Journalists, first and foremost

June 25, 2012 10:40 pm | Updated 10:40 pm IST

MAKING NEWS, BREAKING NEWS, HER OWN WAY: Edited by Latika Padgaonkar, Shubha Singh; Tranquebar, Venkat Towers, 165, P.H. Road, Chennai-600095. Rs. 250.

MAKING NEWS, BREAKING NEWS, HER OWN WAY: Edited by Latika Padgaonkar, Shubha Singh; Tranquebar, Venkat Towers, 165, P.H. Road, Chennai-600095. Rs. 250.

How relevant could one's gender be to one's professional life? Is the media a male turf? Do women have equal opportunities to grow and shine? What kind of reportage do women have an inclination for? In recalling their own stories as cub reporters or as seasoned journalists, a group of women-media persons address some of these questions about the media industry and women, while simultaneously pointing to a few concerns that continue to linger for decades.

The accounts range from learning to ignore sexist remarks in the newsroom to getting used to the perpetual hunt for usable restrooms, something many women in the profession can relate to even today. It is, however, the sheer fascination for being out there on the field that must have inspired the credible, sympathetic and perceptive journalism they are known for.

The media industry seems to have come a considerable way, from the time when newspapers had reservations about recruiting women — they were often seen as using the organisation as a ‘waiting room for marriage’, writes Neerja Chowdhury — to editors preferring women journalists, perceived as more hard working and conscientious. The book, a compilation of stories by eminent journalists, traces this perception change over the years through the experiences narrated by seasoned professionals.

Transition

Interestingly, the passage of time also reflects how some of these women perceived themselves in the 1960s and 1970s, and how that notion, for several of their successors, seems to have morphed into a near-gender neutral view of the professional-self a few decades from then. And this was possible because women journalists of the earlier generations had done the difficult spadework for those who followed, as Nirupama Subramanian says in her article.

This transition is also captured through experiences — such as Pushpa Girimaji's dilemma of committing to deliver a weekly consumer column, with a two month old baby to take care of and Rehana Hakim's exciting experience of bringing out a news magazine.

When Barkha Dutt talks about inspiration from her mother Prabha Dutt, and later about her own experience as a broadcast journalist reporting from conflict zones, the difference in their experiences serves as important evidence to some heartening changes in the media industry, that is now far safer for and accommodative of women.

Some journalists reflect on their careers with an unmistakable sense of fulfilment while others look at their professional journey in a rather matter-of-fact tone as if to say ‘I love my job and I take it seriously. And yes, I also happen to be a woman.’

Some larger reflections are also part of the compilation, such as Teesta Setalvad’s on media houses’ response to discriminatory governance exposed by mass communal violence, Kalpana Sharma’s caution against getting carried away by technology leading to a loss in focus, Chitra Subramaniam’s emphasis on safeguarding a country's interest in a globalised era and Usha Rai’s concern for the shrinking space for development journalism.

A valuable insight comes from Nirupama Subramanian — who accepted the award for a ‘woman journalist’ with some reluctance (“I am journalist, full stop,” she told the awards committee.) — on women journalists being given important beats, and the simultaneous perception change in media houses that began to see ‘soft stories’ or ‘features’ on education or health as being front page-worthy.

After years of reporting issues in the north-east, Tiamerenla Monalisa Changkija's thoughts on identity politics and the tendency to “internalise victimhood” point to the richly diverse learning experiences reporting can offer.

In some of the essays, however, an unabashed voice that talks about one having ‘struggled against odds’ or having done ‘offbeat stories about the poor’ is a bit too much of romanticising to ignore.

The book also includes a tribute to India’s first woman press photographer Homai Vyarawalla. In all, the compendium is a useful guide to students of media studies and practitioners, for, in presenting rich and varied experiences of reporters over the years, it flags some pertinent questions and concerns regarding core values of journalism that hold good for the contemporary world of media as well.

‘The Chameli Devi Jain Award for an Outstanding Woman Mediaperson’ was instituted by the Media Foundation in 1980. Chameli Devi Jain, according to the book, was a ‘simple house wife who joined the freedoms struggle in Delhi, exemplifying values of independence, courage and dedication.’

MAKING NEWS, BREAKING NEWS, HER OWN WAY : Edited by Latika Padgaonkar, Shubha Singh; Tranquebar, Venkat Towers, 165, P.H. Road, Chennai-600095. Rs. 250.

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