How newspapers function
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On 18 April 2007, ‘Deccan Herald’ published an article by G.S. Bhargava, a distinguished journalist, on the subject of ‘Soft power in Colonial Era’. Towards the end of the article, the columnist said that the data drawn in it was “largely from Harold A. Gould’s book, Sikhs, Swamis, Students and Spies’ published in 2006 by Sage Publications.
What Bhargava had written was not a book review, but a column. A columnist depends to a large extent on information gathered from books, documents, newspaper clippings, personal interviews to provide his own assessment of what is going on.
A columnist is not a ‘sarvajna’ or a ‘sarvantaryami’ who knows everything instinctively and does not have to do any reading. The poor man has to read continuously to keep up with the times. Invariably he has to depend on various sources and many do indeed name them to gain authenticity.
Sound advice
That makes sense. And it gives credibility to the column. And what is more it makes the reader feel that the columnist is not poaching on some other’s ideas. But unlike as in a Ph.D thesis, it is not mandatory on the part of a columnist to reveal where he got his facts from. Only a conscientious columnist is not ashamed to do so. Bhargava is one of them.
It is one thing to write a personal column airing one’s own ideas for what they are worth, but it is quite another to write a column quoting facts and figures. In such a situation it makes sense to state sources, which is what Bhargava, to his credit, has done.
Incidentally, ‘The Hindu’ (April 28) carried an article on ‘crafting tools to help writers’. It was an interview with Roy Peter Clark, a senior scholar and vice President at the Poynter Institute at SE Petershurg, Florida, taken by a ‘Hindu’ correspondent.
According to Clark, there have to be “protocols of responsibilities” between reporters, sub-editors and others, “not just in terms of fixing the copy but consulting the editor”. I am sure that in Bhargava’s case it was he himself who requested the editor to insert the information as to the source of his information.
Clark has some sound advice to would-be writers. As he put it: “If you want to write stories, you need to read better stories. If you want to write shorter articles, you need to read better shorter articles.” In addition, according to Clark, it is important to read, write and talk about reading and writing. Sound advice.
Any advice should be welcome to writers and especially to media people. It is interesting what President A.P.J. Kalam has to say about how to write. To him it is necessary for Indian newspapers and news agencies to “encourage research being carried out by journalists within India in academic research institutions which will definitely improve the quality of reporting and enhance the participation of journalists in national development missions”.
Dr. Kalam made his views known in an article that was first published way back in ‘The Hindu’ (November 27, 2006) and which has largely gone unnoticed. In that article Dr. Kalam made the point that “it is essential to have research wings in academic institutions developing media personnel in reporting news, event analysis and highlights”.
That, he added, will enable journalists “to carry out original research on topics of national interest and provide solutions to medium and long-term problems”. As Dr. Kalam saw the situation, participating members must realize that continuous updating of knowledge in a research environment is essential for all media personnel.
For example, he said, “any issue before it is discussed in a foreign newspaper is sent to an internal research group where data is studied, verified and factual news is generated and sent for publication.” Dr. Kalam did not mention the name of any foreign newspaper which went in for such internal research, but one must presume that he was aware of the existence of some.
Thus, he noted: “When there was a critical comment about outsourcing to India, an American journalist stayed in India and studied the issue and found that companies engaged in Business Process Outsourcing (BPOs) were carrying out business using equipment imported from the U.S. and Europe. Thus they found that the BPO industry provided an indirect market for hardware industries of the US and Europe.”
Dr. Kalam gave another example. A Discovery Channel media person wanted to study India’s growth in Information Technology. Thomas Friedman came to India and stayed for a month and visited Bangalore and other places. Based on his news analysis, he wrote a book titled ‘The World is Flat’.
Media missions
As Dr. Kalam sees it, the Indian media should take up the following missions for immediate implementation:
1. A media movement: Developed India before 2020.
2. Media becoming a development partner in the programme of PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Area) with connectivity as focus.
3. Celebrating every aspect of the success
of the people of the State and the nation,
particularly in rural areas.
4. Evolution of a corruption free India
before 2015.
5. Promoting an enlightened society which means education with a value system, transforming religion into a spiritual force and building economic prosperity of nations based on their core competence.
6. Print media and electronic media should bring honour to womanhood.
7. Scanning and digitalizing all old issues of the print media since its establishment and storing in a digital library to preserve our national heritage and make it available for research.
8. Media should evolve a code of conduct among themselves for ensuring that all reporting is analysed, evaluated and researched prior to publication. This is essential for peace, prosperity and safety of the nation.
The article incidentally is really an adaptation from Presdient Kalam’s address at the Press Council of India during the celebrations of National Press Day in New Delhi on November 16, 2006. But to this day there is not the slightest indication that any newspaper has followed his well-meaning advice, though he strongly commended one paper without mentioning its name (it happens to be ‘The Hindu’) for appointing a consultant exclusively for maintaining the standard of the newspaper reporting and nurturing the name of the paper.
If only Dr. Kalam knew how some news-papers functioned!
Related: How newspapers function
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