Blog Power

I didn't want to join the debate on the whole IIPM issue, not because I have any sympathies for IIPM or Mr. Arindam Chaudhuri but simply because I thought it was a storm in a tea cup and would subside soon enough...

But that hasn't happend and the issue since has reached the mainstream media...

Read two interesting articles on the issue : Fury over a blog! and one on ZDNet India : Indian worker quits IBM after blog dispute .

Some startling lines from the second article :

"...Yes, we have approached IBM and asked them to take a proper action against someone spreading baseless lies against a reputed institution. They did what they must have deemed fit after their internal examinations and procedures," said Anil Saxena, head of corporate communications at IIPM."

So that leaves no doubt that indeed IIPM has been using pressure tactics. Also the repulsive comments left by people allegedly from IIPM does not leave any room for sympathy. I guess IIPM management thought that they will put pressure on the bloggers to make them retract their statements...but the whole plan seems to have backfired on them...not only more people now know about the whole issue, but people have begun doing some "investigations" of their own. A case in point being : http://www.desipundit.com/

Also liked this part from the first report:

"...To form an opinion about something you need both sides of the story but most often you get to know only one, the one that media wants you to know. The power of blogs is that it permits you to know both sides of the story. In this information age the answer lies in adopting the new media and not attacking it."

When I read an article on how bloggers can become journalists in their own right I didnt take it seriously, even now the blogging community is fairly small but a start has been made...Blogs can indeed make a difference in a world where the media is owned by corporations that have there own leanings.
Media will do well to take cognizance of this fact and become more responsible in its approach.