Churumuri (blog)

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Churumuri.com is an Indian blog published by Krishna Prasad [1], a writer for Outlook weekly who formerly edited Karnataka's erstwhile daily Vijay Times (English language) until June of 2007.[2] The blog publishes participatory journalism with interactivity[3], nostalgia[4] and humour,[5] earning web traffic from users interested in Karnataka-related content[6] for its coverage of politics,[7] business, cricket[8], media[9], movies and music[10].

Contributors to Churumuri mostly comprise journalists and others who live in or were raised in Mysore. Churumuri was launched in March of 2006 on the day of Ugadi, the Hindu New Year. It has since grown into a forum to discuss issues of the Mysore region and beyond. Churumuri.com has been occasionally cited in India's mainstream media for its political discussions.

Krishna Prasad, who lives in Mysore, visited the United States in August-October of 2007. Based in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, he lectured on Indian journalism at Central Michigan University, Ball State University, University of Wisconsin-River Falls, and Penn State University.

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[edit] The name

Churumuri.com is named after the Mysore specialty snack churumuri — a tangy street food prepared with puffed rice, grated carrot, roasted peanuts, shredded onion, lemon juice and green chilli peppers, usually served in cones of old newspaper for between Rupees ½ and 5 or less than a U.S. dime.[11] The tagline swalpa sihi, swalpa spicy (Kannada for "a little sweet, a little spicy") is meant to capture the essence of both the snack and the blog.

[edit] Notability

Churumuri has earned a mention in the mainstream media a few times since inception.[6] Its campaign[12] to secure governmental recognition for the writer R.K. Narayan[13]in his home town in the centenary year of his birth drew the attention of the historian Ramachandra Guha and later found a mention in The Hindu Sunday Magazine by Narayan's biographer, N. Ram. Eventually the campaign reached the governor[14] of Karnataka, T.N. Chaturvedi.

Churumuri's coverage of the legacy media has sometimes attracted critical attention. An analysis[15]of the apology tendered by the editor-in-chief of The Hindu to an automobile company drew a response[16] from Readers' Editor K. Narayanan to which Churumuri responded as well[17].

During the high-profile takeover of the Vijaya Karnataka Group by the Times of India Group, the blog saw a significant spike in participation by visitors with rumours, theories and intrigue surrounding the takeover being discussed at length by the readers, many of them journalists using screen-names [18].

Churumuri's reporting of the internecine war within the Bangalore newspaper Deccan Herald [19], and the change of stewardship[20]of The Hindu in Bangalore attracted were popularity inflection points as well.

The blog was linked to during debates about Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist and the squash ball controversy [21]. It was also mentioned in a sample of bloggers' reactions to N. R. Narayana Murthy's remarks about the national anthem. [22].

Churumuri claimed to be the most visited blog in the world for two days in mid April of 2006[23] when it was among the first to cover[6][24] the passing of Dr. Rajkumar and the chaos that followed.[6]

[edit] Regular contributors

The blog has run contributions by some well known journalists, including the distinguished Mysore–based photojournalist T.S. Satyan,[25] his brother the photographer T.S. Nagarajan,[26] the author Sunaad Raghuram,[27] the former editor of Samachar (Mysore's first English eveninger, now defunct) Gouri Satya,[28] the corporate manager turned humourist E.R. Ramachandran, the syndicated news photographer Saggere Ramaswamy,[29] the corporate manager Arun S. Padaki, the journalist turned media professor Nikhil Moro,[30] and the journalist turned Intel manager Chetan Krishnaswamy.

[edit] Affiliated blogs

Krishna Prasad also operates two subsidiary blogs: A media blog aimed at journalists, journalism students and journalism educators, Sans Serif[31], and a food blog focused on southern Indian vegetarian cuisines, Kosambari.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Thomas L Friedman. Software of Democracy. NY Times. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
  2. ^ India media news marketing India advertising Indian brands tv media newspapers
  3. ^ Churumuri Poll « churumuri
  4. ^ Nostalgia. churumuri. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
  5. ^ Tongue In Cheek « churumuri
  6. ^ a b c d The Hindu : Karnataka / Mysore News : Tragic news gives fledgling blog a boost
  7. ^ Politics. churumuri. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
  8. ^ Cricket. churumuri. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
  9. ^ Media « churumuri
  10. ^ http://churumuri.wordpress.com/tag/films-television/
  11. ^ What is churumuri. churumuri. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
  12. ^ R.K. Narayan Campaign « churumuri
  13. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.K._Narayan/
  14. ^ To The Governor Of Karnataka, From Us « Churumuri
  15. ^ Under N. Ram, the Hindu becomes a ’sorry’ paper « churumuri
  16. ^ http://www.hindu.com/2006/06/05/stories/2006060506531100.htm /
  17. ^ The Hindu responds to Churumuri. We do too. « churumuri
  18. ^ A small Tribune story helped TOI pick up VK, VT « churumuri
  19. ^ EXCLUSIVE: Inside story of Deccan Herald coup « churumuri
  20. ^ A surprising first at employee-friendly Hindu « churumuri
  21. ^ http://blogs.smh.com.au/sport/archives/2007/05/sri_lankan_sour_grapes_or_aust.html/
  22. ^ Blogs boil at Murthy’s anthem remark - Newindpress.com
  23. ^ Most visited. churumuri.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-27.
  24. ^ Rajkumar. churumuri.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-27.
  25. ^ The Hindu : Karnataka / Mysore News : Down memory lane with Satyan
  26. ^ T S Nagarajan bio. churumuri. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
  27. ^ Amazon.com: Veerappan: India's Most Wanted Man: Books: Sunaad Raghuram
  28. ^ Mysore news, information on Mysore, Karnataka information and news headlines
  29. ^ Html Redirect
  30. ^ Nikhil Moro's Virtual World, the fascinating universe of an Assistant Professor at Kennesaw State University
  31. ^ http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/greenslade/2007/04/want_a_job_in_journalism_then.htm/

[edit] External links