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| The Times of India: red at the top | Hussain Ahmad In increasingly liberal India, sex sells – and no one is profiting more than the owners of the Times of IndiaWading through my friends' blogs, I stumbled into a discussion on obscenity in Indian media. Reading divergent positions on the issue, I found that the harshest barbs by some participants were directed at the Times of India for practising what they called soft-porn journalism.Intrigued, I raised the subject with some of my friends in India. Two of them, both journalists and fiercely liberal-minded, said they had stopped subscribing to the paper because it was a bad influence on their children. A colleague, who had previously worked with the paper in India, summed it up: "I know readers who have stopped buying the paper for this reason and those who buy it for the same."My experience, when I took a closer look, was enough to make me think of recommending the paper to those who are seeking to re-energise their sex life. In the section "other top news stories" on the paper's website, I found "Sensual massage for great sex", along with "Your best position for sex" and "Why women like to cuddle after sex" – of which the latter two were classified as the "most popular" stories.Two items in "Latest news" were very revealing: "Why girls kiss girls" and "Oral sex enough for women". I also had glimpses of models and actresses posing semi-naked, actresses in bed with so-and-so, stars baring all, etc.This should suffice to explain why many readers feel turned off. They don't expect a family newspaper to indulge in such excesses. No other mainstream English-language newspaper in the country pushes quite so hard at the boundaries of what is acceptable.As the oldest English-language daily in India (and now, with a circulation of 4m, the world's largest-selling English newspaper), the Times is a goliath in Indian journalism and commands great respect. It has set national agendas, and some of the country's most celebrated journalists have walked its corridors. The paper is a torchbearer of modern values, with an agenda of pluralism and social equity.Why should such a hallowed brand pander to voyeurism? The answer lies in the changing sexual mores of the country, and more importantly, in the crushing competition in the media sector.True, Indian sexuality has been breaking loose, egged on by the internet and visual media. We have regular reports and surveys on how sexual permissiveness has progressed each year; articles on Bollywood actors locked in steamy kisses; and sexy pictures of models in revealing clothes splashed even on the front pages. Many boundaries have been broken.If the Times has drawn ire, it's not because the change is too tardy, but because the paper has been pushing too hard. To many, haste, in matters of sex, is repulsive. Remember that ours is a country where sex education, even as an idea, is yet to be fully conceived.The Indian media scene has been remarkably vibrant in the past few years, with leading English dailies launching new editions in a spree of expansion. Whenever the Times has emerged from its lair in Mumbai and stomped into a new city, its competitors have watched in fear. The paper is known for its fiery marketing strategies, and has an uncanny knack of bulldozing its way to the top. "Soft porn journalism" is a weapon it has employed with stunning impact in this marketing war – primarily targeting young people, especially university students, who are discovering their sexuality.The paper has learned that both sex and news sell well but, together, form a potent mix that is unmatched. It is a formula that its competitors are loth to try.It is rumoured that this erotic journalism is not the choice of its editors, but management policy. The Times' co-owner, Samir Jain, once announced with uncharacteristic insouciance that editors are dispensable – and treated them accordingly. Indian journalists seethed, but the Times's roaring success hasn't yet given them a chance for revenge.Despite the moral brouhaha, the Old Lady of Bori Bunder, as the paper is nicknamed, will continue to have enormous sensuous appeal. After all, she is operating in the land of the Kama Sutra, and if kama becomes its marketing sutra, we can only blame that on the insatiable desire to sex up profits.NewspapersIndiaNewspapers & magazinesHussain Ahmadguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Ahmadinejad to visit Israel border Hezbollah rallies crowds for Iranian president's trip, which has been criticised by Israel and USHezbollah supporters used mosque loudspeakers to rally crowds for a visit by Iran's president to southern Lebanon, near the border with Israel today. The US and Israel have called his trip intentionally provocative.Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Lebanon yesterday to a rapturous welcome organised by Hezbollah. Iran is the main patron of the Shia militant group, the most powerful military force in Lebanon.Ahmadinejad is scheduled to visit Lebanon's Shia heartland in the south and the Israeli border today, which will emphasise Iran's support for Hezbollah's fight with Israel.Residents of southern Lebanon were heading to Bint Jbeil, a border village that was bombed during the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah war, to greet the Iranian president.The village, less than three miles from the border, is dubbed "the capital of resistance" because it was a centre for Hezbollah guerrilla action during Israel's 18-year occupation of the south, which ended in 2000.Many students in the south skipped school to await Ahmadinejad.An Israeli government spokesman, Mark Regev, criticised the trip today. "Iran's domination of Lebanon through its proxy Hezbollah has destroyed any chance for peace, has turned Lebanon into an Iranian satellite and made Lebanon a hub for regional terror and instability," he said.Ahmadinejad's visit has underscored the eroding position of pro-western factions in Lebanon and suggested that the competition for influence there may be tipping toward Iran and Syria, and away from the US and its Arab allies Egypt and Saudi Arabia.Mahmoud AhmadinejadLebanonIranIsraelMiddle EastUnited Statesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
IMF Touts Capital Controls in Asia IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn advocated capital controls as a way to handle vast flows of capital into Asia. online.wsj.com |
Outsourcing Ads Alienate Some Voters Democratic attacks on outsourcing are alienating Indian-Americans, who believe India is unfairly blamed for the decline of U.S. manufacturing jobs. online.wsj.com |
WikiLeaks cables: How China lost patience with North Korea Chinese are willing to accept Korean reunification, secret cables show – but they want the US to take the leadChina's willingness to accept Korean reunification, revealed in private conversations between senior Communist party officials and US and South Korean diplomats, reflects Beijing's deep, previously concealed exasperation with its wayward ally North Korea.But the leaked US diplomatic cables suggest there is no consensus on how to proceed towards this goal, with Beijing and Washington looking to each other to take the lead.China's reluctance to confront its ally was highlighted last week after the North launched a one-hour artillery bombardment of a South Korean island, plunging the peninsula into one of its worst crises since the Korean war. The White House swiftly deplored what it called an "outrageous" act and pledged military solidarity with South Korea. But Beijing declined to condemn Pyongyang, instead calling for calm and a resumption of talks on the North's nuclear programme.Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, was among several American officials who subsequently demanded China take a stand. US pressure seems to have yielded limited results, with Beijing today inviting a North Korean official for talks in an apparent mediation effort. A senior Chinese diplomat has also travelled to Seoul as part of what China is calling "emergency consultations".It was reported last night that US, Japanese and South Korean officials will meet in Washington on 6 December to discuss the crisis with North Korea.But China's immediate Korea priorities continue unchanged: maintaining stability, a benign economic environment, and if possible, a peaceful dialogue. Notwithstanding its openness in the longer term to the idea of reconciliation and reunification, Beijing remains unwilling to do anything that could force the North Korea into a corner and increase the possibility that it might lash out unpredictably.A December 2009 meeting with US officials in Beijing shows the Chinese side sticking firmly to this gameplan, placing the ball firmly in America's court after a year in which North Korea deliberately stoked international tensions over its nuclear and missile programmes.William Burns, US undersecretary of state for political affairs, was told by Wang Jiarui, director of international liaison for the Communist party's central committee, that North Korea "needed a breakthrough in its relations with the United States … because of its domestic situation and the current international environment."Wang reiterated China's longstanding position that the key objective at this stage was to prevent the situation on the Korean peninsula from spinning out of control and to establish a positive direction through dialogue and negotiation." Wang continued: "It was not in US interests to prolong the current state of hostility [and the US should demonstrate] it had no intention of promoting regime change … This was contingent upon a change in North Korean behaviour and an eventual North Korean pledge to the world that it would not embark on the road to nuclear weapons."Beijing's assessment as reported in the cables was echoed by a South Korean official involved in talks with North Korea. He told diplomats in Seoul that Pyongyang wanted Washington to guarantee its sovereignty and territorial integrity, preferably through a peace treaty, and firmly believed Washington alone could do this. "The DPRK craved a dialogue with the US, aiming for a 'big deal', but first needed to raise tensions to create the need for dialogue," the official said. Colonel Lee Sang-chul, North Korea policy division director at Seoul's ministry of national defence, said he believed the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, had suffered "physical and psychological trauma" as a result of his reported stroke in 2008 and had become obsessed with creating political stability to allow an orderly succession.In another meeting between James Steinberg, US deputy secretary of state, and Chinese officials in 2009, high-ranking state councillor Dai Bingguo reported "frank and blunt" discussions with North Korea about the need to return to the six-party talks on Pyongyang's nuclear programme. North Korea's vice-foreign minister, Kang Sok-ju, and others told their Chinese visitor they wanted dialogue with Washington first.Dai indicated that China supported bilateral discussions and advised there was "no limit to how far you could go. Dai admitted … his conversation with Kim [Jong-il] was not as direct and candid and joked that he 'did not dare' to be that candid with the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] leader". Dai said Kim "appeared to be in reasonably good health and still had 'a sharp mind'". There has been speculation about Kim's health and its impact on North Korea's stability since his alleged stroke in 2008.Despite China's insistence that the US must show the way, the Americans appear convinced Beijing has more leverage than it admits – and are concerned the situation in North Korea could rapidly deteriorate.In a confidential report of a meeting in February 2010 between the US assistant secretary of state Kurt Campbell and the then South Korean national security adviser, Kim Sung-hwan, Kim – who is now foreign minister – is quoted as saying that Kim Jong-il would visit China "soon" in order to obtain desperately needed economic assistance. The prediction proved correct: Kim travelled to Beijing in May and again in August."The situation inside North Korea, he [Kim Sung-hwan] added, appeared increasingly unstable. The north's currency replacement had created strong resentment throughout DPRK society, Kim said … Kim asserted there were credible reports of unrest in the north; according to ROK [Republic of Korea] intelligence sources DPRK police recently found a bomb on a passenger train en route from Pyongyang to Beijing."This assessment finds an echo in a meeting between senior US officials and South Korea's then foreign minister, Yu Myung-hwan, in January 2010."Yu asserted that … KJI [Kim Jong-il] needed both Chinese economic aid and political support to stabilise an 'increasingly chaotic' situation at home. In particular FM Yu claimed that the north's botched currency reform had caused 'big problems' for the regime and that the power succession from KJI to Kim Jong-un was 'not going smoothly'. Moreover, Yu confided, an unspecified number of high-ranking North Korean officials working overseas had recently defected to the ROK. (Note: Yu emphasised that the defections have not been made public.)"The problems caused by the lack of a clearly agreed US-China policy on how to deal with North Korea are exacerbated by tensions and rivalries between other countries involved in the six-party process. One leaked cable reports a stinging attack by a senior South Korean minister on Wu Dawei, China's vice-foreign minister, who was Beijing's lead negotiator in the talks. He suggested Wu was an old-school communist not up to the job [ID: 249870].In an indication of international pessimism, the Russian ambassador at large to the six-party talks lamented to US diplomats in Moscow that "no one had good ideas on how to pull North Korea back from its brinkmanship".Grigoriy Logvinov said his country's foreign minister (Sergey Lavrov) had just had a rough trip to North Korea because its leadership "was 'very angry' and told Lavrov categorically that it was resolved to restart its nuclear programme, would never participate in the six-party talks again and would not trust anything but nuclear deterrence as its security guarantee".Logvinov urged patience, suggesting Pyongyang's hard line "was either a negotiating tactic or an indication that a power transition was near, but in any case did not represent the final word on the denuclearisation issue". He derided North Korea's rocket as "a piece of junk that miraculously flew".North KoreaChinaThe US embassy cablesSouth KoreaUS foreign policyUS national securityUnited StatesSimon Tisdallguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |