Braving the threat of Corona virus by mingling with crowds apart from the possibility of being drenched by surprise spring showers, over 800 people from all walks of life turned up to hear journalist Faye D’Souza at the Manthan’s event — What the 9 pm news has done to the country .
As the crowd formed neat queues to tuck into crisp samosas, piping hot tea and Osmania biscuits (staples of Manthan events) there was a percipient buzz in the air about being audience to one of the country’s popular faces on television.
Faye who rose to fame with the show The Urban Debate on one of the news channels, where she anchored on subjects of corruption, communal violence and independent press is one of the country’s prominent independent news anchors. One of the rare breed of journalists who reported on a wide variety of topics including human interest stories, she was awarded the RedInk award for the Journalist of the Year in 2018.
The 45-minute talk (followed by the speaker taking questions from the audience) saw the journalist jump right in by holding forth on the five fundamental tenets of journalism: independence, fairness, impartiality, humanity and accountability. Using crisp illustrations from the recent past, she demonstrated how news media has demolished every golden rule of journalism by unscrupulous reportage, conflicts of interests and murky quid pro quos.
Faye then went on to explain the mounting troubles facing Indian news channels. Rattling off facts, she explained how the extremely competitive space with 400 news channels (including regional and national ones) which is now worth over a whopping 2000 crore is beset by changing audience preferences and increasing government regulations.
She added a new term to the lexicon of those present: ‘cord cutting’ and explained it when she said, “It is generally believed that people under the age of 35 are no longer watching television. People usually switch on their televisions for four things: live sports, movies, general entertainment (sitcoms and serials) and news. People prefer OTT platforms for the first three categories and rarely are they now preferring the news channels for news. They are cutting the cord of cable television.”
She then showcased the power of journalism through two stories she had pursued — one, the story of the people of Mahul near Chembur, Mumbai who were severely affected by the refineries operating in the area which caused them severe health issues. Faye chased the story for two years and finally succeeded as the families were relocated by the government recently. Another example was bringing to notice the taxation on sanitary pads during the implementation of GST. After, a year of reportage the government rolled it back from its ‘luxury’ tax.
Confident, concise and methodical, the journalist gave ample food for thought for those present. Breaking down gory truths which ranged from godmen who run businesses, the truth behind conclaves and the mad dash for TRPs, she stressed that ‘in a democracy media has to be free’ and that ‘the media needs to regulate itself’. She also held forth on the shrill 9 pm news, the role of WhatsApp in news dissemination, the recent Delhi riots and made clear that the very essence of being a journalist is to ‘ask questions’.
Raising relevant questions and delineating the clutter which happens behind the scenes, Faye succeeded in striking a chord with those present and demonstrated why television, which was once reliable descended into being an idiot box. A powerful communicator who held sway over the audience (which held her in good stead on her stint on television) she was clear and in command of the subject on hand.
Her solution to those who wanted credible news: support independent journalists who are risking their lives to bring the truth out, and oh, to not watch television news!
