Pratim Ranjan Bose
Some years ago, I had an
opportunity to meet the then Indonesian Vice-President Boediono, at Jakarta , on a study trip
with a group of journalists from across the world.
It was a cosy meeting at the
official residence of the economist vice-president. The interaction was revolving
around Indonesia ’s
reforms initiative and its possible impact on international trade.
But, a bright young auto
reporter from the US
decided to add a comic element to the discourse. “What car do you drive Mr
Vice-president?” he asked. That was time when the American auto Industry was
passing through a critical phase, and my colleague was asked to map
possibilities of its revival in the face of Japanese and South Korean
competition.
Boediono didn't have a ready
answer. He shouldn't be having one. The vice-president of a large Asian
democracy was not expected to drive a car. He rides a chauffeur-driven car
provided by the government. He cannot and must not make his preference to any
particular brand, public.
My friend was well aware about
the ludicrosity of his query. But, he had no choice either. He was expected to
file stories on a format drawn at the editorial meet, a few thousand kilometres
away from Jakarta .
He was supposed to ask country
heads about their car preferences. Anything else – however newsworthy it may
appear to you and I – would be discarded. In this age of specialization, an
auto reporter was not expected to write on say, foreign policy or international
trade.
That is the frustration of a
journalist in news media of the day. He is not expected to use the media, from
where he draws a pay packet, as a laboratory to experiment with new ideas. Because,
experiments rarely meet with success and in a modern-day environment, failures
are costly. It is a lot more costly to an industry that is now facing serious
viability concerns, worldwide.
I am not saying that everything
was hunky dory in the past. Dissatisfaction is and was part and parcel to this
profession. So much so that I often think, a journalist is born to be
disappointed.
The reasons are not difficult to
understand.
Most of us took to journalism on
very high, if not false, ideals. We were driven by a sense of perceived
liberty. My salary might not be as rewarding as a manager, but I am under no
compulsion to please a client either. We perceived ourselves as guardian angels
to this world, enjoying all the liberty to ask the most uncomfortable questions
to anyone and everyone. The pen, we thought, is mightier than money.
We were wrong!
We didn’t count the fragility of
‘liberty’ before money power. Journalism, we were taught, helps create readers
and shape public opinion. In reality, news media is increasingly driven by
readers’ choice. And that explains why British tabloids offer a more rewarding investment proposition that the elites in global media. As the
time passes we realise that the world doesn’t move on high ideals.
The days of idealism are over. In
the new order, China
uses ‘communism’ as a cover to practise the crudest form of capitalism. The US congress might preach democracy, but the US treasury is run on money borrowed from a
totalitarian China .
The ideology-driven cold war is
history. It’s time for multi-polar world where fall of one Lehman Brothers can
send shockwaves across the globe. The entire world now catches cold, if one Greece sneezes.
You don’t need military might to reduce a nation to rubble. The Asian financial
crisis made it evident that a mere fund pullout will do the trick.
In this Fund-driven world, the
media cannot remain an island of ideology. So it too, is changing. Living in an
as obscure location on the world map as Kolkata, I am not here to make a value
judgement of the global media. All I am saying is that increasing competition
and focus on finances has blurred the border line between any other industry
and the media. All are now - and increasingly so - measured against a simple
yardstick: the rate of return.
In this new order, newspapers are
‘products’. And, the situation demands that it should be curated enough so as
to make it a money’s worth for the buyers - whom we also call ‘readers’. Social
equity is important. But the day-to-day life revolves around the demographic
profile of the reader, his consumption habits and preferences. Indirectly
though, my performance appraisal is linked to his facebook shares. Like my
American friend, most of us have ended up as workers on an assembly line. There
is little scope of frivolity, here.
And yet, a journalist is by
nature an individualistic, egotist animal. He hates a life which is repetitive.
It runs in his blood to jump the assembly line. There is a streak in him that
always wants to push boundaries. And, nothing makes him happier than the scope
of writing and readers’ attention.
Thankfully, the ‘modern times’
have also opened a window before him to give vent to those frivolous bursts of
energy.
To my mind, blogging is an
effective tool for journalists to connect readers beyond boundaries and draw
some creative inspiration in the process. I started blogging in November 2013, without much conviction or understanding of the medium.
One-and-a-half years later with
over 10,000 hits as of May 2015, it is now my very own laboratory to test new
ideas, break new frontiers.
It is in this blogsite where I
raised some probing questions on the natural gas pricing policy of the
Congress-led UPA government in Delhi
(Is India offering the highest well-head price to gas producers? Apr, 2014).
Readers’ feedback and corporates (sulphuric!) reactions, have strengthened my
view that some policy was designed to benefit a few.
For the record, the Narendra Modi
government has revised the policy.
Similarly, well received was a
series of write-ups on Indo-Bangla issues. Especially the June 2014 report, Is India preparing ground for exchange of enclaves with Bangladesh? that
now tops the popularity chart.
A blogsite has lower visibility
than a newspaper website. But the steady flow of visitors from across the world
is proof that the site has caught readers’ attention and is being constantly
shared on social networking platforms.
It was a rewarding experience to
know, there are readers for every penny thought. It would be more rewarding the
day this blogsite would attract 100,000 hits.
***
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(Disclaimer: Graphics are
collected from the web. Will be removed in case of any objection)
