मायक्रोसॉफ्टच्या भाषिक बांधीलकीबाबतचा अनुभव उद्वेगजनक

मराठीची उपेक्षा
संगणकावर भारतीय भाषांच्या उज्ज्वल भविष्यासाठी सक्षम व भाषा या प्रकल्पांची घोषणा मायक्रोसॉफ्टने चार वर्षांपूर्वी गाजावाजा करत केली होती. मात्र सद्यस्थितीत संगणकाचा वापर करणाऱ्या मराठी भाषाप्रेमींचा व संगणक तज्ज्ञांचा मायक्रोसॉफ्टच्या भाषिक बांधीलकीबाबतचा अनुभव उद्वेगजनक आहे.
महाराष्ट्रातील संगणक वापरणाऱ्यांसाठी मायक्रोसॉफ्टने त्यांच्या ‘विन्डोज’ या ऑपरेटिंग सिस्टिम व इतर प्रणाल्यांसाठी प्रमाणित व सुगम मराठीची भाषिक आवृत्ती द्यावी, यासाठी सातत्याने प्रयत्नशील असणाऱ्या मराठी अभ्यास केंद्रातील तज्ज्ञांना मायक्रोसॉफ्ट इंडिया याबतीत तोकडे पडलेले वाटते. “विन्डोज एक्स पी (XP) व ऑफिस-प्रणाल्यांतील मराठी भाषेच्या त्रुटी आम्ही एका निवेदनाद्वारे मायक्रोसॉफ्टच्या भारतातील वरिष्ठ अधिकाऱ्यांच्या नजरेस आणून दिल्या होत्या. यांत मराठी युनिकोड कार्यान्वित ऑपरेटिंग सिस्टमचा संच, कळफलकातील सुधारणा, मराठीतून कार्यपुस्तिकेचा अभाव असेही मराठीशी निगडीत मुद्दे होते.
प्रगत व्यवहार-क्षेत्रांत मराठी भाषेला मानाचे स्थान मिळवून देण्यासाठी कटिबद्ध असणाऱ्या मराठी अभ्यास केंद्र या स्वयंसेवी संस्थेने मायक्रोसॉफ्टशी संपर्कासाठी गेले एक वर्षभर खटाटोप चालवला आहे. मेघश्याम करनाम या मायक्रोसॉफ्टच्या भारतातील अधिकाऱ्याशी संस्थेचे कार्यवाह राममोहन खानापूरकर यांनी एक वर्षापूर्वी संपर्क करुन चर्चेसाठी भेटीची वेळ मागितली होती. अनेकदा आठवण करुनही त्याची आश्वासनपूर्ती करण्याची कोणतीही तसदी करनाम यांनी दाखवली नाही. त्यानंतर १७ मे २००९ रोजी अभ्यास केंद्राने मायक्रोसॉफ्ट इंडियाच्याच प्रादेशिक विभागातील अधिकारी श्रीनिवास गॅरीमेला यांना ‘Localization of Microsoft Products in Maharashtra’ या विषयाचे विस्तृत निवेदन सादर केले होते. या पत्राची प्रत माहितीसाठी मायक्रोसॉफ्ट इंडियाचे वरिष्ठ अधिकारी संजीव रेगे व नितिन कपूर यांनाही पाठवली गेली होती. सदर पत्रात मराठी आवृत्तीचे दोष मायक्रोसॉफ्टने सुधारावेत यासाठी चर्चा करण्याची व सहकार्याची तयारी अभ्यास केंद्राने दर्शवली होती. अशाच आशयाचे पत्र मार्च २००९ मध्ये मायक्रोसॉफ्टच्या आयर्लंडमधील कार्यालयातही अभ्यास केंद्रातील संगणक तज्ज्ञ नितिन निमकर यांनी पाठवले होते. आयर्लंड कार्यालयाने या पत्रावर कार्यवाही करण्यास मायक्रोसॉफ्टच्या भारतातील कार्यालयास सुचविले होते. ‘एवढे करुनदेखील आजतागायत मायक्रोसॉफ्टकडून कोणताही प्रतिसाद न आल्यामुळे हा सर्व खटाटोप व्यर्थ गेला असेच म्हणावे लागेल’.
महाराष्ट्र शासनाच्या शालेय शिक्षण विभागाने शाळांमध्ये मायक्रोसॉफ्टच्या सॉफ्टवेअरद्वारे संगणक-प्रशिक्षणासाठी केलेल्या करारामुळे मायक्रोसॉफ्टला मराठीच्याप्रती उत्तरदायी करणे ही शासनाची जबाबदारी आहे. काही महिन्यांपूर्वीच झालेल्या या कराराला मराठी व इंग्रजी वृत्तपत्रांनी चांगली प्रसिद्धी दिली होती. मायक्रोसॉफ्टच्या अधिकाऱ्यांसमवेत हस्तांदोलन करतानाची शालेय शिक्षण विभागाचे सचिव संजयकुमार यांची छायाचित्रे झळकल्यामुळे शासनाला मराठीच्या मागण्यांसाठी हात झटकता येणार नाहीत असेही दीपक पवार म्हणाले. निव्वळ लोकसंख्येचा विचार करता महाराष्ट्र, गोवा व भारताच्या इतर राज्यांमध्ये नऊ कोटी मराठी भाषिक आहेत. महाराष्ट्रातील संगणक-साक्षरतेच्या दृष्टीकोनातून संगणक वापरणाऱ्यांची संख्या झपाट्याने वाढत असून मराठीच्या संगणकावरील उपलब्धतेमुळे ही संख्या वेगाने वाढण्याची शक्यता आहे असा मुद्दाही दीपक पवार यांनी यासंदर्भात उपस्थित केला.
ऑपरेटिंग सिस्टीमच्या (कार्यकारी प्रणाली) विकास व व्यापार क्षेत्रात मायक्रोसॉफ्ट अग्रस्थानी असल्यामुळे मराठी आवृत्यांचा दृश्यफलक, मदतीसाठीच्या सूचनांची हेल्प फाईल व कार्यपुस्तिका या सगळ्यासाठी संगणकीय मराठीच्या परिभाषेचे सुबोध प्रमाणीकरण त्यांनीच करणे अपेक्षित आहे. मात्र याबाबतीत मायक्रोसॉफ्ट इंडियाचा गतइतिहास फारसा समाधानकारक नाही,” असे मराठी अभ्यास केंद्राचे संगणक-तज्ज्ञ नितिन निमकर यांचे मत आहे. मायक्रोसॉफ्टने सध्या उपलब्ध असलेल्या त्यांच्या मराठी आवृत्तीत मराठी व हिंदी यांची देवनागरी लिपी एकच असल्याचे मानून त्यांच्यात भाषिक साधर्म्य साधण्याची गल्लत केली आहे. हिंदीतील तज्ज्ञांना मराठीचे ज्ञान आपसूकच असणार अशा चुकीच्या धारणेमुळे मायक्रोसॉफ्टच्या मराठी आवृत्तीवर हिंदीचा ठसा उमटलेला दिसून येतो.
मराठी अभ्यास केंद्रातील भाषाविज्ञान तज्ज्ञ सुशान्त देवळेकर यांच्या मतानुसार विन्डोज एक्स पीची मराठी आवृत्ती भाषिकदृष्ट्या सदोष आहे. अनेक पारिभाषिक संज्ञा तसेच हेल्प फाईल्समधील सूचनांसाठी वापरण्यात आलेली तांत्रिक भाषा ही स्वीकारार्ह तांत्रिक लिखाणाच्या निकषांवर उतरणारी नाहीत असे सुशान्त देवळेकरांना वाटते. त्यांच्या म्हणण्याप्रमाणे काही ठिकाणी तर निखालस चुकीचे शब्द घुसवल्यामुळे मराठी आवृत्तीत भाषिक गोंधळ निर्माण झालेला दिसतो.
व्यावसायिक भाषांतरकार विजय पाध्ये यांच्या निरीक्षणानुसार विन्डोजच्या मराठी आवृत्त्यांत अनेक ठिकाणी मराठी शब्द व वाक्प्रचार हे इंग्रजीचेच लिप्यंतरण असून, काही ठिकाणी शब्दाला शब्द जुळवण्याचा अट्टाहास असल्याचे मत मांडले आहे. त्यामुळे काही वेळेस हे शब्द विनोदी वाटतात तर बरेचवेळा भाषाप्रेमींच्या संयमाची परीक्षा पाहणारे ठरतात. मराठीतून तांत्रिक लिखाणाचे अपुरे ज्ञान व त्यात गुंतवणूक करण्याची मानसिकता नसल्यामुळेच मराठी लोकांच्या माथी अशी थातुरमातुर पद्धतीने बनवलेली हिंदीसदृश मराठी आवृत्ती मायक्रोसॉफ्टने मारलेली आहे असे चित्र यामुळे दिसून येते.
सॉफ्टवेअर सल्लागार सलील कुळकर्णी यांच्यामते इंग्रजी प्रणाली विकसित करताना वापरणाऱ्यांच्या सोयीसाठी हरप्रकारे सजग असणाऱ्या मायक्रोसॉफ्टने मराठीची मात्र हेळसांड चालवली आहे. विन्डोज एक्स पी व व्हिस्टाच्या हेल्प फाईल्समध्ये पुष्कळ सुधारणा करण्याची गरज असल्याचे त्यांनी सांगितले. इंग्रजीप्रमाणे एकसमान कळफलक नसणे ही मराठीतून संगणक वापरणाऱ्यांसाठी सर्वात मोठी अडचण असल्याचे सलील कुळकर्णी यांनी नमूद केले. भाषा-प्रणाली बनवणाऱ्या अनेक उत्पादकांनी आपापल्या सोयीप्रमाणे कळफलक बनवल्यामुळे व विक्रेत्यांनी त्यांना उत्तेजन दिल्याने हा गोंधळ निर्माण झाला आहे. मराठीसाठी प्रमाणित कळफलक बनवण्याचे प्रयत्न सी-डॅक या शासनमान्य संस्थेकडून दोन दशकांपूर्वी होऊनदेखील निव्वळ अनास्थेमुळे त्याची उपेक्षा झाली आहे. मायक्रोसॉफ्टने मराठीसाठी स्वीकारलेल्या इनस्क्रिप्टच्या कळफलकांत देखील काही दोष आहेत. उदा० < > ? अशी चिन्हे व काही मराठी अक्षरांचा इनस्क्रिप्टमध्ये थेट वापर करता येत नाही. याबाबतसुद्धा मायक्रोसॉफ्टने पाठपुरावा करण्याची गरज असल्याचे त्यांनी सांगितले.
महाराष्ट्रात विकल्या जाणाऱ्या ऑपरेटिंग सिस्टम वा मायक्रोसॉफ्ट प्रणाल्यांच्या संचात मराठीतून माहिती-पुस्तिका नसल्याचे राममोहन खानापूरकर यांनी नजरेस आणून दिले आहे. तसेच महाजालावर मराठीतून ऑनलाईन सहकार्याची सोय देखील(कार्यकारी प्रणाली) मायक्रॉसॉफ्टने दिलेली नाही. त्यांच्या म्हणण्याप्रमाणे मायक्रोसॉफ्टने महाराष्ट्रात ऑपरेटिंग सिस्टम विकताना युनिकोड मराठीचा पर्याय कार्यान्वित करुनच विकावा जेणेकरुन लोकांना मराठीतून काम करण्याची सोय आपसूकच उपलब्ध होईल.
भारतीय भाषांच्या संगणकावरील वापरासाठी युनिकोड संकेतप्रणालीला केंद्र सरकारने मान्यता दिलेली असून मायक्रोसॉफ्टने २००० पुढील विन्डोजच्या सर्व आवृत्त्यांमध्ये त्याचा आपसूकच समावेश केला आहे. तरीदेखील मायक्रोसॉफ्टच्या अधिकृत सॉफ्टवेअर विक्रेत्यांनी किंवा महाजालावर कार्यरत असणाऱ्या विविध संघटनांनी संगणक वापरणाऱ्या सामान्य लोकांना याची माहिती देण्याची कोणतीच व्यवस्था निर्माण केली नसल्याची खंत नितिन निमकर यांनी व्यक्त केली.
संगणकीय मराठीच्या विकासासाठी महाराष्ट्र शासनाच्या सामान्य प्रशासन विभागाच्या मुख्य सचिव श्रीमती लीना मेहेंदळे यांनी पुढाकार घेतल्यामुळे मराठी अभ्यास केंद्राने संबंधित विषयासंदर्भात आपल्या मागण्यांचे निवेदन त्यांना सादर केले होते. यासाठी वेळोवेळी झालेल्या बैठकांत अभ्यास केंद्राच्या सदस्यांनी मायक्रोसॉफ्टला मराठीसाठी उत्तरदायी करण्याचे आग्रहाचे प्रतिपादन केले होते. युनिकोडच्या प्रसारासाठी महाराष्ट्र ज्ञान महामंडळाचे अध्यक्ष श्री० विवेक सावंत यांचीही भेट अभ्यास केंद्राने घेतली होती. त्यावेळेस मायक्रोसॉफ्टच्या प्रतिनिधींशी विवेक सावंत यांनी स्वत: संपर्क साधून चर्चेसाठी आमंत्रण दिले होते. अशाप्रकारे अनेक पातळ्यांवर वर्षभर नेटाने प्रयत्न करुनदेखील मायक्रोसॉफ्ट इंडियाच्या अधिकाऱ्यांनी त्याची आजतागायत दखल घेतलेली नाही. शासनाच्या माहिती तंत्रज्ञान विभागाचे भूतपूर्व माहिती संचालक भ० प्र० सिंग यांची अभ्यास केंद्राच्या सदस्यांनी भेट घेऊन शासनाने मायक्रोसॉफ्टला मराठीबाबत जाब विचारावा असे सांगितले असता, ‘एखाद्या खासगी कंपनीला शासन असे सांगू शकत नाही’ असे कचखाऊ उत्तर त्यांनी दिले होते.
आत्तापर्यंत झालेल्या दिरंगाईची भरपाई करण्यासाठी मायक्रोसॉफ्टने मराठीच्या प्रमाणीकरणासाठी ताबडतोब पावले उचलावीत असे आवाहन मराठी अभ्यास केंद्राचे अध्यक्ष दीपक पवार यांनी केले आहे. तसे झाल्यास मार्च २०१० मध्ये होणाऱ्या ८३ व्या अखिल भारतीय मराठी साहित्य संमेलनाच्या व्यासपीठावरुन प्रमाणित संगणकीय मराठीचा प्रसार करणे सुकर होईल. या प्रतिष्ठित सोहळ्यासाठी हजारो मराठी भाषाप्रेमी उपस्थित राहाणार असून माध्यमांतूनही त्याला मोठ्या प्रमाणावर प्रसिद्धी लाभणार आहे.
मायक्रोसॉफ्टने मराठीच्या संगणकीय प्रमाणीकरणासाठी प्रामाणिक प्रयत्न केल्यास त्यापासून उभारी घेऊन सर्व भारतीय भाषांचा संगणकीय उत्कर्ष साधण्यास मदत होईल व भारतात संगणक साक्षरता वाढीस लागेल असा विश्वास मराठी अभ्यास केंद्राला वाटतो.
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दीपक पवार, (अध्यक्ष, मराठी अभ्यास केंद्र)
deepak@marathivikas.org, ९८२०४३७६६५
Dated 23.12.09

Microsoft's Indifference to Indian languages

Following press note is received from Marathi Abhyas Kendra. (www.marathi-vikas.blogspot.com, www.upakram.org) I hope the Microsoft takes serious cognizance of the points raised by this Kendra.

Microsoft India urged to promote Indian languages effectively

When Microsoft announced its projects Saksham and Bhasha over four years ago, there were great hopes for better days for Indian languages on computers. As it turns out now, this is not the case if one goes by the experience of Marathi computer users so far.

Experts at Marathi Abhyas Kendra (MAK) have experienced that the efforts of localisation of Microsoft products have been woefully inadequate. “We have repeatedly pointed out the shortcomings to the Microsoft Corporation (India) Pvt Ltd. These relate to Marathi Unicode user interface, inadequacy of its Help files, shortcomings in Windows-XP user interface and keyboard layout, and non-availability of User Manuals in Marathi,” says Kendra President Deepak Pawar.

The MAK, a Thane-based voluntary organisation championing the cause of Marathi language, had submitted to the Microsoft regional office (Public Sector) in India a detailed document about the shortcomings on May 17, 2009 and had volunteered to offer assistance to tackle these issues. Similar offer was made earlier in March, 2009 to its Ireland office, which directed the communication to the Indian subsidiary office. Nothing concrete has emerged.

Prof Pawar says the Microsoft will have to play a key role to increase use of Marathi in computers because the Maharashtra government education department has entrusted with this company the responsibility to spread computer and internet literacy through formal training in schools in the state.

Explaining the status of computer literacy in the state, Prof Pawar points out that a large number of people in the state have already begun using computers and the number is expected to grow if assisted them in Marathi properly. There are about 90 million Marathi speaking people residing in Maharashtra, Goa, bordering areas of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.

Microsoft is the industry leader in computer operating system (OS). It will have to set the standards for terminology in its Marathi version of the OS and other products, and also language for instructions in Help Files and user manuals.  The Microsoft’s track record so far has been far from satisfactory, says software developer Nitin Nimkar.

The Microsoft has failed to realise that Marathi devanagari script may be similar to Hindi’s, but these are not exactly the same. These two languages are different although many words and phrases have been derived from Sanskrit.  Many words and phrases have different shades of meanings in these two languages.  The Microsoft has, however, chosen to assume that an expert in Hindi language would have expertise of Marathi as well. It has resulted in unwarranted intrusion of Hindi words in the Marathi version.  

Mr Sushant Devlekar, the linguistic researcher, says the Windows XP user interface has various shortcomings and defects from the linguistic point of view. Many technical terms used as well as the language used for instructions in the help files are way below the acceptable standard of technical writing.   In some cases the words and phrases used are entirely wrong and do not mean anything.  

Professional translator Vijay Padhye points out several instances where the words and phrases used are verbatim transliteration of English and word-for-word translation of English into Marathi. At times such Marathi words sound very funny or many times are even outrageous. This appears to be the result of poor knowledge of technical writing in Marathi. At some places the words used are blindly adopted from Hindi and are used without proper attention to the context.

Software Consultant Salil Kulkarni has insisted that the Microsoft has not lived up to its reputation of being developer-friendly and user- friendly in respect of Help files and support. The Help files in the Marathi version of Windows-XP or Vista need lots of improvement.

He points out that a major issue for anyone using computer for Marathi language concerns the key-board which has been designed by different vendors in different manner, unlike in the case of English (Roman) which is uniform the world over.

Absence of standardisation for the layout of the Devanagari keyboards promoted by the vendors has created confusion for the users ever since attempts were made to introduced Marathi keying in over more than two decades ago.  The ‘Inscript’ keyboard, accepted by Microsoft as standard for Indian languages have quiet a few shortcomings. For example, keys such as < > ? etc. and some Marathi alphabets cannot be directly used in the Inscript keyboard. The other function keys (for example,  F1, F2 etc.) are not enabled, says Kulkarni.

Media lecturer Rammohan Khanapurkar says the Microsoft does not provide hardcopy of Product User manual in Marathi when its products are sold in Maharashtra. It does not offer online Help in Marathi.  He suggests that provision to switch over to the Marathi version of the OS interface and Unicode option to work in Indian languages should be made available at the beginning itself when the computer is switched on every time.

During the recent times, Unicode has been accepted as a character coding system for all the Indian languages. It is embedded in all the Operating systems of Microsoft Windows such as Windows 2000, XP, and Vista etc. But Nimkar laments that neither software vendors who sell Microsoft products nor associations working for cyber-space applications bring this to the notice of ordinary buyers and internet users.

The MAK president says the Kendra has been making efforts to spread use of Marathi with active support from Ms Leena Mehendale, Maharashtra government’s Principal Secretary (General Administration) and Mr Vivek Sawant, the managing director of Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Ltd. who are keen to create awareness of Unicode for Marathi. However the Microsoft did not respond to these efforts.

Prof Pawar has renewed his appeal to the Microsoft to take appropriate steps at the earliest so that computer script and language could be promoted during the three-day 83^rd All India Marathi Sahitya Sammelan in March 2009. Thousands of Marathi readers and writers are expected to attend the prestigious All India literary meet.

He insists that these steps are necessary as these would also facilitate promotion of all other Indian languages among computer users.  

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Press Council objects to paid news phenomenon

By Shuchi Bansal

New Delhi, Dec 15, 2009: The Press Council of India (PCI), in a Tuesday meeting condemned the phenomenon of newspapers passing off advertisements or so-called paid-for content (or “paid news”) as news.


“The Press Council strongly objects to the paid news phenomenon. We will come up with recommendations which will be sent to the government for being implemented as guidelines,” said a PCI member who did not want to be identified. A sub-committee of PCI met in Delhi to take up a complaint by a journalists union from Andhra Pradesh alleging that owners and editors of dailies in the state accepted money from political parties and individual candidates for coverage during the elections.

The “paid news” controversy has gathered momentum after The Hindu raised the issue in a story on Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan’s campaign during the recently concluded elections in the state. According to The Hindu, Chavan spent a little over Rs11,000 on paid advertising but he received coverage worth much more in newspapers such as Maharashtra Times and Lokmat through paid ads masquarading as newspaper reports.

A Mint story dated 2 December showed the volume of advertising in dailies during the Maharashtra polls had declined by around one-fifth compared with 2004, when elections were last held in the state.

PCI was set up to preserve the freedom of the Press and to maintain and improve the standards of newspapers and news agencies in India. The only power the body has is to inquire into complaints against newspapers and journalists if it has “reasons to believe that a newspaper or news agency has offended against the standards of journalistic ethics or public taste or that an editor or working journalist has committed any professional misconduct”. After giving the erring party a hearing, the council may “…warn, admonish or censure the newspaper, the news agency, the editor or the journalist or disapprove the conduct of the editor or the journalist, as the case may be.”

It can ask the newspaper to publish the particulars relating to an inquiry against it, but cannot levy a penalty or pass any other sort of judgement. The PCI member mentioned in the first instance said that since the body did have real powers to implement guidelines for stopping the practice of paid news, it would leave it to the government to do the needful.

Source: http://www.livemint.com/2009/12/15225430/Press-Council-to-issue-norms-o.html

Dubious Editorial Practices

The sound of money

Media establishments have begun to implement dubious editorial practices and the individual no longer has a choice.If journalists young and old are writing copy that could put PR agencies out of business, who among us is going to do something about it? A HOOT editorial, with inputs from MAHESH VIJAPURKAR. Pix: CNN IBN panel on the Shave India Movement.

Posted Monday, Dec 07 14:01:09, 2009

In just the past week the media has been reverberating with the buzz of commerce. It is extraordinary how charged up the industry becomes when it is enthused by the prospect of making a buck in a bad year. On television and in print there has been a repeat of Gillette's Shave India campaign of an earlier year, with people who look like reporters with mikes going out asking women whether they like clean shaven men better.  A topic of such pressing public interest importance that The Times of India even ran a front page bylined story on the subject, with no hint of irony and no indication that it was a sponsored feature.    Just yesterday there was a programme--not ad--again on it on CNN IBN. On an earlier panel discussion on this channel, a guest had actually gestured to suggest that in times of terrorism beards are not such a good idea! The ostensible news point: independent surveys which show that the majority of women prefer clean shaven men. Competing for attention with this was a series of advertisements in the Economic Times and the Times of India advertising the success of the group's  private treaties campaign. On December 4, 2009 for instance the Mumbai edition of the newspaper put out a half page colour advertisement on the Times Private Treaties  on page 19  titled How to Perform the Great Indian Rope Trick and cited the Pantaloon's case of being a leader in retail and how it could "pull it off" because of Pantaloon's partnership with Times Private Treaties. The advertisement read: "With the added advantage of being a media house, Times Private Treaties (TPT)went beyond the usual role of an investor" by not straining the partner's cash flows. It was because of "the unparalleled advertising muscle of India's leading media conglomerate." As Pantaloon "furiously expanded (the) distribution network, Times Private Treaties ensured he was never short on demand." The TPT has "over 200 such case studies" and the TPT has a "better phrase for it. We called it business sense." How explicit are we going to get? The stress is on the deals being with a media house where the full clout of the media is on offer for your brand. Where else but in the editorial space could that be provided, apart from the advertisements printed in exchange for the stake?  Critics of TPT have voiced the fear in the past that something adverse about a client can be ignored or downplayed, thus undermining the credibility of  the publication and compromising editorial values. Even without an arrangement such as Private Treaties, reporters have begun to write such obliging copy that their stories have begun to sound like  publicity brochures. Check out the front page story DNA carried on December 6, 2009 on a high rise apartment block being built! Meanwhile the repercussions of what went on during the Maharashtra elections is still being felt. Candidates bought coverage packages which were offered to them. The copy was written by ad agencies. The same stories about a candidate appeared in different newspapers, in some cases the same copy appeared as a story in some papers, and as an advertisement in others!  Jansatta editor Om Thanvi pointed out at a SAFMA (South Asian Free Media Association) conference in Mumbai last week where news for sale was discussed, having sold the packages, newspaper agents would then come around to the candidates asking if they would like to recharge their packages !! You have to pinch yourself and ask if all this is for real. The sober learning from Maharashtra is that the corruption is settling into the profession's soul. At the same conference P Sainath, Rural Affairs editor of the Hindu referred to what a senior journalist had written to him to say: When it was individual journalists being corrupted, professionals had a choice. Of going that route, or staying away from it.   Now that media establishments have begun to implement dubious editorial practices themselves the individual no longer has a choice. Wrote the scribe about stories which were written to order: “My byline is on one of those.”  How sad is that? The Election Commissioner in Hyderabad apparently warned media houses this year before a local body election and the practice came down substantially. If the EC in Delhi is more interested in cracking down on graffiti on walls than on subversion of the spending limit for candidates by a greedy media, who is going to do something about it? After the Hindu exposed how much coverage Chief Minister Ashokrao Chavan got in the state elections for how little declared money, only Mint chose to carry the story forward. If journalists young and old are writing copy that could put PR agencies out of business, who among us is going to do something about it? Source: http://www.thehoot.org/web/home/story.php?storyid=4241&mod=1&pg=1&SectionId=19