Ten years ago, my uncle in Bombay was on a 5 year waiting list for a phone line. Today he eschews mobiles, but can’t be peeled away from his computer which feeds his addiction to on the minute news. He’s one of millions on line in the country, but according to media watcher Anupam Gupta, most Indians are not so interested in news and politics in new media, unlike their counterparts in Pakistan. Here, new media has spawned a citizen journalism that is an active and vibrant counterpart to mainstream media.
Huma Yusuf blogs for Dawn newspaper
Huma Yusef blogs for Dawn in Karachi and is a close watcher of new media in Pakistan. She says that in her country, new media has spawned a pithy brand of citizen journalism. The reason: “unlike Indians, we feel like we’re in a state of war”.
She says that during the Pakistan Emergency of 2006-7, Pakistan’s online population grew from 2.5 million to 18 million.
I got them connected by phone to chat further about how new media has influenced the political and social landscapes of their countries.
on Feb 9th, 2010 at 2:32 am
Like my brother in Mumbai who is an avid reader of Irfan Hussain, Cowasjee and other columnists of Dawn online, I too read Dawn regularly online. Lo! I will now onwards I will keep track of Huma Yufus blogs too.
As for Indians and Pakistanis not being so fond of reading news papers or discussing politics, how wrong can your be! They cannot be peeled away from newspapers and radio news. In fact their discussions revolve around what they read online or newspapers and give their opinions easily.
on Feb 15th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
Is there a comparison between India & Pakistan?! There is no field we could compare India with Pakistan. Even though India and Pakistan are close neighbours a comparative study between Pakistan and Indian would be absurd. There is no comparison too between India and Pakistan in terms of their on-line presence too. Mr. Anupam Gupta’s assumption is very interestingly imaginative. Pakistan’s on-line population might have grown, but is there a comparison possible at all with India’s growth in that matter in any aspect of the subject?! Indeed, on-line or off-line, India and Pakistan do have very different personalities!!! Huma Yusuf’s observation is relevant: “unlike Indians, we feel like we’re in a state of war”; war with its own self would be an apt addition!
on May 8th, 2010 at 4:39 am
@ Dev Narayan,
As of June 2009, the Internet penetration in Pakistan was 10.6% versus 7% in India, according to ITU.
Pakistan’s urbanization level and teledensity are also the highest in South Asia
http://www.internetworldstats.com/asia.htm
http://www.riazhaq.com/2010/01/india-and-pakistan-contrasted-in-2010.html
on Jan 18th, 2011 at 10:23 pm
As for Indians and Pakistanis not being so fond of reading news papers or discussing politics.