FINAL CLOSURE UPDATE October 20,2009 3.30 pm :

Personal Details - (Personal+ Professional+FB+Linkedin etc)

Email    500 x .50

Texts 300 x .50

Blog & Calls 180 x 5.00

Gifts 8 x 100

Total Rs. 2100/- Rupees Two thousand one hundred only.

Tuesday October 20, 2009

Mission Accomplished. #deepwish finally raised Rs55,000 for Goonj. Rupees fifty five thousand only. Say it again. Rs55,000. Wow.

43 people. 36 hours. 64.75 per wish = Rs 30,821. On Twitteristan. Those were the effort of 42 people on per tweet basis.

Then there are some silent do-gooders, who prefer not to reveal their names. They have given a lumpsum of Rs24,179 for #deepwish.

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I have been watching intermittently with interest the Media Coverage - TV, publication, internet, social networking sites over the past 10 days, besides of course everyone’s views on what the media is doing right or wrong.

Some interesting notes Harini Calamur’s and Barkha Dutt’s make interesting reading.

However, as a consumer some common questions occurred to me during this time -

How come:-

All the Announcers develop a breathless reporting style. (looked as if they were given a crash course on it)
Became insensitive as human beings.
Start endangering lives - does it matter if the Minister in his search for glory is feeding nonsense.
Initiate more panic than necessary.

Probably their viewers were demanding sensationalism; human tragedy had become a TRP race for them.

All this and more has been debated & shall continue; but the fact of the matter remains……..

Similar to the Telecom industry some years ago….the critical mass has not been reached by the news channels, all of them are fighting for survival, all of them are dependent on the ministers, celebrities etc. for the sound/news byte; ultimately it becoming a you scratch my back & I scratch yours. Who knows what investments the politicians directly or indirectly have in the same channels.

For the newspapers, it is even worse….for all the tom tomming about the circulation, there are not enough people reading what is written; Remember not all our states are as literate as kerala:) As far as back scratching is concerned, advertisers rule the roost!!!

As a citizen first, consumer second my main worry stems -

In the quest for sensationalism/TRP/profits What if the media start getting & showcasing sponsorships; something like —-the next segment is sponsored by xyz politician, defence ministry, LET & Newspapers saying - Today’s news brought to you by…..

Anaggh A. Desai, CEO, Damas India, in a tête-à-tête with JCK India, draws a fine line between being a retailer and a businessman while defining success as a combination of confidence, accomplishment and creative freedom.

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