which all mediums of information builds up to form media as a whole.(in decending order of influence on public)1. radio2. cinema (do emphacise on cinema) as it is a very strong medium which influences for a lage mass population. it connects to the people. sometimes one needs three hours to convey their message and not 3 miutes small story to influence people.3. newspaper 4. television5. internetI will not restrict myself to just India but will also talk about the global media and how media as a whole distort reality.see.... every media organisation be it NDTV, AL Jazeera, PTV, Times of India, Economist or Panchjanya (RSS newspaper)they have their own set of audience whom they have to cater to. if they dont take their interest in their mind then their own survival in jeapordy.so if karunanidhi was taken into custody in the middle of the night then both Jaya TV and Sun TV had different version of whyKarunanidhi was arrested. (search google if you dont know what happened in that incident. dont go blank on this issuecoz some chutiya will definatly ask you a que on it.) the reason they have differnt version of karunanidhi coz their viwers which are supporters of Jayalalitha and Karunanidhi wants to listen a particular story. jaya tv viewrs wanted to listen that jayalalitha was right in getting karunanidhi arrested at 3 am while sun tv viewers wanted to listen that jayalalitha is a cruel woman who got heir leaders arrested.same is the case of Al Jazeera and CNN . when a bomb blast happens in iraq or american soldiers kill some iraqi nationalthen both the channels have different version.To get more advertisement revenue: till 2000 ad money in tv was 2000 crores.By 2007 it will grow to 7000 crores annually that’s why so many new channels are coming up to grab a bite of their own sare. if a channell create a controversial story then more audience will watch it. The more the audience the more the TRP.In july during the Indian oil cricket tournament when sourav ganguly was playing as a player and rahul dravid was the captain one of a news channel had a 2 hr long news report a night before the tournament about how the Indian team has been divided how sourav ganguly and his boys were sitting in a seculuded place in the team meeting and how dravid and his boys were participating in the meeting. May be the team was divided, may be not.third reason can be to spread one's propaganda.for years PTV and Pakistani radio created the wrong notion about India and indians.but once people 2 people contact started from last year that notion now is completely shattered.before the iraq war colin powell in his historic speech told the general assembly and through that sppech the entire world media on how saddam hussain is having weapons of mass destruction which eventually was found out that he never had any.if media wanted they could have asked the bush goverment for proof, substantial proof but they never did as even they realised especially the amerecan news media that with war their dropping trp will reach all time high. which they didmedia generally run stories criticizing the government . very rarely do they ever ruin stories or cover stories where they praise the government.in this regard media on many occasion distort the reality.e.g. sucides by poor farmers.every year we see so many stories done in media where the media say that the poor farmers are commiting sucide because of a crop faliure. but if one takes a close look at the sucide issue then one would find that its not just the farmers which commit sucide. even the rich and the famous also commit sucide then be it nafisa joseph or kurt cobain.in america white commit more sucide than blacks. but media has created these false notionsin people's mindprobably to create controversy, probably to generate more revenue......

Richie's final delivery

The doyen of cricket commentators, Richie Benaud, has announced that he will not be continuing behind the microphone in England after the final Ashes Test at The Oval.

Many will not realise the significance of this until the first Test of next summer dawns and there are suddenly no wry observations in the distinctive Australian accent that cricket fans from across the world have grown up savouring.

Almost all those fans will have a Richie Benaud impression in their repertoire, or versions of impressions by Billy Birmingham or Rory Bremner. Some sound more like Dame Edna Everage - but everyone has a go.

Like Frank Spencer of yester-year, Richie is the one they all imitate, yet like his commentaries, he has endured. Following an illustrious playing career as an inventive leg-spinner which yielded 248 Test wickets and 2,201 runs from 63 Tests, he moved seamlessly into the commentary box.

He arrived at the BBC and went on a training course, where the instructors highlighted Henry Longhurst, Dan Maskell and Peter O'Sullevan as broadcasters to emulate. "They took me down to Newbury for the autumn meeting to trail round Peter O'Sullevan and it was the best training I could possibly have. He was the most organised man I've ever seen on television," Benaud, 74, told BBC Radio Five Live.

"He prepared for before the first race, so that when the race was about to start he knew everything about what was going to happen."

Now, after 42 years commentating in England, he is to bow out.

"People have been kind enough to say 'it's a pity you're finishing we really enjoy what you do' but I've had a lot of fun and enjoyed every minute of it," he said.

None more so the current Ashes battle, which has captivated the county in recent weeks.
"I've never been so excited about a series from a commentary point of view," he enthused. "The last two years have been the best cricket I've ever seen."

A playing adversary who became a long-term colleague in the BBC box is former England captain Raymond Illingworth, who is full of praise for Benaud's presentational style. "He is a very good broadcaster who doesn't say too much and lets the people decide for themselves when they're watching," he told BBC Sport.

"What remarks he does make are usually to the point - and he doesn't miss too many points."
Illingworth joined an experienced BBC line-up featuring Benaud and Jim Laker, fronted by Peter West, and recalls the welcome he received.

"When I started he was the one who helped me more than anyone else," he said.

"Lots of little things he told you were very helpful. It was a really good set-up, everyone got on extremely well with each other and it was a very pleasant environment to work in."

Although good friends for a number of years, the two cricketing heavyweights did not spend much time socialising away from the commentary box.

"Richie doesn't do a great deal of that because he's always working in the evening," Illingworth explains. "Occasionally I would have a meal with him at night and a bottle of wine but he really kept himself to himself because he was always doing a lot of writing at night."

Another retired friend of the veteran broadcaster is legendary umpire Dickie Bird, who has no doubts about Benaud's commentary skills. "He is easily the best, I put him along with Henry Longhurst in golf and Harry Carpenter in boxing. It's a gift, he will be sadly missed, he's a legend," Bird reflected.

"He is a very good friend of mine, he was a great captain so he knew the game but he's a good journalist as well. They'll never replace Richie Benaud." Bird, who says he always refers to Richie as "skipper" whenever they meet, will make a point of seeing his old friend at The Oval.

"I'll go up to the commentary box to say my farewells and wish him every happiness."
The Benaud machine will continue to whir in other ways, with his ninth book on cricket due for release in the autumn. And he will remain at the head of Channel Nine's cricket coverage in Australia.



But he opposes non-free-to air coverage and immediately discounted a switch to Sky, who will have live coverage of home England Tests from 2006. His many legions of fans will have to contend themselves with gems from the archives, a veritable Benaud jukebox, to be recounted in their best Richie voice... such as the time when the West Indian fielders were finding the going difficult in 2004.

"There are two men out there," he said, as the ball was clipped away to fine-leg, before dribbling through the two West Indians and going over the ropes for four.

With immaculate timing, he then added: "Or maybe... one and a half."

RICHIE-Isms
Don't bother looking for that let alone chasing it.

I suppose it's only logical, if you need 24 to save the follow-on why wouldn't you get it in four hits?

Footwork's a bit of a mess, and so are the stumps

Jamie Lillywhite