Category: News

Indian Journalism: Editing perceptions

Since its inception

Ideally, news is a reflection of the status quo of the system. But when Indian mainstream news channels and newspapers focus on the health status of Bollywood superstar, Amitabh Bachchan and his family over national security; the death of another actor over the devastating Assam and Bihar floods, you begin to question whether news is really a reflection of the status quo of the system. In other words, the Indian mainstream media does a pathetic job in deciding what news is worthy and what is not. With local shops closing down, and inability of people to earn a living unless you have access to a computer—does the state of the economy not qualify worthy of ‘ national headlines’. Does the state of frontline workers not qualify as ‘news’? Do the TRP ratings really decide the course of editorial independence? If a pandemic and the health of humanity  cannot shake the conscience of the press, what can? This post is an appeal to the non-journalist more than the journalist, because, at the end of the day—you have the power to to decide.

Why does the news matter and why should you care?

  1. The answer to this question may seem obvious because it is intuitive and does not require processing complex information. If it doesn’t then I am here to tell you that the news matters because in a society, you matter—and, the news indirectly reflects the things that happen around you. Indirectly, in the sense that it’s second hand information you’re receiving. It is also important to understand that news is relative, and this is because the news means different things to different people. To the viewers and readers, the news is a platform for a voice, to demand and spread information and to exercise your freedom to speech and expression. To the government, the media can serve as a mouthpiece and a loudspeaker to inform the people regarding its policies or initiatives. But you and I are both aware that this the language that we use to ‘teach’ and ‘educate’ kids about the ‘role of a media in a democracy’. To the history buffs and students of political science, propaganda machinery sounds apt. To continue the thread, to the media outlets, the news means TRP ratings, which in turn translates to money. Although, they exist ( as far as a democracy is concerned) so that

  2. If you take a step back and look at how this system functions, it finally boils down to what people want to see and who decides what people want to see.In the words of Patti Smith, People Have the Power; In order to exercise the power, you need to be informed. Merely being aware of your right to question and exercise your freedom to speech and expression is one thing—practicing it and figuring out how to do so is more important. I do not know what the news was during the early 1900s, but the news today is dominated with worrisome headlines without shedding an iota of attention to something good happening. I get it, the world is at a bad place right now, but it helps if the news can reflect a silver lining once in a while.

  3. The reason you need to pay attention to what you read, watch and come across is because more often than not, exaggeration and deception is more convincing than you think. For instance, today, the Indian news channels report the news in an aggressive tone with jarring graphics dancing to dramatic tunes. If news were a person , its representation would shock its conscience, in the sense that, “ was I really that serious? ” the news would say. In the midst of the high border tensions with the Chinese, the outbreak of a flood and the dire state of the economy—should the murder case of a Bollywood Actor be allowed to supersede the general state of affairs? This does not mean do not report it. Of course, you do, but prioritizing this over everything else that is happening in midst of the pandemic is ridiculous. To put things into perspective, the state of healthcare workers never caught the attention of so many people; do not even get me started on the lack of reporting done regarding the access and affordability of masks. None of the Indian Journalists so far even raised a finger against the invisible elephant in the room: The Pharmaceutical lobbyists. I mean does the  need for regulation of prices regarding basic safety equipment ‘not qualify as National headlines?’ If the doctors and the nurses die because of lack of access to working safety protective equipment—who will help the rest of humanity.

  4. You know what the best part of all of this is? you do not need to be a ‘trained journalist!’. In my dictionary, there’s no such thing( not that my dictionary should be the universal standard. I mean to add some perspective, that’s all). All you need to do is pay a little attention to the details and more importantly, consciously care for such details. The access to information is not a privilege, it is a right—and you get to demand it. Raising uncomfortable questions requires courage. Especially, when these questions are raised against those people who tell you what is happening around you. Sure they aren’t wrong, but remember this: they don’t just edit the sentence structure or the typographical parts of it—they exercise a form of editorial independence, which lets them add or remove all things making news. By doing this, they are adding and removing information that helps you form an opinion. In other words, they are in the business of editing your perception.

DOES THAT MEAN YOU DON’T TRUST ANY NEWS REPORTED?

Nope. that’s a little bit on the extreme. All you have to do is read through multiple sources and gain different perspectives on the same issue. While one talks about Black lives Matter, the other tells you what history teaches us, and another might tell you it doesn’t. Your job is to scan through all, without any judgement—and once you’re done—you filter out the stuff. And then ask questions. By doing this you are not just being informed, you are bridging the gap between the edited lines of the news; ensuring that access to the right kind of information is made available. In addition, you should take the time to encourage the smaller chaps who do a decent job in bringing the state of affairs of your city to the people. At the end of the day, we are all part of the loop and are recipients of incomplete information.

Manufacturing faulty bricks: The Indian Education system

1. The outbreak of the Coronavirus ( politically incorrect?) has severely disrupted and hindered several institutions, including the Indian Education system. Between the increased mortalities by the virus, Indian- Chinese tensions and the breakdown in the economy, the education system is losing the battle of coping with transforming itself in the face of the virus. Come to think of it, educational institutes are supposed to equip kids with the necessary know-how of coping with disaster; the inability of the Indian education system to grapple with the current hurdles is a testament to: those who can’t do, teach.

2. Given the gravity of the situation, you may consider this a little too extreme and inconsiderate; after all, nobody knows the exact coordinates to navigate through these testing waters. And yes, this is not a problem that is localised to India, but is faced by educational authorities across the globe. So, what makes India’s education system an embarrassment to the field of imparting knowledge and encouraging the exploration of human brain? To this end, you will have to understand the kind of system Indian students are expected to learn in. It is against this backdrop, I will then highlight how the pandemic has accelerated the rate of its deteoration.

The compulsive obsession over status, science and routine

3. As a population, like most Asian nations, today, Indians live in a society that functions on the unwritten rule of: the want of status and reputation; and as a parent, you are bound to drag your kid into this. This means that the poor chaps must slog and score more than their classmates, relatives, neighbour’s kid and god-forbid some random child prodigy. Even if it means forcing the kid to forgo of their dreams, ambitions and general sense of direction in life. In a social setting, how the kid does translates into a higher reputation of the parents, because who doesn’t love a kid who is good, well-behaved and follows society’s guidelines? What happened to the pursuit of happiness and knowledge? Where’s the Bruce-Wayne-like curiosity? Who erased the actual meaning of learning?

4. The cause to the above effect is the design of the schooling system. If you are the average Joe that went to a government school for all your life, you’re screwed. This is how the system works: As a student, you have a fixed timetable with fixed exams till the age of 18. Most subjects are mandatory and are taught because they have to be taught and not because teachers want to teach it(unless your teacher is passionate about the subject, and there are a handful of them). For instance, English is taught without the fundamentals of grammar and punctuation (if you notice some severe mistakes in my punctuations, just remember: I was a student of the system). English is not taught to develop a sense of appreciation for literature, language and linguistics. Social Studies is written by the victors and they do a pathetic job. I mean if you are brainwashing the kids, the least you can do is narrate history in a way that is engaging, energetic and convinces children. For most students, learning advanced Science is the default field of study because that’s what their parents want. There is a reason why our country is known for its IT support.

5. For most Indian kids, to live an adult life means to attend a good school, get a degree from a good college, work and get married, have a couple of their own-sub humans. Adding the same kind of  fuel to the same systematic loop for their kids, and thus creating the Indian society.  An Indian kid in their 20s is drawn by the prospect of ‘working’, ‘earning’ and ‘working’. Being adventurous in your 20s, living according to your young spirits and exploring the boundaries of human knowledge is something only kids with open-minded parents do.

6. The underlying principle for this social behaviour can be attributed to the kind of pedagogy that forces you to rote-learn your information, much like that of the Chinese.Growing up,I have been told several times, nobody cares what you write as long as certain key words are included or sentences are present. Although you may have some really good teachers, everybody is forced to forego their definition of learning and follow the syllabus set by the education board so that the kid gets the numbers; because, at the end of the day, the system rewards those who have higher numbers. I forgot to mention that so far, we’ve been operating under the assumption that you are one the kids that not just has access to school, but has access to teachers. Withdrawing this assumption would take you to the state of affairs in most schools in India. A fundamental right in theory, the access to education is not convenient to most people. Not everybody in India can afford to send their kids to study, not everybody thinks that little girls can rule the world someday and even if they do, sometimes the so-called temples of knowledge are so far away that they don’t see the point of education as a long-term investment.

7. Why does all this matter? When you pick up an ice-cream bar only to realise that it is imported from Thailand makes you wonder about the state of human affairs. As a country, can we not make our own Ice-Cream? I do not know the numbers and what they indicate statistically, but if the label of everyday items tell you that it’s not made here—it has to be some sort of an indicator? I mean for god’s sake, how hard is it to manufacture ice-cream?. I mean if the system was designed to teach young kids that dreams and aspirations include making your own stuff, doing your own stuff, and thereby contribute to your society—the world would be a different place. We don’t encourage kids to become teachers, historians or musicians; we don’t remind our kids to recognise and value the history of our nation; and we, certainly do not give the freedom to our kids to teach themselves, discover and explore new paths of living. I have been more than fortunate enough to have one of the most open-minded set of parents I could ask for, but most Indian kids aren’t as lucky. With all this in mind, imagine the impact of the outbreak of the virus on such a system.

THE CENTRAL EDUCATION BOARD AND COVID-19

8. With schools and colleges closed, teaching has gone online. But here’s the thing, not everybody has access to the internet or equipment that supports the internet. The way most Indian students are taught is already a disaster, imagine extending this online. In addition, the trouble is at the most rudimentary level, teachers do not know how to use the tech toys, and the cherry on the icing is that they do not know how to learn to use it, which, brings us back to square one : those who can’t do, teach—and teach incorrectly. For reasons unknown, the government’s solution to addressing the challenges faced by schools is to reduce the syllabus that is taught and not to address the difficulties faced in the ability to access the syllabus. They are trying to solve a problem that does not exist. They are not in-touch with reality and somebody really has to spell it out in a way that they understand. Oh wait! We can’t do that because effective communication wasn’t something we were taught nor learned on our own. No wonder half of the laws of this country are lost in translation.

9. Well then, what should the government do? With one of the youngest population on the planet sitting at home while the world burns, there must be something they can do? Theory within the confines of the classrooms means nothing if the young college kids are crippled by fear and anxiety. Believe it or not, some states were insistent on holding final exams for students despite the outbreak of the virus, and naturally, the students who went to the exam centre, contracted the virus. Apparently, the nothing can stop exams, even if it jeopardises the existence of humanity. Does it really take a pandemic to highlight the deep-rooted flaws in our system? The access to a simple thing like a decent education should not be a luxury despite it being a necessity. The impact of the lack of access to good education is the situation that currently floats. Most Indian kids with an Indian education can resonate with being another brick in the wall of society, except, this wall is tumbling…