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IMPACT
INTERVIEW |
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FROM DOWNING STREET TO MOSCOW BENJAMIN WEGG-PROSSER’S SUPER
JOURNEY
A
well-known brand in a blogger’s world, LiveJournal.com has
been very active in India in the past few months. Building communities
that range from India Writing to US Elections to Bollywood Club,
LiveJournal is doing quite a few things here .
Last month, the organisation even roped in Suhel Seth, Managing
Director, Counselage, in its global advisory board. In addition
to this, LiveJournal is actively speaking to corporates in India
that include the likes of Zoom and Mint, to explore community building
opportunities with them.
This keeps Benjamin Wegg-Prosser, the Director
of Corporate Development of SUP Fabrik, a Moscow-based Internet
company that owns LiveJournal.com, Championat.ru, Gazeta.ru, +SOl
and Victory SA, visiting the country more often than what he would
have normally imagined. But then much about Benjamin is different
from what one would normally imagine. The 34-year old British businessman
was Tony Blair’s Director of Strategic Communications at No.
10 Downing Street until May 2007, where he oversaw a series of innovations
including the launch of Downing Street’s e-petitions service.
He also implemented the first YouTube channel for any head of government,
which Blair launched in April 2007.
impact’s Noor Fathima Warsia caught up with
Benjamin Wegg-Prosser on his recent visit to India to know more
about SUP Fabrik, the Russian online advertising industry and Wegg-Prosser’s
experiences at Downing Street. Excerpts:
(For Complete Story) more…
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IN FOCUS |
ONLINE
HATE MEDIA , CONTROLLABLE,YET NOT…
•The
Negative Phenomenon over Online Social Media sees a rise
•Leave it alone, urge media observers
By
RISHI VORA
There is always a flip side to everything. And Online
Social Media is no exception to this belief. We all know how powerful
the medium is. (Refer impact’s last issue dated December
8-14, report titled ‘In times of Crises, OSM evolves to
be an Emerging Yet Effective Bet).The Internet over the years
has impacted the attitude towards expression - from the hitherto
“Letters to the Editor” and sending unsolicited articles
to newspapers and magazines. And the latest tool, popularly called
as Web 2.0 (termed as yet another jargon by many experts), has
enabled people to put up their feelings and thoughts for everyone
to see without any impedence. In short, everyone has become his
own publisher. Consequently, it is to be expected that opinions
of all kinds would pervade the media - positive and negative.
The positive part, or may be negative for those who are dumped:
For the first time in the history of Indian constitution, politicians
are being sacked and public opinion is being given due importance
.The anger, the frustration and the anguish of the citizens expressed
via different mediums have made the difference. And Social Media
did have a major role to play in that. Eminent personalities,
popular critics and professional writers, all raised their opinions
via blogs and updates during the Mumbai attacks. It weren’t
just the politicians that came under the scanner, but also some
media honchos too, for the manner in which they carried out ‘news’
at a time when terror had rocked the financial capital.
(For complete Story) more…
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IMPACT COVER |
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UNCERTAINTY
UNLTD
Call it retrenchment or rightsizing, employees across Indian media
fear being picked for the pink slip
By
DIPALI BANKA
Media
owners are worried; so as the employees. It’s the recession
bug that’s been playing spoilsport, literally sucking in
blood and life from the companies’ systems. Salaries are
being cut, probation periods are being closely scrutinized, appraisals
are being pushed to
a further date… and if all that is not enough, layoffs is
the apparent buzzword now doing the rounds. That’s pretty
much the story of the Indian media landscape, which is indeed
going through turbulent times. Clients are tightening their budgets,
as the revenue of media and advertising companies have taken a
hit. Companies are now being prudent about their structures and
are taking a sharper look at the performances of their employees,
and doing away with the ones they can. Every employee in every
hierarchy is being introspective about their deliverables to the
company, because in the end… only employees that are able
to justify their costs to the company, will be able to hold ground.
(For
complete Story) more…
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For
articles by industry leaders from the Third Anniversary Issue
of
impact, click
here |
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