An open letter to CIO / Pc World Pakistan

Respectfully submitted as follows:

1.  That I am addressing you as the co-editor of the blogzine, http://www.pakteahouse.net (“PakTeahouse”) which was a nominee the recently concluded “Pakistan Blog Awards”.

2.That you awarded the “best current affairs blog” to a little known blog called http://zaviews.blogspot.com (the “ZAVIEWS AKA NEWS”).

3. That the PakTeahouse team has perused the aforesaid and the team unable to decipher how you came to the conclusion that ZAVIEWS AKA NEWS is the best current affairs blog, given that it has only a few blog entries, few of which are directly relevant to the recent events in Pakistan.

4. That in comparison PakTeaHouse blog has established its credentials as the go to blog for Pakistani current affairs and the same has been recognized not just nationally but internationally by such publications as The New York Times in the United States of America and The Hindu in India.

5. That there is no topic or event that can be termed “current affairs” which has not been covered by the PakTeaHouse blog. The same cannot be said for ZAVIEWS AKA NEWS. Even a cursory glance on the topics covered at the PakTeaHouse and ZAVIEWS AKA NEWS makes it abundantly clear that while the PakTeaHouse blog has covered everything from war on terror to memogate and from persecution of minorities to the periodic Veena Malik scandals, ZAVIEWS AKA NEWS falls short on each count.

6. That in terms of the quality of content, PakTeaHouse contains an independent team of writers which has written fearlessly, critically and openly on issues that are considered taboo.

7. That in terms of unique hits generated and viewership there is no comparison between the aforesaid ZAVIEWS AKA NEWS and PakTeahouse.

8. That it is our apprehension that you have deliberately sought to ignore the pre-eminent place that the PakTeaHouse blog enjoys in the Pakistani blogosphere, especially when it comes to current affairs.

9. That your conduct in the matter is highly arbitrary to say the least. It is therefore requested that you make plain the criteria upon which you have selected ZAVIEWS AKA NEWS as the best current affairs blog for 2011.

10.  That in order to preserve the integrity of your award and their credibility, it is urgent that you

a.     Give a reasoned explanation of the basis of your adjudication; or

b.     Review your decision vis a vis the best current affairs blog.

Please do not hesitate to contact me in the event of any queries.

Yasser Latif Hamdani

Co-editor, PakTeaHouse