‘Our essential qualifications have changed… but a reporter’s life is more fun than before’
Shekhar Gupta
Shekhar Gupta | June 16, 2014 12:01 am
Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on redditShare on linkedinShare on pinterest_shareMore Sharing Services44
5 Comments
Shekhar GuptaSUMMARY
Editor-in-chief Shekhar Gupta writes a farewell note to ‘The Indian Express’ newsroom
More From Shekhar Gupta
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
Baghdad needs external help to defeat ISIS. The next challenge will be to establish inclusive governance.
Mani Shankar AiyarWed Jun 18 2014
Modi-Nawaz can take talks forward if they acknowledge progress made in 2004-07.
C. Raja MohanWed Jun 18 2014
In politics, domestic or international, classical texts across civilisations caution against the idea that any two entities can be enemies for ever.
The president’s address itself says contained neither a roadmap nor details of this government’s priorities. “Good governance has many attributes.
I had promised to write specially to my fellow reporters. I am delivering on it now, sure enough, just before the deadline runs out. Which is so typical of us.
I had said also that I shall write this note even at the risk of being accused of crass tribalism. But it isn’t just that. In our more vain moments — which assail a reporter’s mind often — I have somewhat stupidly used the analogy of a typical Air Force to illustrate the unique mindset of the reporter: fighter pilot. All others are equally important and no Air Force will get airborne without them, but fighter pilots “are” the elite.
That era of those magnificent men (and women) with their typewriters is now over. And there is more to it than just the arrival of the drones.
It is because of the way journalism has changed. Our tools have become sharper, more powerful, our reach greater. At the same time, our audiences are better informed, more questioning and demanding. They demand quality, depth, trust and not just what our TV screens and news blogs call breaking news.
That is because breaking news, irrespective of who breaks it and where, takes a microsecond becoming common knowledge. In this hypersonic news environment, no exclusive survives. Not when every TV channel within minutes, and some newspapers the next day, begin to flaunt it as their own “exclusive”. As a reporter, I so often wish we could return to the old ways. Or that news-breaks could come with a TM attached!
But all is not lost. If you look closely, the news environment is more exciting than before. It calls for better skills, greater knowledge, more reliable sources, and that most valuable quality of all now: domain knowledge. It is no longer enough to get an exclusive sliver of a news-break. You need to back it with depth and knowledge, not within that particular story, but also with your track record on the subject. A reader will give you that extremely precious gift of time only if she is convinced you know what you are talking about.
पूरा लेख इंडियन एक्सप्रेस में पढ़ें
पूरा लेख इंडियन एक्सप्रेस में पढ़ें
