This blog is primarily for media aspirants as well as young journalists. My aim is to provide links to articles that will enhance their understanding of the media and help them to improve their writing skills, broaden their horizons, and expand their worldview. My hope is that The Reading Room will also help them to become good media professionals.
Watch this clip from my days as the host of a TV show on TMG Enter, the technology channel launched by the company I joined back in 1999 in Bangalore.
Keep in mind that I have done a fair amount of research to be able to ask my guest relevant questions about a topic I am not an expert on. He is the expert. I am also listening to the answers so that I can ask follow-up questions.
Keep in mind, too, that this chat is meant for an audience comprising technology enthusiasts and people from the tech industry.
I hope watching this video will give Audiovisual Communication students some insight into how they can prepare for and produce their own chat programme for their TV news shows.
"You may say you’re not a writer. But if you have a job that requires communicating with others, you are. If you keep a to-do list, that’s writing. If you draft a project plan, report, or meeting agenda, that’s writing. And, if you’re like most writers, you want to be more skilled at using your words."
Poorvi Kothari (Class of 2014) wrote this piece for The Commits Chronicle in June 2016:
Before I joined Commits I had no idea that a role like media planning even existed. But thanks to our classes with Mala Ma’am (Malavika Harita, CEO of Saatchi Focus), I not only learnt a lot about advertising but I also got introduced to some great roles, like those of media planners.
And that’s the beauty of Commits. You can come in without even knowing what you want to do or what you are capable of, but one thing is for sure, you’ll leave with a vision, direction, and goal in life.
POORVI AT HER DESK AT THE GROUPM OFFICE IN BENGALURU.
So what exactly is media planning? When I say I work as a media planner, people usually get a little excited and ask, oh, so you are in the TV industry? To which I politely say no. Then they jump to the next possibility: Oh, so then you are a journalist? To which I again say no. As I start explaining how the advertising world works, they become impatient and ask, oh, so you make ads? I say no, I just plan them. By then, even though they haven’t understood what “plan” means in this context they give up and say, oh, okay, that sounds good.
So, yes, “media planner” is not a profession that everyone gets right away, like “journalist” or “copywriter”. Let me, therefore, try to put it in simple terms: Imagine a mind-blowing advertisement that never reaches its target audience. What good is the ad then? Media planners ensure that a brand’s ad is served up to the right audience. We are like distributors.
After an ad is created, media planners think of the best ways to reach out to the brand’s target audience (be it print, TV, radio, or digital). This involves a lot of statistical analysis as well as number-crunching. Media budgets are huge, typically in crores of rupees. Using this money to effectively reach out to a million consumers in the target audience is a big challenge.
I could go on about everything that happens in media planning, or at work, or at client meetings where we are grilled for explanations about why we are spending this much on a particular medium/channel/programme/website/newspaper, etc., or what the rationale is behind a particular strategy. We are talking big bucks here so, often, we play the role of lawyers, accountants, strategists, and investment bankers.
POORVI WITH HER TEAM MEMBER, COMMITSCION REYA DUTTA (CLASS OF 2015).
To sum up, media planning is the business side of advertising. It is not all about numbers, though. To me, media planning is a good mix of creativity and ingenuity combined with a knack for identifying key insights about what we refer to as media consumption. What I really love is how beautifully numbers can tell us stories, and the best part is when you are trying to sell a story and your job becomes so much easier because you can do so on the back of some powerful data.
Creative agencies feel proud when their TV commercials are seen on air, but for us it’s satisfying when people say, Hey, did you see that ad? It’s all over the place, man! That’s when I know, okay, I did a decent job there.
Here are three ads whose media plans were prepared by Poorvi and her team:
Strangely, hardly anyone I know has even heard of this revolutionary podcast, even though it was first aired nearly two years ago. I got wind of it last year and I was hooked immediately because, with every episode ending with a cliffhanger, Serial is very much a "TRUE CRIME" THRILLER. But it is also journalism; radio; research. Voice modulation; the usage of background music. It showcases the art of interviewing. And it gives us an insight into the importance of script-writing. Believe me, everything about Serial is FASCINATING. For media students, especially those who have chosen Audiovisual Communication, this is an invaluable tool — it will help them better understand their chosen field. Get your fix here. And read up on the impact of Serial: Podcasting’s First Breakout Hit, Sets Stage for More. UPDATE (June 30, 2016): From The New York Times, "Adnan Syed, of Serial Podcast, Gets a Retrial in Murder Case".
Season Two of Serial kicked off in December last year. But while Season One will be of interest to a general audience, Season Two, in my view, will appeal only to an American audience. Of course, you can make up your mind after you read co-producer and host Sarah Koenig's Welcome Note.
The phenomenal success of Serial has led to a boom in podcast-production. The number of apps that enable you to search for and listen to podcasts has also increased exponentially. Here are my posts about my favourite podcasts:
Such as "I am no good." Or "No one likes me." Or worse.
Even if you don't, here's an NPR podcast that delves into the secret history of thoughts while giving us two real stories that begin in pretty dark fashion. Both, however (especially the second one), end on such a joyous note you will get a kick out of listening to them.
Of course, ultimately, this is a great piece of (audio) journalism.
To listen to "The Secret History of Thoughts" on the "Invisibilia" podcast, click here and scroll down to the episode. If you want to download it, click on the "ellipsis button" and choose "Download". You can also subscribe to "Invisibilia" on the Podcast Addict app, which is my favourite app for listening to podcasts while I'm driving to and from work.
"Shakespeare got better because he learnt. Now some people will tell you great writing cannot be learnt. Such people should be hit repeatedly on the nose until they promise not to talk nonsense anymore."
~ From an extremely witty book I have just begun reading (thank you, Shagorika Easwar, for the recommendation)
a. In an interview with labour minister Parameshwara Naik by Sandeep Moudgal on Page 4: "The ingenuity of these posts is to be verified." I think that should read "The genuineness of these posts is to be verified." b. In a report headlined "Zika fears: Olympic champ freezes sperm" on Page 20: "... the couple were increasingly worried about mosquito-born Zika..." I think that should read "mosquito-borne Zika".
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Q. What's wrong with that picture? Can you "point" out the issues? A. It's "U.S.", not "U.S".
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Q. What's wrong with that headline? A. At the very least, it should read "Tamannaah speaks on why Katappa killed Baahubali!"
Last week, A.P. Payal, a young lecturer at the University of Delhi, became a published author. Her work of graphic non-fiction has been included in an anthology, First Hand, which was launched at a function in the capital on May 26. On behalf of the many aspiring authors out there, among whom are my students, I conducted an e-mail interview with Payal (disclosure: she is my niece) to better understand what it means to work as a comics artist. Here is the text of the Q&A: 1. How did you get this project? I follow Yoda Press/Yodakin on Facebook. They shared a call-for-proposals asking artists/writers to submit ideas for a short piece of graphic non-fiction. I was very excited by the fact that they were encouraging first-time comics artists to contribute. I jumped at the idea and got my proposal ready.
PAYAL WITH A COPY OF FIRST HAND
2. Did you meet the other authors before you began work on your story to get an understanding of the overall theme of the anthology? Yes. Vidyun Sabhaney Shohei Emura at Captain Bijli (the co-facilitators of this project with Yoda Press and People Tree) organised short workshops for contributors to meet up and interact with each other. They also organised talks with published authors and comics creators so that we could learn from them. While not everybody was present at these events, the interaction with other contributors as well as established artists helped me a lot. It helped me think of pictorial storytelling in different ways.
THE TITLE PAGE OF PAYAL'S WORK
3. How did you get the idea for your piece? And how did you go about researching this story? As a five-year-old I would listen with rapt attention to my paternal grandfather talking about the family's great escape from Burma (now Myanmar) during World War II. As he described the dense forests on the mountains of Burma, I would try to visualise their journey in my mind. This project gave me the opportunity to finally put those images to paper. Unfortunately, my grandfather died years before I could take down his narrative formally. My aunt (his niece), Sreedhari Soman, was eight years old when the family fled Burma and this graphic narrative is based on her recollection of these events. By combining my aunt's memories with my research, I attempted to recreate what they may have experienced. My research consisted of reading scholarly articles and books that I accessed via the university. I read some first-hand accounts of similar migration stories in books, on blogs, and on websites. I also searched through books at IGNCA (Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts) to collect reference images/maps of Burma from 1941-42. Specialised naval archives online and websites with photos of military gear from the time were also very useful.
4. Why did you go the graphic route (instead of telling a text-only story)? I have grown up reading comics. Despite being a student of literature, I find myself naturally drawn to images. As a research scholar, I have spent a lot of time reading and researching visual art. This was a story that I really wanted to tell and I suppose I wanted to challenge myself by using images to tell it. As a medium, comics helped me to position this tale of survival within a historical context.
A DOUBLE-SPREAD FROM PAYAL'S COMIC
5. How long did it take for you complete your story (from beginning to end)? Which software program did you use? Or were the illustrations and the lettering done by hand? After multiple phone conversations with my aunt, it took me a little more than a month to put together the story and the sequencing of the panels. I also collated the academic research during this period. Collecting reference images was a continual process and went on over many months. It took me about two or three months to ink the illustrations on paper. I scanned the illustrations and used Adobe Photoshop to edit them. After the images were placed sequentially in Adobe InDesign, I placed text boxes and keying in the text. The PDF and the InDesign files were sent to the designer Pia Alize Hazarika. She chose a more appropriate font for my submission and put everyone's entries together. 6. What were the problems that arose during this project and how did you overcome them? Initially, I was to work with an artist. That didn't materialise, luckily, because I was very keen on doing the comic myself. As I am not a full-time artist and lack a certain artistic finesse, I was quite worried that I might not be able to convince the publishers about my visual style. However, they supported me and encouraged me to take my time and slowly raise my own level of illustration. I initially insisted on working with charcoal pencils but they suggested that I shift to ink. That really helped me to give detail to the piece, which made the visuals take on a life of their own. I suppose the fear of rejection and pushing myself to be better were the real challenges that I had to overcome. Making comics is a long process and there are no short cuts. If you make a mistake while inking, you might have to go back and start from scratch. I learnt not to compromise and that was the best part.
7. What kind of feedback have you got so far? I have mainly heard from friends and family till now. They have all been very appreciative. The best feedback that I received has been from Orijit Sen. I am a huge fan of his work and at the book launch he appreciated my academic rigour, the attention to detail in the piece. It was surreal to hear that coming from him. I look forward to hearing more from people about the comic. 8. Now that you're a published graphic author, do you have plans for more books? I definitely want to take this forward. I am currently working on a collaborative project with a friend. I do hope that one day a publisher will have enough faith in my story-telling (and showing) abilities to trust me with an entire book.
Watch Payal answer questions at the launch of First Hand:
Hindustan Times calls the anthology "One-of-a-kind". Read the article here.
You can buy First Hand on Flipkart (the publisher, Yoda Press, is going in for a second print run) here.
Yoda Press is raising funds "in order to compensate the contributors (artists and writers) of the comic for their hard work". If you would like to help, you can do so by clicking on this link.
Last month, Payal was featured in The Indian Express for her unique method of teaching Shakespeare to college students by using tarot cards. You can read the piece here.
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UPDATE (August 29, 2016): Here's a photograph showing the protagonist of "Rangoon to Vadakara", Sreedhari Soman, holding a copy of First Hand:
Sreedhari Chechi (Elder Sister) was eight years old when she trekked from Burma to India with her family. She now lives in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
I have more than 20 years' experience (1981 to 2003) as a journalist in India and Dubai, specializing in selecting and editing news reports and features. From 2003 to 2019, I taught journalism and writing skills to master’s students at Commits, a media college in Bangalore.
I joined Cactus Communications ("Serving Science Worldwide") as a copyediting freelancer on October 1, 2019. From the very beginning, I have enjoyed the challenge of working on a new assignment each day. I like to think of every article as a daily crossword puzzle that I need to solve by examining the clues closely. And, finally, when I submit the article that I have tended, I like to think, with love and care, I feel deeply satisfied.
