HOME

Where is Gurudawara in Ottawa???
Recommend this site!

Dear members of ocssa

I would like to just inform you if you don't alreasy know of the injustice our community is facing at the present time. Our community is formally being attacked by the canadian media and it is time that we take action to prevent any more harm from being done to us. I am urging all members to write papers such as the ottawa citizen, or even the Globe and mail about these articles which have targeted the sikh community unjustly.

here are some tips on how to write objectively about the situation while criticising the newspaper for the job(or lack their of) that they have done covering the story.

ATTN: OTTAWA&CARLTON SIKH STUDENT ASSOCIATION MEMBERS:

Hello,

As you all are probably aware the Air India 182 investigation has
concluded (after over a dozen years and $26 millon in cost). The media
so far has taken the view that most Sikhs are relieved and cannot wait
for justice to take place. This takes upon the assumptions that 1) the
accused are guilty (what about the legal motto "one is innocent until
proven guily", 2) that the RCMP investigation, which is known for having
its problems over the years, arrived at a valid finding, 3) Sikhs are
divided in two camps "Fundamentalists" which gives connotations of
terrorists and "Moderates" which gives the picture of fair-minded
people. These labels are incorrect.

I believe that the investigation was a "witch hunt" as the RCMP had to
arrest someone to justify all their costs and time. Also they have a
reputation to uphold as "Canada's investigative force".

I ask for everyone to read the newspaper everyday (The Globe, Citizen
and Post in particular)and write letters if you find (and you will)
offensive items.
The more letters we write the better the impact on the media - we as
readers (i.e. customers) can shape the media'a perspective. Being a
business, in which newspaper sales are of utmost importance, the media
represents the views of the specific market segment or niche that they
have found to be most desirable i.e. profitable. As such, their
ideologies can be directly linke to whatever target market or
demographic that they are aiming for. If enough people write criticizing
their editorial opinions, the media will change their perspective out of
fear of losing customers. Because of the apaty of most readers it does
not take many letters to do so. Often several well-written letters from
individual sources will have a MAJOR impact.

Below are some tools to use in your writings:

1) Be rational - do not use threatening or overly emotional language.
This shows you have a strong bias and often these letters will be
dismissed as they are considered "special interest" views.

2) Be concise - Newspapers have only so much room so get straight to the
point and avoid unneccessary details. Use a topic sentence like "In
regards to the article entitled "whatever it may be titled" I find it to
be one sided and not completely fair." Now go on and provide reasons why
this is so.

3) Know who the author is:
- Was this written by a columnist - if so look at their opinions to
arrive at individual biases.
- Was it written by an in-house staff reporter? If so than the bias is
both individual and that of the newspaper.
- Was it written by a news gathering agency? These are companies like
Associated Press (AP), Canadian Press (CP), or Reuters and there job is
to write articles for newspapers. These biases are that of the Agency as
well as the newspaper who must bear responsibility for publishing them.

4) Article Placement:
- Where was the article placed? (i.e. front page with picture or back
page blurb)

5) Tone of article:
- Are words used to provide a certain biased impression to the reader.

6) Terms/Labels:

Usually media created. Like above ususally are used to media to simplify
story. These are very dangerous. For example "moderate" and
"fundamentalist" terms have certain connotations and do NOT apply to the
majority of Sikhs. I provide a bit from the writings of T. Sher Singh in
his regular Toronto Star column on the "tables and chairs dispute" in
Vancouver as an example:

"Not only do the reported goings-on in the Vancouver area  boggle the
minds of Sikhs in Canada and everywhere else but what has aggravated a
misunderstanding of the issue by non-Sikhs is the over-simplistic
application of Judeo-Christian concepts, such as 'moderate' and
'fundamentalist', to the situation.'

The danger of these labels is that they do not apply to any Sikh outside
the dispute in Vancouver and are used by the media as a simplistic way
to cover complex Sikh issues. Furtermore, they perpetuate sterotypes and
inaccuracies. Often the  'fundamentalist' term is incorrectly used in
place of 'orthodox' (keshdhari) and this  as we know is wrong.

7) Coverage
- superficial or sensationalistic i.e. just the "juicy" details
(violence, sterotypes, etc.)
- or is it an "in-depth" article in that it goes into detail about the
situation (provides both sides of the argument, background info, causes
and ramifications, etc.)

This is by no means an exhaustive list of analytical tools rather they
should be used as a starting point.

It takes no more than 1-2  hours of your time to read an article, write
a letter, and proof-read it. Thus I think that no one (no matter how
busy) should not do AT LEAST one letter.

Gursevak as an executive member of the SSA will be responsible for the
draft of a mass letter that will be forwarded to all of you to which we
ask you to sign and date and then fax to the concerning newspapers. This
will be done by the end of this week and we ask that this is to be done,
IN ADDITION, to your individual letters.

regards,

Puneet

p.s.

Below is a letter I emailed to Sympatico which you can use as reference:

Hello,

I am writing in regards to two Canadian Press articles entitled "RCMP
charge two Vancouver men in 1985 Air India bombing that killed 329" and
" Air India bombing suspect is wealthy businessman linked to Sikh
extremists" that were posted on your sympatico web site today (October
28th). Like an ever increasing amount of Canadians,  I rely on the web
for my news. As a law student in Ottawa I do not have the time necessary

to read a traditional newspaper and usually rely on the Sympatico site
to pick out articles that "catch" my interest. The above two Canadian
Press articles, like much of their coverage of minority groups, is not
completely factual, one-sided and sensationalistic. One can only infer
whether this sort of journalism is the result of bias or merely the case

of  tight "deadline" pressures leading to bad journalism.  I could go on

and provide you with details of my findings, as I wrote my undergraduate

thesis on this very same topic, but that is not my intention here. While

Sympatico is just the medium and is in no way associated with the news
content,  I do believe that there must be some sort of accountability.
Perhaps you could set up an ombudsman so that articles that are deemed
offensive by readers could be brought to your attention.  Furthermore, I

would suggest that  your web site seek out a diversity of news sources,
which that I believe would compliment your organization which seeks to
be a source of information for progressive Canada.   The Toronto Star
and the CBC are exemplary examples of this sort of journalism. I believe

that by doing so you would better suit the needs of the people who
regularly use your web site.

I hope my comments are taken as helpful suggestions (for whatever they
are worth) and not as any sort of disparagement towards Sympatico.

Yours sincerely,

Puneet Kohli