Mirror Buzz

Last updated

Mirror Buzz
Type Supplement Magazine
Owner(s) The Times Group
LaunchedAugust 2005
Sister newspapers Mumbai Mirror
Website Official Website
Free online archives Online Version Of Buzz

Mirror Buzz is a weekly supplement being distributed with the Mumbai tabloid Mumbai Mirror every Saturday. It has been in circulation since August 2005. It is owned by The Times Group and is published by Sam Dastoor.

Contents

Components and format

Mirror Buzz comes in a magazine form and is 12" X 9" in dimensions. It "tries to capture the spirit of Mumbai". The supplement contains 30 to 32 pages and is fully coloured. The pages are glossy, though not of magazine quality. Regular features include "Numero-Logic", "Reviews", "Around Town", "Food", "Interiors", "Travel" and "Quick Take". Also included is a small "Letters to the Editor" section. Apart from the regular features, there are special articles on varied subjects and a cover story.

Controversies

Mirror Buzz has courted some controversy since it was launched in 2005. The 12–18 November 2005 issue of Mirror Buzz contained a cover story called "Mercury Rising: How Hot Is Mumbai?", which explored the sexual trends of the city. However, this did not go down well with some culture protectors and activists and six NGOs subsequently filed a complaint against the publisher of the magazine. On 15 November 2005, the publisher of Mirror Buzz, Sam Dastoor was arrested on charges of "sale of obscene material" and "sale of obscene objects to young persons", before being released on bail. [1] The publisher was also slapped with the Young Persons (Harmful Publications Act). [2] The police alleged that the pictures of the two pairs of models published in the magazine were obscene and should not have been circulated in public. The police also added that the magazine featured nine pictures of nude and semi-nude couples in various stages of undress and making out. Surprisingly, The Times of India , the parent newspaper of Mirror Buzz did not give much space to the news, while rival newspapers such as Indian Express and Daily News and Analysis were quick to have a say against the activists and their ways to impose their value systems on the media. [3]

In February 2006, the supplement was stuck in another controversy. This time, the Buzz drew the ire of Mumbai's Muslim community. Muslim protestors agitated against the supplement and the newspaper and staged a Rail-Roko at Mumbai Central railway station. They were protesting against a photograph in Mirror Buzz showing the back of a woman tattooed with Koranic verses. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indecent exposure</span> Public indecency involving nudity of some sort

Indecent exposure is the deliberate public exposure by a person of a portion of their body in a manner contrary to local standards of appropriate behavior. Laws and social attitudes regarding indecent exposure vary significantly in different countries. It ranges from outright prohibition of the exposure of any body parts other than the hands or face to prohibition of exposure of certain body parts, such as the genital area, buttocks or breasts.

Easy Finder was a weekly Chinese tabloid magazine which was first published on 13 September 1991 in Hong Kong. Published by Next Media Limited which is owned by Jimmy Lai. It stopped publishing on 23 May 2007. Easy Finder was commonly known to participate in Yellow journalism in collecting story ideas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rowlatt Act</span> Government act passed in 1919 by the British in India

The Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919, popularly known as the Rowlatt Act, was a law that applied in British India. It was a legislative council act passed by the Imperial Legislative Council in Delhi on 18 March 1919, indefinitely extending the emergency measures of preventive indefinite detention, imprisonment without trial and judicial review enacted in the Defence of India Act 1915 during the First World War. It was enacted in the light of a perceived threat from revolutionary nationalists of re-engaging in similar conspiracies as had occurred during the war which the Government felt the lapse of the Defence of India Act would enable.

<i>Oz</i> (magazine) Australian satirical magazine

Oz was an independently published, alternative/underground magazine associated with the international counterculture of the 1960s. While it was first published in Sydney in 1963, a parallel version of Oz was published in London from 1967. The Australian magazine was published until 1969 and the British version until 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M. F. Husain</span> Indian artist (1915–2011)

Maqbool Fida Husain was an Indian artist known for executing bold, vibrantly coloured narrative paintings in a modified Cubist style. He was one of the most celebrated and internationally recognised Indian artists of the 20th century. He was one of the founding members of Bombay Progressive Artists' Group. M.F. Husain is associated with Indian modernism in the 1940s. His early association with the Bombay Progressive Artists' Group used modern technique, and was inspired by the "new" India after the partition of 1947. His narrative paintings, executed in a modified Cubist style, can be caustic and funny as well as serious and sombre. His themes—sometimes treated in series—include topics as diverse as Gandhi, Mother Teresa, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the British Raj, and motifs of Indian urban and rural life. In September 2020, his painting titled “Voices”, auctioned for a record $2.5 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quran desecration</span> Improper treatment of Islams holy book

Quran desecration is the treatment of the Quran, in its original Arabic form, in a way that might be considered disrespectful or insulting.

Clothing laws vary considerably around the world. In most countries, there are no laws which prescribe what clothing is required to be worn. However, the community standards of clothing are set indirectly by way of prosecution of those who wear something that is not socially approved. Those people who wear insufficient clothing can be prosecuted in many countries under various offences termed indecent exposure, public indecency, nudity or other descriptions. Generally, these offences do not themselves define what is and what is not acceptable clothing to constitute the offence, and leave it to a judge to determine in each case.

Moral police is an umbrella category of vigilante groups which act to enforce a code of morality in India. Some of India's laws, and some actions of police forces in India are also considered to be instances of moral policing. The target of moral policing is any activity that vigilante groups, the government or police deem to be "immoral" and/or "against Indian culture".

Philadelphia is a regional monthly magazine published in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by the Lipson family of Philadelphia and its company, Metrocorp.

MANual Enterprises, Inc. v. Day, 370 U.S. 478 (1962), is a decision by the United States Supreme Court which held that magazines consisting largely of photographs of nude or near-nude male models are not obscene within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 1461. It was the first case in which the Court engaged in plenary review of a Post Office Department order holding obscene matter "nonmailable."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edison Chen photo scandal</span> 2008 unlawful publication of private photos

In 2008, intimate and private photographs of Hong Kong actor Edison Chen with various women, including actresses Gillian Chung, Bobo Chan, Rachel Ngan, and Cecilia Cheung, were unlawfully distributed over the Internet. The scandal shook the Hong Kong entertainment industry and received high-profile media attention locally and around the world. Many local newspapers headlined the story consecutively during the first fortnight of February 2008, relegating coverage of the 2008 Chinese winter storms to secondary prominence during Chinese New Year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shilpa Shetty</span> Indian actress and film producer (born 1975)

Shilpa Shetty Kundra is an Indian actress who works mainly in Hindi films. Shetty made her screen debut in the thriller Baazigar (1993) which garnered her nominations for two Filmfare Awards, after which she played a dual role in the action comedy Main Khiladi Tu Anari (1994).

The hate speech laws in India aim to prevent discord among its many ethnic and religious communities. The laws allow a citizen to seek the punishment of anyone who shows the citizen disrespect "on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or any other ground whatsoever". Section 153A of the Indian penal code prohibits citizens from creating disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different groups of people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garry Gross</span> Jewish-American photographer

Garry Gross was an American fashion photographer who went on to specialize in dog portraiture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York Society for the Suppression of Vice</span>

The New York Society for the Suppression of Vice was an institution dedicated to supervising the morality of the public, founded in 1873. Its specific mission was to monitor compliance with state laws and work with the courts and district attorneys in bringing offenders to justice. It and its members also pushed for additional laws against perceived immoral conduct. While the NYSSV is better remembered for its opposition to literary works, it also closely monitored the newsstands, commonly found on city sidewalks and in transportation terminals, which sold the popular newspapers and periodicals of the day.

<i>Playboy Special Edition</i> Unique, infrequent, or semi-regular spin-offs of the magazine

Playboy Special Editions are a spin-off series of Playboy magazine containing glamour and softcore nude photographs. The initially infrequent and later semi-regular editions ran from 1963 through 2000 then re-branded from 2000 through 2012 final issues. A one-off special edition was published in February 2015 featuring images of models in different locations within California from the controversial photographer Terry Richardson.

Sudhir Dhawale is an Indian activist, actor and publisher of the bi-monthly Marathi magazine Vidrohi. He is also the founder of organisation, Republican Panthers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Street food of Mumbai</span> Food sold by street vendors in Mumbai, India

Street food of Mumbai is the food sold by hawkers from portable market stalls in Mumbai. It is one of the characteristics of the city. The city is known for its distinctive street foods. Although street food is common all over India, street food in Mumbai is noted because people from all economic classes eat on the roadside almost round the clock and it is sometimes felt that the taste of street food is better than restaurants in the city. Many Mumbaikars like a small snack on the road in the evening. People of Mumbai cutting across barriers of class, religion, gender and ethnicity are passionate about street food. Street food vendors are credited by some for developing the city's food culture. Street food in Mumbai is relatively inexpensive as compared to restaurants and vendors tend to be clustered around crowded areas such as colleges and railway stations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poonam Pandey</span> Indian actress and model (born 1991)

Poonam Pandey is an Indian model and actress. She debuted in Bollywood with the film Nasha in 2013.

<i>The Dawn of Love</i> (painting) Oil painting on canvas by English artist William Etty

The Dawn of Love, also known as Venus Now Wakes, and Wakens Love, is an oil painting on canvas by English artist William Etty, first exhibited in 1828 and currently in the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum in Bournemouth. Loosely based on a passage from John Milton's 1634 masque Comus, it shows a nude Venus leaning across to wake the sleeping Love by stroking his wings. While Etty often included nude figures in his work, he rarely depicted physical intimacy, and owing to this, The Dawn of Love is one of his more unusual paintings. The open sensuality of the work was intended to present a challenge to the viewer mirroring the plot of Comus, in which the heroine is tempted by desire but remains rational and detached.

References

Inline
  1. "Mirror Publisher Arrested in ExpressIndia.com". Archived from the original on 19 May 2007. Retrieved 14 November 2006.
  2. Times Publisher Arrested For Obscenity Archived 30 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine [ unreliable source? ]
  3. Mumbai Mirror Buzz Sex Survey and Media's Hypocrisy on Public Morality. Dance With Shadows Archived 31 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine [ unreliable source? ]
  4. Koran verses on back leads to protests in Mumbai
General