Above 90% to study journalism - you must be joking!

Colleges under Delhi University are asking astronomical grades for journalism courses. Does scoring high grades in school make someone a good journalist?

My friend George Holland -Hill served as a sub –editor for almost all the major UK national newspapers.  He once told me that he had to hide the fact that he had a degree in English while hunting for a job in the newspaper industry.

"I always kept low- profile, careful enough not to let anyone know that I had a degree. No one really cared about a degree, because in those days no one had one,” said George.

He said: “ If you walked up to someone in the Fleet Street in 1970s and said I have a degree and want a journalism job, people would frown at you. They would rather hire someone who had some sort of practical experience like working for the village newspaper.”

He narrated an incident about a bloke on a look out for a reporter's job in Manchester. It was a Christmas day and a young lad died in an accident because of excessive drinking. The editor asked the young boy who was looking for a job, if he could go out early in the morning, knock at the family’s door, who lost their son on the pervious day and request them for their son’s photograph. That was a real test!  

 Journalism is not about learning theory. It is about deploying real –life skills and acquiring practical knowledge either at work, through internship or doing a short-term professional course. But, at the end, journalism is all about passion.

I find it extremely strange, when I read in newspapers that one needs above 95% to study journalism in Delhi University. I wondered if anyone has to be that intelligent to study journalism. Moreover, does one really need three years and then an additional postgraduate degree (five years in total) to be a journalist?

A person who wants to be a journalist must have a strong nose for news. He (or She) must love cultures and be adventurous. The person must be an inborn leader, possess strong management skills and be able to work in a team. It is also important to be a strong negotiator, a great listener and a very good salesman. Above all, the person has to be a very tolerant and liberal.

These are the inherent skills of a journalist, other than acquiring and perfecting the practical skills like ability to write well, and in case of a television and radio journalist ability to speak and edit well.

Whilst the find product of a journalist reveals the person’s great writing and speaking skills, the inherent qualities mentioned above are mostly required at the production stage. For example, it requires a great craftsmanship to convince someone to give an interview. Remember in journalism, you are asking someone’s time without giving something in return.

I discovered my talent in journalism while writing a letter to the editor following 9/11. I then realized that I am more inclined towards international affairs- something that couldn’t have occurred to me when I was at school.

School level grades are not enough to access someone’s journalist abilities. The maturity to understand social and global issues at large comes with time, and not on someone’s ability to score high grades at school leaving exams. The decision of some colleges of Delhi University to scrap entrance exams for the journalism course in not a prudent step, and it spells disaster for the next generation of Indian journalists, as they are likely be too driven by the market and not by passion.

India's obsession with permissions

Working as a journalist in India, particularly for a foreign broadcaster, can be exciting but also ridiculously frustrating.

My Dutch correspondent and I went to a college affiliated to Delhi University. It was the first day of the new admission season; thousands of students were out to register themselves for Delhi University’s 70,000 odd seats.

We wanted to do a radio story about college admissions: the enthusiasm of first time college goers and the competiveness of India’s education system. It was a simple, light and positive story on students - we wanted to interview them to learn about their aspirations.

As we entered the college gate with my tall European looking correspondent, the security stopped us. I explain that we just want to do a radio interview. Half convinced he tells us to follow him, and soon we find ourselves in the principal’s room!

 

The principal welcomes us warmly, and asked us if the programme is going to be telecast in India. We tell him that we are a state broadcaster of Holland and it is for the Dutch audience. He says: “ I don’t think there is a memorandum of understanding between any university in Holland and Delhi university”

Unable to really comprehend his out of the blue statement, I clarify that we are a news organization and not a university. Then he says: “ Well, I haven’t heard about you (NOS) and since you don’t broadcast in India, it’s difficult to grant a permission.”

We tell him that this is just a simple students’ story, nothing political and that we are a resident journalists with a proper bureau in Delhi. “Well, that’s alright, but you are not registered with Press Trust of India”, he says.

We realize that he had no idea of what he was talking about and was hell bent in making things difficult for us. Without buying into his argument, we explain politely but firmly, that in a democracy it is not really desirable that journalists should be stopped from performing their duties.

He responds by saying: “ you can take an official view from me but can’t ask the students about the system." We understood that he wasn’t convinced about our story and presumed that we are there to expose something about the administrative affairs of the university.

To make him happy, we decide to do CI (our code for courtesy interviews) We ask him very general questions. Pleased with the interview, he allowed us to go and speak to the students, who had come to register for admission into new academic session.

We almost wasted one hour dealing with an unnecessary bureaucratic hurdle – something that we face at all levels right from the security guard to the top boss while doing stories in the Indian subcontinent.

India’s obsession with permission and the inability of the people to say ‘no’ is simply amusing. People  love to exercise their power in whatever way they can within their limited scope.

While permissions are required for even little things, the reason for not granting a filming permission can be mind blowing.

We were filming a special series on Delhi. We decided that the story should end with a shot of the presenter eating Indian food and exclaiming how great the food is!

We walk into a posh south Delhi restaurant for a good lunch. We tell the waiter that we want film for a a couple of minutes (a shot of the presenter munching the first bite). Immediately we are directed to the manager, who instantly refused to allow us to film.

The manger tells us that if we film, the competitors might just copy the recipe!  Amused by his reason for denying permission, we go on an offensive mode. We tell him that people take videos on mobiles while in a restaurant; we are only journalists and going to praise his food.  Finally he tells us to wait, disappears for while (pretending as if he had to consult someone) and returns to say  ‘no worries’! 


Please say 'no' if you cannot 

On one occasion, we went to a posh south Delhi school to seek permission for filming the school building for a special programme. One of the official told us that she would get back to us after discussing the matter with the principal. We kept calling her for the next four days. She kept on reassuring us that she would sort it out. On the day of the shoot, while we waited outside the gate, she told us on phone that she still haven’t had a chance to speak to the principal! We were appalled by such callous behavior, especially, coming from a teacher of an apparently a very affluent school.  A proper refusal would have been much appreciated rather keeping us in a limbo!

Recently, we had to wait almost two and half s to get journalist visa for Bangladesh. Since we didn’t pursue it, the visa never came. It is only when we spoke with a number of officials in the foreign office in Dhaka, we were granted the visas a week later from the date we requested for. The reason: ‘procedural delay’!

It is absolutely justified to ask if we have  a requisite permission, and as journalists we understand that. However, creating  unnecessary obstacles  even when we explain that we mean no harm, and it is only a general news story is indeed frustrating.

In an age when secret filming is rampant, nervousness with cameras is well understood. But it's disappointing when people express apprehension when we show our press cards and establish who we are. 

The overwhelming belief that foreign broadcasters tell negative stories is unfounded.  India has come-off an age, and India’s reputation abroad is really good, and there are a lot of positive talk about the country.

Yes, there are certain stories that  journalists have to do because they are newsworthy, and in many cases are shocking.  The purpose of such stories are not to demean a nation. They are human interest stories for which global awareness and collective action are required.

Recently, I worked on a BBC documentary on human trafficking. It was a strong story that exposed the suffering of young girls. Some viewers came forward to help the charities that were highlighted in the documentary. A Dutch pharmaceutical company, in fact visited a shelter home in Calcutta. It is now planning to raise thousands of dollars so the rescued girls have access to quality education. I am sure this will change a few lives.

Journalism is a noble profession, it’s objective is to inform and show the realities of a society based on in-depth research, observation and analysis. Clearly a ‘permission raj’ doesn’t really help the cause of anyone and is largely self defeating for a democracy.

   

Events and media pitch

It is imperative for an event venue to have a good relationship with the press. Such relations are necessary to let people know about the upcoming events, internal management changes and to disclose other newsworthy stories that might be relevant to some sections of the media.

In recent years, the avenues for putting a story in the media has widened due to the emergence of social media. While traditional media is still the preferred choice for many stories, it has to be complemented with strategic use of social media.

Social media ensures a strong online presence. It allows instant engagement with the people who are present in the digital circle. However, for the event industry, the use of social media is a two step process. At one level, it is used for the promotion and broadcasting of interesting bits and pieces of news on a daily basis. At another level, it is used for following up news once it has been released in the main stream media. In fact, the use the word “social” in social media revolves around people, objective, strategies and technology. We need to understand the type of audience we are targeting. Do we want to use social media for wider engagement or marketing or both?  What strategies we want to adopt: do we want customers to help carry messages to others in the market or do you want them to be more engaged with the company?   Finally what technology we are going to use: it is a blog, tweet or any other relevant social media tool..

For the main stream media, the first step involves identifying the appropriate media outlet.  It is also very important to understand what event and trade journalists are looking for.

When pitching a story, it is important to consider the relevance and the timing of the story. A good journalist looks for stories that are unique and forward thinking so we must be clever. Most journalists rely on good relations to get the best stories. More often than not a journalist is likely to include a story from sources they personally know. For a journalist a known source is much more reliable as it helps them to get the information they need without having to wait. It is therefore imperative to have an excellent rapport with the journalists to be able to get your stories in the right place.

The role of the BBC World Service in our lives

This week Suti focuses on the BBC…

The BBC world service last month confirmed plans to close five of its 32 World Service language services. According to Mr Thompson, the director general of the BBC, the cuts were necessary due to last autumn’s Spending Review. The recent plans will effectively end the radio programming in seven languages – Azeri (the official language of Azerbaijan), Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Spanish (for Cuba), Turkish, Vietnamese and Ukrainian.  Though personally not affected, I do share the grief of the regular listeners of the BBC in the above languages.

My association with the BBC dates back to the early days of my childhood. As a child growing up in a public boarding school in India, listening to the BBC world service news was a part of our daily routine. We had to listen to the BBC world news before breakfast. It didn’t really matter whether we understood global affairs or not, but the house master, like most of the teachers, felt listening to the BBC was absolutely necessary to improve our English!

As the Indian media boomed in the mid 1990s bringing along a plethora of private English and other language news channels, the BBC radio service’s popularity dwindled. However, the BBC radio service remained intimately strong with the older generation. I remember my neighbour, a lanky old fellow who would listen to the world service news on his crackling transistor that he has been using for half a century.  He would often proudly say how the BBC was the first one to broadcast the assassination of Indira Gandhi, the Indian Prime Minister in 1984, hours before the Indian media did. Clearly for a man who probably never moved out of his home state, the BBC shaped his vision of the world and global events throughout his life.

As I grew up and went to the university to study journalism, the BBC remained for me and my friends a model for its credible editorial and impartial news. We thought the simplicity of the BBC website and its adaptation of other aspects of the digital are simply remarkable.

In a global context, the BBC has also been a powerful tool for public diplomacy over the world and played a very important role for millions in shaping outlook and perception of some of the universal values like democracy, freedom and human rights. The BBC regional services get into territories and bring amazing human interest stories which otherwise in many countries are not reported by the domestic media. The BBC world service is not just about news and current affairs, its programmes spans across  global art, cultures, science, technology, music  and literature that stimulate intellectual discussions  and deeply  enriches our view of the world.

The other day I  took part in a discussion with someone, who argued that the BBC still suffers from the colonial hangover and tries to impose its views on the world.  Perceptions about news might differ from person to person, and now living in Britain; I have a better understanding about the organisation and the controversies surrounding it. However, I still believe that the BBC World Service gives good insight to some of the pressing issues of the world and it remains one of the most trusted organisations for news for many around the globe.

At a time, when countries like China are investing millions in international English channel, the BBC   should ensure the World Service remains an articulate and powerful voice  for free and independent reporting and be the collective voice of shared universal principles  in the world. Credibility is the key to the BBC’S success and it must ensure that it continues to enhance that.