Challenges To Honest Journalism Before, During & After Emergency: A Scribe바카라�s Account

Octogenarian mediaperson P. Raman has brought out a book that is not about late PM Indira Gandhi or her post-Emergency successor Morarji Desai or even about the ever-fascinating labyrinths of politics in his vast and multi-culture nation. Of course such characters and events appear as passing vignettes, but the 212-page work is focally about the history of the media in post-Independent India. For all the honest and hard work he has put in as a political writer for a dozen newspapers and weeklies, the author of The Post-Truth Media바카라�s Survival Sutra slots himself as a 바카라�footsoldier바카라� in the burgeoning army of professionals out to disseminate news and views on current developments바카라�with or without a historical/futuristic perspective.

It바카라�s more than just a curious story, thus, when Raman recalls his 1980 trail as a correspondent for a leading English newspaper covering Indira바카라�s campaign in a western pocket of the country. 바카라�Everyone had written her off as a spent force,바카라� notes Raman in the book바카라�s second chapter titled Reporters바카라� Travails. The temperamental Congress stalwart was to give a speech in Gujarat바카라�s Baroda after having chosen Valsad (then Bulsar, under which Bhadeli village was the birthplace of Morarji) as her 바카라�launch pad바카라� to power that had eluded her for two years and four months. Just ahead of that evening바카라�s rally, Raman managed to secure a copy of the synopsis from one of Indira바카라�s security personnel바카라�and chose to take a 바카라�big risk바카라�: he got a report punched at the nearby telegraph office after befriending an operator.

Post sunset, at the venue where the ex-PM was to speak, Indira was at her 바카라�aggressive best바카라� on 바카라�seeing a massive crowd바카라�. Her 바카라�fiery speech turned out to be game changer in politics바카라� and 바카라�gave her the confidence of a fight-back바카라� after the 바카라�absurd바카라� Janata Party regime by Morarji and then Charan Singh as the PM. Ensuring that the Indira speech had stuck to the synopsis, Raman, at around 10 pm, rushed back to the telegraph office바카라�he had positioned himself at the end of the maidan (and not sat at the press enclosure) to save time wading through the post-rally crowd. The journalist got the pre-punched tape released. The next morning, while even local dailies failed to carry the landmark speech, its details came in 바카라�full thrust바카라� in Patriot for which Raman was working.

The anecdote is about the toil of a typical journalist of the India before its communications revolution, as much as it is about professional diligence. All the same, the author points out that he has 바카라�taken meticulous care to shun official patronage and inducements바카라�, while also taking a 바카라�conscientious decision바카라� in 1986 along with three fellow journalists: never to aspire for a position beyond the level of bureau chief. A Delhiite Malayali, Raman notes how even the 바카라�daily chores바카라� of a reporter at the capital were arduous: For routine stories you had to rush back to the office, sit at a heavy typewriter and type out the reports in triplicate. Any major midcourse correction or addition meant you had to retype the whole sheet.... Unlike today, you could not make a few clicks and send the stories on the mobile.바카라�

(P Raman)

That way, one can sense the excitement of a journalist when Raman narrates the facilities the 1984 AICC Calcutta session (Indira바카라�s last) where the press room had 바카라�rows of STD phones, all functioning바카라�. What바카라�s more, the eastern metro had newspaper offices, including The Indian Express for which Raman was then working, connected with 바카라�regular direct teleprinter lines바카라�. At Calcutta, the journalists covering AICC event were 바카라�fighting in public for five-star accommodation바카라�, their 바카라�fathers바카라� at the grand old party바카라�s 1955 Avadi session (near Madras, where Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, along with party colleagues including Morarji, declared socialism as the Congress바카라�s goal) 바카라�had comfortably slept on the bare bamboo cots, bathed under the open makeshift taps바카라� while eating the 바카라�camp food바카라�.

A year later, the AICC Bombay session of 1985 under Indira바카라�s son Rajiv Gandhi saw a quantum jump in the facilities for the media. To Raman, it also marked two novel trends in his field: women began doing hardcore political reporting and Parliament (a far cry from them largely remaining lowly sub-editors or doing soft beats) and there was a rise in the power of the regional press, whose reports in regional dailies began influencing the Delhi Durbar바카라�s attitude. As for the second, the 바카라�new crop of Hindi journalists, smart and skilful바카라�, were products of Jayaprakash Narayan바카라�s anti-Emergency struggles, during which 바카라�emerged an activist generation, fairly well read and with a sharp political antenna.바카라�

As a tacit spinoff of it, this also led to 바카라�local angle바카라� becoming the 바카라�lifeline바카라� for regional correspondents in Delhi. Raman recounts a possibly apocryphal story where a Marathi newspaper바카라�s reporter in the national capital was late in learning about Sanjay Gandhi바카라�s death in an air crash in his city (on June 23, 1980), but managed to compensate the laxity by filing a report which highlighted that the controversial Congress leader was in his final moments wearing 바카라�Kolhapuri chappals바카라�바카라�a traditional brand of footwear from the western state.

Such streaks of humour바카라�a quality that was a feature of also the author바카라�s Marxist ideologue uncle E.M.S. Namboodiripad, Kerala바카라�s first chief minister바카라�keeps lighting up the work, published by Aakar Books. In a latter-half chapter titled The Crusader Journos, Raman speaks of the 바카라�big shock바카라� he got in 1993 while he was settling his accounts with Bennet, Coleman & Company after having quit as the political editor of The Economic Times to join Business Standard. A car that TOI correspondent Subhash Kirpekar began driving in the 1980, replacing his scooter on which Raman often rode pillion, was rumoured to be a gift from Congress party바카라�s influential A.R. Antulay. But, as Raman was completing his post-resignation formalities with TOI, he found Kirpekar바카라�s name in the office car loan ledger.

The Rs-500 book, split into 16 chapters, carries a foreword by ex-editor Sanjaya Baru, who was media advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, besides laudatory comments by veteran journalists Sashi Kumar and Sevanti Ninan and former Union minister Jairam Ramesh.