Of ethics and dilemmas
What happens when journalists from SAARC nations gather for a workshop on ethics organised by an Indian media institute in association with a German media education institute.

By Jyotsna Singh
May 29, 2009: “Why new? When Bollywood stars can make headlines everyday without doing anything new, why can’t poverty be reported regularly with simple stories of poor who find it difficult to make both the ends meet?” was the question posed by P Sainath, rural affairs editor, The Hindu. He was speaking to a group of young journalists from SAARC nations who were in Chennai for a workshop organised by IIJ, InWEnt, Germany and Asian College of Journalism, India.

The theme of the workshop was Freedom and Responsibility in the Media. In the duration of two weeks the speakers and participants alike talked of the sorry state of media coverage of contemporary times where there is no space for covering marginalised sections, especially poor, in South-East Asia.

A range of issues were discussed and the participants were exposed to many ideas which are not a part of mainstream media. There were discussions on gender reporting, covering deprivation and play of statistics in building public opinion. A specific section was devoted to covering multi-culturalism, something that is at the core of South-East Asia, as our societies are facing a lot of trouble and instability due to ethnic assertions and violence.

It was noted that though around 80 per cent of the population of this part of the world leads an extremely poor life, no media house has a beat devoted specifically to poverty. There is a huge scope in this field and this human resource has a lot of potential to be explored.  

I happened to be a participant at the workshop and the experience was phenomenal. It was interesting to meet journalists from the neighbouring countries, which seem too far off due to politically tensed relations. Media persons from Pakistan and Afghanistan gave a very different view of their countries. Stories were shared about which we would never get to know unless there are meetings like this.

Others from conflict-ridden nations like Sri Lanka had much more to share beyond obvious political discussions. The groups from Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives threw light on their respective country’s’ political, economic and media systems. The most amazing part was that everybody was very techno-savvy – be it TV, radio, print or online journalists.

Our course instructor for the first few days was Barbara Thomass, professor from Bochum University, Germany. She opened up many useful debates regarding ethics in media and its coverage. It was not just the content but the whole way of imparting knowledge which was very different from what I was used to. The sessions were essentially interactive.

After a lecture of half-an-hour to 45 minutes, the house was open to discussions. There were many group exercises. We all were enriched by experiences from a number of countries during presentations and subsequent interactions.

The speakers included the likes of Seema Chishti, resident editor, Indian Express; Amit Sengupta, editor-in-charge, Hardnews; Subhash Rai, founder/editor, IndianOnlineJournalism.org; K Nagaraj, professor of Economics, Madras Institute of Development Studies; and Nalini Rajan, professor, ACJ.

In addition there was a newsroom visit to the office of The Hindu. We learnt what all goes into the production of a credible and interesting news item. It does not require only good writing skills and some articulated interview. It is also about healthy and democratic working conditions and use of latest technology, which can really empower a reporter and an editor.

We also went for a field trip to a fisher people’s village and filed stories based on interviews collected there. Language initially seemed to be a barrier. But then when we ventured out a little we found many people speaking in Hindi and English. That’s all we needed as journalists.

On the last day we were asked about the most surprising part of the workshop. I could not find even one, and that was surprising. When you go to meet people from diverse contexts and socio-economic backgrounds, there are expectations of some surprise take-aways. But the human stories and ethical dilemmas are so similar all over, that nothing was new. I guess that’s what I have brought back with me – a feeling of anxiety and excitement – which are important to do good journalistic work in life.