Getting to page one

IN Media Watch Briefs | 16/10/2010

The Times of India in Mumbai broke a record of sorts on October 15. Readers had to work hard to find the front page of the paper because it had two and a half front pages before you got to the real front page. The two full page ads before the actual page one, with ads at the back also, displayed The Times of India masthead. So readers could be forgiven for being doubly puzzled. But the ad-matter did not end there. Apart from the usual cluster of ads of all shapes and sizes on almost every page, the paper had 10 full page advertisements in an issue of 26 pages. Of these, seven were by builders and developers promising everything from "glass walls" to "soothing landscaping" and "a luxurious spread of essentials".

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Amazon resisting voluntary censorship

The new term for self censorship is voluntary censorship, as proposed by companies like Netflix and Hotstar. ET reports that streaming video service Amazon Prime is opposing a move by its peers to adopt a voluntary censorship code in anticipation of the Indian government coming up with its own rules. Amazon is resisting because it fears that it may alienate paying subscribers.

Let the games begin

Clearly, the run to the 2019 elections is on. A journalist received a call from someone saying they were from Aajtak channel and were conducting a survey, asking whom she was going to vote for in 2019. On being told that her vote was secret, the caller assumed she wasn't going to vote for 'Modiji'. The caller, a woman, also didn't identify herself. A month or two earlier the same journalist received a call, this time from a man, asking if she was going to vote for the BSP.