Electronic Media vs. Print Media

Journalism Lectures, Day-15

On Day-15, we discussed the challenges that the Indian print media faces from its electronic counterpart. These challenges bring into question the very existence and survival of newspapers and magazines in the country. The influence of television news channels on the Indian public is quite remarkable. Online journalism in India also accounts for a large share of the media business in the country. The electronic media vs. print media debate led to some interesting exchange of ideas and thoughts.

Except for one girl, all the other students believed that print media would survive the onslaught made by the electronic media in India. She believed that in 5 years time, newspapers and magazines would lose their importance. But there are some unique advantages that only the print media can lay claim to.

1) A road accident in your city may not get reported by the electronic media. But you will surely find a mention of the accident in your national daily. Depending on the severity of the accident, the newspaper report can appear as a front page news or in the inside pages of the newspaper.

Since a national daily is published from multi-city locations, it has the distinct advantage of providing local news at a much grander scale than television news channels and online news portals. Since the electronic media caters to a wider cross-section of people, it would always find it difficult to offer local news content.

2) The electronic media is always working under the pressure to offer "Breaking News". If NDTV doesn't cover it, CNN IBN or Aaj Tak will! That sort of competition is what makes the news channels broadcast half-baked or "half cooked-up" stories.

The print media, however, has more time on hand to observe developments, investigate stories, analyse information and present it to the readers in an accurate and correct manner. They get an entire day's time to determine a story's credibility and, verify facts and figures. The print media can wipe out the mess created by the electronic media; it just takes a day's time to do it!

There are other important points related to the electronic media vs. print media debate that I'll discuss in subsequent blog posts.

A Reporter's tools

Journalism Lectures, Day-14

Today, the professor discussed about the tools that a reporter utilizes to write a story. The class wasn't as interesting as some of the other lectures on Reporting were. Everytime I enter the lecture room, I find it difficult not to feel sleepy. But the energy with which the lecturers go about their job, makes the whole experience an enjoyable one. On this occasion, the energy was perhaps missing.

So, what are the tools that a Reporter uses for his daily work? The lecturer mentioned the small bag that he often carries to the classroom. That small bag holds his cell phone, pen drive, notepad and voice recorder. A reporter must necessarily carry the mentioned items whenever he's traveling to cover a story.

A voice recorder is an extremely useful tool for a Reporter. It allows a reporter to record each and every statement made by the interviewee. Before writing the final copy of a story, a reporter can play back the tape to find out whether he had missed out on any critical points. A voice recorder is absolutely essential in case of an interview that is going to appear in the newspaper in a question-answer format.

But don't rely entirely on a voice recorder. You must jot down the important points in your notepad as the interview progresses. The lecturer recounted 2 moments in his career when he failed to take notes, relied entirely on a recorder and had to face disastrous consequences.

In 1990, the lecturer had the good fortune to interview Nelson Mandela in Kolkata. He was planning to submit the interview in a question-answer format and used a voice recorder to cover the entire interview. Unfortunately, the recorder malfunctioned and no written notes were available as a backup. He was forced to give up on the question-answer format and had to really depend on his memory to recollect the finer points of the interview.

In the 2nd instance, a voice recorder mishap occurred after an interview with Mamata Banerjee. But in this case, opted to go for the question-answer format, sent a copy to the leader and sought her approval for the copy to be published. But in both the cases, the rub of the green could have easily gone the other way. So, jotting down important points is an absolute necessity for a Reporter.

Some of the other tools of a Reporter include pens, typing skills, forward diary, press releases and of course, the internet!

Hey...who said Editing is uninteresting?

Journalism Lectures, Day-13

I had been told a number of times about the dull work that an Editor of a newspaper or magazine is expected to perform. "Editing is one of the most thankless jobs", one of my friends was told when she applied for a job with one of the national dailies that operates from the Eastern part of India. "Do you really want to take this up?" the person-in-charge of the hiring process asked my friend.

Of course, she was up to the challenge and soon joined as a Sub-editor with the national daily. It's been a few months and she's yet to complain about her daily work routine. But doubts still lingered upon my mind on whether editing could make for an exciting career. As far as being an Editor of a newspaper is concerned, I think there's loads of excitement to look forward to.

The lecturer had carried the morning edition of "The Statesman" to class. He used the newspaper quite beautifully to guide us on matters related to the basic principles of editing. He "tickled" our brain to come up with ideas about what role an Editor could enact in the creation process of a newspaper.

The Editor must understand what is News, then only would he be able to priortise stories filed by the reporters. His understanding of News should be much more superior than that of a reporter. "It's a myth that Editors are not journalists", the lecturer informed the class. "An Editor is as much of a journalist as a reporter, if not more", he further continued on the topic.

An Editor, besides selecting the News that needs to be published, is also responsible for layout, providing headlines to a story, selecting photographs, providing captions for selected photographs, creating essential blurbs, tables, charts and lots more. And on top of it, an Editor has stiff deadlines to meet on a daily basis!

Phew! I don't know about uninteresting, but an Editor's job is surely hectic. At least now I know, why my Sub-Editor friend has made it a habit to send a delayed response to my phone calls and SMSes!

Newspaper Management and Time Management

I was late for class today. By the time I entered the classroom the lecturer had already discussed a few things about newspaper management. Along with newspaper management, I may need a lecture on time management too!

Well, I maintain a busy schedule and you have to excuse me if I am unable to attend my lectures on time. A typical weekday starts at around 5 am and ends at around 11:30 pm. I don't get 8 hours of sleep! Last weekend I thought that I'd be able to catch up on some lost sleep. But I had to attend a seminar on "Theater in Education" and catch up with some old friends. That kept me busy throughout the weekend.

Anyways, I should not deviate from the topic of my blog. So let me recapitulate the points about newspaper management which were discussed by the lecturer.

Is management a profession? That was the question asked by the lecturer. The answer is No. In India, management is yet to attain the status of a profession like medicine and law has. The law students have to be ratifed by the Bar Council of India and the medical students by the Medical Council of India before they can start practising in their area of work. In case of management, no such codified admission system is functional.

Q) What is the goal of a newspaper?

A) To facilitate public opinion formation in an objective, accurate and correct manner.

The Press is called the "Unsleeping Guardian of Democracy". It's also known as the 4th Estate. Why?

Well, it acts like a watchdog, keeping an informed eye on the activities of:

i) the Legislature;
ii) the Executive;
iii) the Judiciary.

The business aspects of newspaper management were also discussed today. The main source of revenue for a newspaper house is advertisements. Newspaper business is all about increasing readership, circulation and hence the number of advertisements flowing in.

Without offering news value and following the principles of ethical journalism, theoretically it's not possible for a newspaper publication to survive. I hope you noticed that I used the word, "theoretically". Though the lecturer didn't use it, we all know that a newspaper can survive without adhering to the principles of ethical journalism!

I know, most of the matters that I have discussed on my blog are the bare basics of journalism. But then, isn't it the basics that we often forget?

Writing, writing and more on writing!

Journalism Lectures, Day-11

The finer nuances related to journalistic writing were discussed today. Notes were provided. The lecturer mentioned about the importance of adequate planning before one begins to write a story.

Adequate preparation, organization and analysis of data is required in order to achieve clarity in thinking and writing. A journalist needs to attain a desirable level of proficiency in the use of his or her chosen language.

One must remember the fact that a newspaper report is read by a wide cross-section of people. Thus the need arises to write in a language that appeals to, and is understood by, people of all ages. The readers of a newspaper could hail from diverse backgrounds. A journalist must understand and acknowledge the readership of the newspaper that he or she writes for.

A sign of mediocrity in journalism is the use of too many words in a sentence, when a short sentence can drive home the point. For instance, instead of using a phrase like "ahead of schedule", a journalist can use the word "early".

Similarly, instead of the phrase "at the present moment", one should use the word "now". Newspaper writing calls for economy of words, a journalist must always keep that in mind.

You can never go wrong when you follow the KISS policy. Keep It Short and Simple!