Here is a disclosure of a new vice I have picked up over the past month or so. I have been reading the online edition of a couple of popular Pakistani English dailies. What at first was my idea of a joke has gradually evolved into a daily habit after getting intrigued by the kind of news that is reported there.
I have to make it clear that about the time I first started reading it, the protests in Srinagar were a boiling issue and Jammu had cut off the road to Srinagar. I was hooked like a fish because it was a brilliant drama that played itself out on the Pakistani and Indian newspapers. And if you think Kashmir gets too much newspaper space in India, you must take a look at the Pakistani newspapers.
That apart, I was surprised by the extremely low percentage of entertainment news in both the dailies. Jang has a small link which leads to its fashion section and then there one may find something about its movies. Dawn is completely devoid of any such content. It has links to other magazines published by the same group some of which have Lollywood (?!) news.
I have to admit I cannot really call myself a true film buff. I must have watched about ten movies in my entire life in a theater. After coming to law school, I've been to a movie theater once in second year and before that I had seen MIB 2 in 10th standard. I also keep cribbing about ToI making a big issue out of every star wedding/pairing/new projects of directors, actors etc. However, it does worry me that the entertainment in a country should be so removed from the mainstream that it finds no mention in its largest newspaper. Wikipedia blames the moral police for the dismal cinema scene there and perhaps if we keep bending to the whims of MNS in Mumbai/ KaRaVe in Karnataka this is where we are headed.
This hasn't been the only vice... The other one is also internet related. Will post about that soon.
I have to make it clear that about the time I first started reading it, the protests in Srinagar were a boiling issue and Jammu had cut off the road to Srinagar. I was hooked like a fish because it was a brilliant drama that played itself out on the Pakistani and Indian newspapers. And if you think Kashmir gets too much newspaper space in India, you must take a look at the Pakistani newspapers.
That apart, I was surprised by the extremely low percentage of entertainment news in both the dailies. Jang has a small link which leads to its fashion section and then there one may find something about its movies. Dawn is completely devoid of any such content. It has links to other magazines published by the same group some of which have Lollywood (?!) news.
I have to admit I cannot really call myself a true film buff. I must have watched about ten movies in my entire life in a theater. After coming to law school, I've been to a movie theater once in second year and before that I had seen MIB 2 in 10th standard. I also keep cribbing about ToI making a big issue out of every star wedding/pairing/new projects of directors, actors etc. However, it does worry me that the entertainment in a country should be so removed from the mainstream that it finds no mention in its largest newspaper. Wikipedia blames the moral police for the dismal cinema scene there and perhaps if we keep bending to the whims of MNS in Mumbai/ KaRaVe in Karnataka this is where we are headed.
This hasn't been the only vice... The other one is also internet related. Will post about that soon.
2 comments:
check out singapore newspapers. they don't have news, only entertainment! so much for free speech.
well, i stumbled upon your blog and was quite surprised to see a fellow Indian who has got a similar new vice as me :)
For me, it started after reading a pakistani blog, yet another stumble!
Internet edition of Dawn has become a daily read for me nowadays...and mainly, i seem to concentrate on Pakistan perspective of India.Check out the new beta edition of Dawn , it's very good.
It does have an entertainment section which many times is completely dominated by Bollywood news.
And it's quite surprising to see how much we,indians, can relate to all the non islamic related issues reported.
btw, Pakistaniat is another site, which is also quite interesting.
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