CNN responds to Hindu activists.

[Guest guest]

>"Ashwini Kumar"

>Fwd: Media takes not of the petition and article against CNN's Bias.

>Mon, 04 Feb 2002 20:01:01 -0500 > > > > > >>The petition against CNN has

got coverage in "India Abroad" (p.3 >>latest >>issue). It got mention in "Times

Of India." Below it got coverage >>in a >>newspaper belonging to The Hindu

group of papers. >> >>Rajiv >> >>

>>http://www.blonnet.com/stories/2002020300671600.htm >> >> >>A voice to put

bias where it belongs >> >>Prakash M. Swamy >>The charges against CNN include

granting the legitimacy of an >>elected >>`President' to Pervez Musharraf when

he is a military dictator who >>has >>usurped power from a democratically

elected Government and using >>the benign >>term `militants' in Kashmir to

`terrorists' elsewhere. >> >>NEW YORK, Feb. 2 >> >>DO you think CNN has a

pro-Pakistan bias? Do you feel CNN's >>coverage leaves >>an impression that

Pakistan is a country fighting terrorism instead >>of >>supporting and

harbouring terrorists? Nearly 55,000 Indians from >>over 30 >>countries around

the world think so. And that too in a short span >>of time. >> >>This

groundswell of global opinion in response to an article by >>Rajiv >>Malhotra,

a Princeton entrepreneur, on the popular Indian community >>Web site

>>Sulekha.com, and a petition created by Kris Chandrasekar, a Bay >>Area

banker, >>has directly led to a meeting with top CNN executives in their

>>Atlanta >>headquarters. >> >>Narsi Narasimhan, an Atlanta consultant, who

arranged the meeting >>and led a >>group of representatives to discuss the

charges in the article and >>the >>petition, said, "We had a productive and

useful meeting, during >>which Rajiv >>Malhotra's Sulekha.com article was

presented and discussed in >>detail. We >>found a receptive audience in CNN's

executives." >> >>Nigel Pritchard, CNN's Vice-President of Public Relations,

said, >>"We >>continuously welcome and respect the viewpoints of our audience

and >>have >>thoroughly reviewed the points raised by the petitioners and in

the >>Sulekha >>article by Rajiv Malhotra. Our objective at CNN remains clear:

To >>provide >>our viewers with the best possible coverage that is fair,

accurate >>and >>unbiased. We listen to all sides of a news story and report on

all >>angles." >> >>The global campaign against CNN started when Rajiv Malhotra,

>>President of >>Infinity Foundation, presented numerous examples in his latest

>>Sulekha.com >>column demonstrating CNN's continued bias in favour of

Pakistan. >>His charges >>include CNN reports granting the legitimacy of an

elected >>`President' to >>Pervez Musharraf when he is a military dictator who

has usurped >>power from a >>democratically elected Government, using the

relatively benign term >>`militants' in Kashmir while using the term

`terrorists' elsewhere, >>lack of >>coverage of ethnic cleansing in Pakistan

that has reduced >>non-Muslim >>population from 10 per cent to 2 per cent. >>

>>Says Malhotra: "The ignorant and prejudiced coverage of India by

>>organisations such as CNN is glaring and unforgivable. Sulekha >>should be

>>commended for providing a popular and effective forum to get the >>word out."

>> >>Taking the cue from the article, Kris Chandrasekar created an >>online

>>petition that quickly attracted a massive audience as it got >>circulated on

>>e-mail lists and posted on numerous Web sites. In less than 10 >>days, nearly

>>55,000 people had signed the petition. >> >>Chandrasekar commented, "I have

received 100s of personal e-mails >>from >>around the world on this issue. The

support has been just >>overwhelming; this >>goes to prove that the Sulekha

article by Rajiv has struck a highly >>resonant >>chord in Indians worldwide."

>> >>Satya Prabhakar, President and CEO of Sulekha.com, said: "Sulekha >>is

proud >>to be the forum that galvanises global Indian opinion around issues

>>of >>interest. The Internet is uniquely capable of enabling effective

>>distributed >>co-ordination. We are glad that Sulekha.com's twin rallying

cries >>of >>statement and interaction are helping build the social capital of

>>the global >>Indian community." >> >>The action group is exploring ways to

more systematically study >>biased >>Indian coverage in American media. >>

>>Sulekha.com is the flagship service of Smart Information Worldwide >>Inc, a

>>leading Internet media and services company with operations in US >>and

India. >>Sustained by the creative contributions of tens of thousands of

>>Indians from >>over 50 countries, Sulekha has become the biggest online

community >>for >>Indians. In addition, it is also the leading provider of

ticketing, >>membership and fundraising services to Indian organisations and is

>>today the >>biggest online ticketer for Indian events and movies in North

>>America. >> >> > > > Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN

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