Media Gag
ToI plays legal hardball with blogger
Pradyuman Maheshwari started Mediaah! a blog in mid 2003. The aim of the blog was to keep an eagle watch on the Indian media industry. Mediaah! soon became a popular blog which claimed to be "The Media's Media. No-holds-barred news and commentary on the Indian media".
One of Maheshwari's favourite targets for commentary was the media Golaith Times of India. Things took a wierd turn when Madiaah! ran a story on Times' rumoured tie up with Reuters. Maheshwari recieved his first legal notice from ToI to which he responded by issuing an apology and taking the article off the net. This did not satisfy ToI, it wanted him to take off all the 19 articles he had posted on Times. Not in a position to take on the media giant, Maheshwari complied.
The matter did not end at that, the Indian blogging community took up the cudgels against Times. An anonymous blogger set up Mediaha! and posted all the articles Maheshwari had taken down. Indian bloggers may not hold the clout their US counterpart may wield but this fracas has got them swarming like angry hornets. ToI's bullying tactics against Mediaah! may well be a miscalculation on their part and we may soon witness the birth of a new media power center, the Indian blogger, and this would add a whole new dimension to the freedom of expression.
Get the details here.
Pradyuman Maheshwari started Mediaah! a blog in mid 2003. The aim of the blog was to keep an eagle watch on the Indian media industry. Mediaah! soon became a popular blog which claimed to be "The Media's Media. No-holds-barred news and commentary on the Indian media".
One of Maheshwari's favourite targets for commentary was the media Golaith Times of India. Things took a wierd turn when Madiaah! ran a story on Times' rumoured tie up with Reuters. Maheshwari recieved his first legal notice from ToI to which he responded by issuing an apology and taking the article off the net. This did not satisfy ToI, it wanted him to take off all the 19 articles he had posted on Times. Not in a position to take on the media giant, Maheshwari complied.
The matter did not end at that, the Indian blogging community took up the cudgels against Times. An anonymous blogger set up Mediaha! and posted all the articles Maheshwari had taken down. Indian bloggers may not hold the clout their US counterpart may wield but this fracas has got them swarming like angry hornets. ToI's bullying tactics against Mediaah! may well be a miscalculation on their part and we may soon witness the birth of a new media power center, the Indian blogger, and this would add a whole new dimension to the freedom of expression.
Get the details here.
posted by The Soulforged @ 4/05/2005
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