Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Do You Know?

An interview at the Business Standard today, opened my eyes to stark realities. The farcical understanding of business news that I have obtained at a news channel stares at my face. The idea of being a part of such a big set-up often makes an individual forget his/her role being played in that gigantic workplace. Being at the ticker, considered to be crucial w.r.t. business viewers, I am trained to break news alerts and updates on the channel. The job involves swift execution of breaking news items that enable business honchos decide their next move in the market. For some viewers, policy-driven news items are also of great interest owing to increased awareness of what the Govt of India is really doing with the taxpayers’ money.


After having spent 3 years doing this fundamental job of breaking the news, I have come to a conclusion, rather late in my career, that Business Journalism in India is more of a sham. Young 'Journalists’ seldom know what is being discussed or debated on the channel by experienced journalists. Employees (barring reporters in most cases) are busy racing against time to bring the required news in place for a news-break or a bulletin. How ignorant they are gets highlighted the day these ‘journalists’ step out of their larger-than-life workplace to test as well as prove their mettle to the rest in business. It is a rarity to find some souls who take their work seriously and find it their utmost duty to be fully-educated of the piece of news they are packaging for the viewer.


Finding myself in a difficult position in explaining the tussle between Sahara & SEBI at the BS, I guessed how much my fellow young ‘journalists’ may know keeping in mind my own knowledge of business news. The victims of ignorance or less knowledge are those bright fellas who enter Broadcast Journalism with the aim of becoming a TV reporter or anchor while they perform other works such as production or packaging to be able to ‘make it on TV’. Proud parents continue to hold their heads high leading to the ‘journalists’ never realizing their inefficiency.


Are there really any solutions? Maybe for those who believe they cannot proceed to their next stage without much insight. Others just simply blame the organization for being biased to some other journalists or end up shifting jobs. Just a handful of them really work to make it to the top and those guys are usually referred to as the ‘Bosses'.

Disclaimer:- This post is not targeting any channel or its functioning. This post is purely based on the author's personal experience.