Student research on the Hoot: With their dismal coverage of child development issues, Odisha editions of major English newspapers fail to sensitise in the state with the highest infant mortality rate. NEHA BHANDARKAR says children constitute 12% of Odisha's population; and their exclusion from the print media is a matter of concern. Pix: child labour in Orissa from orissadiary.com

TV channels erupted to news that the seven billionth-human being was imminent, but the subject faded as quickly as it arrived. Why scream that children are dying from encephalitis when similar willingness to examine overpopulation is not there, asks SHYAM G MENON Pix: Desi-radio.com

Though almost half of Mumbai's population lives in slums, its English print media readers remain unaware of the rapid demolition of thousands of homes. The demolition of the Golibar slum has gone largely unreported, deemed irrelevant to English readers. JYOTI PUNWANI critically examines the issue In a new column.

The full picture of Pakistan's month of sorrow has still not emerged. The rigour shown by media while reporting religious extremism and terrorism in Pakistan, is absent in the floods coverage, says SHYAM G MENON

Although millions of rural and urban Indians do not have decent sanitation and thousands die from diarrhoea, the issue is like an abandoned terrain that nobody wants to tread on. TERESA REHMAN speaks of an initiative to draw attention to this sensitive issue.

Why can't media houses keep up a relentless coverage on the unseen and ongoing disaster of hunger -- give voices and faces to the voiceless and faceless who live and die in our villages? SEEMA KAMDAR makes a passionate plea for the media to break the glass wall that separates the two Indias.

An innovative pilot programme in Andhra Pradesh trains children in using video to bring local problems to public attention and claim their right to self-expression. P.ANIL KUMAR tells the story.

Charkha Development Communication Network has been connecting unheard voices from the margins to the mainstream media for last 15 years, writes MD.Ali

Does the Narmada issue and its emotive appeal in Gujarat predetermine the stylistic and editorial cuts in such a way that 'an official's version' is zealously embraced, putting aside all the qualms about verifying the truth, asks HIMANSHU UPADHYAYA. Pix: Sardar Sarovar Dam