Let me discuss whether a journalist's superficial knowledge about a particular event could undermine the credibility of a reputable news organization.
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is unquestionably the most trusted name in the media when it comes to reporting. Its regional services have been expanded to several countries, including Nepal. These services have been providing international news in local languages. They have been equally resourceful in chronicling a local event and making it international. Local natives who work in the BBC newsroom act as an interface between the larger corporation and the smaller versions of the BBC.
Most times this relationship works, but at times it doesn’t work that well. This leads to not just misinformation but misrepresentation of an event. A case in point is how the BBC Web site in its recent story “Nepal strike hits petrol supplies” on 15 February reported by a BBC correspondent misrepresented facts about the event. It’s not that the news distorts the truth, but it does not tell the truth accurately.
There are two facets to this reporting:
1) Opinion of the reporter
2) Misrepresentation of the situation
While the news story is just a brief overview of the overall situation prevailing at that given time, the story somehow doesn’t correctly say the cause of the event which is the consequence of the larger scenario.
The event behind the news is acute fuel crises in the Kathmandu valley due to strikes in the terai (southern part of Nepal) by various political parties demanding equal representation in the forthcoming constituent assembly. The deck head hints at what the situation is and it is a correct representation of the event in itself. It says, “Nepalese petrol stations have been hit by severe fuel shortages, largely triggered by protesters blockading key roads in the south of the country.”
Being a landlocked country, Nepal is mostly dependent upon India for commerce. One of principle commodities that we import almost entirely is natural gas. But the BBC correspondent does not really investigate this fact. The news says, “Roughly 90% of Nepal's imports travel from India via the southern roads.” The truth is, it is almost 100 percent.
Such arm-chair reporting not only harms the credibility of the news organization but gives out false information. This could have been avoided if the reporters from the regional desks were consulted.
Similar misrepresentation of truth is exemplified by another example in the same story. Toward the end of the story it says, “BBC correspondents say the shortage has also been caused in part by Nepal's failure to pay its sole oil exporter, India, for outstanding fuel bills.”
In the statement above, the actual reason is not the non-payment of outstanding bills alone, but other management issues like leakage and artificial shortage created by dealers. These facts are not highlighted. Instead, the reporter is more interested in stating the fact that “almost half of Nepal's population lives in the impoverished, largely agricultural Madesh region.” Due to the reporter’s weak frame of reference objectivity in reporting is not achieved. Perhaps the news story is an outcome that merely fulfills the basic professional compulsion to cover the event.
Such reporting tactic diverts the readers’ attention from the actual event. Organizations like the BBC have a double responsibility toward its readers: First to say what is accurate, and secondly, say it in a balanced way.
Several questions arise with such reporting style.
1) Who is responsible to verify the information that comes from reporters?
2) Is the fact checked with the right sources?
3) In this case, is it proper to quote other BBC correspondents as sources for the news?
4) What purpose does it serve when a news report try to editorialize?
Since media messages have the potential to influence readers almost instantly, reporters must be careful enough in what they actually say. This is especially true in situations when nations that are poorly represented in the media are covered on the merit of an event that took place, like the fuel crises in Nepal.
What the audience expects to hear about an event should be distinguished from what the audience ought to know. It is this difference that separates good versus bad reporting.
February 19, 2008
December 08, 2007
A hole in my soul
That day I got up early. I had some washing to do. The soaked clothes had been there for three days now. I set up my kitchen and got into the bathroom. The water was cold. The pungent smell pierced my nose as I stirred the clothes in the bucket. I picked the socks first and looked at the gaping hole in the big toe. I always forgot to buy a new pair. I resolved I would never wear that in front of my grandma.
Once when I wore that and went to her while she was knitting under the warm sun, she playfully pricked a needle in my popped-out toe.
“What do you earn for? To wear socks with a mouth?”
We laughed. She looked younger when she laughed. She pressed both lips for a while and hid the smile and finally opened up with a muffled sound.
“Why don’t you laugh loud, grandma? You look pretty,” I teased.
“Your grandpa never liked it.”
Grandpa controlled everything around him. Everything.
“What would grandpa say if you spoke louder?”
“Women of grace never talked loud or laughed. All men say that to their wives. You will do that yourself.”
I just shouldered off.
***
I was cleaning everything - the floor, the wall, the sink, even the bottom of the cistern and the pot. Perhaps, I was compensating some kind of guilt by cleaning the mold, or perhaps when my sister visits me next day she wouldn't broach the topic of my marriage and how I need a wife to be neat.
The cooker on the oven whistled third time now. I was planning to eat early today. My slides for the class needed some revision.
The university intercom rang. The double-ring tone hinted it was not a local call.
“Daju!” It was my sister in the line.
“What happened Sapane?”
I wanted to tell her how neat the bathroom looks now. I glanced at the steaming cooker and the pots of leftover daal, achar and sliced lemons.
“Daju, come home immediately.” Her voice trembled. It suggested a tone of drop-everything-and-rush-home.
I had never found her so firm and determined. It was just morning now.
“Daju, grandma is sick. Come home directly. I will call you later.” Then, she hung up. No goodbye, no usual banter.
The food was ready now. No time to eat, I thought. The cooked beans and rice looked tempting. It was 8:30 a.m. I calculated it would take at least two hours to get to New Baneshwor. Moreover, I had to walk for 20 minutes to get the Dhulikhel-Kathmandu bus.
***
My cell phone rang as I was reaching the 28-kilo bus stand. It was Sapane.
“Daju, come to KMC hospital directly.” She was firm. It was almost like an order.
“Is she breathing? Is it asthma again?” I asked.
She was silent for a while.
“Everybody is called,” she said with a matter-of-fact tone.
Everybody? But why should everybody be called if she is in hospital? I thought. I knew she didn't want to say it. She was putting away the truth so that I could guess what has happened already. I felt a sudden gush of chill inside me.
The bus had barely approached Suryavinayak. The cell phone rang again.
“Daju! Come to Arya Ghat now,” She sounded very casual now.
I just sat “OK” and sat there looking at the moving trees. Today, the trees just looked gray.
***
It was 11:15 a.m. when I reached Arya Ghat. I could see the hay and the wood for the pyre. Near her head was thick bundle of incense sticks billowing smoke. On the ground here she lay covered in white cloth where everybody who had arrived had sprinkled vermillion.
Oh, how death brings the last colors in her life!
She had only worn the customary plain clothes ever since grandpa's death.
Deepak, Khila, Madan, Rajesh, and Purushhotam silently joined the crowd.
“Thaila kaka is on his way. Dad's flight is only in the evening.” Sapane said.
Someone brought in more hay, bamboo and ghee.
“If nobody comes, Sijan will light the pyre,” Arjun dai was yelling.
“The custom allows even the grandson to do that. In today’s custom, he has equal rights,” he argued. Nobody reacted for a while.
“His dad will reach in the evening, his Thaila kaka is on his way. How can a grandson light when her sons are around? We will wait and not hurry,” replied Govinda bhinaju. It seemed like a decision. Nobody reacted.
“Let’s prepare other things until they come,” I cut in trying to pacify the two.
I could see the ladies at the far corner. Cheli didi, Kunta didi, Meena didi. Their faces were half covered with sarees and were silently wiping away the tears.
The smell of the burning flesh from the other pyres pierced the nose. I thought, grandma would smell just like that a few hours after.
***
A gentle wind blew off the cloth at her feet barely exposing the toe. Instinctively, I moved the toe inside my right shoe. I know she knows I have a hole in the sock. But today, there's a hole in my soul.
Once when I wore that and went to her while she was knitting under the warm sun, she playfully pricked a needle in my popped-out toe.
“What do you earn for? To wear socks with a mouth?”
We laughed. She looked younger when she laughed. She pressed both lips for a while and hid the smile and finally opened up with a muffled sound.
“Why don’t you laugh loud, grandma? You look pretty,” I teased.
“Your grandpa never liked it.”
Grandpa controlled everything around him. Everything.
“What would grandpa say if you spoke louder?”
“Women of grace never talked loud or laughed. All men say that to their wives. You will do that yourself.”
I just shouldered off.
***
I was cleaning everything - the floor, the wall, the sink, even the bottom of the cistern and the pot. Perhaps, I was compensating some kind of guilt by cleaning the mold, or perhaps when my sister visits me next day she wouldn't broach the topic of my marriage and how I need a wife to be neat.
The cooker on the oven whistled third time now. I was planning to eat early today. My slides for the class needed some revision.
The university intercom rang. The double-ring tone hinted it was not a local call.
“Daju!” It was my sister in the line.
“What happened Sapane?”
I wanted to tell her how neat the bathroom looks now. I glanced at the steaming cooker and the pots of leftover daal, achar and sliced lemons.
“Daju, come home immediately.” Her voice trembled. It suggested a tone of drop-everything-and-rush-home.
I had never found her so firm and determined. It was just morning now.
“Daju, grandma is sick. Come home directly. I will call you later.” Then, she hung up. No goodbye, no usual banter.
The food was ready now. No time to eat, I thought. The cooked beans and rice looked tempting. It was 8:30 a.m. I calculated it would take at least two hours to get to New Baneshwor. Moreover, I had to walk for 20 minutes to get the Dhulikhel-Kathmandu bus.
***
My cell phone rang as I was reaching the 28-kilo bus stand. It was Sapane.
“Daju, come to KMC hospital directly.” She was firm. It was almost like an order.
“Is she breathing? Is it asthma again?” I asked.
She was silent for a while.
“Everybody is called,” she said with a matter-of-fact tone.
Everybody? But why should everybody be called if she is in hospital? I thought. I knew she didn't want to say it. She was putting away the truth so that I could guess what has happened already. I felt a sudden gush of chill inside me.
The bus had barely approached Suryavinayak. The cell phone rang again.
“Daju! Come to Arya Ghat now,” She sounded very casual now.
I just sat “OK” and sat there looking at the moving trees. Today, the trees just looked gray.
***
It was 11:15 a.m. when I reached Arya Ghat. I could see the hay and the wood for the pyre. Near her head was thick bundle of incense sticks billowing smoke. On the ground here she lay covered in white cloth where everybody who had arrived had sprinkled vermillion.
Oh, how death brings the last colors in her life!
She had only worn the customary plain clothes ever since grandpa's death.
Deepak, Khila, Madan, Rajesh, and Purushhotam silently joined the crowd.
“Thaila kaka is on his way. Dad's flight is only in the evening.” Sapane said.
Someone brought in more hay, bamboo and ghee.
“If nobody comes, Sijan will light the pyre,” Arjun dai was yelling.
“The custom allows even the grandson to do that. In today’s custom, he has equal rights,” he argued. Nobody reacted for a while.
“His dad will reach in the evening, his Thaila kaka is on his way. How can a grandson light when her sons are around? We will wait and not hurry,” replied Govinda bhinaju. It seemed like a decision. Nobody reacted.
“Let’s prepare other things until they come,” I cut in trying to pacify the two.
I could see the ladies at the far corner. Cheli didi, Kunta didi, Meena didi. Their faces were half covered with sarees and were silently wiping away the tears.
The smell of the burning flesh from the other pyres pierced the nose. I thought, grandma would smell just like that a few hours after.
***
A gentle wind blew off the cloth at her feet barely exposing the toe. Instinctively, I moved the toe inside my right shoe. I know she knows I have a hole in the sock. But today, there's a hole in my soul.
December 04, 2007
Start small, make it big later, professionals say
Jonathan Costen and Joe McGee, of Channel 5, share common vibes when they are reporting in the field. Both know instinctively what they need to do at the spur of the moment.
“It comes with time,” said Costen, who has teamed with McGee for more than six years in the Akron bureau.
“Somehow I know what he is looking for,” McGee said. “I know when it’s enough.”
Reporter Costen and photographer McGee were speaking to students at Kent State’s journalism school Tuesday where they candidly shared their moments in the profession full of challenges and hard-pressed deadlines.
With changing technology, broadcasting is becoming more competitive. The speakers told students to get training of all kinds in production if they were thinking of entering in the emerging new media market.
“Big markets are looking for people who shoot their own video, edit and report,” Costen said.
This idea of mobile journalist, or mojo, is gaining popularity as media converge to reach out to people in innovative ways. Besides specializing in one core area, journalism students who have knowledge of latest skills in new digital editing software will be at an advantage.
“Years ago, you had to massage a story, now you have to crank it out quickly,” Costen said.
But he had a different advise for beginners in the broadcast beat that may seem too humble for people thinking to start in a big way. He told students to begin in smaller market for a practical reason.
“Make mistakes in a small market,” he said. “If you are going to broadcast news, don’t limit to one area. Work your way up.”
Costen talked about how he was treated “meanly” at places where he began. But he also said
small places teaches you teamwork.
The speakers showed several real clips that were fine examples of group effort by true professionals.
Costen had a similar tip.
“I don’t like staged stuff,” he said. “I want nuggets. Get the natural thing.”
The changing priorities of news business from newsgathering to getting the news first are keeping even the veterans on their heels. Both agree the deadline pressure is now part of their life.
“If they (producers) want the story in by 5:02 and if you make it in 5:04, you fail,” said McGee.
Costen immediately adds, “You have to make your slot.”
“It comes with time,” said Costen, who has teamed with McGee for more than six years in the Akron bureau.
“Somehow I know what he is looking for,” McGee said. “I know when it’s enough.”
Reporter Costen and photographer McGee were speaking to students at Kent State’s journalism school Tuesday where they candidly shared their moments in the profession full of challenges and hard-pressed deadlines.
With changing technology, broadcasting is becoming more competitive. The speakers told students to get training of all kinds in production if they were thinking of entering in the emerging new media market.
“Big markets are looking for people who shoot their own video, edit and report,” Costen said.
This idea of mobile journalist, or mojo, is gaining popularity as media converge to reach out to people in innovative ways. Besides specializing in one core area, journalism students who have knowledge of latest skills in new digital editing software will be at an advantage.
“Years ago, you had to massage a story, now you have to crank it out quickly,” Costen said.
But he had a different advise for beginners in the broadcast beat that may seem too humble for people thinking to start in a big way. He told students to begin in smaller market for a practical reason.
“Make mistakes in a small market,” he said. “If you are going to broadcast news, don’t limit to one area. Work your way up.”
Costen talked about how he was treated “meanly” at places where he began. But he also said
small places teaches you teamwork.
The speakers showed several real clips that were fine examples of group effort by true professionals.
Costen had a similar tip.
“I don’t like staged stuff,” he said. “I want nuggets. Get the natural thing.”
The changing priorities of news business from newsgathering to getting the news first are keeping even the veterans on their heels. Both agree the deadline pressure is now part of their life.
“If they (producers) want the story in by 5:02 and if you make it in 5:04, you fail,” said McGee.
Costen immediately adds, “You have to make your slot.”
November 15, 2007
Public interest, intrusion of privacy and news value
News value and good journalism are synonymous. But what are the limits of the media in reporting events that are not intended to be made public? Or, what is the relationship between public interest and the right to privacy?
For most people, privacy is guaranteed by the virtue of them enjoying less important position in the society. Yet there are others whose status in the society alone is sufficient to arouse interest of the media at any given point of time. Here, media professionals like to defend news value by calling it “public interest.”
Two popular tabloids in the UK, The Sun and the News of the World are found to be highly intrusive into people’s privacy. The nature of reporting in these tabloids is mostly gossip and story of “affairs.” These tabloids have functioned as channels that report the unacceptable behaviors of individuals. Perhaps these are the values the society ideally seeks for. At the other level, however, public interest also serves as a democratic ideal of open government where the public has the right to inspect public figures.
One important issue is: How much of news judgment should the media apply to distinguish between celebrity-type sensational news and genuinely decent public service news?
The 9-11 incident is one recent example that has brought this issue to the forefront. Was it proper for the media to publish videos or photographs of people jumping off the building, either live or within few hours of the incident? What purpose did it serve? Did it intensify the “horror” factor even further? Moreover, how much close-up shot of a dying person is just about right?
While attempting to dramatize an event or intruding into a celebrity's life or dealing with a private grief, I believe editors should weigh as much on taste and decency as they should on news value. The public is also best served by feeding less sensational stories.
For most people, privacy is guaranteed by the virtue of them enjoying less important position in the society. Yet there are others whose status in the society alone is sufficient to arouse interest of the media at any given point of time. Here, media professionals like to defend news value by calling it “public interest.”
Two popular tabloids in the UK, The Sun and the News of the World are found to be highly intrusive into people’s privacy. The nature of reporting in these tabloids is mostly gossip and story of “affairs.” These tabloids have functioned as channels that report the unacceptable behaviors of individuals. Perhaps these are the values the society ideally seeks for. At the other level, however, public interest also serves as a democratic ideal of open government where the public has the right to inspect public figures.
One important issue is: How much of news judgment should the media apply to distinguish between celebrity-type sensational news and genuinely decent public service news?
The 9-11 incident is one recent example that has brought this issue to the forefront. Was it proper for the media to publish videos or photographs of people jumping off the building, either live or within few hours of the incident? What purpose did it serve? Did it intensify the “horror” factor even further? Moreover, how much close-up shot of a dying person is just about right?
While attempting to dramatize an event or intruding into a celebrity's life or dealing with a private grief, I believe editors should weigh as much on taste and decency as they should on news value. The public is also best served by feeding less sensational stories.
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