Barkha Dutt's This Unquiet Land: Such an important book...

...especially for media students, and especially for those who want to become television journalists.

When I brought a copy to the college today, Sreya Chatterjee (Class of 2017), whose ambition is to become a TV reporter, immediately called dibs on the book and made me promise to give it to her first. And as soon as she got her hands on it, she began reading it, giving me regular updates. "This is so amazing," she told me five minutes into the book. When we met again a little later, she was still raving about Barkha Dutt's writing: "That line about journalism and the anticipation of adventure. I just loved it."

So naturally I asked her to give me her first impressions in some detail. Here's what she had to say after reading just a few pages of This Unquiet Land:

ABSORBING: SREYA CHATTERJEE AND THIS UNQUIET LAND

Every aspiring journalist should read This Unquiet Land, especially if you have that fire in your belly. On Page 11, Barkha Dutt writes, "The anticipation of adventure is one of journalism's many blessings in my life." That is so true for people who get bored very easily. And I am one of those people.

A journalist's life can never be boring — that is what I believe. There might be days when things won't work out; days when you think you should have taken up a bank job instead. But the idea is to never give up. When you're feeling low, what better inspiration than Barkha Dutt? All you have to do is picture one of the country's best-known journalists clambering onto the the bonnet of a car — in the line of duty — and then climbing up to the vehicle's roof and parking herself there just to get a sound bite from a man the authorities were shielding from the media. As she tells it, the car began moving, albeit slowly, but she refused to get off. And seeing that it would be impossible to dislodge her without harming her, the officials gave in and let her have her bite. As our journalism professor never tires of telling us, "Persistence, persistence, persistence."

One more thing: If you're a feminist, as I am, then that is another reason to read this book. There's so much in This Unquiet Land, with regard to a woman's place in our society, that I can identify with and appreciate.

Thank you, Barkha Dutt, for this wonderful book.

• Also read: Barkha Dutt on TV, media and India

ADDITIONAL READING:

• What it means to be a TV news producer-1
• What it takes to be a TV news reporter-1
• What it takes to be a TV news reporter-2
• What it means to be a sub at a TV news channel
• What it takes to be a TV news anchor
• Want to know how to have a successful internship at a TV news channel? Read this post.

"Why I chose to be a digital marketing professional..."

Niranjana Muraleedharan (Class of 2014) wrote this piece for The Commits Chronicle in June 2104:

Yes, my Facebook page is always open, as you can see in the photograph below. But I browse Facebook not for fun; I do it to earn a livelihood. Never in my life did I know about the existence of careers in digital media until I came to Commits. Today I am working as the Jr. Executive, Campaign Management-Digital at AdVerb Inc. in Bangalore.

Like any other fresher, I was also blank about where my skills lay and what career I could pursue. In my first semester I liked journalism because I thought I could write; in the second semester my thoughts turned to advertising because I thought I could ideate. And then I found my true love, Digital Media Marketing. All thanks to Commits, which conducts special classes on the subject for MMC specialisation students.

NIRANJANA MURALEEDHARAN AT HER DESK AT ADVERB.

I must have run to Sai Sir’s and RP Sir’s cabins umpteen times to ask them what job would suit me best when, one day, Sai Sir asked me to try out this new field. He told me about the boom in, and scope of, digital marketing. At first, I was doubtful because the field is new, but my second internship, arranged by Commits, cleared all my doubts.

Digital Media Marketing has a bit of content writing, ideating, and brand management. As there were classes in all three subjects at Commits, it is easy to understand my work better now. Life is fast-paced when you are working in digital media. RP Sir’s dictum — “Pay attention to detail” — has proved invaluable: If I make one mistake, thousands will see it.  Hence, I always keep his words in mind.

One more thing: The Commits radiance spreads everywhere. To my surprise, I have a Commitscion (Razia Kuvale, Class of 2009) as my manager and I am so glad. No one can ask for a better boss.

*
And in January 2016, after moving to a new company, Niranjana contributed another piece to The Commits Chronicle:

THERE'S SO MUCH SCOPE FOR
DIGITAL MEDIA PROFESSIONALS TODAY

“Oh! How I just hate that ad which pops up before the YouTube video starts playing. All I want to do is press the skip button.”

Say that no more if you want to be a digital media enthusiast.

In this fast-paced world, brands have started investing more on digital advertising. For them, it is a fair deal because every metric is tracked. There are determinants to understand the performance of each ad. Since the communication is two-way and the results are immediate, believe me, it makes the job more fun. You know if your strategy has worked or if the thinking cap you wore when coming up with your strategy was the wrong one.

NIRANJANA AT ISOBAR.

This reminds me of an interesting episode. We were working for a client, MeraJob.in — a job-matching portal for blue-collar workers. The challenge to communicate with these blue-collar job-seekers was immense because their English communication skills were weak. We tried talking to them in simple English. We wrote content they would be absolutely interested in.

But we received no response on the page.

What was wrong then? Was it because they disliked the content or was the content not relevant to them? It struck us then that the language we had chosen was a problem. We took a different route and started sharing content in Hindi. And boom! In came all the responses. This was proof that any strategy works only if you have understood your target audience well.

If you want to become a Digital Marketing Professional, you have many areas to choose to work in. This includes social media, search-engine marketing and optimisation, web analytics, e-mail marketing, media planning, creative designing, and client servicing. The growth is immense in the field.  I started my career as a Social Media Executive at AdVerb; recently I moved to Media Planning at Isobar. This means, it’s good if you explore various fields in the medium and gradually become an expert.

You can get into digital media if you have the right educational qualifications, which means it helps to have a master’s degree. But what’s more important is learning on the job. Keeping an eye on what’s happening around digital is a must. You should be updated about what other brands are doing online, the changes in advertising techniques, the advertising tools, as well as the new features.

And you don’t have to worry about the fun part! Digital media folks are the most chilled-out people you will meet in your life. You will not know how those nine hours or more (!) at work have whizzed past.

FUN TIMES AT WORK: NIRANJANA WITH HER COLLEAGUES AT THE OFFICE CHRISTMAS PARTY.

• Niranjana Muraleedharan's manager at AdVerb was a Commitscion, Razia Kuvale. Now, at Isobar, her boss is another Commitscion, Baniaikynmaw Lydia Shanpru. Read Baniaikynmaw's post here: "What it means to be a social media marketing professional".

• Mint speaks to three professionals who reiterate that digital marketing is more than just designing Web pages and advertising online: There’s a lot of potential to grow in digital marketing, but you also need the ability to adapt as technology evolves

How to be a success as a freelance production professional

SAAKSHA BHANDARY

Saaksha Bhandary (Commits Class of 2012), a production professional based in Mumbai, was most recently Associate Creative Director of the just-concluded reality TV show, I Can Do That, for Zee TV. She is possibly the youngest ever to be an ACD for such a big show.

I asked Saaksha to give us a lowdown on what it means to be a freelance production professional and elaborate on the responsibilities of an Associate Creative Director. Here is her piece:

Being an Associate Creative Director or Associate Creative Head means you, along with the Creative Director, are responsible for conceptualising and executing a show from start to finish — right from thinking of the basic idea of the show to finally working on it, putting it together, and delivering the “master” to the broadcaster.

When it comes to television shows and events, it means you are basically in charge of everything related to the show, be it thinking of the central theme or idea, the set design, the venue, the performers, the anchors, the on-stage and audience interactions, the light design, the costumes, the seating, the props, the scripts, the music, the acts, the choreography, the show flow or show progression, the edit pattern... in short nothing gets the green signal until the creative team approves it.

You are in complete charge of what the content of the show will be.  It's a lot of work and responsibility because one small mistake could have adverse effects on the show.

All this might seem quite daunting at first but the more shows you do the more efficient you become. I found that one of the most important qualities to have in order to be successful in this line of work is to be able to think on your feet. The Hindi television industry is not a big believer in “forward planning”. Everything happens, or, conversely, does not happen, at the very last minute and you need to be able to think of a solution immediately.

SAAKSHA BHANDARY WAS THE ASSOCIATE CREATIVE DIRECTOR OF I CAN DO THAT, WHICH WAS TELECAST ON ZEE TV.

If you are thinking about taking up this profession, here’s some serious advice:

• If you're planning to come to Mumbai to join this segment of the production industry, forget about having lots of time to socialise and relax! Say goodbye to most weekends.
• Don't play safe. If you want to get ahead in this field, playing safe isn't going to get you there. Take risks.
• Take this up only if job security is not your first priority. There have been stretches of time earlier on in my career when I have sat at home for months without work.
• Network, network, network! I wasn't too good at networking earlier. I would just come, do my work, and get out. But now I realise the importance of networking in this industry. It takes you a long way. 

Okay, I know I've made it look like a very difficult and scary field to work in... But I have come to love it, despite all the pressure and sleepless nights. When I finally see my show going on air it gives me a tremendous high to think that I have been part of creating something that lakhs of people in India and abroad will watch.

All I can say is, this is a very fulfilling job and I am fortunate to be among those people who can actually say “I love my job” and mean it. :)

IN APRIL-MAY 2011, SAAKSHA WAS ONE OF FOUR COMMITS STUDENTS WHO INTERNED WITH RED CHILLIES IN MUMBAI AND HELPED TO PRODUCE COKE STUDIO.

• ALSO READ: How to have a successful AVC-related internship

A kindred spirit! As my friends and students know, I, too, can't read only one book at a time

Here is a relevant excerpt from Jerry Pinto's column in the latest issue of The Week:

Now that it is the end of the year, I thought I should do an audit of how many books I am reading simultaneously. So I went through the house — not a difficult task to do in a small Mumbai flat — and listed every book of which I had read more than 20 per cent. When I was done, I found I was reading 30 books at the same time. This does not count Marcel Proust — I am in the middle of The Captive The Fugitive — which I have been reading four pages at a time for the last two years.

He is reading 30 books at the same time! I am not so bad, rather, good. According to my Goodreads feed (above), I am reading 10 books currently. (Actually, the number is 11 — two days ago I began reading Sarasvatichandra, by Govardhanram Madhavram Tripathi. But the book is so new, it does not figure yet on Goodreads.)

Here you can read Jerry Pinto's column in its entirety: "Strange Encounters".

"Words. A child needs a forest of words to wander through, a sea of words to splash in. A child needs to be read to, and a child needs to read."

TWO EXCERPTS FROM A POWERFUL PIECE, "The Gift of Reading", by Frank Bruni, IN THE NEW YORK TIMES:

Words. A child needs a forest of words to wander through, a sea of words to splash in. A child needs to be read to, and a child needs to read.

Reading fuels the fires of intelligence and imagination, and if they don’t blaze well before elementary school, a child’s education — a child’s life — may be an endless game of catch-up.

“Kids who read more get better at reading, and because they are better at reading, it’s easier and more pleasurable so they read still more,” he [Daniel Willingham, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia and the author of Raising Kids Who Read] said. “And kids who read well don’t just do better in English class — it helps them in math, science and every other class, too.”

I’d go even further. Reading tugs them outside of themselves, connecting them to a wider world and filling it with wonder. It’s more than fundamental. It’s transformative.

Read the article in its entirety here: "The Gift of Reading".

• ALSO READ: "Read, kids, read"

No, my dear young lady, contrary to what your parents have told you, journalists are not "fanning the flames"

On November 25, I received this message on Facebook:

• [REDACTED]
  

  
  

  All these reports pointing to increase in Hindu extremism. What is your take? My parents insist the media is fanning the flames but I can't believe it.
  
  MY RESPONSE:
  
• 

  11/30, 1:45pm

  Ramesh Prabhu
  

  
  

  Many people, when they refer to the "media", they are, I think, referring primarily to TV news channels.
  
  Take the Aamir Khan episode, for example. If you were watching our 24-hour news channels the day after his comments were reported, you would think this episode was the most important news of the day. But that is the nature of the beast, as Rajdeep Sardesai described it during his talk at our seminar a few years ago.
  
  There were no flames being fanned. It's just that the debates, which become especially raucous on Arnab Goswami's prime-time show, gave the impression that the whole country was talking about this incident.
  
  By way of contrast, take a look at how two leading newspapers reported that same Aamir news item (see photo below). These are the front pages of The Times of India and The Hindu, which I was reading when on holiday in Yercaud last week.
  
  
  

  

  
  
• 11/30, 1:49pm

  Ramesh Prabhu
  

  
  

  But, yes, there are problems and there are difficulties.
  
  Some of the issues that plague journalism today have existed for a long time, for example, the pressures brought upon editors and their staff by the owners.
  
  Some are new, like the MediaNet phenomenon introduced by The Times of India.
  
  Some challenges are specific to today — social media has helped to amplify many issues, I believe, because it's so easy now to "shout from the rooftop" and be heard by all your "friends" and "followers".
  
• 

  11/30, 1:50pm

  Ramesh Prabhu
  

  
  

  Good training is part of the problem — do go through this article I wrote some time ago for a Pune-based magazine: "Media education: From course structure to quality of students, the challenges are immense"

  
  

  
  

  

  THE READING ROOM: Media education: From course structure to quality of students, the challenges...

  
  
• Monday
• 11/30, 8:05pm

  [REDACTED]
  

  
  

  Thank you Ramesh sir for taking the time for an elaborate reply... Your reply puts a lot of things in perspective.
  
  A lot seems to have changed as far as Indian TV channels are concerned in the 10 years that I have been away. But again it's the same everywhere — the TV news in the States is very sensational too!
  I find myself on the other side of the Hindutva issue than the rest of my side of the family. And I get judged a lot but I guess that's par for the course!
  
  *****
  "Indian mainstream news media has a strong culture of protest"
  JUST TO GIVE MY READERS ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE, here are three points I have excerpted from a piece on the Aamir Khan episode published by The Hoot, a New Delhi-based site which was set up to scrutinise the media in India:
  
  First and foremost, Indian mainstream news media has a strong culture of protest, and we are lucky to have such a news media despite claims of creeping corporate control. The culture of protest is much stronger than what we see in western democracies....
  
  Second, the news culture in India suggests that any value-framing of good vs bad in a news story will privilege victims, and should. This is what we would expect from any news media that speaks truth to power....
  
  Three, despite this predisposition, most journalists try to be fair to all sides in political debate over policy....
  
  Read the article in its entirety here: "Aamir's 'alarm' and media bias".

Suspensive hyphenation — what it is, how to use it

1. As used in a headline in Mint on November 10, 2015:



2. As used in a story in The Week dated November 29, 2015:

• ALSO READ: Everything you always wanted to know about the usage of punctuation marks (but were afraid to ask)

This media student's answer to a question about "burglary, robbery, and theft" gives a whole new meaning to the word "misappropriate"

What is the difference between ‘burglary’, ‘robbery’, and ‘theft’?

(a) Burglary means forcible entry with intent to commit a crime.

(b) Robbery means stealing with force or threat of force.

(c) Theft means stealing without force or threat of force.

And then there is this:

Obviously, these are testing times for students... and teachers.

Even journalists seem to have trouble figuring out when to use "I" and when to use "me"

The other night, while reading the latest edition of the always interesting Mint Lounge, I came across this jarring sentence in the otherwise well-written column by Shoba Narayan:

My father walks down every day to visit my brother and I. 

Clearly, if the author's father was visiting only her, then she would not have written, "My father walks down every day to visit I."

It stands to reason therefore that the sentence should have read, "My father walks down every day to visit my brother and me."

I'm surprised no sub at Mint Lounge caught it.

Or, perhaps, I should not be surprised because I have heard this incorrect construction quite a few times when watching a TV show or a film, and even when listening to music. For example, there's a Cliff Richard song, whose title I can't remember now, that has a line ending with "you and I" when it should end with "you and me". It is possible, therefore, that this is a universal problem.

So, here, for the benefit of the confused souls out there, is a blog post from Merriam-Webster that explains, with examples, when to use "I" and when to use "me". Click here.

PS: I have another issue with this particular column. The strapline below the headline reads, "Why do we like poetry? And how do they get into our lives?" Surely that should read, "Why do we like poetry? And how does it get into our lives?"

Listen in as Rukmini Callimachi, the remarkable journalist who is tracking ISIS, talks about possibly the most difficult of media assignments

RUKMINI CALLIMACHI

How on earth does she do it? Rukmini Callimachi, who began her freelance career in New Delhi with Time magazine and who now covers ISIS for The New York Times, has written some striking stories in the past year or so. Here are just a few:

ISIS Enshrines a Theology of Rape

From Amateur to Ruthless Jihadist in France

The Horror Before the Beheadings

Before she joined The New York Times, Callimachi was working as the Senegal-based West Africa bureau chief for The Associated Press. Her AP stories were nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in the international reporting category last year. Check out those stories here.

Earlier this year, Callimachi was interviewed by Aaron Lammer on the Longform Podcast. I have been listening with fascination to the first part of this two-part interview, which has become especially relevant in the aftermath of last week's Paris attacks. From figuring out how to deal with sources to pondering the journalist-terrorist relationship, from asking the tough questions to taking on the trolls on Twitter — Callimachi discusses the many issues that journalists have to grapple with when reporting on one of the biggest stories of this era.

Listen to the interview here:

• Part 1
• Part 2

A word of advice: To better appreciate and understand what Aaron Lammer and Rukmini Callimachi are talking about, it helps to be well-informed and well-read. Here are a couple of the topics that you may like to bone up on before putting on those headphones:

The conflict in Mali

The strife in Libya

And, of course, you should also read Callimachi's stories, at least the three I have highlighted above.

PS: Rukmini Callimachi, according to Wikipedia, left Romania with her mother and grandmother when the country was being run by a communist regime. Her name "Rukmini" is derived from her family's closeness to Rukmini Devi Arundale, founder of Kalakshetra in Chennai.

• ALSO READ: You can learn so much from listening to these fascinating podcasts