“Being a journalist, you have the power to do it. Its good work you people are doing”.
It wasn’t my first assignment and every time this word was attached to me I felt jolted….yes, jolted and revolted (very strong words and that’s precisely why they have been used here). For the first three seconds I was wondering if he actually was addressing me. When did I become a journalist, maybe I have. Slowly the venom has got to me as well…and it shows….but still whenever I am being refereed as a journalist, I feel disillusioned…
Some sanctity left? I don’t know.
By now all you readers (I am sure many are journalists themselves) have realized that I am definitely not going to (if the title didn’t give it away) go bonkers over the kind of good stuff we journalists do or the angels in disguise we people are…not exactly.
“Cut the crap! Its business. You have to sell… its all about the TRPs afterall.” Doesn’t it sound as if you heard it yesterday in office?
Well, that rape of minor ...did it happen in a car….if yes whether it was a moving car…if no….then lets not cover it (Forgot to ask….if the car was indeed moving…then what was the next criteria. Was it a merc or a Maruti? ).
A lot is expected of me, getting the story on time, getting that all important byte….that elusive visual of the body being taken away….that makes good television. I am told….by the way we don’t show blood, we just blur it….we have a heart afterall. You see we care for the people.
But don’t forget to take that byte of the father whose son was just murdered…..throat slit….how can you not dare take his byte…afterall the other channels are also playing it…
Welcome to the world of Broadcast Journalism…..its mean, its ruthless, its hypocrisy but most importantly it sells….it sells like hot pancakes…
I am not a preacher so I won’t say or suggest what one has to do…or one should not do. It also doesn’t mean that by writing this my keeping myself clean (i.e. in my own eyes)…
Rather I am more confused than anyone. Atleast my colleagues acknowledge that this is business/ some sort of social work we do in return for fame, money and respect (but that is nothing when one sees the kind of social work we have been doing in this business)….
Would it be wrong if I say that we are nothing but wholesalers in a ‘mandi’…as for what are we selling - Emotions, tears, pain…..as for our raw stock. It’s the people around us, it can be anyone… you …me…..as far as there is a ‘story’ there…
If the story is there, it will be told - Whatever it takes….be it a father whose constantly reminded of how painful it must have been for his son when the knife was razing his son’s throat…or the mother who saw her own husband rape her twelve year daughter…
This is what the first few months of journalism has taught me – the story is the most important thing. As for those who don’t know what a story is, standard formula – 3 voice overs (VO), a couple of bites, a piece to camera and you have a standard story on your hand.
But this 3 VO , the bite have a lot more than it seems, starting with the VO…as per the market demands…get the strongest visual. Strongest means, which strikes you most, since we ‘humane’ people don’t show blood, its good if we have a crying mother/father/son/daughter (as long as they are crying and have agreed/don’t know that they are being filmed) its ok.
The second part of the story….the bites, no matter what the person says…the good thing about bite is that it can always be moulded…such is our craftsmanship that we can actually make him say whatever we want….
Last but not the least (rather the icing on the cake), the Piece to Camera, where I conclude the story in my own way. Its not the story anymore but the way I (the channel) looks at the whole ‘incident’ which has now been turned it into a ‘story’.
I don’t know how many of you would agree with me, but this is something which I have been seeing in the early days of my ‘Journalism’. What did I say “Journalism”???….I still feel jolted, revolted. Maybe I am not a good Journalist…maybe I am not a Journalist.
It wasn’t my first assignment and every time this word was attached to me I felt jolted….yes, jolted and revolted (very strong words and that’s precisely why they have been used here). For the first three seconds I was wondering if he actually was addressing me. When did I become a journalist, maybe I have. Slowly the venom has got to me as well…and it shows….but still whenever I am being refereed as a journalist, I feel disillusioned…
Some sanctity left? I don’t know.
By now all you readers (I am sure many are journalists themselves) have realized that I am definitely not going to (if the title didn’t give it away) go bonkers over the kind of good stuff we journalists do or the angels in disguise we people are…not exactly.
“Cut the crap! Its business. You have to sell… its all about the TRPs afterall.” Doesn’t it sound as if you heard it yesterday in office?
Well, that rape of minor ...did it happen in a car….if yes whether it was a moving car…if no….then lets not cover it (Forgot to ask….if the car was indeed moving…then what was the next criteria. Was it a merc or a Maruti? ).
A lot is expected of me, getting the story on time, getting that all important byte….that elusive visual of the body being taken away….that makes good television. I am told….by the way we don’t show blood, we just blur it….we have a heart afterall. You see we care for the people.
But don’t forget to take that byte of the father whose son was just murdered…..throat slit….how can you not dare take his byte…afterall the other channels are also playing it…
Welcome to the world of Broadcast Journalism…..its mean, its ruthless, its hypocrisy but most importantly it sells….it sells like hot pancakes…
I am not a preacher so I won’t say or suggest what one has to do…or one should not do. It also doesn’t mean that by writing this my keeping myself clean (i.e. in my own eyes)…
Rather I am more confused than anyone. Atleast my colleagues acknowledge that this is business/ some sort of social work we do in return for fame, money and respect (but that is nothing when one sees the kind of social work we have been doing in this business)….
Would it be wrong if I say that we are nothing but wholesalers in a ‘mandi’…as for what are we selling - Emotions, tears, pain…..as for our raw stock. It’s the people around us, it can be anyone… you …me…..as far as there is a ‘story’ there…
If the story is there, it will be told - Whatever it takes….be it a father whose constantly reminded of how painful it must have been for his son when the knife was razing his son’s throat…or the mother who saw her own husband rape her twelve year daughter…
This is what the first few months of journalism has taught me – the story is the most important thing. As for those who don’t know what a story is, standard formula – 3 voice overs (VO), a couple of bites, a piece to camera and you have a standard story on your hand.
But this 3 VO , the bite have a lot more than it seems, starting with the VO…as per the market demands…get the strongest visual. Strongest means, which strikes you most, since we ‘humane’ people don’t show blood, its good if we have a crying mother/father/son/daughter (as long as they are crying and have agreed/don’t know that they are being filmed) its ok.
The second part of the story….the bites, no matter what the person says…the good thing about bite is that it can always be moulded…such is our craftsmanship that we can actually make him say whatever we want….
Last but not the least (rather the icing on the cake), the Piece to Camera, where I conclude the story in my own way. Its not the story anymore but the way I (the channel) looks at the whole ‘incident’ which has now been turned it into a ‘story’.
I don’t know how many of you would agree with me, but this is something which I have been seeing in the early days of my ‘Journalism’. What did I say “Journalism”???….I still feel jolted, revolted. Maybe I am not a good Journalist…maybe I am not a Journalist.
