OH RAMEEZ

I read the original article bashing the commentary of Rameez Raja on theunrealtimes.com, an Indian website known for publishing spoofs and parodies on cricket and politics.

Hats off to the author for a witty and thoroughly enjoyable piece of writing!

Below is my humble contribution to all those who are united in the belief that Rameez Raja is an awful, awful commentator.
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Commentator Rameez Raja was docked 50% of his salary on Monday after yet another painful stint of commentary during India's stunning win against Pakistan over the weekend.

As Virat Kohli waltzed to yet another splendid century against a high-quality Pakistani bowling attack, all Raja could conjure up on air was, "He's looking as Kohli as a cucumber," causing fellow commentator Sunil Gavaskar to bury his head in shame and not say another word for the rest of the match.

This is not the first time Raja has been penalized for his commentary. In 2007 he was officially warned by the ICC when his commentating of an India versus Sri Lanka encounter forced nearly half the viewers to switch to The Paint Grower's Channel.

But on Sunday, patience was running low for viewers at home as well. Pankaj Singh, a software engineer from Punjab, said he almost did damage to his television after listening to Raja rant about cucumbers and bullets on air.

"All I wanted to do was enjoy my weekend by staying home and watching some cricket," said a visibly distressed Singh, a father of two who retired from cricket after dropping the same batsman thrice in one over while fielding at long-on.

"I almost put a shoe through my TV when Raja started commentating - good thing my cousin was there to stop me or else I would have had to buy a new one."

Singh said he ended up muting his television set and left the commentating to his three-year-old daughter, who he said did a better job than Raja.

But with reports coming in that Raja is working extra hard on improving his commentary, things could be looking up.

While his fellow commentators enjoyed a round of golf at the scenic Kurmitola Golf Club in Dhaka on Monday, Raja opted to stay inside the media box at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium and practice his commentating.

"How does Ravi Shastri sound so cool on air?" he was heard muttering furiously before attempting several versions of, "that went to the fence faster than a tracer bullet," eventually causing a smattering of crows on the outfield to scatter in alarm.

Aussie commentating king Richie Benaud said that Raja needed to focus on the basics of calling the game, and perhaps try saying it instead of spraying it.

"Commentating is like bowling," Benaud said in his trademark calm and reassuring voice. "You've got to maintain a consistent line and length that always keeps the batsman interested."

"Right now Rameez is all over the place - he's bowling wides and no-balls - perhaps he's just in the middle of a really bad spell."

With the IPL just around the corner, cricket fans can expect some relief to their ears as Ravi Shastri will once again grace the mic during the eight week cricket bonanza.

Elizabeth Palmer at Carleton

On Wednesday I covered a lecture by CBS correspondent Elizabeth Palmer for my school newspaper, the Charlatan.

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Ottawa, There would have been no Arab uprising if not for modern technology, CBS London correspondent Elizabeth Palmer told a group of attendees March 14 at Carleton University.

During the journalism department’s 13th annual Kesterton Lecture, Palmer, who spent most of 2011 in the Middle East covering the Arab Spring, spoke about how cellphones, satellite television, and the use of social media aided the revolutions in countries like Syria and Bahrain.

“The Arab uprising could not have happened without modern information technology, but equally importantly, it couldn’t have happened without leaders who were bizarrely blind to the power of that technology,” said Palmer, who was a bureau chief and senior correspondent for the CBC based in Moscow prior to joining CBS.

She said dictators in the region had ‘no plan B’ to tackle the surge in technology, and that state media had taken a backseat to Arab satellite television.

“The fact is that millions of Arabs by the 2000 s knew that state media didn't deliver information, but propaganda,” Palmer said.

Arab satellite television channels, especially Al Jazeera, had brought about a shock in the Arab world by encouraging public discussion and promoting hot-button topics, she said.

“Israel was discussed openly for the first time and so were human rights violations,” Palmer said. “This rippled throughout the Arab world and it did a complete end run around the whole state controlled media — it became a reality check for people in times of crisis.”

According to Palmer cellphones had also been a key component in the uprising in Libya, calling them a “one stop shop-for activist technology.”

She also highlighted the importance of social networking, and said the mainstream media’s ability to pick up on tweets and Facebook pages made Twitter and Facebook powerful tools for political change.

“Social networking, Twitter and Facebook, can be catalysts for these great movements,” Palmer said. “But in order for them to become real political cataclysmic shifts, they have to be echoed in the mainstream media and then picked out in diplomatic circles in order for them to impact any lasting political change — and that is exactly what happened.”

At the end of her address, Palmer said that dictatorships, with the aid of surveillance software, will now be playing an electronic game of cat-and-mouse with activists.

“The amount of very good, very scary surveillance software that is now available off the shelf is going to rule a lot of good people inside authoritarian regimes,” she said.

Chris Waddell, director of Carleton's department of journalism and communication, said that the event was intended to provide a more in-depth perspective on one of the most talked about issues in the world today.

"Pretty much the biggest story going on in the world today is what's been happening over the last year in the Middle East," he said. 

“I think what you heard tonight was a lot more than what you read in the newspaper and see on the television – more insight. And that’s what we wanted to do and I think we achieved that.”