The World Cup of Kabaddi...

...and the top prize of Rs.1 crore was won by India, who beat Pakistan in Bathinda, Punjab, in early April. Open magazine (April 23) gives readers a racy description of the tournament and the finale, with Arindam Mukherjee capturing the festive atmosphere at the games and also conveying the seriousness with which hard-core fans view kabaddi:

This was no place for the faint of heart. This was Bathinda, in the heartland of Punjab, where the game of kabaddi captivates millions across generations. Here, in similar dust-choked pits, many a bone has been broken, nose bloodied, and ankle sprained in a game that combines judo, wrestling, grappling and athletics, all at once. Westerners have found it difficult to define the game, sometimes even calling it a ‘push-of-war’.

Hotels and dhabas across Punjab switched from IPL cricket to PTC Punjabi channel, which was airing the contests live. Badal even claimed that the kabaddi tournament had “left behind IPL cricket as far as TRP ratings in northern India, New Delhi, Canada, Britain, US, Italy, Pakistan and Iran are concerned”. That cannot be confirmed, but the cheers in Punjab grew audibly rowdier as India trumped Canada to make the finals, while Pakistan edged out Italy.

Read Gone in Thirty Seconds to get an idea of the frenzy the tournament evoked.

• Photo courtesy: Open

The editor of Mint is a fan of Modesty Blaise

And so am I. (And so is my wife.) Like R. Sukumar, who devoted his Cult Fiction column in Mint Lounge (May 15) to the character created by Peter O'Donnell, I have all 13 Modesty books (pictured).

Sukumar is a cerebral senior journalist who, in addition to editing Mint, also writes a serious column in the paper. And look at his qualifications: he has an MBA from Bharatidasan Institute of Management, Trichy, and an MSc in Mathematics and a BE in Chemical Engineering from BITS, Pilani.

When someone like Sukumar showers praise on the Modesty Blaise series, it really means something to fans.

Here's an excerpt from the column:

I like the Modesty books and comics for several reasons: They are very well written (better than some of Fleming’s weaker Bond books, although all the books have more action and humour than the latter; this may be one reason why the screenplays for the Bond movies had to be very different from the books); the characterisation, of Blaise and Garvin but also of the bad guys (and gals), is vivid and piquant; and the illustrations (in the case of the comics) are masterful.

Read the full article here.

A fascinating look at how the internet turned a 16-year-old into a pop phenom

Time (May 17) headlines Claire Suddath's article "Pop Star 2.0", a reference to Justin Bieber who is being hailed as "the first real teen idol of the digital age, a star whose fame can be attributed entirely to the Internet".

The intro draws you into the story before explaining how Bieber's manager first discovered him:

Late one night in 2007, Scooter Braun, an Atlanta-based promoter and music manager, was in bed surfing the Internet when he stumbled upon a grainy home video of Bieber belting out Aretha Franklin's "Respect." "It was such raw talent, my gut just went wild," Braun says, and then pauses. "Maybe I shouldn't tell people I watched videos of Justin Bieber in the middle of the night." Two weeks later, he flew Bieber and his mother to Atlanta and became his manager.

There is also a smart analysis of Bieber's appeal:

As a songwriter, Bieber specializes in two subjects: tender ballads about his parents' divorce and the kind of desperate puppy love to which anyone who has ever been a teenager can relate. His audience can be understood just by looking at his song titles: "U Smile," "First Dance," "One Less Lonely Girl." This is the brilliance of Bieber. Kids will listen to anything if it's catchy, especially if it makes them feel grownup, but Bieber's music says something they actually understand. Nobody is going to believe a 14-year-old boy when he sings, "You're my one love, my one heart, my one life for sure" — nobody, that is, except a 14-year-old girl.

And the longish concluding paragraph capitalises on that appeal:

The day after his appearance on SNL, Bieber gave a small concert at New York's Highline Ballroom for several hundred teenage girls, many of whom had waited for up to five hours to win tickets through a local radio station. The girls wore Bieber T-shirts, carried Bieber CDs and had Bieber backgrounds on their cell phones. "He's so sweet. He's not like every other guy who is just like, 'Ugh, whatever,' " says Alicia Isaacson, 13, from Long Island. It's a sentiment once professed for every artist from Shaun Cassidy to Paul McCartney. Every few seconds, a shrill cry of "Justin!" erupted from somewhere in the crowd. Security guards handed out water bottles and escorted those who felt faint or overwhelmed outside. Offstage, Bieber played with his baseball cap. "I'm really tired," he confessed. "Right now my schedule is just go, go, go. Sometimes I just want to sleep." That afternoon, he had cut his rehearsal to just half a song because he didn't have the energy. But signs of fatigue were gone now, and he took the stage with force. For the first few minutes, the only discernible sound was screaming.

Don't you want to know more about the only artist to have four hit songs before ever releasing an album?

• Photo courtesy: Time

Point your mouse to Poynter... and to Roy Peter Clark

Poynter claims it has "everything you need to be a better journalist". I believe it.

There are many things on the site that will be useful to you if you're looking to improve your writing and hone your journalistic skills. There are great tips for those interested in television too.

Poynter is also home to Roy Peter Clark, whose Writing Tools blog is, quite simply, superb. Here, for instance, are his tips for structuring your sentences and paragraphs:

Sentences and Paragraphs

1. Begin sentences with subjects and verbs, letting subordinate elements branch off to the right. Even a very long sentence can be clear and powerful when subject and verb make meaning early.
2. Use verbs in their strongest form, the simple present or past tense. Strong verbs create action, save words, and reveal the players. Beware of adverbs. Too often, they dilute the meaning of the verb or repeat it: "The building was completely destroyed."
3. Place strong words at the beginning of sentences and paragraphs, and at the end. The period acts as a stop sign. Any word next to the period plays jazz. 

Read the full post — If I Were a Carpenter: The Tools of the Writer — here. And make sure you keep going back to Roy Peter Clark and Writing Tools.

Clark is also the author of Three Little Words, which he wrote as a multi-part series for The St Petersburg Times in 1996. This is how the newspaper introduces Three Little Words on its website:

Author Roy Peter Clark worked for two years to piece together this intensely personal family history. The story, which unfolded here and on the pages of the St. Petersburg Times over 29 days, challenges us to reconsider our thoughts about marriage, privacy, public health and sexual identity.

It is a touching story about a journey of trust, betrayal, and redemption. Make time to read it. You will marvel at the writing style — this is what journalism is about. Read it here: "Three Little Words".

• Photo courtesy: Poynter 

UPDATE (June 15, 2013)
An e-mail from Roy Peter Clark
that I will always treasure:

From: Roy Peter Clark <roypc@poynter.org>
Date: Sat, Jun 15, 2013 at 12:13 AM
To: Ramesh Prabhu <ramesh.prabhu@commits.edu.in>

Ramesh, thank you for your kind thoughts and your generous words.  I'm delighted that "Writing Tools" is working for you and your students.  And cheers to you on your own devotion to the craft.  -- Roy

--

Roy Peter Clark
Vice President and Senior Scholar
The Poynter Institute
801 Third Street South
St. Petersburg, Florida 33701
office:  727-553-4227
rclark@poynter.org

author of:
 "The Glamour of Grammar:  A Guide to the Mystery and Magic of Practical English"
 "Writing Tools:  50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer."

• Both the books mentioned above have been placed in the Commits library for the benefit of our students.

AND THERE'S MORE FROM
THE SCINTILLATING MIND
OF ROY PETER CLARK:

• A brilliant analysis of Roger Ebert's film review intros 

• "Want to develop story ideas? Try Facebook"

• A six-word motto for journalism

• Need a story idea? 

Why isn't the Press Council doing more to end the unethical practice of "paid news"?

That is the theme of an op-ed piece in Mint by P.N. Vasanti, director of the New Delhi-based research organisation Centre for Media Studies.

Here are some relevant excerpts for the uninitiated:

While there has been debate on and off over the relevance of the Press Council in the prevailing media scenario, the debate over so-called paid content has revived the argument over the role of the agency and whether there is any point in keeping it alive.

At the core of the latest controversy is the sale of space in the print and time in the electronic media. What’s carried in that space or time isn’t labelled as advertising for the benefit of readers and viewers, but masquerades as legitimate news.

While this trend itself is not new, it has become more deeply entrenched and even institutionalized in recent times. P. Sainath broke the story in The Hindu about politicians who engaged in the practice during the Maharashtra state elections of 2009. He even gave specific prices for the various types of coverage sold by newspapers, besides showing how the same write-ups praising chief minister Ashok Chavan were carried in three different newspapers during the elections.

Media students will find the whole article instructive.

"A journalist shall protect confidential sources of information"

And no one, not even the government, should force journalists to reveal their sources.

Here, in this letter to Tehelka (May 29), Bangalore-based Gauri Lankesh, a former editor of Lankesh Patrike, describes how the united media fought back when the Karnataka government tried to curb the press:

A UNITED MEDIA FIGHTS BACK
“In our democratic system the fourth estate will brook no interference by the Establishment." That was the stinging message sent by Prajavani, a Kannada daily, to the government of Karnataka last week.

The BS Yeddyurappa-led BJP government -- which is floundering between sexual scandals and financial scams -- had set forth to curb an independent and critical press. Last month, it had tested the waters by issuing threatening notices to two journalists of Prajavani.

In those notices the police of Shimoga district had threatened to charge reporter Rahul Belagali and Associate Editor Padmaraj Dandavati under the dreaded Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967, and various other Acts if they did not reveal the source of information in connection with an interview of a Naxal leader which was published sometime last year.

The notices -- instead of making the journalists meek -- made the media see red. When the Editors Guild of India rapped the knuckles of the state government saying it had no business to ask journalists for their source of information, Prajavani was emboldened. It launched a campaign against the government to protect the rights of the media.

Various groups of journalists joined the campaign and held protests across the state. Journalists of Shimoga  -- Yeddyurappa’s home district -- went a step further and threatened to boycott a press conference by the chief minister unless the police withdrew the notices.

In the face of such a strong resistance by Prajavani and a united media, a shamefaced government was left with no choice but to immediately withdraw the notices.

In the State’s war against the Maoists, it was the government of Karnataka which took the first step towards gagging the media. That Prajavani and the media did not allow the government to succeed in its machinations is heartening. In doing so, they have set a commendable example to others across the country. -- Gauri Lankesh

How to write your first book

Sidin Vadukut is the managing editor of livemint.com, Mint's website (one of the best I have seen). He is also a technologist (National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli) with an MBA degree from IIM-A. Now he also has a novel to his credit, Dork! The Incredible Adventures Of Robin Einstein Verghese. He was in Bangalore recently to launch the book (you can read about First Year student Dipshikha Kaur Chowdhury's interaction with him in The Commits Chronicle).

Back in January, when Dork! had not yet been released, Vadukut wrote an eloquent and instructive article in Mint describing how he wrote his first book. Reading it will also give you an insight into the publishing world in India.

In the concluding paragraphs he offers a bonus to everyone intested in knowing more about writing and writers:

As for your first book, a good place to start is perhaps with a few audio interviews with the best authors. These interviews will tell you not only how these writers find inspiration, but also how, where and, most importantly, why they write. Get them here:

• BBC World Book Club

• CBC Writers and Company

• New York Times Books

Afterwards, read this excerpt from Dork! and check out Vadukut's blog, Domain Maximus.

• A copy of Dork!, autographed by the author, has been placed in the Commits library. Thanks, Dipshikha!

The best cameras for under Rs.50K

Zahid H Javali offers a comprehensive beginner's guide to buying a digital camera in Mint.

He discusses the pros and cons of 10 digicams, from the Rs.10,000 Sony Cybershot DSC-S930 to the Rs.49,999 Canon EOS 550D (pictured).

This is an excellent compendium for those about to buy their first digital camera.

The most professional newspaper coverage of the A-I tragedy in Mangalore

The loss of human life is always a terrible thing. But when the first hint of a disaster arrives in newsrooms, it's the logistics of the ensuing coverage that dominates the thoughts of the people in charge. Decisions are made at this point about sending reporters and photographers to the spot, about calling in extra staff, about making room for all the stories coming in from different sources.

Another important point of debate: What should Page One look like?

On the day after Air India flight IX-182 crashed while landing at Mangalore airport, it's Bangalore's DNA that stood tall in terms of coverage, with reports and pictures that explored every aspect of the latest tragic chapter in the history of modern civil aviation.

Look at Page One:

 

This front page reflects professionalism of the highest order. No other paper in Bangalore had a front page dominated by a picture in this fashion. DNA's editors also focused, rightly, on one of the survivors when deciding the banner headline. And the newspaper management, in an exemplary gesture of sensitivity, and also to make space for the news, chucked out the front page ads, including the ear panels.

There were 10 other pages in the paper providing what it called "hypercoverage" of the tragedy. And the lead story in After Hrs, the features supplement, focused on air crashes too.

Undoubtedly, a comprehensive, coordinated, concerted effort. Not easy at the best of times, devilishly difficult at the worst of times. So kudos to Team DNA.

• Arpan Bhattacharyya (Class of 2010) comments: Just one word: SUPER!
  
  ToI had an ad saying, ironically enough, "Impact Readymade — Raymond". Rather tasteless. But desperate TIMES calls for desperate...

If advertising is going to be your career...

...and you have a portfolio ready, you may want to consider taking part in "portfolio night" -- "an opportunity for junior advertising professionals and students to meet the top minds of the industry and have their work reviewed."

Take a look at some of the names on the roster of judges who attended India's first portfolio night in Mumbai on May 20: Piyush Pandey, chairman of O&M; Prasoon Joshi, executive chairman of McCann Erickson; and R. Balakrishnan, chairman and chief creative officer of Lowe India.

Read all about it here in this comprehensive feature by Gouri Shah in Mint.