HEART 2 HEART
Herald (June 6)
What's the new face of journalism?
By ETHEL DA COSTA
No offence to Steven Spielberg and his latest sci-fi magnum opus, but I'm
in the middle of a `War of the Words' as media wars in Bombay are fast
replacing the infamous Cola wars of yesteryears. Spearheaded by
swashbuckling CEOs of media giants to even the score out off their
competitors or cook up mutually benefiting and economically enhancing peace
treaties (like the recent Times of India and Hindustan Times peace call to
avoid further media bloodshed), the face of journalism is changing. I
really don't know if for the better, news wise, though journalists can now
certainly expect a change for the better in their menus at home.
At a recent `Your readers are changing, change your newspaper' global meet
of editors at the 12th World Editors Forum in Seoul, sessions discussed the
changed concept, content and even creators of newspapers which has sent the
ink draining from the face of conventional print journalists. 'Is anybody a
journalist?' was the anguished question explored and heatedly debated after
keynote speeches by Krishna Bharat, creator of Google News and Dan
Gillmore, author of 'We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People for
the People.' Even in the wake of 'Deep Throat' finally crawling out of his
resting place to take centrestage in world media as 'the source' who blew
the guarded lid off Nixon -- and in turn help flourish the careers of Bob
Woodward and Carl Bernstein, then with 'The Washington Post' -- what had me
intrigued was the line of debate that emerged during the session, "The
freedom of Press belongs to the owners of the Press," and in that very much
rests the role of the media and our future as journalists.
Putting in perspective the 'call of the ink,' and the adage that 'many are
called but few are chosen,' it got me thinking of our roles are dispensers
of information. The 'quality' of information we make accessible to the
public, while also making sure the 'quantity' that indirectly accounts for
our own survival. Undoubtedly, the media has turned into a marketing tool -
these are pressures of the 21st century, so we might as well buckle up our
pants -- and the reality that journalists are replaceable as last night's
underwear, how much 'truth' could a professional journalist today attempt
to bring to light without jeopardizing the economical interests of his
boss? I long realized that no media boss is in the business of truth for
charity. The sooner you get your grip over this truth, the better for your
heartburn (even politicos are funding newspapers as mouthpieces of their
parties), so there goes journalism further down the drain.
So, what makes a journalist in the wake that there is really no freedom of
the Press (unless your boss is super loaded and has no willy-nilly strings
attached to the wheels within wheels, which is so really so hard to come
by), unless you're on a suicidal mission to endanger your skin? Passion?
Commitment? Vocation? Another let's-get-famous profession? My hard-skinned
media colleagues in Mumbai say that none of them suffer from
the-die-for-your-pen syndrome, because even hospitals have become
money-minded today. "Bosses never stand up for you, because they care less
about effective journalism and more for expanding their business empires.
It's a rat race to the bank, so forget lofty ideals of society building
through public debates. Today boardrooms debate profits and dropping
necklines to cream competition. Wake up and smell the stench at your
nearest garbage dump because the municipality workers are on strike for
higher wages," he forcefully advised.
It is depressing this talk. But nothing prepared me recently when I
overheard a telephone conversation (a buddy made me privy to this to shake
the idealism off my bones) between a space prostitute (sorry, harsh word
for the feeling of violation that stayed with me for days) haggling her
wares to a client she was desperately trying to entice. For the monies she
was asking him to pay (it dropped from Rs 75,000 to Rs 40,000) for his
picture in the Page 3 section of the 'party' paper with jaded socialites
and advertorial about his company, she was promising to better his social
image and networking circle through her newspaper. The conversation lasted
a good 30 minutes (as my buddy watched the blood roar in my ears, even as
he refused to bite bait and more people came on the telephone line to
convince him this 'opportunity' of a lifetime), I had had my taste of
India's truthful nature of journalism. "Still married to your cause," he
later shot amusedly.
Journalism, as we've known it, is about to be commandeered by the
barbarians of profit mongers. Time to fire your own bazookas with a crash
helmet, readers. Let more people take power into their own hands to stand
up for their own destiny
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