabhakar's mortal remains were cremated at the Lolkothi Cremation Ground where hundreds of people including journalists, writers, politicians, and his student scholars were present.
After retiring from the Directorate of Information and Public Relations as Director, he joined Rajasthan Patrika as Magazine Editor where he worked for about five years. During 2004-06, Dr Prabhakar was associated with The Tribune as the newspaper’s Correspondent in Jaipur.
In last sixty years of writings, he wrote eight poetry books, six books in journalism and public relations, six books on various subjects related to Rajasthan's freedom struggle, tens of children's books, apart from doing a series of translations of books including one on  Ravindranath Thakur, Megh Doot. He was also a Consulting Editor of Communication Today, Media Quarterly published from Jaipur
The Bhopal-based Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism has awarded its prestigious fellowship to Dr  Prabhakar for undertaking a critical study of Hindi journalism in Rajasthan during the post-Independence period.
Dr. Prabhakar's book in Hindi on the rise and growth of journalism in Rajasthan received the coveted Bharatendu Award of the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in 1983. The I&B Ministry gave away the same award to him again in 2000 for authoring a book on the craft of journalistic writings.
He had received  dozens of other awards including, Best PR Professional award at International Conference at Bangalore, Lokmitra Award, Rajasthan Sahitya Akedmi Award besides a columnist in a number of English and Hindi newspapers in his 70s.
Dr Prabhakar leaves behind his wife, two sons, two daughters, and great grand kids.

Communicating for a Cause: Reputation Today

We can use our skills and, more importantly, our presence of mind to focus attention on issues of community interest. It could be the overcrowding of local trains and city buses, issues in aircraft, destruction of environment, child labour at restaurants and tyre repair shops, spitting in public places, long queues for utility bill payments or an NGO doing some good work – we can click pictures and shoot videos and post on the alternative media. We can even form groups for various causes.

A case in point is PRCI which has taken a cue from Prime Minister’s latest Mann Ki Baat message to observe the World Environment Day on June 5 and spread the message – Connecting Nature To People.PRCI has taken up the cause of plundering of Parsik Hills in the name of quarrying. The once picturesque hill range today presents a pathetic site with huge destruction and damage done to the nature.

For details:

http://reputationtoday.in/views/communicating-for-a-cause/

Wow, Communication Today!

API (Academic Performance Indicators), prescribed by MHRD/UGC has a column on Published works of Journalism and Mass Communication Teachers. 
Each published article/paper gets marks in the total score for promotion.

UGC has notified a list of Journals approved by it for this  purpose. It is a matter pr pride that COMMUNICATION TODAY has been included in this list.

COMMUNICATION TODAY, a bilingual quarterly since January 1997, is edited by Prof. (Dr.) Sanjeev Bhanawat, Head, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Rajasthan.

Over the years, the journal has provided a forum for writings from Media Teachers, Professionals and others associated with Media.

- Chander Sardana, Bhopal

RedInk Awards Presented; Lifetime for Vinod Dua

• Raj Kamal Jha of Indian Express gets Journalist of the Year Awards
• Govind Tupe of Sakal get Mumbai Star Reporter
• A total of 32 journalists awarded

MUMBAI: The much-awaited event in the personal calendar of journalists – the Mumbai Press Club’s RedInk Award for Excellence in Indian Journalism – 2017 were presented on last evening at a glittering awards night here at NCPA with veteran journalist Vinod Dua being conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award and Raj Kamal Jha the Journalist of the Year Award.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who was the chief guest for the RedInk awards night, said that he does not buy the argument that there is a threat to the fourth estate. "Constructive journalism always has its own value and at the same time we are open to criticism," he said, narrating his own experience since he took over as the Chief Minister.  "Tolerance is in the blood of Indians...India traditionally had been a tolerant society," he said, adding "Our democracy is very strong and it has survived turbulence in the past. The democratic system evolves and corrects itself." 

On this occasion, Mumbai Press Club felicitated Shri Devendra Fadnavis, who played a yeoman’s role in ensuring the passage of the state Journalist Protection Act.

The Lifetime Achievement Award has been bestowed on Vinod Dua for his extensive and versatile contribution to journalism in different formats and subjects. He was among the country’s first psephologists, co-anchoring election analysis programs alongside Dr Prannoy Roy on Doordarshan. Dua continues to be an active journalist today as Contributing Editor of The WireHindi.com and anchors a popular news show called ‘Jan Gan Man Ki Baat’ on the digital platform.

Accepting the coveted Lifetime Achievement Award, veteran journalist Vinod Dua said: "It is not just an award....it is an honour to me." He said that it has been noticed that journalists get too close with people in power and often behaving like that. "This is not something that is good," he said, adding that journalists should also be content by what they are monetarily getting. Besides, one must do what journalists stand for.

Mumbai Press Club felicitates CM

The RedInk Award for the ‘Journalist of the Year’ 2017 given to Raj Kamal Jha, Chief Editor of the Indian Express, for providing exemplary stewardship over the last couple of years to the newspaper; and for providing focus and restoring what it has always been known best for – investigative journalism. Jha also led from the front to make Indian Express part of an international investigative team that cracked the global money laundering scam known as ‘The Panama Papers’.

"This award belongs to the Indian Express, the entire team," said Raj Kamal Jha, the Chief Editor of Indian Express, who received the prestigious ‘Journalist of the year’ for the overall coverage of ''The Panama papers'.  He said that receiving the award on 7 June is unique for him as on 7 June, 1996, he had joined the Indian Express. "For us what is important is a good story...and sometimes when we see a good piece from a youngster, we feel that we could not have written it that way," he said expressing hope that good journalism has a bright future. 

Govind Tupe of ‘Sakal’ newspaper has been awarded the special RedInk award of ‘Mumbai’s Star Reporter’ – instituted for the first time this year – for helping empower civil society through hard work and dogged follow-ups. Donning the role of a journalist and a RTI activist, he forced the establishment to change its rules bringing all offices of cabinet ministers and ministers of state under the RTI umbrella of ‘public authorities’.

Apart from these, awards were also given in the 10 various categories.  This makes the RedInk awards the biggest in the country where journalists are awarded by the peers. “This year the RedInk team received more than 1,500 entries across categories – a significant jump from the previous year that shows the popularity, reach and credibility of the awards among the fraternity.

It was also an evening where much introspection was done in respect of the profession. The media debate of the evening was: ‘Turning the Searchlight Inwards: Why is the Credibility of News Media Today at its Nadir?’. With news media everywhere getting a lot of their predictions wrong – from Brexit to the US elections,  and to the vote in UP’s assembly poll; and with fake news and paid news becoming the talk of the town – it is about time journalists look at themselves in the mirror and fathom where they have gone wrong.

Veteran journalist Vir Sanghvi, former CM Shri Prithviraj Chavan, Senior Journalists Bachi Karkaria, NDTV’s Srinivasan Jain and Paranjoy Guha Thakurta debated the burning issue.

Star India is the Presenting Partner for Mumbai Press Club Redink Awards for Excellence in Journalism 2017, while Aditya Birla Group, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Zee Entertainment, Eros International, Indiabulls Housing, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, National Stock Exchange, Nanavati Hospital and JSW Steel are the Award Partners. The Hindu Group and Facebook are the media partners.

For further information, please contact Dharmendra Jore, Secretary, Mumbai Press Club on 09821475278.

Winners of Redink Awards 2017

POLITICS   

Print - Radhakrishnan Rariyam Kandath, Frontline

TV - Sreenivasan Jain, NDTV

                                               

SCIENCE & INNOVATION     

Print - Nithyanand Rao & Virat Markandeya, The Wire

TV - Aamir Rafiq Peerzada, NDTV

                                               

HUMAN RIGHTS

Print - Ipsita Chakravarty & Rayan Naqash, Scroll.in

TV - Joint Winners, Abhisar Sharma, ABP News & Maya Mirchandani, NDTV

                                               

BUSINESS  

Print - Sarika Malhotra, Business Today

TV - Archana Shukla, CNBC TV 18

                                               

BIG PICTURE       

Winner - Ashish Sharma, Open Magazine

Runner Up - Kunal Pradeep Patil, Hindustan Times

                                               

ENVIRONMENT 

Print

Joint Winner  Tushar Dhara, Sanjay Sawant, Shraddha Ghatge & Neeradh Pandaripande, First Post

Raj Narain Mishra, Dainik Jagran

TV - Rajesh Kumar, India News

                                               

SPORTS       

Print - Swaroop Swaminathan, The New Indian Express

TV - Joint Winner, Moumita Sen, India Today TV & Rajeev Mishra, India News

                                               

HEALTH & WELLNESS           

Print - Priyanka Vora, Scroll.in

TV - Archana Shukla, CNBC TV 18

                                               

CRIME        

Print - Alia Allana, Fountain Ink

TV - Atir Khan, India Today TV

                                               

LIFESTYLE & ENTERTAINMENT  

Print - Kathakali Chanda, Forbes India

TV - Biju Pankaj, Mathrubhumi News

                                               

SPECIAL IMPACT AWARD - Rahul Kulkarni, ABP Maza

                                               

MUMBAI STAR REPORTER - Govind Tupe, Sakal

                                               

JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR - Raj Kamal Jha, Indian Express

                                               

LIFETIME ACHIVEMENT - Vinod Dua

Hello CM, Please stop destruction of Parsik Hills

Pl chheck this link, sign and express your solidarity to the cause of environment

https://www.change.org/p/the-chief-minister-of-maharashtra-iamparsikhill-iamdying-ban-quarrying-now?recruiter=29763990&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition

Concept PR bags America’s PR World Gold for PRCI Campaign

• Agency’s ‘Mission Mumbai Local’ campaign wins PR Milestone Award

• Campaign on behalf of PRCI to focus on City suburban commuter issues

• PR World to honour PR Superstars at San Francisco on June 26

Absolute India Clipping

SAN FRANCISCO/MUMBAI: In a major international recognition, Concept Public Relations India Limited has been chosen for Gold award under the ‘PR Milestone of the Year’ category at the prestigious 7th Annual PR World Awards instituted by Silicon Valley Communications llc, USA.
The ‘SVUS PR World Awards’ are the world’s premier public relations awards programme, created to honour and generate industry-wide and peer recognition of the achievements and positive contributions of Public Relation agencies, organizations and individuals from all over the world.
“The Oscars are given annually for excellence in cinematic achievements. But at the PR World Awards it is you who will be recognized as superstars at a black-tie world event - complete with the red carpet, paparazzis, and live video interviews for every small and big thing that you and your team did in the past 18 months to make your clients successful,” says PR World. The gold plated trophies at the PR World Awards have been designed and made by the same company that makes the actual Oscar® and Emmy® statuette.

In the current season of the PR World awards, Concept PR’s Mission Mumbai Local campaign, a social communication drive conducted on behalf of the Public Relations Council of India (PRCI), has been adjudged for Gold under the PR Milestone of the Year category.
“We are pleased to inform you that Concept Public Relations India Limited is in the list of winners of 2017 PR World Awards,” said an email from the organizers listing the winners under various categories. Winners will be honored at the 2017 SVUS Red Carpet Awards Ceremony Dinner in San Francisco on Monday, June 26, 2017.

Acknowledging the award, Ashish Jalan, Director and CEO of Concept PR said: “Any form of recognition is both a testimonial of the abilities of the agency as well as a motivator for the agency to perform even better. A global award at that and the fact that we are the only Indian agency to figure in the list of winners is indeed a great honour. This recognition is a direct result of a team which has grown from strength to strengthand has a right balance of experience, expertise and enthusiasm. I would like to thank M B Jayaram for having faith in Team Concept to be their partner in this social communication campaign.”

B N Kumar, executive director of Concept PR who spearheaded the campaign said: “My team is extremely happy to get the good news. This latest win amply proves that teamwork plays a big role in achieving desired results in a communication campaign. We also thank all our media friends for highlighting the issues raised by us in the campaign – from the need to improve the frequency of suburban trains to new railway stations to meet increasing commuter pressure.”

“PRCI has launched the campaign to highlight the fact that over ten people die daily on Mumbai suburban tracks due to various reasons such as running across platforms and tracks and hanging by overcrowded trains. This has been admitted in an official report by the railways which we effectively used to design our messaging on the need to improve the suburban railway infrastructure,” said M B Jayaram, Chief Mentor and Chairman Emeritus of PRCI.

About the PR World Awards
PR World Awards® is the world’s premier public relations and corporate marketing awards programme created to honor and recognize industry-wide and peer achievements and best efforts of agencies and in-house public relations, marketing, corporate communications, investor relations, and business development professionals, teams, departments, and achievements. The Annual PR World Awards is part of the SVUS Awards® recognition program from Silicon Valley in the United States of America which also includes other programs such as CEO World Awards, Consumer World Awards, Customer Sales and Service World Awards, Golden Bridge Awards, Globee Fastest Growing Private Companies Awards, Info Security PG’s Global Excellence Awards, Network Products Guide’s IT World Awards, Pillar World Awards, and Women World Awards. Learn more about the PR World Awards at www.prworldawards.com

About Concept PR:
Concept Public Relations India Limited is part of India’s largest independent Communication network of Concept Group with ten of its own offices, scores of associates, with ability to conduct PR exercise across the 600 districts pan-India. With its motto  ‘Exceeding Expectations, Always’, the consultancy services clients across multiple verticals such as real estate and infrastructure, aviation, pharma and health care, IT & ITES,  large conglomerates, CSR, apart from handling crisis communication and media training. Concept PR has won more than ten awards and recognitions for its outstanding performance viz: Agency of the Year, Crisis Communication, Case Studies and its executive director B N Kumar has been inducted in the prestigious PR Hall of Fame.

No Quick-fix, PR is investment in future

(From Reputation Today)

I think it is time the communicators forget to think Uske Kapde Mere Kapdo Se Zyada Safed Kyun and start telling their bosses and clients to understand the importance of perception building as an early and long-term exercise. You may not be able to get the attention of big media instantaneously, but getting media acceptance is a slow and steady process. A particular newspaper may not enjoy huge circulation, but the editor of a big newspaper does read that so-called small publication for several reasons: to check for stories missed and look for rising stars for future recruitment. This is exactly why reporters often fight for bylines – to get visibility among those who matter – as I did as a cub reporter ages ago!

At the risk of revealing some business secrets, let me say that business houses should not look for instant solutions and not think of PR only as the last resort for using at times of crisis. Like diamonds, Public Relations is forever. The more we polish diamonds, the better they shine. And that is exactly how PR gives you a polished reputation in the long run.

For more, click:
http://reputationtoday.in/views/no-quick-fix-pr-is-investment-in-future/

Blowing Donald’s Trumpet aint no easy!

When Money is Lost Something is Lost

When Reputation is Lost, Everything is Lost

By S Narendra

An international story is playing out of Washington involving the White House that we all are reading as a political story. If we analyse it under the lens of communication and PR, we notice a highly charged case study on Reputation Risk and Redemption Management. This is relevant to all communicators.

Very interestingly, this story is taking place in the janmabhoomi of PR and communication theory and practice. The theater (pun intended) of action is in Washington DC, capital of Madison Avenue, K-street, the Capitol Hill all coming under its nickname – the political beltway, it is also known as the swamp that sucks into its murkiness any and everyone (irrespective of their reputation for integrity and independence of mind), making the job of keeping one’s reputation and public esteem risky.

The news story of Russian espionage during the 2016 US presidential election was supposedly used for swinging it in favour of Republican candidate  Donald Trump. As the FBI was probing the allegation, its chief James Comey was fired by President Trump. Initially, it was explained that the President   had acted on the recommendation of the Deputy Attorney General , Rod Rosenstein who had said in a note that FBI under its  director Comey had not properly  conducted the investigation into the security implications relating to the e-mails of former  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent over a private  server. The e-mails were leaked to WiKiLEAKS allegedly by Russian intelligence,  But  President  Trump contradicted this version in a TV interview and took personal responsibility for  dismissing  FBI chief. He told the interviewer that he had decided to fire Comey even without Rosenstein’s recommendation since FBI was pursuing allegation of links between his election campaign in 2016 and Russia. In one single moment, Rosenstein’s reputation was in tatters,

Rosenstein, was appointed by President Trump as the US deputy attorney general barely a few weeks before  he penned the infamous note on FBI director. Rosenstein had come into the new office with a formidable reputation as a legal  ace as well as for person known for  impartiality and independent mind.  In a previous stint in the Justice department, Rosenstein was appointed by the Republican President G.W.Bush, as a persecutor. He was retained in the post by President Obama. This clearly showed that he was highly respected across the political spectrum for his professional eminence and for his integrity. Therefore, Rosenstein’s note recommending James Comey’s dismissal shocked his admirers in media and legal professionals saw him as buckling under political pressure. The President’s public admission that the FBI director was fired because he was pursuing investigation into alleged links between his election campaign and Russian spying exposed Rosenstein to public ridicule, as Trump’s hatchet man.

Another factor that made Rosenstein position questionable was that as the deputy attorney general he was technically placed  in charge of FBI and its investigation. His boss Jeff Sessions, the AG, had recused himself from overseeing the FBI investigations into Russian spying case, due to his previous business links with Russia. There was huge expectation that Rosenstein would resist political pressure and ensure a fair FBI probe into the case of Russian interference in American poll.  

Media stories had appeared to the effect that FBI director had declined to oblige the President when personally approached   for closing the relevant  probe. This revelation led to demands for impeachment of the President for obstructing justice.

Amidst the turmoil, there were questions about the role of Rosenstein, about the reasons for him to give up his principles that had built his reputation.

This sad saga took a new twist when Rosenstein announced the appointment of a Special Counsel for supervising the FBI probe into Russian espionage. His decision to name a former FBI director, Mueller enjoying enormous respect for his integrity and independence won large measure of support. This step paved the way for Rosenstein  to partially re-establish  his reputation. In the process, Rosenstein did something that every PR person wants to do in a crisis situation. He changed the media headlines. The word ‘impeachment’ of the President   that was gaining ground was buried. The move also restored to some extent the reputation of the American democracy as a credible political system even though presided over by  a whimsical chief executive.

According to media reports, the deputy attorney general had announced the appointment of Special Counsel, without seeking the consent of his immediate boss or the President.

The Author:
Ex adviser to PMs and former
Spokesperson, Govt of India

A commentator in the New York Times summed up the lesson coming out of this story thus: ‘I expect more members of the Trump administration will find themselves under pressure to violate their own principles. I hope they will remember both lesions of Rosenstein saga. Helping Donald Trump isn’t worth your reputation. And you can often recover, at least partially, from your own mistakes.’

Tail piece: Rod Rosenstein   may have recovered his reputation and tried to change the headlines away from impeachment. But President Trump seems hell bent on refuelling the media stories about his attempts to stall the FBI investigations by criticising the appointment of the Special Counsel as political persecution. Tweet after Tweet from the President describing the ongoing probe as ‘Witch Hunt’ keeps alive the controversy.  

Lessons from Rewari Girl Power - for Corpcom & Media

Call it the Bollywood blockbuster Dangal effect or the new awakening arising out of the Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao slogan given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Over 90 girls from Gothra Tappa Dahina village in Rewari district of Haryana had gone on a hunger strike and won their relentless battle for upgrading their school to senior secondary level.

One after the other, the media has started taking interest but it remained mostly region centric. When India Today

TV and CNN NEWS 18 took up the cause at a later stage, the nation’s conscious was shaken. Nobody had to scream ‘the nation wants to know’. Haryana education minister Ram Bilas Sharma was forced to issue a notification to facilitate the higher secondary school for Gothra Thappa Dahina, which shot into limelight thanks to the girls’ agitation.

For detailed story, click:  http://reputationtoday.in/views/lessons-from-rewari-girl-power/

Republic Vs. The Rest: The war hots up

(By arrangement with http://bestmediainfo.com/)

With Arnab Goswami launching his Republic TV channel, the war not only for TRPs but over news coverage seems to have intensified.

First, Times group protested against Arnab Goswami and Prema Sridevi walking away with tapes relating to Sunanda Pushkar murder case and launched a police case.

Bennett, Coleman and Company (BCCL) has lodged a police complaint against its former employees Arnab Goswami and Prema Sridevi for “commission of offences of theft, criminal breach of trust, misappropriation of property and infringement of IPR of BCCL” by using tapes allegedly procured when they were with Times Now, on Republic TV on May 6 and 8, 2017.

Goswami called the complainant nervous and unconfident. He said, "Interesting to see them so nervous, if the Times Network has lost viewership, they must evaluate their content and show some grace even in defeat. I am sitting and working in a newsroom and the TOI owners are sitting at the police stations. This shows nervousness and they must show greater poise and realise that new age journalists will not be cowed down by these silly stunts."

For details: 

http://bestmediainfo.com/2017/05/times-now-accuses-arnab-goswami-prema-sridevi-of-theft-and-breach-of-trust/

Then came this:

Amid allegations of using multiple frequencies, Republic TV has debuted with a record opening on the barometers. As per BARC India’s data for Week 19 (May 6 – 12), sourced from one of the subscribers, the channel has grabbed about half of the relative share in most of the target audience groups.

Among NCCS AB Male 22+, Republic TV has captured the relative share of 49.2 per cent in the all-India market. The channel’s relative share in top six mega cities stood at 52.1 per cent.

http://bestmediainfo.com/2017/05/arnab-goswami-s-republic-tv-debuts-with-record-viewership/

And this is the latest:

All the English news channels barring Republic TV have pulled out of the Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) and have also removed the watermarking from their feeds.

This is in reaction to BARC releasing the viewership data for the newly launched Republic TV despite NBA urging the council to not to go public with the numbers as the TRAI investigation on the matter was underway. NBA had earlier alleged that Republic TV was trying to garner more viewership through distribution malpractices.

http://bestmediainfo.com/2017/05/english-news-channels-pull-out-of-barc/

Of Cows On Delhi Streets and CNN arrival: an untold story

Or how PR  by paratroopers proved costly for foreign news channel!

As Republic news channel is just launched, By S Narendra, Former PIO and ex-Govt spokesperson takes a look back at the launch of satellite news channels in India, beginning with CNN in 1991

Satellite TV news, very aptly, arrived in India via CNN. Initially it was an intruder on the zealously guarded Indian airwaves in 1991.The gulf was or the one between Kuwait and Saddam Hussian’s Iraq, in which Peter Arnet of CNN telecast from a brief -case was a great technological Disruptor. The pyrotechnics unleashed against the Iraqi regime by US fleet spectacle no one wanted to miss

While publicly venting angst and fears about this assault on Indian sovereignty, every VIP in Delhi wanted to gain access to the CNN broadcast. Those who could not get permission to acquire a satellite dish on top of their roof, visited luxury hotel coffee and other bars fitted with satellite dish enabled TVs offering CNN news. While there was ‘collateral damage’, meaning civilian casualties in Iraq, for India luxury hotels  there was ;collateral gains’.

Intrepid Indian entrepreneurs, masters of JUGAD, soon came up with a business model to beat the ancient  Indian Telecommunication Act that prohibited private cables from crossing the public roads. They strung cables on roof tops and trees and offered satellite TV services broadcast from Singapore and Hong Kong. An upset government sent in vain one of its senior bureaucrat to Hong Kong in search of equipment for blocking satellite TV intrusions into Indian sovereignty.

While CNN news broadcasts had arrived, the broadcaster had not set up a news bureau in Delhi. Those were early days of India's foray into economic liberalization under Prime Minister P.V.Narasimha Rao. His government was very anxious to showcase India as a profitable destination for FDI. And, we in the government were keen to have more and more international media coverage of Indian economic news. As head of government of India's media relations outfit-PIB, and government  spokesperson, it was my job to facilitate the entry of foreign correspondents and their news outlets. From about a corps of 40 foreign correspondents, it had grown to over 70.

I extended an invitation to CNN to open a news bureau. A highly competent and soft spoken Ashis Ray was representing CNN in India and his earlier attempts to open a news bureau in Delhi had for some reason not met with the approval of the Ministry of External Affairs. In the government, there were bureaucrats who were not comfortable with the coverage of Indian news by BBC, CNN and other foreign news outlets. My own view was that positive and negative coverage evens out over a period of time. In any case, Indian news outlets generally provided a lot more negative perception of India than their foreign counterparts (there is another story to tell about the problems India media had created for foreign media representatives during the Surat Plague) After discussing the matter with PM Narasimha Rao, I had sent the invitation letter to CNN.

One of the hurdles for satellite TV outlets  was the government broadcaster Doordarshan  wanting to maintain its  monopoly over receiving and distributing satellite signals. Since the PM was already in the loop, DD could not  block CNN setting up its own satellite linking facility. Atlanta, head office of CNN,  promptly responded to my invitation and within a couple of weeks opened their bureau. In the normal course, a news channel setting up a news gathering outfit or reaching audiences is no big deal. But CNN decided to make a big splash with a big bash. Top level CNN executives accompanied by a PR team from Atlanta had arrived.  When Americans are involved, everything becomes loud and King size. For the CNN bash, invitations had gone out to cabinet ministers to almost everyone who  claimed to be a VVIP in the capitals cocktail circuit. The evening party was hosted in one of the capital’s famous five star hotels on Patel Marg. The hotel convention  canter  was fitted with  multiple TV screens  displaying CNN logo.

As the VVIPs and smaller fries like me arrived, CNN wanted to show its contribution for taking India story international. On multiple screens CNN logo splashed followed by a story on India's capital. The story was pitched to showcase a vibrant market economy spilling over to its streets. The camera had panned on one of the bustling roads, accompanied by a reporter’s commentary on the new India and facts about the blooming middle class. The camera lingered a little longer than necessary on the road crammed with a diversity of vehicles blocked by stray cattle. The VVIPs got up. There was a sudden buzz in the semi-dark party hall. Soon the TV screens went blank and the embarrassed CNN executives, with a crest-fallen Ashis Ray in tow,  were whispering  tepid apologies to the upset VVIPs. The flowing alcohol did nothing to mitigate the discomfiture among the hosts and guests.

As expected, there was no hole in the ground for me to crawl in, I slipped out of the semi darkness. But before departing I told Ashis Ray that a candid admission of the mistake by the top brass, an unconditional apology and announcement of a   mechanism for rigorously checking what goes into the future  India story on CNN could control the damage.

S Narendra
Firmer adviser to PMs

But, then neither me nor Ashis Ray were aware of the  ego of CNN bosses from Atlanta and their  sure-footed US  PR advisers. First came a tepid apology, that blamed   the camera-person who was an Indian. Then came the explanation that the commentary was positive. And, of course, it was put out as a technical mistake.

My telephone (fortunately, it was a pre-mobile era) buzzed with the message ‘we told you so’.

Is there a lesson in this? While entering a new media market, a soft launch could have been tried rather than a big bang one. Brand ego could result in costly mistakes. Local facilitators’ voice, (in this case Ashis Ray’s), should get its due respect.

Watch out against PR by paratroopers.