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.