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 Newspapers, magazines,...

In the good old days, newspapers were the main source of detailed news. Radio might have been the medium for quick updates or crisis situations. Then TV came, and these two took a backseat.

Now, even TV has had to bow to online news updates that are on 24x7. I remember going to CNN studios for a tour in Atlanta. Ted Turner had started this new channel, with news all round the day and night. It was quite a hit in the US, and later went around the world.

Newspapers, the print variety, still have some takers. But in the West, many are struggling. Magazines which were iconic have shut their print versions, or all versions. National Geographic is the latest to announce it. Before that, MAD magazine did.

I once worked for an ad agency that was a part of the Living Media group, publishers of India Today, and a couple of other magazines- Bombay and Computers Today. 

News stands selling magazines are also few and far between today. Changing times..

50 People Who Messed Up The World- Book Review

 

The authors, Alexander Parker and Tim Richman are South Africans. Aided by a cartoonist, they have compiled a pretty good list that contain some surprises. I won't give it away, but it includes a musician, a couple of magazine editors, a big sports cheater, a social media founder, and a good number of mass murderers. The musician (a teen heart-throb) is accused of spoiling our taste.

Written in a humourous style, it makes for an easy read, one or two chapters at a time. The chapters are well-researched, and show more than just a passing acquaintance with the history of the places and people they write about. The lessons to be learnt are also summarised well, to caution us not to let History repeat itself..but of course, it always does.

Naturally, they excel at the African dictators and Diamond merchants, being so close geographically. But the Pol Pot and Mao chapters are no less instructive. So is the Father of the Atom Bomb, Oppenheimer. Ponzi king Bernie Madoff is also given pride of place in a chapter. And Kim Kardashian. In other words, they are unsparing, and don't talk about political animals alone.

A great read, and I am glad I bought it. Worth every penny.

Controversies Through the Ages

I have been witness to a lot of controversies, and the current lot seem pale in comparison to the great ones before them. Sample these, usually reported in nationally relevant mags like Star and Style, Cine Blitz or similar mags before TV came in (Shobhaa De was a columnist in one of these)-

Whether Amitabh and Rekha had an affair

Whether Dharmendra had married Hema Malini

Whether Dharmendra had beaten up a journo

Whether Rakesh Roshan was always bald

Whether Rajesh Khanna and Tina used the same toothbrush when they were allegedly together

Should there be kissing in films? A firm no was the answer for some decades, in case you are curious. Just think-Emraan Hashmi would have been unemployed!

Every year, there would be a list of Income Tax owed by celebs, mainly film stars, and where they found unaccounted cash in raids- mattresses, bathrooms were standard hiding places. Kishore Kumar even inserted the line 'peechhe pad gaya income taxum' in a song of his - Jay Govindam Jai Gopalam was the song.