Picture from Wikipedia
Here is a really interesting post by Raghav Ohri about the whole “New Seven Wonders” campaign. I wanted to write about this campaign, but this post is way better than what I had in mind, and is better articulated. My views on the matter would simply echo the opinions expressed here.
Having said that, there are a few things I’d like to point out.
1. It’s surprising how energetically the “mainstream” media supported this initiative with flashy messages exhorting people to vote for the Taj. Even the news channels, the ones who are *supposed* to be impartial!
2. With all the coverage given to the New Seven Wonders project, all talk about revenue sharing agreements, broadcasting rights sales and the fact that the UNESCO’s World Heritage programme is not involved was very conveniently omitted from the discussion, if you can call it that.
3. The folks at UNESCO are the ones who actually support the various heritage sites with the funds they collect. I don’t quite remember a single advert mentioning what the NWOC (New Open World Corporation, the Swiss company that is administering this poll) was going to do with all the money it’s going to collect. For that matter, I don’t remember a single news channel here point that out either.
4. The NWOC does not HAVE to use your votes. See this.
All said and done, its your money, message away!
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