Latest
DU Beat – Delhi University's Independent Student Newspaper
Tag

Journalism

Browsing
Features

The Unpleasant Experience of Being a Female Student Journalist

By

What is it like to be a female student journalist? Is it always dangerous, or can one bypass the gendered prejudices and discrimination? What are the things that make journalism a gendered experience? Female student journalists across the country answer these questions, and more.

Untoward comments, sly taunts, and that nagging feeling of being unsafe –the life of a female student journalist. Student journalism provides exciting opportunities for work experience, but the female experience is often undermined and disregarded. That the ‘second sex’ faces discrimination, harassment, and prejudice stemming from patriarchy is evident in the numerous instances reported in the news. A greater number of such reports, however, die unknown, due
to the fears and social stigma that surround them.

Watching, reading, and listening about such instances generates a psychological fear that can be
extremely disempowering. It’s almost as if you know beforehand that you will be treated differently because of your gender. For most of us, this unfortunate reality gradually sinks
in. The eventual acceptance of the fact that your work as a journalist will come with an unwanted package of sexism is perhaps the saddest part. DU Beat spoke to female student journalists across the country, and this article is an attempt to give them agency and acknowledge their struggles.

The first thing that most journalists mentioned while researching for this article was time. Working at odd hours is a major limiting factor on every female journalist’s mind. Returning home after covering events, fests and seminars at night can be daunting, especially in cities
like Delhi, where women’s safety is a persistent fear.

Since it is a time sensitive job, we must be on the go constantly. Safety is a big issue. My parents were initially very against me joining a media outlet since it involved going out in the late evenings. Being a student, you need to balance time with your studies as well, and being a woman, with the hundred other kinds of work and duties society expects you to perform. I used to feel quite odd travelling by metro at odd hours and being at fests at night. It can be a thrilling experience, but there is this constant fear at the back of your head that something can, at any time, go wrong.

shared an anonymous journalist

The hesitation of getting quotes for a news report from men was also something most female journalists said they tried to avoid.

I have thankfully never faced any sort of gender discrimination directly being a female journalist, but that is also because I try to never put myself in that position in the first place. I am very wary of men in general, and more comfortable getting quotes from women, if I am
honest. Fellow student journalists have said that many people can be creepy when it comes to giving quotes. They might harass you even after you have completed your professional
conversation.

A female student journalist studying in Lady Shri Ram College for Women commented

Covering and reporting student politics is also, unfortunately, a gendered experience. The rough
world of politics can be tougher for female journalists to navigate.

I feel like I have faced more problems not because I am a student journalist but because I’m a female student journalist. Perhaps the biggest hurdle is contacting political parties for quotes. The biggest concern is safety. As a woman, you are stuck in a messy situation where your contact is being shared with the world. I know a lot of female student journalists who have gotten bullied or harassed while trying to report a situation. Since we do this work in good faith, it feels sad when you hear about such instances. I spoke to a member of an organisation once, and later got repeated requests from them on Instagram. It is a weird world out there, and when you are doing such a job, you are exposing yourself more.

lamented yet another female student journalist

Another correspondent highlighted how her decision to report a piece of news led to her staying indoors for a week for safety reasons.

There are always times when you hesitate to ask quotes from student political organisations. I was very sceptical about asking them for quotes since they are known for looking your name up on social media and sending unsolicited messages. Once a report I wrote received a lot of backlash from a particular student body. I was asked to stay at home for a week after that. Another time, while interviewing a professor accused of sexual harassment, he talked to me inappropriately. The worst part is that we think that this is a given, that it is a part of being a journalist.

she said

This sad reality is only worsened when women go for on-ground reporting. For a female student
journalist studying in Mumbai, speaking to men face to face has been a disenchanting experience.

They make you feel so uncomfortable. It is almost as if they do not view you as another human worthy of self-respect.Cases of sexual harassment and bullying are widespread.

she said

College students who come to study in a city from their hometowns face an added layer of risk.

When I came to Delhi, I felt that everyone viewed me differently. I felt that there were issues
I wanted to talk about but could not.Freedom of speech is different for men and women. Plus, contacting people can be a different engagement as a gender minority. Identity for me has been a point of observance, I noticed that a person from another state or a privileged background could get away by talking about certain things in a simplistic manner. Whereas, being a Kashmiri Muslim woman, I could not talk about certain things, fearing that it would be held against me. Journalism is so many things, but your identity defines what kind of journalism you want to do. Feminist intersectional stories need more voice.

commented a female student journalist

For Kashish Shivani, the Web Editor of DU Beat handling the danger of being known is fearsome.

As a woman, you have to always be on guard. You cannot talk candidly to anyone. Once people know you, your social media handles, your email address, and your phone number, you find yourself in uncomfortable situations. There have been instances where when one person from an organisation or college society starts following, their friends also follow suit. This is a confusing place to be in, as you are constantly wondering when something untoward will happen.

Kashish Shivani, Web Editor of DU Beat

Kashish commented on her experience as a female student journalist.

Accompanying women covering on ground protests is a persistent fear. And particularly while interacting with men, when you see for yourself that men are not talking to you in a completely professional manner. That feeling of not being fully accepted or respected is disheartening. Moreover, the relations my fellow male correspondents have with contacts are very different from the relations I have with them.

Kashish Shivani, Web Editor of DU Beat

Such instances highlight the subtle difference most women can make out, where they are not treated as equal to their male counterparts.

Perhaps the most thought-provoking remark was from Himasweeta Sarma, the current Editor-in-Chief of DU Beat.

Most of the messages we receive on DU Beat’s account are addressed to ‘sir’. I think that this speaks a lot about the current state of women in journalism considering that since 2011, four or five times the post of Editor or Editor-in-Chief has been held by a woman and yet this persists.

Himasweeta Sarma, Editor-in-Chief of DU Beat

Most of the female student journalists whose quotes were used in this article have been kept anonymous, upon request. As one of them pointed out, “This is the strangest irony, me asking you to not mention names and keep me anonymous right after talking about how important it is to popularise female experiences in journalism.” Preferring to remain anonymous and going without credit because of gendered fear is yet another disempowering reality that female journalists face. Virginia Woolf’s words echoed in my head the entire time I typed this article, “For most of history, Anonymous was a woman.”

 

Read Also: Press Freedom in The Lives of Struggling Student Journalists

 

Featured Image Credits: BBC News

 

Shiuli Sural

 

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
DUB News

The truth (or not) behind the alleged harassment of journalist Babita Gautam

By

Journalist Babita Gautam was allegedly harassed by (unconfirmed) CYSS members at a programme ‘Rozgar Sansad’, organised at Jantar Mantar, Delhi on 19th December 2021. Read more to find out what ensued on that day and what the two involved sides have to say about it.

On 19th December 2021, Sunday, a programme by the name of ‘Rozgar Sansad’ was organized at the Jantar Mantar in Delhi to deliberate upon a recent draft of a ‘National Employment Policy’ prepared by a think tank to press for an increase in employment opportunities. The programme saw the presence of more than thirty student organisations, RWAs and teachers’ bodies and was addressed by Gopal Rai, a minister in the Delhi cabinet. 

Members from the youth division of the Aam Aadmi Party, that is the Chatr-Yuva Sangarsh Samiti (CYSS), were also present on the day. During this programme, friction ensued between some CYSS members and a journalist from The Mooknayak (a media platform dedicated to marginalized, unprivileged, and Bahujan society), Babita Gautam. 

 

Recounting the incidents from that day, Babita Gautam talked about how when questioned about the Kejriwal government opening up more liquor shops in Delhi and the effect it might have on enticing the unemployed youth, a person from the crowd justified it by saying that it is better that the youth go to liquor shops rather than moving towards self-harm. 

I asked that do you want more liquor shops to be opened up? So, some people from the crowd said yes. So, then my question was that do you not want employment but rather want liquor shops? So, some people who were standing there again said yes.” she told DU Beat.

A video uploaded on the official twitter handle of The Mooknayak showed this interaction which also included Anusha Singh, the Delhi state secretary at CYSS. 

This video although showing only a part of what happened on that day cannot be completely and blindly referred considering that the many interruptions from the crowd, missing or inaudible audio snippets and hooting from behind leave a lot to be speculated. Even though the questions from Babita Gautam can be clearly heard in the video, the very controversial crowd responses towards the end are undecipherable at best, thereby infringing upon the only evidence that might have backed this account.

 

Another video uploaded on the same official Twitter account of The Mooknayak shows the misbehaviour that was directed towards Babita Gautam by an alleged CYSS member. 

Narrating this incident, Babita Gautam told DU Beat, 

…the crowd started pulling at my shawl, trying to pull my mic towards them, started disrespecting me and shouting things like “Godi media”. At the same time, a boy came out from the crowd who first used abusive language and the way that he was coming felt like he would have killed me if the purple shirt person (Ritesh Shrivastava) had not been present there.”

 

This allegation about the perpetrator being a CYSS member has been strongly denied by the president of the CYSS, Delhi state, Adv. Chandra Mani Dev. On the other hand, he went on to highlight how one of their members (shown wearing an ID card), Ritesh Shrivastava, Delhi state secretary, was constantly trying to stop that person and diffuse the situation. He denied any involvement of CYSS regarding this incident and was rather convinced that this might have been the act of anti-social elements who were trying to disrupt the protest and ruin its purpose.

…. we couldn’t recognise that person in CYSS yet and he wasn’t even wearing an ID card. So, he was not a member of CYSS.” said Rishi Kumar Gupta, general secretary of CYSS, Delhi state.

Even though the argument presented here by CYSS is not the most credible one, considering that there is no way to cross-check their statement in retrospect, it does present a sliver of doubt in their favour. Moreover, here it becomes important to emphasise and understand that in any protest it is extremely difficult to identify and remove the anti-social elements from the protesting group or vice-versa as obviously there is no demarcating feature or mark that they might be wearing to distinguish themselves from the crowd.

On the contrary, this opinion is not one that is shared by Babita Gautam as she describes how everyone in that crowd seemed to be interacting with each other. She does corroborate the effort made by Ritesh Shrivastava but also points out that the woman candidate (Anusha Singh) was laughing and not even trying to stop them. Babita Gautam continued, 

…I am not at all satisfied with this testimony of theirs. ….. In my opinion, if they were anti-social elements then why were you laughing and was the entire crowd anti-social elements? (And if they were) then why did CYSS not separate themselves from that crowd?”

 

On another tangent, the term ‘Godi media’ (biased reporting), has been repeatedly coming up as an issue of contention in this incident, seen as a term used to question the sanctity of journalism and the credibility of a journalist. As a journalist, it becomes understandable that an individual might be offended by the use of such a term to address them or their reporting. This term has ended up becoming the nuclear bomb of journalism: a territory that needs to be tread on lightly and one that has resonating consequences. 

The use of ‘Godi media’ made it seem like there was an attempt to deflect the questions being directed towards CYSS by journalist Babita Gautam who feels that nowadays the answerer has started using the crowd as a crutch to avoid answering difficult questions and rather targeting the questioning journalist itself.

Although CYSS has again denied any involvement in the use of any such term as the term was allegedly not even spoken by a CYSS member, it is impossible to really know if they were pursuing an attempt to deflect or not and whether there was any connection between the question asked and reaction that unfolded.

Putting forward their point of view on this, the CYSS president said,

…. this issue was also highlighted extensively on that day even though there was no such relation to the question asked. The anti-social elements that were present tried to create conflict based upon this.”

Rishi Kumar Gupta continued, 

No one was offended by any of the questions.  Our members were giving their point of view and also listening to Babita Gautam’s questions patiently…. which can be seen in the video.”

 

Later on the same day, CYSS Delhi published a tweet from their official account as an attempt to clear out the alleged confusion and misidentification of the person as a CYSS member. They ended up getting a response from the official Twitter handle of The Mooknayak wherein the account retweeted the tweet by CYSS Delhi. By virtue of the normative behaviour followed on social media platforms including Twitter, it seemed as if the situation had been neutralized and a resolution was at hand, but it seems as if this feeling ended up being only one-sided while the dispute was still in full swing from the other end.

 

Upon being asked a question regarding this tweeting-retweeting game, Babita Gautam clarified on her end,

The Mooknayak has retweeted their tweet only so that people may get to know what testimony has been given by CYSS in context of this incident. Currently, the Mooknayak is looking into this matter. There has been no resolution of the matter from my side because the explanation given by them is very childish and it seems like they are just shedding responsibility from the matter.”

 

Zeroing in on the question that started it all, what really is the reason behind the opening up of more liquor shops in Delhi? Is it an attempt to lead the youth astray? Or maybe even an attempt to secure a vote bank, that too one of the biggest? Upon being asked that same question that was asked by Babita Gautam on the day of the incident, the president of CYSS explained that the imposition of a ban does not necessarily ensure that alcohol would not be found in the region anymore. Giving the examples of states like Bihar and Gujarat, he continued on how there is no lack of alcohol in these states with smuggling being a major contributing factor. Recently, empty liquor bottles were also found at the Bihar assembly premises which started off a controversy of its own, blaming the government of being hypocritical. Giving the answer to this question, he said that first of all, he does not think that liquor shops are being opened in high numbers in Delhi but rather that it is being unnecessarily highlighted considering how close the MCD elections are. In addition, the only logic behind new liquor shops coming up in the city is to stop the smuggling and illegal sale of alcohol into the state.

Many times, you see that people die because of consuming poisonous alcohol, in Gujarat and in other places too. So, the point is that if inevitably alcohol is being sold, at least poisonous alcohol should not be sold or smuggling of alcohol should not be done,” he said.

This statement can be easily corroborated with the new liquor policy being implemented in Delhi, under which liquor shops are being equitably distributed with only private shops being run in the city from now onwards. According to reports, this has been done to reduce corruption, unauthorized vendors as well as bootlegging in the city, as was highlighted by the CYSS president.

Ultimately, the point here is that the solution to a problem is not always shutting the institution or the system down but rather deliberating and exercising active control over the said system itself. 

 

When DU Beat presented this answer to Babita Gautam, she was asked about her opinion on this response to her question by CYSS to which she said,

… if they can give this answer now, they could have done so then as well. Then why did those people come down to being rude and disrespecting me, and why did they get angry (offended) on my question related to alcohol?”

In the end, it is clear that the alleged harassment directed towards Babita Gautam was an absolutely wrong and condemnable incident, from the point of view of journalistic freedom as well as normal human behaviour and conduct. What still remains unclear is that if the CYSS was really involved or not in this incident against Babita Gautam. The arguments from both sides have a mix of both believable and flaccid elements, but they clearly lack a certain level of credibility to necessarily implicate any one of them, making it extremely difficult to see this interaction in anything but a grey light. Clarity regarding the truth behind this incident can only be reached through proper effort and investigation as rightly pointed out by Adv. Chandra Mani Dev when he told DU Beat,

…. I believe that whoever is the wrongdoer in this scenario should definitely be prosecuted and Delhi police should take action and investigate.”

 

Read also https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/empty-liquor-bottles-found-on-bihar-assembly-premises/article37781028.ece

Feature Image Credits: Twitter (@The_Mooknayak)

 

Manasvi Kadian

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Arts & Culture

Film Criticism: Of Subjectivity and Stars

By

A brief outlay of what goes into perceiving film criticism as one of the most misunderstood and least credited forms of entertainment journalism

 Entertainment journalism is probably the least taken seriously category of journalism in most mainstream discourses on the same. People diss it off in terms of it being something that works primarily on exercising unsolicited opinions. Film critics specifically are called people whose failure at being professionals of cinema led to them choosing lives as critics who find it inherently impossible to break upon the scene as real artists. To warrant a ‘positive’ review the film itself needs to emerge from a certain generic space – preferably indie – whereas those belonging to genres more mainstream will always remain sidelined in terms of the adulaton they receive from critics (clearly people don’t read reviews coming out of film festivals).

In a post-paparazzi world, the act of recording itself has been essentially reduced to its barest levels whereby entire film reviews are just sent out through character limited tweets are limited to a string of adjectives which are incoherently strung together to create what could only be possibly labelled as a mood piece gone horribly wrong. There is much less consideration of film criticism as an evolved form of journalism that requires an in-depth understanding of the material at hand – not only on a narrative level but also in terms of technicalities such as editing, cinematography and sound – to name a few. The dilution of entertainment criticism is also largely owing to the social media boom where every person not only has an opinion but also a space to offer that opinion at; and hence opinions – mostly under-researched and unfounded, start masquerading as ‘reviews’ with no credibility.

Over the years a variety of outstanding critics (sadly mostly Western) have made their mark in the field by developing styles unique to themselves such as the balanced, seemingly objective outlook of someone like Roger Ebert, displaying a child-like joy and enjoyment of the medium as opposed to someone like Pauline Kael who took a much personal, feisty and passionate look at every film she reviewed turning her reviews of the films into as deeply personal experiences as the film itself.

Another massive negating point of film criticism is the lack of appreciating subjective standpoints. While on grounds of technicality one can take an objective stance and comment on badly edited sequences of out-of-sync sound sequences – the final response to film as a piece of art is something that is deeply individual and subjective. 2001: A Space Odyssey termed by Ebert as one of the greatest films ever made is undoubtedly two hours of technical brilliance but I am allowed to espouse my opinion with regard to how deeply boring I found the film.

Which brings us to the question of rating films. It is very easy to end an opinion piece on any film we see with a string of stars lying at the end like a discarded appendage without an universal metric system to ensure that star ratings are uniform. While people reduce the reviews to their final star ratings to have an essential understanding of the critic’s viewpoint they fail to realise that the existence of the star rating is perhaps the most subjective derivative of the act of film criticism. As Shah Rukh Khan had famously said in the first edition of the FCCA, why must our film experiences be akin to five star hotels? Can’t we do better than this?

Anwesh Banerjee

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Arts & Culture

Film Criticism: Of Subjectivity and Stars

By

A brief outlay of what goes into perceiving film criticism as one of the most misunderstood and least credited forms of entertainment journalism

 Entertainment journalism is probably the least taken seriously category of journalism in most mainstream discourses on the same. People diss it off in terms of it being something that works primarily on exercising unsolicited opinions. Film critics specifically are called people whose failure at being professionals of cinema led to them choosing lives as critics who find it inherently impossible to break upon the scene as real artists. To warrant a ‘positive’ review the film itself needs to emerge from a certain generic space – preferably indie – whereas those belonging to genres more mainstream will always remain sidelined in terms of the adulaton they receive from critics (clearly people don’t read reviews coming out of film festivals).

In a post-paparazzi world, the act of recording itself has been essentially reduced to its barest levels whereby entire film reviews are just sent out through character limited tweets are limited to a string of adjectives which are incoherently strung together to create what could only be possibly labelled as a mood piece gone horribly wrong. There is much less consideration of film criticism as an evolved form of journalism that requires an in-depth understanding of the material at hand – not only on a narrative level but also in terms of technicalities such as editing, cinematography and sound – to name a few. The dilution of entertainment criticism is also largely owing to the social media boom where every person not only has an opinion but also a space to offer that opinion at; and hence opinions – mostly under-researched and unfounded, start masquerading as ‘reviews’ with no credibility.

Over the years a variety of outstanding critics (sadly mostly Western) have made their mark in the field by developing styles unique to themselves such as the balanced, seemingly objective outlook of someone like Roger Ebert, displaying a child-like joy and enjoyment of the medium as opposed to someone like Pauline Kael who took a much personal, feisty and passionate look at every film she reviewed turning her reviews of the films into as deeply personal experiences as the film itself.

Another massive negating point of film criticism is the lack of appreciating subjective standpoints. While on grounds of technicality one can take an objective stance and comment on badly edited sequences of out-of-sync sound sequences – the final response to film as a piece of art is something that is deeply individual and subjective. 2001: A Space Odyssey termed by Ebert as one of the greatest films ever made is undoubtedly two hours of technical brilliance but I am allowed to espouse my opinion with regard to how deeply boring I found the film.

Which brings us to the question of rating films. It is very easy to end an opinion piece on any film we see with a string of stars lying at the end like a discarded appendage without an universal metric system to ensure that star ratings are uniform. While people reduce the reviews to their final star ratings to have an essential understanding of the critic’s viewpoint they fail to realise that the existence of the star rating is perhaps the most subjective derivative of the act of film criticism. As Shah Rukh Khan had famously said in the first edition of the FCCA, why must our film experiences be akin to five star hotels? Can’t we do better than this?

Anwesh Banerjee

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
DUB Speak

A Death In The Gunj: The Silencing Of Journalism

By

An alleged attack on a token journalist happens, and it finds potential to divert the enumerable actual attacks on other journalists which have never been highlighted with half the importance into silence.

Not that people already couldn’t care less about journalists getting killed or harrased, all the attention of such matters has been credited to one person who would appear in all major searches, if one inputs, ‘attack on journalists’ as keywords.

Given the state of the fourth pillar of democracy in our country, whose performance is reflected in it’s awesome rankings, there’s no denying the fact that journalism has faced a heavy blow. India ranks 142nd out of 180 countries on Freedom of Press Index as of 2020 and it keeps getting worse every successive year. The Committee to Protect Journalism (CPJ), reported that our nation ranks 14th among states where journalists are murdered and killers go free. A study titled, “Getting Away With Murder,” revealed that 21 journalists were killed between 2014-19, and not a single conviction has taken place since 2014 against the targeted attacks on journalists for thier investigative works. Looks like the convicts have a licence to kill, but who gives them this license?

The study mentioned earlier reported that the list of perpetrators who attack journalists is inclusive of government agencies, security forces, political parties, local mafia, etc. A very basic inference from such a study is suggestive of the malign intention of the people in power who wish to dastardly silence the ones who dare to speak. Therefore to swift them into silence is the most viable and lucrative alternative.

Image Credits: Instagram/Ravish Kumar
Image Credits: Instagram/Ravish Kumar

Interestingly, silencing can be done in a legal way as well. Kashmiri photojournalist Masrat Zahra whose works have been published by Al Jazeera, Washington Post, The Caravan, etc was recently booked under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), which is an anti terror law resembling the Rowlatt Act of 1919. The pictures clicked by the Zahra were deemed to glorify “anti-national” sentiments and dent the image of law enforcing bodies, (the same bodies who are accused of terrorising journalists). Another journalist Gowhar Geelani, who has been heavily vocal about assault on journalism and state of Kashmir was also booked under the same act and there’s an FIR filed against The Hindu’s Srinagar correspondent-Peerzada Ashiq as well. However, Kapil Gujjar and Komal Pandey who have actually managed to terrorise people are living freely. Dalals who masquerade as journalists and spread fake news, instigate communalism, and spread Islamophobia everyday have no trials against them. Looks like there’s a pattern which is adhered to while earmarking as to who gets to be labelled as “anti-national’ and faces contempt of court.

If physical harassment is not enough, defamation cases are filed, spyware attacks are aimed, and mental harassment is dispensed through threat calls and trolling. Journalists are paying a very heavy price for doing their jobs and a growing intolerance towards independent media has landed a lot in hospitals, prisons, courts, and obituaries. From Gauri Lankesh to Shujaat Bukhari to Navin Nishchal to Sandeep Sharma, and to all other journalists who have lost their lives while reporting, current media should remember them, and hang their heads in shame every time they buckle under and tandem to the Power- which is the sole reason for a peevish state of journalism today.

Feature Image Credits: NYC Street Art

Umaima Khanam

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Arts & Culture

Time-tested Tricks to Ace Your Writing Skills

By

As the old saying goes, ‘A pen is mightier than a sword’, in today’s time, writing and expressing oneself clearly is an important skill one must have a good grasp of. Thus, here are some tricks and techniques for better writing skills.

Keeping these small but significant pointers in mind will help one present their writing in a clear and concise manner, with effective communication taking place.

  1. KISS

(Keep it Short and Simple)

This golden rule works wonders when it comes to writing. Short sentences grab the reader’s attention. They don’t bore them and allow the message to be understood easily. It also gives an illusion of a short write-up thereby not making the readers bored to death while they read a piece.

  1. 5W1H

What, Where, Who, When, Why and How

Keep these questions in mind and your writing will become one with the maximum information without beating around the bush. Answer and address all the questions precisely to have a piece that conveys all information without unnecessary details.

  1. Use of Simple Vocabulary

While writing a piece it is important to understand that your work is understood by all. Hence, use plain and simple language while you construct your sentences. Not only will it make the piece easy to read, but also provide a good speed to the readers while they go through your work.

  1. Less is More

Convey more meaning in less words. Make the right use of synonyms, antonyms and idioms. Choosing words and phrases wisely will not add value to your writing but also make it an interesting read.

  1. Read Out Loud

Reading out a piece before submission is always a helpful and a handy trick. It helps one see if the sentences are framed correctly and make sense.

  1. Ask for Reviews!

Make someone whom you trust- a senior, a friend or a mentor go through your piece. An honest review from peers and people who surround you serves as a great feedback channel for improving upon ones’ work and writing skills.

  1. Read!

Read. Read. Read.

Be it newspapers, magazines or even fiction books. Reading from a variety of genres exposes a person to various techniques of writing and helps in picking up and identifying which techniques are helpful when it comes to incorporating them in one’s writing skills.

  1. Write!

All of these above-mentioned practices become futile if one does not put them into action. Writing skills are like a muscle; the more you practice, the stronger your grip gets in it! So, explore various kinds of writings. Be it a long form essay, journalling or even story-writing.

The more you write, the better you become with the skill.

These are some of the techniques which when taken into practice ardently, will surely make your work emerge as one which everyone appreciates for its readability, flow and presentation of thoughts.

So what are you waiting for? Write your heart out! Get up, get going!

 

Feature Image Credits: Scopio

Amrashree Mishra

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
DUB Speak

National Press Day: A Closer Look at Student Journalism

By

Looking at student journalism in Delhi on the occasion of National Press Day, an account of student journalism through the eyes of students. 

 Journalism was and still remains to this day one of the most dangerous, exciting, albeit under-appreciated professions. The case remains more so, In India. media freedom group, Reporters Without Borders released a report in 2018, which put India fifth on the list of the maximum number of journalists killed in 2018, the death count being six. In the current atmosphere, many students at Delhi University (DU) and universities across India look at journalism as a career option. For many students, this career starts from the undergraduate level through college magazines and organizations such as DU Beat where valuable experience on how a media organization functions can fit into a students timetable.

For many students, working in student media and student journalist has been an enriching experience. As Chhavi Bahmba, a first-year student at Sri Venkateswara College and a correspondent for DU Beat says, “Student journalism has been one of the most liberating things, and the highlight of my college life. It has given me access and a platform to write. Also, people around me also get a voice as I can put their thoughts forward. It’s been a stepping stone to my career.”

There is also the fact that deadlines and missing them are one of the deadliest sins in media, and working as a student journalist inculcates that. Aditi Gutgutia, a first-year student at Lady Shri Ram College says, “It compels me to write as a habit and makes me fight the urge to procrastinate.”

According to Faizan Salik, A student from Jamia Millia Believes that exposure is one of the most important aspects of a student journalist as he goes on to say “ it is a veritable bridge that can expose you to multiple dimensions of life which is untouched otherwise and hence promises some good amount of fermentation in the long run.” He also goes on to talk about how it working for that can be a challenge but that is something that he and several others have had to overcome. He says, “Being a part of something like this in a university like Jamia was a challenge that we at The Jamia Review, a student-run journal of Jamia Millia Islamia has taken a step further and hopes to incorporate everything that it requires to achieve our goals.”

There are, of course, negative aspects too, some of which are synonymous with journalism as a profession. Jaishree Kumar, a third-year student at Ramjas says. “I learnt that journalists are treated badly and worshipped. It is also rewarding and exhausting at the same time.”

There are the obvious downsides of handling so much workload along with regular classes, and another problem put up by Jaishree was how working for student newspapers not associated with the College administration also doesn’t help attendance as even though her teachers are supportive of her work, they cannot give her ECA attendance.

In conclusion, in the current politically charged climate, student media has given aspiring journalists a place to hone their skills. The experience that we get is valuable and the experiences and contacts that we build cannot be found anywhere else.

Feature Image Credits: Scopio

 

 

Prabhanu Kumar Das

[email protected]

 

 

Keep Reading
By
DUB Speak

Some Questions to Journalism

By

Journalism is a complex phenomenon and Indian media is in a shaky space. 

A lot of journalism today is quite horrible. It is shrill, it is intolerant, it is partisan. The media, in India at least, is not talking about issues that mean something. Not only is the epicentre of the coverage the political elite (here also, coverage is not distributed uniformly across the political spectrum) but the reporter is also going missing. Just a glance over the prime-time debates of different news channels shows how a lot of the focus is on the celebrity anchor. Information is disseminated not through reportage but through ‘debates’ that are seldom more than bickering. 

Print media and the growing digital space still seem to be better placed, but even here we have shortcomings. There is a wide range of issues of growing contemporary relevance that does not get adequate attention. Not a lot of the media is talking about questions of privacy, big data, or climate change. The Guardian recently decided to cover climate change stories by using terms such as “crisis”, “emergency” and “catastrophe” instead of “climate change”. These stories, however, do not get adequate space in many parts of the Indian media. 

We do not cover international stories adequately either. There is just one news channel, WION, that keeps international news as its prime focus. Even when newspapers do publish stories in their ‘world’ or ‘international’ sections, those are usually excerpts of stories from other international media – New York Times and the like – or taken from wire services like Reuters or AP. There is not a lot of original reporting that the Indian media is doing. When we do, it mostly relates to Pakistan, and even that is not of excellent quality. The repercussions of this are not simply that the Indian populace has lesser access to original world affairs coverage done by Indian media – indeed, it restricts access to global news for many, period – but also that it leaves a void of Indian perspective in global affairs. The world’s biggest democracy and one of the largest economies of the world, housing the enormous diversity that it does, needs to have its authentic voice in the world. And the media has a key role in creating that voice. 

Rural affairs and agriculture, which still directly or indirectly relate to a majority of Indians, are covered in passing glances. Although, the situation seems slightly better here. However, perhaps the way these beats are covered is inadequate. In his landmark book, Everybody Loves a Good Drought, P. Sainath details how the media approaches rural affairs – the displacement of tribal populations because of the construction of a dam, high levels of malnutrition among rural children, alcoholism – by viewing them as events, rather than examining the longstanding processes behind them. 

Education-related news does not makeit to mainstream media, as often as it should. For an electorate to be mature, it needs to be aware of what is being taught in its schools and colleges. The recent Syllabus Controversy of the University of Delhi should have ideally been a matter of national discussion, for the questions it posed about academic autonomy and the like.

Of course, not everything is bad; bad journalism is simply a lot noisier and more visible. But even fundamentally, journalism and the media are in a fix.

What about objectivity? Do journalists need to hide all their personal biases and provide information, or is there virtue in consciously taking the side of the ‘voiceless’? Should media houses have a professed ideology – even if they cover stories objectively – or should they be largely neutral, with editorial positions varying as per specific issues? 

Even after all this, what about the business side of things? For all the perceived glamour of the 9 p.m. star anchors, media is not as lucrative as it seems. Newspapers and channels don’t often even make profits, while large staff layoffs are not very rare either. Newspapers are having to grapple with questions of subscriptions and paywalls, a transition from print to digital, and new models of revenue generation – with varying degrees of success. In the face of all this, Indian media needs to step up its game.

Feature Image Credits: Financial Express

Prateek Pankaj

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Arts & Culture

DU Alumnus Ravish Kumar Wins 2019 Ramon Magsaysay Award

By

After gaining prominence with his ground breaking reporting on shows like Prime Time, Hum Log, and Ravish Ki Report, NDTV Journalist and Senior Executive Editor, Ravish Kumar was conferred with the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award.

Being one of the five recipients of the 2019 Magsaysay Award, the Asian equivalent of the  Nobel Prize,  Kumar has been awarded the prize  for “harnessing journalism to give voice to the voiceless” and his “unfaltering commitment to a professional, ethical journalism of the highest standards”.

Other recipients of this year’s Magsaysay include Ko Swe Win of Myanmar, Angkhana Neelapaijit from Thailand, Raymundo Pujante Cayabyab from Philippines, and Kim Jong-Ki from South Korea.

Ravish Kumar, an alumnus of the prestigious University of Delhi is a History Honours graduate from Deshbandhu College. Initially, he was interested in Public Affairs and further pursued a postgraduate diploma in Hindi Journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, but dropped out eventually.

In 1996, he became a part of the New Delhi Television Group (NDTV) and rose to the top with his dealing of the common problems on Prime Time and influential reporting of the same criticising the Government and the authority coupled with professional attitude with a fluid explanation of critical issues presenting facts and figures substantially.

Established in 1957, the Ramon Magsaysay Award is Asia’s highest honour. It celebrates the memory and leadership example of the third Philippine president after whom the award is named, and is given every year to individuals or organisations in Asia who manifest the same selfless service and transformative influence that ruled the life of the late and beloved leader.

“In electing Ravish Kumar to receive the 2019 Ramon Magsaysay Award, the board of trustees recognizes his unfaltering commitment to a professional, ethical journalism of the highest standards; his moral courage in standing up for truth, integrity, and independence; and his principled belief that it is in giving full and respectful voice to the voiceless, in speaking truth bravely yet soberly to power, that journalism fulfills its noblest aims to advance democracy,” says the citation by the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation.

Previously, he has also been awarded the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award twice in the years 2013 and 2017 respectively. He has also won the Red Ink Journalist of the Year Award in 2016.  Ravish Kumar is also a celebrated writer, who has authored books like The Free Voice India, Dekhte Rahiye , and Ishq mein Shehar Hona.

The Award will be presented in formal ceremony in Manila, Philippines on 31st August, the birth anniversary of the Philippines President whose ideals inspired the Award’s creation.

Feature Image Credits: Edugenius Blog

Faizan Salik

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Campus Central

Controversy Over Proposed Syllabus Changes of Undergraduate Courses

By

Recent proposals for changes in the syllabi of various undergraduate courses have sparked opposition from the teaching staff, and the ABVP.

Controversy over academic matters arose in the  University of Delhi (DU), with some members of the Standing Committee and the Academic Council (AC), along with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) taking objections to some of the proposed changes in the syllabi of various undergraduate courses.

The controversy has taken the form of opposition from Academic Council members and protests by the ABVP, which some had alleged to have turned hostile.

The Background

A report in The Hindu stated that changes in the syllabus proposed by the English department of the University were opposed in a meeting of the Standing Committee to review the Undergraduate syllabus on 11th July. Among the proposals was the inclusion of study materials related to the role of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in the 2002 Gujarat riots, and use of Hindu deities in the reading of Queer Literature.  

Similar was the case with the English Journalism syllabus. As reported by The New Indian Express on 15th July, objection was raised by some members of the Academic Council over the inclusion of chapters about Muzaffarnagar riots, and instances of lynchings.

On 17th July, The Indian Express reported about the syllabus changes of other courses and the objections that came along with them. These included syllabi of History, Political Science and Sociology, along with English. The report stated that the Academic Council “referred the syllabus of English and History back to the respective departments for reconsideration, thereby refusing to pass it as it is.” The report further read, “On the syllabi for Political Science and Sociology, some AC members said they too had been sent back for modification, while others claimed they were passed with ‘minor modifications’.”

Who objected and why?

Professor Rasal Singh, a member of the Academic Council, had raised objections regarding the syllabus changes. He alleged that in the story Maniben Alias Bibijaan – a background to the 2002 Gujarat riots – RSS and its affiliate organisations like Bajrang Dal were shown in a “very bad manner”, and were portrayed as “looters” and “murderers”.

He further said that in the syllabus proposed by the English department, “Gods Vishnu, Shiv, Kartikeya and Ganesh were depicted as part of the LGBT community. The sources and evidence for these were secondary sources like ‘Same Sex Love in India’ written by Leftists on the basis of foundational texts of Indian culture such as the Bhagavata Purana, Skanda Purana, and Shiva Purana.” He also alleged that “too much Literature was being incorporated in a paper like ‘Communication Skills’. Instead of core courses like ‘Indian Writing in English’, new papers such as ‘Literature and Caste’ and ‘Interrogating Queerness’ were started.”

Regarding the History department, he said that “[topics about] Rajput history, Amir Khusrau, Sher Shah Suri and Babasaheb Ambedkar were removed from the syllabus. In the ‘Democracy on Work’ course, only the history of Naxalism and the Left have been included.”

He also said that the topics related to the Vedic society, the joint family, village swaraj, and “basics of Indian cultural thought such as environmental discussions and nature worship” were removed from the Sociology syllabus. On the Political Science front, according to Mr Singh, Maoism had been included in the course on ‘Indian Social Movements’, while other social movements like the Ramakrishna Mission, Arya Samaj, Brahma Samaj, and Khudai Khidmatgar were removed.

Mr Singh also alleged that the English department had not complied with the format and instructions of the Choice-Based Credit System (CBCS) and instead of a 30 percent change in the syllabus, close to a 100 percent change had been done.

The syllabus showed “tremendous predominance of leftist ideology and a ceaseless opposition towards nationalist ideology, Indian culture and the RSS,” Mr Singh said.

The ABVP, the student-wing of the RSS, organised a protest on 15th July, against the “inclusion of false facts relating to Hinduism and nationalist organisations.” The ABVP also demanded for the “inclusion of elected office bearers of Delhi University Students’ Union in the Academic Council,” as per a press release made by the student organisation on 16th July.

While some alleged that the ABVP tried to “barge into” the Vice Chancellor’s office and demanded that the Heads of Department of English and History, and Academic Council member Saikat Ghosh be “handed over to them,” the student organisation maintained that the protest was “peaceful.”

“Following the protest of ABVP yesterday, Delhi University administration has withdrawn the proposed syllabus of Political Science, English, History and Sociology courses for revision and decided to retain 5 students as members in the Academic Council,” said Ashutosh Singh from the ABVP.

Note – Mr Ghosh could not respond to requests for comments by the time of publishing of this report. This report would be updated as and when he does.

Similar instances in the past

In October last year, the ABVP had objected to the appointment of historian Ramachandra Guha as the Shrenik Lalbhai Chair Professor of Humanities and the Director of the Gandhi Winter School at the Ahmedabad University’s School of Arts and Sciences. Pravin Desai, the ABVP Secretary for Ahmedabad city was quoted in The Indian Express as saying, “We said that we want intellectuals in our educational institutes and not anti-nationals, who can also be termed as ‘urban Naxals’. We had quoted anti-national content from his [Guha’s] books to the Registrar. We told him, the person you are calling is a ‘Communist’. If he is invited to Gujarat, there would be a JNU-kind ‘anti-national’ sentiment.”

Following this, Mr Guha announced that he would not be taking up this position due to “circumstances beyond my control.”

Counter-protests

Some student organisations have condemned the ABVP’s protests. Organisations such as the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), All India Students’ Association (AISA), Collective, and others had called for a ‘joint protest’ on 17th July at the Arts Faculty, to “save our critical thinking universities and textbooks from communal forces.”

Amarjeet Kumar Singh from AISA said, “We demand that the syllabus should be decided by the Academic Council and not by the ABVP.”

Feature Image Credits: Various.

Prateek Pankaj

[email protected]

 

Keep Reading
By