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| Bhunte | Posted
on 03-Nov-03 02:32 AM
Finally, the critical artical about that billionnaire is out in Nepali Times by Ashu. Click the link - http://www.nepalnews.com/ntimes/issue168/strictly_business.htm Or, read as below: The billionaire next door ---by Ashutosh Tiwari (nepali times) Medias misplaced corporate priorities were in plain view. Business journalism failed Nepali readers and viewers in a big way last week. Giving front-page and prime-time treatment to the story of a Spanish-British-Nepali man, The Kathmandu Post and Kantipur national dailies, together with their affiliate Kantipur Television, gushed about how a certain Dr Rasendra Bhattarai left Kathmandu with a mere five dollars in his pocketonly to end up 22 years later with a villa in Madrid, properties in the US and Europe and a cool billion in US dollar terms . To most sceptical Nepalis, parts of Bhattarais self-reported biography must have sounded as though they were cribbed off a Jeffery Archer novel, if not from the life of Archer himself. But reading it and watching an exclusive interview of this hitherto anonymous billionaire, what struck me was not whether any of this mans claims regarding how he went about amassing wealth was true. Who knows, maybe he is indeed a globally successful Nepali with a Palm Pilot that includes Bill Clintons number, and a lifestyle that is at ease owning a Boeing Business Jet and a fleet of the worlds fanciest cars. Or, maybe he just has a knack for making a living out of spinning stories for people who believe in fairytales. Instead, what was odd was that all the news coverage was singularly packaged around Bhattarais assertions about himself. None of the news about Bhattarais various lucrative achievements was served to the audience after vetting it through reliable sources. In fact, so visibly charmed were the reporters that there was no background research to verify, corroborate, add to or contradict Bhattarais enthusiastic take on himself. In front of a self-declared super-rich man, it seems to be all right to cast aside journalistic scepticism about the validity of a story, even when it appeared too strange to be true. In Bhattarais case, in the absence of the verifiable truth, it was hard to tell where the non-fiction ended and the fiction began. Though the news provided much entertainment and gossip for a few days, it served as a template to raise these questions: just what is the responsibility of a respectable private sector news organisation to its audience to whom it is, one assumes, connected through the bond of trust? Should the audience insist on getting nothing but the verified truth or should it simply shrug this off by saying that in Kathmandus superheated dog-eat-dog media marketsaturated with more than 10 broadsheet dailies, five homegrown TV channels, not to mention FM radio stations and so forthsensation sells? Why care if rising up to the challenges of competition means that basic concerns about the truth are given short shrift? The simplest answer is that no media exists in a vacuum in Nepal. Sure, in the short run, it can sex up the news. But the readers and the viewersconsumers whose trust any commercially-run media needs to survive for a long haulget unfairly shortchanged in the process. The four results of serving half-baked stories that insult audiences intelligence are: the audience gets news that it learns to take with a dollop of salt, reporters incompetence is exposed, medias misplaced corporate priorities become plain for opponents to take potshots at and even well-wishers like myself start to lose respect. But all is not lost. In fact, thanks precisely to competitive market pressures, there still remains one clear way for Nepali media houses to differentiate their products from their competitors. And that is by reporting the truth in the old-fashioned wayby vetting and verifying it before serving it to the audience. Nepali readers and viewers deserve and demand nothing less. Failing that, let me tell you about this other billionaire who lives down the street . . . |
| ashu | Posted
on 03-Nov-03 09:10 AM
Thanks Bhunte for posting this. It's fair to say that Sajha discussions on the topic inspired me to write this piece. So, thanks to all of who you shared your thoughts, ideas and comments on those "billionaire" threads. oohi ashu ktm,nepal |
| Deep | Posted
on 03-Nov-03 11:41 AM
"It's fair to say that Sajha discussions on the topic inspired me to write this piece. " Ashu sir le yai kuro tyo lekh ma ni dhasi dya bhe ni huni ni--- sajha ke maal ho bhanera jigyasa rakhne haru le china parchi ni garna paamthe heri yo sajhapur sanga---aba china parchi garda nagardai euta ugrapanthi le tatha nam bhanera gaali garthyo gardainthyo--tyo ta yasai kitera ke bhanna saknu---sajha mausam ma bhar parne kuro! aam aam sathi ho aam sajhako lokpriyata badam! |
| ashu | Posted
on 04-Nov-03 03:34 PM
Deep wrote: "Ashu sir le yai kuro tyo lekh ma ni dhasi dya bhe ni huni ni---" Deep, I am all for giving credit where it's due, but let's keep things straight here. When I sit down to write, I collect ideas from various sources -- sometimes from discussions with friends, sometimes some readings done here and there trigger off certain thoughts and so on and so forth. All these provide inspirations to write. In this case, the Sajha discussions gave me an INDICATION that the topic was/is of much interest to Nepali readers. That indication, in turn, became an inspiration to write about the issue. And that is all that I am acknowleding above. [As a columnist, I try to entertain my readers by analyzing specific issues to the best of my ability and NOT preach boring generalities about economics and business to them.] As for the CONTENT of the article: On Sajha, as you can go back and check, while others were questioning whether Rasendra Bhattarai's achievements were genuine to begin with, I was asking -- right from the VERY beginning -- whether such a one-sided story should have appeared in print and on TV at all. This was the point I tried to explain further in this billionaire article. Thanks, yaar. oohi ashu ktm,nepal |
| Nepe | Posted
on 05-Nov-03 07:59 PM
After the exhaustive discussion already done in Sajha, there is not much to add. I only wanted to say, I am very much impressed with what Ashu wrote in this piece. The sentence that particularly impressed me was: Nepali readers and viewers deserve and demand nothing less |
| ashu | Posted
on 05-Nov-03 10:53 PM
Thank you Nepe for your words. On another note, The title "The Billionaire Next Door" is a play on the title of a very famous American book called "The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy" (1998) by Thomas J. Stanley. I recommend that book as well as Stanley's another (2001) book "The Millionaire Mind" to those of you who are interested in, well, managing or investing your money wisely. oohi ashu ktm,nepal |
| Bhunte | Posted
on 06-Nov-03 02:15 AM
There is another book titled "The Trillionaire Next Door" by Andy Borowitz. Hareper Collins Publisher 2000. (Price US$20.00). Have fun reading that.... |
| Nepe | Posted
on 06-Nov-03 10:07 AM
Ashu, Thank you for the reference for interesting readings. On your piece, the simple reason I liked the otherwise ordinary sentence I quoted was the word DEMAND and the message it conveyed. I am of the firm conviction that the consumer awareness and activism if need be is important in itself from social point of view and as an essential factor from economic perspective for the mechanism that ensures producers strive for producing quality products for the consumers. Competition among producers is certainly determining factor. However, it is the consumer awareness that actually puts the competition among multiple producers in action. If there is no consumer awareness and activism, all the producer will produce the same low quality products and maximize their profits. Do I sound reasonable ? I hope I do. So, it is not only important but also necessary that we, the consumers and the intellectual advocate of the consumers, bash, criticize and demand from the producers, public or private, all the time. And we should always encourage people to do so. Why am I saying this ? It is because I vividly remember one occasion I could not convince you of what I just said. Here is the link for an old thread where we had an interesting conversation. Thread: CK Lal's KTM Post bashing! Date: 02 Jan 2002 - http://www.sajha.com/archives/openthread.cfm?threadid=2880 |
| rbaral | Posted
on 06-Nov-03 11:50 AM
Ashu wrote: >On Sajha, as you can go back and check, while others were >questioning whether Rasendra Bhattarai's achievements were >genuine to begin with, I was asking -- right from the VERY >beginning -- whether such a one-sided story should have >appeared in print and on TV at all. This was the point I tried >to explain further in this billionaire article. I was among the one who was looking for the truth. As a reader, I would care less what should and what should not come in the print media. Maybe because it might be some journalism stuff, too difficult for a layman like me to understand. Had the Rasendra Bhattarai story been a true piece, I would be happy to have to read it. I would not worry if a particularly journalist did or did not follow what his cookbook instructs him to do. |
| ashu | Posted
on 06-Nov-03 06:05 PM
Nepe, My thoughts, based on real-life experiences, are evolving. I used to be more pro-business and a slightly less pro-market. These days, having actually seen and experienced the LIMITS of private-sector businesses in Nepal, I have broadened my horizons, and become a lot more pro-market. And that means, in such a market, while industries/businesses represent the supply side, customers represent the demand side, and my job now is to look at BOTH sides carefully. My Nepali Times pieces, such as the "billionaire" one , I hope, better reflect this pro-market stance. Thank you. oohi ashu ktm,nepal |
| jaytha | Posted
on 08-Nov-03 08:29 PM
So, after so much said and done, is KTP going to follow up on the story or is it going to be a one time thing and put it conveniently in the archives and rest as a thing of the past? Lau hai, aru media le pani esma follow up garna paryo. Haami janna utsuk choou. Jaytha "..hu yatri euta...rumalli hidne andheri raat ma... ........kahani lekhne jangali paatna...oh....ou..." |
| Bhunte | Posted
on 09-Nov-03 06:14 PM
Billionaire Oodles of applause to Ashutosh Tiwari for swiftly spelling out the amateurish journalism practices that led to the coverage of Rasendra Bhattarai (Strictly Business, The billionaire next door, #168). The self-professed billionaires half-baked story delivered without any authentication is just the latest in a series of slanderous invectives without basis and verification that have been written to malign innocent people to public scorn in the national dailies. Thanks to Tiwari for pointing out that the newspapers do not serve the interest of truth. This incessant travesty of assassinating peoples character by printing defamatory articles without an iota of research must stop. In all this, the professionalism of Nepali Times is a breath of fresh air. Anil K Banskota Bansbari |
| VincentBodega | Posted
on 10-Nov-03 09:38 AM
Ashu wrote: >On Sajha, as you can go back and check, while others were >questioning whether Rasendra Bhattarai's achievements were >genuine to begin with, I was asking -- right from the VERY >beginning -- whether such a one-sided story should have >appeared in print and on TV at all. This was the point I tried >to explain further in this billionaire article. you kidding me right? Is that the reason you had to come up with sentences like "To most sceptical Nepalis, parts of Bhattarais self-reported biography must have sounded as though they were cribbed off a Jeffery Archer novel, if not from the life of Archer himself. But reading it and watching an exclusive interview of this hitherto anonymous billionaire, what struck me was not whether any of this mans claims regarding how he went about amassing wealth was true. Who knows, maybe he is indeed a globally successful Nepali with a Palm Pilot that includes Bill Clintons number, and a lifestyle that is at ease owning a Boeing Business Jet and a fleet of the worlds fanciest cars. Or, maybe he just has a knack for making a living out of spinning stories for people who believe in fairytales." Read the last sentence once more. I dont sense that you were coming out on the editor there. You challenged Dr. Bhattarais profession. I dont think that was necessary and within your limits. Lets be honest here, if you in business you are screwing up people, whether you admit it or not. Well you did do you a good job pointing out the flaws in his writing but you cant escape from the fact that you did come out strong on Dr. Bhattarai. The funny thing was to read you congratulate the editor in one of the other threads, where you did mention that you will be the first to comment on his future non-sense writing. Thats respectable, and I will be waiting to read more of those. |