Window
Seat | Mrinal Chatterjee | 23.5.21
The
Guardian @ 200
The
Guardian, one of the most respected newspapers of the world turned 200 on May
2021. It was first published as The
Manchester Guardian on May 5, 1821. Incidentally it was on this day that
Napoleon died.
 |
| First issue of The Manchester Guardian. |
Manchester
based cotton merchant John Edward Taylor published the newspaper with backing from the Little Circle, a group of non-conformist businessmen
as a response to the murder of ordinary people by soldiers in the 1819 Peterloo
massacre. It set a tone that the Guardian followed for the next 200 years; it
has always taken an anti-establishment stand and has always identified itself
with centre-left politics. Over the last 200 years- it has established itself
as a key institution in the definition and development of liberalism.
Its
survival for two centuries is an enigma firstly as few newspapers have survived
that long and well; and secondly unlike some
newspapers, the Guardian has never had a wealthy and prosperous owner. Its
unique ownership structure had probably been a factor behind its continued
existence. It was owned by a trust since 1936 and profitability had
never been the major objective of its existence. The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to
maintain for The Guardian the same protections as were built
into the structure of the Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in
journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders. It also has
adopted a subscription-based revenue model that has substantially decreased its
dependence on advertisement. This has helped the paper to uphold its independence.
It was the vision of C.P.Scott
(1846-1932) that built the good journalism-focused management architecture of
the paper. C.P. Scott was the editor of the paper for 57 years from 1872, and
became its owner when he bought the paper from the estate of Taylor's son in
1907.
The
present editor-in-chief of the Guardian Katharine
Viner is the first women to have assumed this position in the history of
the paper. She became the editor of the Guardian in 2015.
CP Scott wrote in an article to mark the centenary of the
paper, “One of the virtues, perhaps
almost the chief virtue, of a newspaper is its independence. Whatever its
position or character, at least it should have a soul of its own.”
The Guardian does have a soul. A
noble soul.
May it live long and healthy.
Museum
It is
often said, history is
not a burden on the memory but an illumination of the soul. Those who do not
remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
Museums are important as they
preserve history by preserving artifacts and documents to show us the way
things were in the past and the way it evolved. Museums connect the present
with the past. Connect with the past and linking it with future- has been one
of triggers of the growth of the human civilization.
The Ashmolean
Museum, founded in 1677 from the personal collection of Elias Ashmole, is
considered by some to be the first modern public museum. It was set up in the
University of Oxford to be open to the public.
The International Council of Museums (ICOM) established
International Museum Day in 1977 to increase public awareness of the role of
museums in the development of society.
This year it has been on 18 May. The theme of the
day this year is: “The Future of Museums: Recover and Re-imagine. Looking at the disruption
caused by the Covid-19 pandemic the call is for recovering and re-imagining. The
crisis triggered several crucial innovations, notably an increased focus
on digitisation and the creation of new forms of cultural experience and
dissemination.
Several museums across the world are trying to
provide life-like experience in the digital space through cutting edge
artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
Should you want to know more about museums across
the world and what they have on offer log on to:
https://icom.museum/en/news/international-museum-day-2021/
Hope
Once a king
announced death sentence for two convicts.
One of them knew that the king is very fond of his horse. He went up to the king and told him that if you spare my life, I’ll teach the horse how to fly in the next one year.
On hearing this, the
king became very happy that he would be the only owner of a horse that could
fly and spared the life of the convict.
The other convict looked at his friend with surprise and said, “you know that a horse cannot fly, so why did you think of such a stupid idea, you are just delaying your death by one year.”
The other convict
replied, “I have given myself five chances to obtain freedom.
First, The King may
die in one year,
Second, the world
may come to an end in the next one year,
Third, the horse
may die in the next one year,
Fourth, I may die
in the next one year due to any reason, and may be, there will be a
miracle and I will be able to teach the horse to fly.”
Morale of the
story:
You should never
lose hope even in the worst of circumstances.
Despite the pall of
gloom related to Covid all around, the recovery rate is increasing, the
positivity rate is coming down, medical infrastructure is increasing, multiple
vaccines have arrived and the rate of vaccination is increasing.
Despite the odds, life
is going on. This too shall pass,
Fear will hold you
prisoner; Hope will set you free,
Choose Hope.
Tailpiece: Vaccine Situation
Vaccine situation
in India is like looking for a bride for marriage.
First you are not
ready…then you don't like any.. then you don't get any..!! Those who got are
unhappy thinking may be the other one would have been better.
(Courtesy: Social
Media)
***
Journalist turned
media academician Mrinal Chatterjee lives at the central Odisha town Dhenkanal.
mrinalchatterjeeiimc@gmail.com
This column is published every Sunday in Gangtok based English daily Sikkim Express and www.prameyanews.com
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