The ninth edition of Hakara हाकारा, the bilingual online publication, has been published recently.   It is a peer-reviewed journal published online with ISBN number 2581-9976. The editorial explains the Hakara's its purpose as follows: 

 .."sharing of research, speculations, literary and visual work presented in innovative ways that respond to current debates while being attentive to the nuanced understanding and interconnectedness of content, form and society."

Our contemporary lives and actions have been radically influencing expressions of writing, image-making and publicizing. Conversely, the production, consumption and circulation of expressions have influenced the aesthetics, politics and networking today. With हाकारा | hākārā, our aim is to explore and practice newer ways of producing and appreciating creative expressions while encouraging dialogue between different fields of expressions. Considering a rich and diverse body of creative work, we focus on creative and critical writing in Marathi and English across literary and visual forms of expressions.

The peer-reviewed journal, हाकारा | hākārā is published online in freely accessible and interactive format by focusing on the area that may help us address the diversities and the synergies implicit in literary and visual cultures. The हाकारा | hākārā editors are interested in sharing of research, speculations, literary and visual work presented in innovative ways that respond to current debates while being attentive to the nuanced understanding and interconnectedness of content, form and society. We particularly encourage innovative nature of literary and visual images, critical artistic practices and developments that inform the contemporariness of the medium (and its pasts and futures), as well as the formal qualities of words and images in changing contexts.

KT

Newseum is closed

Goodbye to One of a kind, Newseum

The Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC shut down after 12 years, on December 31^st, 2019. 

But thank God1 The display of the frontpages of over 700 newspapers across the world continues on its website. To cross-check, I visited the web site,  https://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/  

and I could see he familiar home page of the link. 

Run by the Freedom Forum, it was created for visitors to explore the five freedoms of the First Amendment in an innovative and interactive manner. In this sense, over ten million viewers experienced the story of news, the role of a free press throughout history, and application of the five freedoms of the First Amendment — religion, speech, press, assembly and petition, to their lives.

Due to unsustainable maintenance costs, creator and primary funder, The Freedom Forum sold the building to Johns Hopkins University for $372.5 million to be used for their graduate programs. Named one of the “world’s greatest places” by Time magazine in 2019, the comprehensive display is nothing but a historical landmark for print media, with its 80-foot-tall marble tablet engraved with the First Amendment. Sadly, a loss in the world of print journalism is a win for the university.

It’s permanent collection included: Comcast’s 9/11 Gallery - a display of the broadcast antennae from the top of the World Trade Centre; an 8 sectioned concrete Berlin Wall Gallery - one of the largest displays of the original wall outside Germany; and the Pulitzer Prize Photographs Gallery, featuring photographs from every Pulitzer Prize-winning entry dating back to 1942. In addition, there were over 60 changing exhibits ranging from coverage of Hurricane Katrina; presidential assassinations; the Vietnam war, major moments in the civil rights movement to topics like FBI and the press, the rise of the LGBTQ rights movement; as well as a several exhibits focusing on popular culture, editorial cartoonist and noteworthy journalists.

While the search for a new home is still on the cards, the question remains: what will happen to all the artefacts on display? The donations to the permanent collection, owned by the Freedom Forum, will be stored in a state-of-the-art support centre, and selectively be loaned for educational programs, public events, digital initiatives, etc. Meanwhile, their digital outreach and web-based programs across the world will continue.The rest of the items have been sent back to the owners and may sadly, never see the light of day again, put away in boxes of memorabilia by the donors.

In the age of fake news and digitization, print media – the first rough draft of history – unaltered was what the Newseum served as a reminder for. With deception being at an all time high, it is important to have tangible evidence of history to inspire the youth to look for the truth and understand the power of the media. With its closing, print media’s role as an agent of truth and change hangs in the balance.

Among Newseum’s exhibits were:

A copy of a 301 year old newspaper, the Boston News-Letter, which was "the first successful newspaper in the Colonies."

>> A 1789 front page that printed the first 12 proposed amendments to the Constitution. "Article the Third," about freedom of press and speech and religion, eventually became the FIRST...

>> The NYT's 1927 front page about the test of a new medium called "television."  It's "like a photo come to life," but commercial use is "in doubt," the headline said!--

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Ahana Appiah

My student of Print Media,  ahana.appiah@flame.edu.in 

FLAME University, Pune, Maharashtra, India
https://www.flame.edu.in/

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