Friends, I got a mail from FRIENDS OF TIBET on 'The Hindu'. It made some interesting reading and raised some interesting points about journalsim --- Shemin/Rgds
Save The Hindu Campaign --- The Hindu, one of the most credible and trusted newspapers in the country has many things to its credit. Chief among them is the appointment of an Ombudsman or a Readers' Editor in a newspaper for the first time in the history of Indian journalism. This 127-year-old newspaper with 3.8 million readers has a different story to tell ever since N Ram, who describes himself as "An Indian who has no sympathy for the Dalai Lama's separatist and backward looking agenda", took charge as the editor-in-chief of the newspaper on July 1, 2003.
Friends of Tibet has learned that the editorial board of The Hindu led by N Ram has instructed their centres not to carry any 'Tibet', 'Dalai Lama' and 'Falun Gong' stories criticising the policies of the Chinese government. Instead of depending on reliable news agencies like PTI, UNI, IANS, Reuters, AP and AFP, The Hindu has found a Beijing-based news-agency to fetch stories - The Xinhua - world's biggest propaganda agency belonging to the Chinese Communist Party. Probably The Hindu is the only newspaper in the country to reproduce Xinhua reports. Today The Hindu has virtually become a mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party.
Perhaps unique in the world because of its role, size, and reach, Xinhua reports directly to the Chinese Communist Party's Propaganda Department and employs more than 10,000 people. The head of the Xinhua has the rank of a minister. Successor to the agency, Red China that was founded by Mao Zedong, Xinhua adopted its current name in January 1937. Since October 1949, this state-run news-agency has been completely subordinate to the Chinese Communist Party and remains the voice of the sole party.
A card-holding member of the Communist Party in India who had been to China and occupied-Tibet at least fifteen times in junkets mostly arranged by the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi, N Ram is also the mastermind behind 'India-China Association of Journalists', an embassy-sponsored organisation specialising in arranging pleasure trips for Indian journalists. This new strategy of Beijing has already won the hearts of some of our best journalists. Ironically it is only when the Tamil Nadu Police entered The Hindu office premises in Chennai, N Ram who calls the killing of a million Tibetans by China's occupying forces 'a myth', got enlightened about freedom.
We believe that it is immoral from the side of an Editor to drag some of the eminent journalists to do ethically-wrong reporting for The Hindu and Frontline and also to use a democratic forum - freedom of the press - to advance the cause of an autocratic regime.
'Save The Hindu' Campaign is an attempt to save the newspaper and also to expose Xinhua - Chinese government's propaganda agency to its readers. Let us use the opportunity to write to the newly-appointed Readers' Editor about our concerns on The Hindu policies on various issues including Tibet.
Source:
www.friendsoftibet.org/save/
