News of the World Scandal

British judicial enquiry examined the Murdochs about News of the World scandal. Rupert Murdoch apologized for failing to take measures to avert the hacking scandal. He cast himself as a victim, and said that the scandal was hidden from the  owners‘ top executives. He seemed to blame the subordinates for not alerting him to the practices being used at the newspapers to secure its scoops. He predicted that the news business would be ‘purely electronic ‘ in five, 10 or 20 years. He cautioned the judge regarding regulatory measures envisaged consequent to the scandal. He said the press guarantees democracy, and we want democracy rather than autocracy. The Committee in its report indicated Murdoch by saying that he is not fit to exercise the stewardship of a major international company. It is now left to the House of commons to decide whether News International committed contempt of parliament, and if so what punishment should be imposed on the organisation.

The work style of Murdoch has always remained a matter of debate, admiration and criticism. Prof Daya Thussu, West-minister University, UK has written about such working style. Some features of this style are

*  focus on commercial interests

*  ownership of the different type of media, and aggressively work towards it

*  use political contacts regarding the ownership rights against the promise of good publicity.

*  exploit rules

*  put sensational and glossy programmes and news for commercial benefit

This working style is confined to Murdoch group, but is more less extendable to other media groups too. The strictures passes by the committee are not thus restricted to News Corpn.only. The criticism against Murdoch is quite old. His media expansion in the UK and the work culture were matters of debate. It was alleged that in the UK, there was support from Thatcher and in the US from Regean. The media moghul sobriquet is thus not entirely on the basis of respect.

The charge is not against an individual but against a type of work culture in the media organisations. It may be a political charge, but political system represented by the parliament has a right to raise it.

We have much to worry here against the above background. Let alone the media owners, do the political forces here have even the courage to bring to book the errant journalists? How many times the individual rights and the right to privacy have been uphold while doing journalism? Murdochisation is not on decline. The politicians will have to tell the media at times, “ You have erred. You be responsible. “

Multiple Screens for  Films

Previously, an analogue print of the film cost anything between Rs. 50,000 to 60,000. This cost has been brought down by digitisation to Rs. 10,000 to 12,000 per screen, a reduction by 1/5th. This itself is an incentive to a producer to release his films in more theatres. According to FICCI-KPMG Indian Media and Entertainment Industry Report, 2114, approximately 95 per cent of commercially viable screens have been digitised.

An analogue print was heavy — it used to weigh 40-50 kgs. and was difficult to transport. These days an entire film can be stored in a pen-drive or downloaded directly into cinema hall’s projection room through satellite. Even storage rooms and trunks are not necessary.

In 2004, Veer Zara was released in 625 screens. Dhoom2  in 2006 was released in 1000 screens. By 2008, Ghjiini was released in 1550 screens. In 2011, Ra.One  was released in 2900 screens. Doom3  had a release on 3800 screens in 2013. Kick  was released in 2014 on 5000 screens. It’s a huge rise in the number of screens since 2004 — almost 9 times.

Prints are released across the metros and smaller towns at the same time. It reduces the scope of piracy. It enables a producer to exploit a territory commercially immediately. Previously it took several months to do so. The role of audience feed back has also reduced along with the simultaneous release.

The digital format made a debut in 2007-08. Dhoom3  in 2013 was not released in analogue format at all.

Social Media and News Consumption

The News Feeds stream of updates that we see on the Facebook is governed by a software code. Facebook in the US has become a major source of news—as many as 30 per cent of adults get their news on Facebook. Facebook, along with Twitter and Google News, has changed the news consumption habits of people. There is  an algorithm that predicts what users might want to read. Instead of the whole package of news, the fragments of news reach the consumers. It will be a serious challenge to the editors — the ability of the computers to curate news, the role which was traditionally played by the editor. Indian audience loves its ABCDs i.e. astrology, Bollywood, cricket and divinity. Social media users are expected to spend more time on their services—it is called engagement. More engagement has a positive aspect—exposure to diverse viewpoints and ideas. Engagement has a negative aspect—users create cocoons and filter out coverage they do not agree with.

Social media has simply become a personalized newspaper.

Rap Music

Rap music has to answer the question – does it reflect the violent times we live in or does it promote misogyny and incite violence ? The lyrics of rap stars are not acceptable. They are derogatory to a woman. At times, they make us uncomfortable. The commonly used terms are bitch, whores, d**k, n**ga, f**k, sh*t, pu**y, and damn. Young minds find an emotional outlet through music. Not all rap music is bad. Some rap music brings about positive changes in society. But bad rap has done better. It has been over-glamorised. Youngsters love rap lingo. They love listening and grooving to it.

Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon

Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon moved the then PM Pandit Nehru to tears when it was rendered before a packed National  Stadium in the capital on a cold January 27 evening exactly 50 years ago ( 1963 ) by Lata Mangeshkar. It was penned by Kavi Pradeep shortly after the China War ( 1962 ). Pradeep presented a handwritten poem to Nehru when he visited Mumbai on March 21, 1963.

Pradeep was walking on the Mahim beach when the words of this poem occurred to him. He borrowed a pen from a fellow walker, ripped out the foil from his cigarette packet and penned the first stanza. Mehboob Khan organised a fund raising concert at National Stadium and wanted an opening song from Pradeep. Pradeep roped in C. Ramchandra and Lata Mangeshkar, and the rest is history.

Organised Retail

Organised retail has huge potential in India. One principal reason is the demographics of our country. There is a huge urban population of 377 million ( 2013 ). These very people boost the retail sales. There are 100 million working women ( 2013 ) in India. Almost 2/3rd of the population of India consists of the youth that is below the age of 35 years. Quick Service Restaurants ( QSR ), multiplexes and the thirst for new experiences are what will define the next generation of retail.

Dr Philip Kotler

Dr. Philip Kotler is the ‘ Wren and Martin ‘ of Marketing. He is an octogenerian now. His 14th edition of the most authoritative text book named Marketing Management is one of his accomplishments. He is the product of Chicago University and MIT. He was taught economics by three Nobel Laureates  — Milton Friedman, Paul Samuelson and Robert Solow. He did a year’s post-doctoral work at Harvard in Mathematics. He did behavioural science work at University of Chicago. Currently, he is the professor of  International Marketing at Kellog B-school.

E-Tail and Retail

The way goods are traded and bought is being redefined by the digital commerce. In scope, digital commerce matches the telecom revolution a decade back. Online retail is a natural evolution from unorganised mom-pop stores, to mass retailing from the malls to digital commerce now. In fact, online trade brings the small sellers, retailers and artisans to the customers directly. The access is the same—whether you are in the urban areas or the rural areas. Apart from the sellers and buyers, there is a growth of logistics and courier companies. Brick-and –mortar stores can co-exist and thrive. In fact, most of the brick-and- mortar stores have developed omni-channel capabilities. Online stores are convenient. They do offer a large variety. In India, the focus on just discounts is misplaced. It should be on convenience and variety.

Wearable Technology

It is predicted that the next era of computing will be wearables. The speculation is about the nature of these wearables. There could be a number of wearables on the wrist. And wearables on the face, just like the glasses. It is possible that the future gadgets will be stretchable, bendable and thinner. They can adhere to the skin like tattoos or attach to the body like a Band-Aid strip. All these attachable computers will have sensors. They can collect a lot of health-related data. They will look like body art. Scientists are working on e-skin that sits on the body. It may lead to life-like prosthetics.

Gallup

Gallup conducts polls.Its three practice areas are employee engagement, customer engagement and well-being. Gallup earns from large polls to corporations and governments. Gallup turns classical economics on its head to stand out. Gallup perspective is growth. They look things from the perspective of behavioural economics. ‘Gallup Path’ is unique proprietary model. Basically Gallup capitalised on human nature, which plays a role in business outcomes. Gallup Path is pretty much the operating system in a clutch of companies. Jin Cliffon is the CEO of Gallup since 1988.