omanboy
17th March 2003, 10:29 AM
"TheWeek" Turns Out To Be Weak
MUSCAT - March 12, 2003 The Much awaited launching of "The Week," supposed to be Oman's First Free Independent Weekly publication has disappointed many eager readers who were expecting something different from what is already available in the market. Even though the publishers claim that they are bringing in a "new attitude to news publication" , people who are used to the censored news content of the controlled Gulf media have realized that first edition of "The Week" can be better called "The Weak" in terms of informative news, views or any serious analysis.
While the lead story "Who Is Bahja" is all about a little Arab girl who was featured as the Mascot of Muscat Festival, (which was nothing but a Major flop this year) it is not a major scoop by any standard to run with a half page headline. It is unlikely that any tabloid newspaper in the world will run such a story as the lead item in a new weekly. While "The Week Unravels the true Identity of Muscat's Best Known Mascot" is a good local human interest story for the inside pages, the editor seems to have over reacted by telling the readers, how the reporters "investigative" skills located the girl. Well it is only a question of a few phone calls to an efficient journalist to locate something like this. "This issue we look at faces behind the scenes - and no one is as endearing as that of Shahed, or Bahja, the Muscat Festival Mascot," says Mohana Prabhakar, in her column Viewpoint. The only difference is that the existing media in the Sultanate have not explored such human interest stories. Mabrook Weak, bring out more such stories and give a tough time to the existing players in the market.
The Week is nothing but a tabloid form of Oman Today and Business Today rolled together as one. One of the business stories in the Week is about the annual loss of 2.6 million by the National Bank of Oman. The report says that the new NBO CEO is in the right path to profitability! True. But does anybody remember what Business Today, one of its group publications called Ayubyn Hill, the former CEO of the same bank who absconded from the country leaving the bank and its shareholders in such a bad situation? The Best Banker of the Year! While Ayubyn Hill was conferred the Best Banker of the Year Award by Business Today, many eyebrows were raised when he virtually absconded the country within a year or so.
Many journalists including senior editors were praising the fraudulent CEO as the financial guru and financial wizkid. While giving such awards and applause appeared to be a joke for many common readers, the new emphasis on Public relations material in the Week prove one point beyond doubt. The main agenda of the publishers is to please advertisers, as can be seen from a number of colour ads in all the pages. The publisher is happy, the advertisers are happy, but only the readers will be unhappy. Any new publication will have teething troubles, but there is scope for improvement. Coming with an impressive lay out and pictures presentation, the content quality needs much to be desired.
Any media will reflect what is happening in the society, in the country and in the world. Even though the International, regional and local media have been full of stories about the looming war over Iraq and the growing anti American and anti Western sentiment, the new publication has not a single word to say about Iraq, War, or anti War Protests in any of its 48 page news content. In fact we tried to locate the word "War" in the entire 48 page news content and we could not locate it even with the help of a microscope. "TheWeek is here to bring you news like you have never known it before.Fresh, vibrant and fun. Be it business, entertainment, adventure, or lifestyle, ever week we will keep you hooked to our pages, filled with information about everything that is going on," adds Mohana in her editorial column.
However, half of the news content in "TheWeek" is repition or rehash of the stories carried by local and international media. "British Airways to come back to Muscat", for instance, is a story which is already published by the local newspapers very prominently. There is no additional information in such reports. While the publishers and editors have their own priorities, especially to keep the advertisers in good spirit, it is likely that readers may skip reading the public relation stories simply because enough PR is already available in the market. By publishing three column colour photographs of the chief executive officers, one can attract good flow of advertisement revenue.
TheWeek has many plus points like good sections for the Art and Movies, Sports, fitness and health, film and entertainment etc which cannot be underestimated. However the local coverage is WEAK and the focus is international and Hollywood stuff. While some stories are just page fillers, there are some good local sports reports as well. Another shortcoming is apparently the shortage of reporters, as all the reports are prepared by just three reporters. Even though it is an IT and Cyber Era, the Week has nothing to offer to the Netizens too. "I was expecting something different from what is available in the News stand. If it is going to be like this, I will not take even the Free Copy. For reading the Free Copy, I need to get paid by the publisher," says an eminent journalist. This may be an exaggerated expression of public sentiment about the new publication, the editor and her team should look at that cynical comment seriously, if she recollects her comment in View point. "TheWeek is not just about you, it is for you as well." Newspapers and media have a long way to go. The Week is not at all a change of attittude towards media and journalism in this part of the world were fake public relation executives are more important than genuine journalists. -Keralamonitor.com
MUSCAT - March 12, 2003 The Much awaited launching of "The Week," supposed to be Oman's First Free Independent Weekly publication has disappointed many eager readers who were expecting something different from what is already available in the market. Even though the publishers claim that they are bringing in a "new attitude to news publication" , people who are used to the censored news content of the controlled Gulf media have realized that first edition of "The Week" can be better called "The Weak" in terms of informative news, views or any serious analysis.
While the lead story "Who Is Bahja" is all about a little Arab girl who was featured as the Mascot of Muscat Festival, (which was nothing but a Major flop this year) it is not a major scoop by any standard to run with a half page headline. It is unlikely that any tabloid newspaper in the world will run such a story as the lead item in a new weekly. While "The Week Unravels the true Identity of Muscat's Best Known Mascot" is a good local human interest story for the inside pages, the editor seems to have over reacted by telling the readers, how the reporters "investigative" skills located the girl. Well it is only a question of a few phone calls to an efficient journalist to locate something like this. "This issue we look at faces behind the scenes - and no one is as endearing as that of Shahed, or Bahja, the Muscat Festival Mascot," says Mohana Prabhakar, in her column Viewpoint. The only difference is that the existing media in the Sultanate have not explored such human interest stories. Mabrook Weak, bring out more such stories and give a tough time to the existing players in the market.
The Week is nothing but a tabloid form of Oman Today and Business Today rolled together as one. One of the business stories in the Week is about the annual loss of 2.6 million by the National Bank of Oman. The report says that the new NBO CEO is in the right path to profitability! True. But does anybody remember what Business Today, one of its group publications called Ayubyn Hill, the former CEO of the same bank who absconded from the country leaving the bank and its shareholders in such a bad situation? The Best Banker of the Year! While Ayubyn Hill was conferred the Best Banker of the Year Award by Business Today, many eyebrows were raised when he virtually absconded the country within a year or so.
Many journalists including senior editors were praising the fraudulent CEO as the financial guru and financial wizkid. While giving such awards and applause appeared to be a joke for many common readers, the new emphasis on Public relations material in the Week prove one point beyond doubt. The main agenda of the publishers is to please advertisers, as can be seen from a number of colour ads in all the pages. The publisher is happy, the advertisers are happy, but only the readers will be unhappy. Any new publication will have teething troubles, but there is scope for improvement. Coming with an impressive lay out and pictures presentation, the content quality needs much to be desired.
Any media will reflect what is happening in the society, in the country and in the world. Even though the International, regional and local media have been full of stories about the looming war over Iraq and the growing anti American and anti Western sentiment, the new publication has not a single word to say about Iraq, War, or anti War Protests in any of its 48 page news content. In fact we tried to locate the word "War" in the entire 48 page news content and we could not locate it even with the help of a microscope. "TheWeek is here to bring you news like you have never known it before.Fresh, vibrant and fun. Be it business, entertainment, adventure, or lifestyle, ever week we will keep you hooked to our pages, filled with information about everything that is going on," adds Mohana in her editorial column.
However, half of the news content in "TheWeek" is repition or rehash of the stories carried by local and international media. "British Airways to come back to Muscat", for instance, is a story which is already published by the local newspapers very prominently. There is no additional information in such reports. While the publishers and editors have their own priorities, especially to keep the advertisers in good spirit, it is likely that readers may skip reading the public relation stories simply because enough PR is already available in the market. By publishing three column colour photographs of the chief executive officers, one can attract good flow of advertisement revenue.
TheWeek has many plus points like good sections for the Art and Movies, Sports, fitness and health, film and entertainment etc which cannot be underestimated. However the local coverage is WEAK and the focus is international and Hollywood stuff. While some stories are just page fillers, there are some good local sports reports as well. Another shortcoming is apparently the shortage of reporters, as all the reports are prepared by just three reporters. Even though it is an IT and Cyber Era, the Week has nothing to offer to the Netizens too. "I was expecting something different from what is available in the News stand. If it is going to be like this, I will not take even the Free Copy. For reading the Free Copy, I need to get paid by the publisher," says an eminent journalist. This may be an exaggerated expression of public sentiment about the new publication, the editor and her team should look at that cynical comment seriously, if she recollects her comment in View point. "TheWeek is not just about you, it is for you as well." Newspapers and media have a long way to go. The Week is not at all a change of attittude towards media and journalism in this part of the world were fake public relation executives are more important than genuine journalists. -Keralamonitor.com