{"id":574,"date":"2004-09-20T14:05:00","date_gmt":"2004-09-20T08:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/archives\/574"},"modified":"2004-09-20T14:05:00","modified_gmt":"2004-09-20T08:35:00","slug":"times-of-india-redefines-blasphemy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/2004\/09\/times-of-india-redefines-blasphemy\/","title":{"rendered":"Times of India redefines blasphemy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Times of India launched its campaign for their in-house TV channel Zoom-a lifestyle and glamour channel-in style. They printed a raunchy picture of a lady clad in a revealing outfit on the masthead. On the masthead, yes. Today is a day of shame, outrage, and blasphemy for Indian journalists and the people they serve. <\/p>\n

When I was a kid my dad always used to scream at me, ‘read The Hindu. Improve your English.’ And whatever little English I can manage now is courtesy The Hindu. Now, how many of you will encourage your son or nephew to read the Times? <\/p>\n

I can understand marketing pressure, but where does one draw a line? As a newspaper that reaches out to thousands of homes, won’t you display some responsibility? Some soul? Some decency? I am ok with a Playboy or a Cosmopolitan publishing raunchy content. That’s what one would expect from a publication like Cosmopolitan or Playboy. You walk into it with your eyes open.
\n
But a newspaper? A medium that’s supposed to power people stooping so low is unacceptable, disgusting, and cheap. <\/p>\n

Write to me: <\/b>suman ‘at’ sumankumar ‘dot’ com<\/p>\n

\n\n\n<\/map>\n

<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Times of India launched its campaign for their in-house TV channel Zoom-a lifestyle and glamour channel-in style. They printed a raunchy picture of a lady clad in a revealing outfit on the masthead. On the masthead, yes. Today is a day of shame, outrage, and blasphemy for Indian journalists and the people they serve. When […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"jetpack-portfolio-admin-thumb":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Suman Kumar","author_link":"https:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/author\/suman-kumar\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Times of India launched its campaign for their in-house TV channel Zoom-a lifestyle and glamour channel-in style. They printed a raunchy picture of a lady clad in a revealing outfit on the masthead. On the masthead, yes. Today is a day of shame, outrage, and blasphemy for Indian journalists and the people they serve. When…","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Gbk8-9g","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":613,"url":"https:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/2004\/12\/contribute-to-tsunami-victims-online\/","url_meta":{"origin":574,"position":0},"title":"Contribute to Tsunami Victims Online","author":"Suman Kumar","date":"December 28, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"The following sites accept donations online. Indians abroad can donate using their Credit Cards.The Hindu - The Hindu Relief FundRupya.comAidIndia.orgIf you are India and wish to donate to AID-India in INR, please make your check payable to \"AID-India\" and mail it toAID-India Old No 132, New No 242, Avvai Shanmugam\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"tsunami\"","block_context":{"text":"tsunami","link":"https:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/tag\/tsunami\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":583,"url":"https:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/2004\/10\/the-hindu-features-madman-the-businessman\/","url_meta":{"origin":574,"position":1},"title":"The Hindu features Madman the businessman","author":"Suman Kumar","date":"October 23, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Folks Madhu 'Madman' Menon is is featured in an article on career-switching in The Hindu.. 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Joe Perry was equal in his rather\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"concerts\"","block_context":{"text":"concerts","link":"https:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/tag\/concerts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":686,"url":"https:\/\/sumankumar.com\/blog\/2005\/02\/dear-times-of-india\/","url_meta":{"origin":574,"position":4},"title":"Dear Times of India","author":"Suman Kumar","date":"February 10, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Sunil Mukhi wrote an open letter to TOI in March 2004. 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