This World Press Freedom Day (May 3), educate yourselves on two buzzwords key to those who present news to you: censorship and freedom of expression; Trace the rise of television journalism and what it is now, in the words of a veteran journalist; And finally, learn why women must, and can, overcome people-pleasing.
The IANS Bookshelf has these titles to offer this weekend.
1. Book: War over Words: Censorship in India, 1930-1960; Author: Devika Sethi; Publisher: Cambridge University Press; Price: Rs 795; Pages: 288
Debates over freedom of expression make a significant chunk of the civic thought in a democracy like India. Censorship, too, has been an universal phenomenon throughout history. This book is about the history of censorship of publications in India over three crucial decades - encompassing the Gandhian anti-colonial movement, the Second World War, Partition, and the early years of Independent India.
"In India, the contest over ideas and identities did not end in 1947; neither did the use of print as a means of disseminating views of various hues. Censorship, did not cease in 1947, and this book explores censorship of the printed word in India in the 15 years before and after independence from British rule," the author, who teaches Modern Indian History at IIT Mandi, Himachal Pradesh wrote in the introduction.
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2. Book: The Indian Newsroom; Author: Sandeep Bhushan; Publisher: Westland; Price: Rs 499; Pages: 216
The book, written by veteran journalist Sandeep Bhushan, asks pertinent questions of television journalism in its introduction, and tries to answer them in its pages: What caused the death of field-based reportage, and the marginalisation of reporters? What is access journalism, and what's wrong with it? How did India evolve the star system?
It goes on to ask: Is the reporter-editor relationship necessarily adversarial? How does the owner-editor system, perhaps unique to India, work in practice? What about corporate ownership? And importantly, how does India compare to more mature industries, like those in the USA or UK?
Expressing his thoughts over the changing face of TV journalism, the debut author has written in detail about studios, stars and the unmaking of reporters.
3. Book: Girl, Stop Apologizing: A Shame-Free Plan for Embracing and Achieving Your Goals; Author: Rachel Hollis; Publisher: HarperCollins; Price: Rs 499; Pages: 216
"...Like many other women, I'm still in the process of overcoming a lifetime of people-pleasing," that's how the founder of a lifestyle website, Rachel Hollis, introduces her new book "Girl, Stop Apologizing".
Hollis says that she has seen it too often: women not living to their full potential. They feel a tugging on their hearts for something more, but they're afraid of embarrassment, of falling short of perfection, of not being enough.
The book, tailor-made for women who undersell themselves, identifies the excuses to let go of, the behaviours to adopt, and the skills to acquire on the path to growth, confidence and believing in yourself.
--IANS
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