One of the nastiest opponent of media in fabricated journalism. But here, by fabrication one does mean fabricating events, stories, or even quotes. It is an unusual kind of fabrication which is not even noticeable. In simple words, it means quoting people who are known to you without actually sweating it out to recognize what the common concerned masses think.
I memorize reading features of a very juvenile journalist in a reputed national daily appearing on Sunday’s. Every time I would see his article quoting one individual over and over again and the photograph present will have a lady posing always. NO matter what the theme of the article is, the two entities will be omnipresent. When enquired, I came to know the person quoted was the journalist’s best friend and the photographed lady his ‘girlfriend’. You can minimally say that it is a customary thing but isn’t this constructed.
This is a very usual incident in today’s journalism and the reasons knowingly unknown. Either our journalist sees the profession with utmost comfort and believes in taking it the same manner. He does not want to put in sweat to get his work completed, favors an easy way out. He considers himself the boss and the best judge.
Another possible reason can be the ignorance dynamic. The journalist feels that he can quote anyone and everyone and it is not critical to be mindful of something like this. He has a permanent batch of populace whom he quotes every now and then. For him, this is standard reporting and he has boundless grounds to guard it.
Few months back, I read an article about introduction of 20:20 in cricket. To my surprise, I was not able to spot a single quote from a cricket player (either present or ex) of any level. All talked about was the sixes, the fours and the short time duration. The journalist seemed to be in a rush to finish the work to meet the deadline at the expense of killing the sense of the article.
A very important thing to remember is ‘whom’ to quote. You cannot ask a vegetable vendor about sensex or about changing faces of media. Although, everyone here is an expert and can talk about anything but this is not the journalism we know. The journalist needs to identify the people among the common masses to be quoted. Ask people about the things that concern them and not just anything. The day one realizes that, this fabrication will die right away.
With growing media competition, we have a single person reporting and editing the article, the sole soul to do it. When the instance of playing multi tasking role occurs, such mistakes happen. Things are taken for granted and the journalist loses the sight of being an editor also. The person is always in a hurry to finish his job and it pays also but in the incorrect way.
We are living in an era where anybody can develop into a journalist overnight. The person can meet deadlines, get facts and write any piece for you. But it takes courage, passion, hunger, determination, and the willingness to take responsibility.
According to Mamkol, “Next time you w-right an article, memorize the definition of a gener-a-list”.
I memorize reading features of a very juvenile journalist in a reputed national daily appearing on Sunday’s. Every time I would see his article quoting one individual over and over again and the photograph present will have a lady posing always. NO matter what the theme of the article is, the two entities will be omnipresent. When enquired, I came to know the person quoted was the journalist’s best friend and the photographed lady his ‘girlfriend’. You can minimally say that it is a customary thing but isn’t this constructed.
This is a very usual incident in today’s journalism and the reasons knowingly unknown. Either our journalist sees the profession with utmost comfort and believes in taking it the same manner. He does not want to put in sweat to get his work completed, favors an easy way out. He considers himself the boss and the best judge.
Another possible reason can be the ignorance dynamic. The journalist feels that he can quote anyone and everyone and it is not critical to be mindful of something like this. He has a permanent batch of populace whom he quotes every now and then. For him, this is standard reporting and he has boundless grounds to guard it.
Few months back, I read an article about introduction of 20:20 in cricket. To my surprise, I was not able to spot a single quote from a cricket player (either present or ex) of any level. All talked about was the sixes, the fours and the short time duration. The journalist seemed to be in a rush to finish the work to meet the deadline at the expense of killing the sense of the article.
A very important thing to remember is ‘whom’ to quote. You cannot ask a vegetable vendor about sensex or about changing faces of media. Although, everyone here is an expert and can talk about anything but this is not the journalism we know. The journalist needs to identify the people among the common masses to be quoted. Ask people about the things that concern them and not just anything. The day one realizes that, this fabrication will die right away.
With growing media competition, we have a single person reporting and editing the article, the sole soul to do it. When the instance of playing multi tasking role occurs, such mistakes happen. Things are taken for granted and the journalist loses the sight of being an editor also. The person is always in a hurry to finish his job and it pays also but in the incorrect way.
We are living in an era where anybody can develop into a journalist overnight. The person can meet deadlines, get facts and write any piece for you. But it takes courage, passion, hunger, determination, and the willingness to take responsibility.
According to Mamkol, “Next time you w-right an article, memorize the definition of a gener-a-list”.
1 comment:
Well written peice. I guess the advent of Internet is the root cause of this problem. People get everything and pretend no one is watching leaving behind what they were taught or are supposed to do. Even if they get some quotes, they hardly think about the balance part of the story. To make it more worse, they don't even know how to utilise Internet. They rarely research.
Note: My comment is entirely restricted to people who have just started their online Journalism in Kashmir.
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