Column: Making Social Media Platforms Pay for News
December 27, 2020In India it is estimated that 52 per cent of the total audience consumes news on Facebook and WhatsApp (also owned by Facebook). In the USA, this figure is 68 per cent. For Free
Column: Pressing need to look at the funding of journalism, for news that matters
December 27, 2020Journalism in Public Interest has to look at different methods of funding, beyond the sale of fleeting eyeballs to advertisers
Column: Universal Basic Income – the time is now
December 27, 2020The Indian economy needs a rapid infusion of disposable income in the hands of individual households to get out of the mess
Column: Strangulating the Economic Dreams of Millions
December 27, 2020Covid has given the Government a fig leaf to cover up its disastrous handling of the economy
Column: The Cult of the large Peepul Tree and the Indian National Congress
December 27, 2020The peepul tree or the Ficus religiosa, to give it is the scientific name, is not just native to India, but an intrinsic part of the culture. It is under this tree that Savitri negotiates for Satyavan’s life with Yama, the God…
Column: The Clash of Competing Rights
December 27, 2020this appeared in the FPJ The state of Idaho in the United States of America claims to fame is that it produces over a third of all the potatoes produce in the country. A few months ago, this sleepy little state was…
Column: #COVID and the Educational Digital Divide
December 27, 2020This appeared in the FPJ There still seems no end in sight to the COVID crisis. There is the Russian vaccine, Sputnik V, but across the world scientists have raised a red flag at the rush to hit the market at the…
Column: American Exceptionalism and the forced sale of Tik Tok
December 27, 2020this appeared in the FPJ Tik Tok ; banned in India, and facing a ban in the USA unless it is sold to an American buyer, Tik Tok faces a tough battle ahead. But, what does this mean for Government control on…
Column: Vultures of the Mainstream Media
December 27, 2020this appeared in the FPJ It isn’t that there is a dearth of news. We are in the throes of the first global pandemic in almost a century, and the COVID crisis shows little sign of respite. There is the clash with…
Column: Advertising Pressure on Platforms that run Hate
December 27, 2020This appeared in the FPJ Last year, when things were somewhat normal, and people went to see comedy shows, comedian Agrima Joshua, during a live show, cracked a joke about the Shivaji statue that is to be installed in the middle of…