NEWSCHANNEL IN A NUTSHELL

Private TV news broadcasting happened in India only in the early 2000. With an explosion of several news channels, it has quiet frankly changed the way journalism is

Perceived in this country. Being a visual and 24*7 medium, the demands and skills required by it are quiet different from the print medium. Initially, various prominent print

Journalists joined TV and gave their expertise and knowledge to it, but gradually, it has

been found out that this is a completely different monster altogether. And to tame this

beast, a completely different set of people with different set of aptitude and expertise are

required.

Luckily, I joined a news channel i.e. NEWS-X, as an intern and worked there for six

months continuously. Upon working there, I realized that in this visual medium few

factors stand out quiet distinctly.

1. chain of communication

 2.    timing

CHAIN OF COMMUNICATION

By the term chain of communication means the thread through which a particular

incident which happens somewhere, reaches to its ultimate destination i.e. TV set.

Several people are involved in a single news report, and perhaps hundreds in a single

one hour daily show. The chain of communication requires constant vigil and

authentication of  sources. When several set of people work in tandem with each

other not exactly knowing what the other set of people are doing to the information

forwarded by them, a sense of intrigue does creep in, which could mothball into

confusion and ultimately, communication breakdown.

I Personally experienced this problem while working in different departments in the

channel. When I was working there as a producer, I used to wonder what these

reporters would be doing after their 2 minutes live. And when I actually reached at

the reporting destination, I started to wonder, why the hell these news room people

sitting in AC rooms always dictate to us- what to do and what not.

One department always feels shortchanged by the other. For 50 days I was in the field

with the reporters and camerapersons and developed a ‘’we feeling’’ and started to

think myself as a part of them. They also accepted me as a part of their community i.e

outdoor. But, the situation got complicated when I was transferred to the guest

Coordination department, where, I had to guide and sometimes order the same set of

journalists and camerapersons. This, situation quiet frankly put me in a spot of bother

several times. One day I remember my boss Rahul shiv shanker told me to fix three

big congress ministers for a simchat. The bigger the minister, the more illusive he

becomes . Upon seeing my sorry situation he hinted me to take the help of the congress reporter, who happened to be my erstwhile senior colleague as well. I called him and asked to arrange three cong ministers for a fake live. Since that day we haven’t  spoken with each other.

These are the several incidents when due to communication gap, situation gets murky.

If you are not constantly in touch with someone, the other person starts to visualize

things in his or her own manner, perception gets precedence over what you

actually are. Your last encounter becomes the tool to judge you. No matter how hard

you try to start afresh, how you are perceived by the other people always tries to pull

you back.

TIMING

The second most important component of TV as a medium is timing. When I said

timing, it doesn’t mean  that the job should be done in the minimum of time but, it

should be done when it should be done. There are days when nothing substantial

happens in the country, this makes us  feel that we can relax for a while, but all of a

sudden an explosion happens and the Newsroom goes into a Tailspin, our body which had by then became accustomed to relaxation and comfort doesn't always rise to the occasion . All of a sudden

you are required to do an equal amount of job which perhaps you might not have

done in the entire week.

And at the end, I just want to say that to become successful in the television medium,

a person has to be keen observer of the latest development around his/her

surrounding. Excellent communication happens when your interpersonal relationship

with all your colleagues are great. Being a very subjective medium, no matter how

great on paper, on your head or in reality you might be, unless your colleagues don’t

think likewise, you are just a non functional entity. To be able to deal with the various

egos of several people is a big asset to have.

REFLECTIONS ON THE ‘COMPULSION OF REFLECTIONS’

Writing on our own self, even for the purpose of compiling your reflective thoughts and experiences is a dicey and uncharted territory, at least for me. Life is an unknown entity, and compulsorily jotting down every week’s experiences is like predicting beforehand that your life will every week throw up new things worth writing.

I enjoy every moment of my life, but it doesn’t mean that I have to learn something from it. Do we learn after getting drunk? Or do we learn something after playing a game of card, or by sleeping in the open, in front of the magnificent president’s house? No -never, we just enjoy it, and marvel at the beauty of the moment. That’s what I have been doing in my internship period, enjoying my life at Vijay chowk, outside the parliament’s premise. As far as learning part is concerned it is taking its own care. I think if you want to learn something, it’s very important to enjoy the process of it, unless we do it, the learning would be regimented and shallow.

Unlike Print, Television journalism, especially reporting doesn’t give you the luxury of time, preparation and choice. One has to make the best out of anything which comes his way. So, every day apart from the obvious president’s house and parliament building, some interesting and amazing people come on my way. For the last month or so I have been interacting with some senior television journalists and camerapersons, and actually living like a team/family.

Seeing them work and working along with them is a training which I couldn’t have gotten at any school or college. Being one of the most senior journalists of the channel they have an experience which doesn’t let them get perturbed, no matter what the situation is, for them it’s business as usual and there is always a better tomorrow. People are more concerned about what would be in lunch rather then what the prime minister is going to say in his speech.

Relatively young journalists see the world in a slightly different way . Every time they want to do something which could bring some change in the present situation, be it in their personal life, the news channel, or of the country at large. Their ideas may or may not pass the test of practicality, but they surely look very attractive, thought provoking and indeed gather some crowd. This exchange of experienced and new perspective balances the decisions which ultimately come out of their interactions.

Kulbhushan (Kullu paa ji) is a character without which the experience of vijay chowk would be incomplete; he is the senior most video journalist of our channel and has an influence which permeates throughout the vijay chowk, partly due to his huge frame and mostly because of his cool attitude. He doesn’t have to go anywhere for collecting any important bytes of important people as all the video journalists themselves come to him to transfer the bytes . He has a permanent place under a tree where he sets his unit and carries his job in the most sophisticated manner possible. Every sentence uttered by him becomes a legend.

Like one day on a hot afternoon, he said ‘’ the Sun should rise from the other direction’’ If he wants to drink vodka and a tea vendor passes him, he would simply make him run away by saying that ‘’this is not the right time to sell tea’’. Whatever suits him should be good for others as well.

These are some of the important people working for the same news channel in their different capacities. All of them are successful in their respected field.

Unlike, the image which they carry on camera, Political leaders are quiet chilled out and friendly to each other, you can spot two fierce rivals who were jostling for political space on camera , once off air doesn’t hesitate cracking jokes with each other. Most of the leaders without any official government posts come to vijay chowk to give lives, tic-tacs etc, and yes the post of Prime Minister is indeed very powerful and does wield its influence, if not in the cabinet, then at least on the road , through the so called ‘PM route’. It’s rare, when one sees the entire traffic being stopped at a distance of 500 meters, followed by the intense sound of siren which compels everyone to hold their breath for few minutes in anticipation, until the convoy gets disappeared in the thin air.