Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 9/27/83; site hplabsc.UUCP Path: utzoo!utcs!lsuc!pesnta!hplabsc!kumar From: kumar@hplabsc.UUCP (Arvind Kumar) Newsgroups: net.nlang.india Subject: Re: India and the Media Message-ID: <2458@hplabsc.UUCP> Date: Thu, 7-Mar-85 17:53:06 EST Article-I.D.: hplabsc.2458 Posted: Thu Mar 7 17:53:06 1985 Date-Received: Fri, 8-Mar-85 11:23:46 EST Organization: Hewlett Packard Labs, Palo Alto CA Lines: 52 What can I say? I agree with many of the things that people are saying. The question that I want to pose is, so what can one do, short of talking about it. Yes, India is a long way from being where it ought to be, but surely the right kind of media coverage in the most powerful nation of the world, and my adopted country, the U S, can help India get there. And when I say India, I mean the country, not the government. And yes, "India" can easily be replaced with most other third world countries as far as this discussion goes. Here is a letter from an American-born professor who was in India at the time of the last elections. You all might find it of interest. ------------------------------------------------------------------ India and the U S Sir, - As a political scientist - with the University of Washington - on my first visit to India, I have been amazed to witness at first hand, the virility and maturity of Indian democracy in the general elections. This is so particular (sic) because my overall impression of India from the U S media was that of a thinly-veiled dynastic form of government. Those of us in the United States who glibly uphold democratic values should rejoice that the world's largest democracy is not a cliche but a living reality. The elections have been a vibrant assertion of the fact that democracy is preferable to dictatorship, and viable even when tried on a scale never before attempted in human history. Mr Inder Malhotra's incisive article on Indo-U S relations unfortunately misses a crucial dimension, namely, the need for imaginative and innovative Indian public relations efforts in the U S. To overcome media-induced bias and ignorance, one must go beyond newsletters, bulletins, and even video-cassesttes, that cater in any case solely to the Indians in the U S - a microscopic 0.25 per cent of the population. I wish your government would follow up for example on the illuminating television interviews given by the Sri Lankan Professor Ralph Buultjens after Mrs Gandhi's murder that made such a wide impact, and finally prodded me to see India for myself. Could it not also produce material on the lines of the brilliant but short-lived journal of your Consulate in New York, that a few years ago sought to provide a refreshingly non-bureaucratic point of view and insight ("Darshan," I believe it was called) into all aspects of Indian life? These are stray examples of what could be a new trend that would reflect the image of a new government of a country that certainly needs to be known better in the world, and in the U S in particular. Prof. Laird Andersen (Reprinted from the Times of India, sometime in December 1984, w/o permission)