SAJAforum

GALA: JAI SINGH, A Believer in The Promise of Online Reporting

Editor's Note: At this year's SAJA Gala Awards & Scholarship Dinner, three of the most senior South Asian Journalists in the United States were asked to appear on a panel called "View from the Top". Two of them - Madhulika Sikka, executive producer of NPR's Morning Edition; and Raju Narisetti, managing editor of the Washington Post - are winners of this year's SAJA Journalism Leader Award, given for outstanding leadership. The third speaker, Jai Singh, won the SAJA Journalism Leader Award, in 2003, along with Rena Golden, then head of CNN International and the late Peter Jennings.

SAJAforum student bloggers talked to the SAJA Gala Dinner panelists ahead of the event. Here are excerpts from the interview with Jai Singh. Read the ones with Sikka here and Narisetti here.

Interview by Pia Sawhney, summer intern at International Crisis Group and a documentary film director. She is pursuing a master's degree in public policy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

At 19, when Jai Singh talked of a career in journalism, friends and family discouraged him, calling his choice impractical and esoteric.

"I was an anomaly," Singh said in an interview from his office in New York City. "When I started my career, there weren't too many Indians studying journalism. My parents worried whether I would be able to put food on the table."

Singh, managing editor at The Huffington Post, has done better that that. He has weathered a turbulent tide that has roiled the industry over the past decade, and found new ways to blend his penchant for storytelling with emerging digital platforms.

Singh began as a reporter at The Eagle, the newspaper at American University. He was the paper's editor. After graduating from college, Singh worked the cop beat and tracked City Hall ledgers in Washington, D.C. Then he took a left turn, joining an early digital publication in 1984 incubated by Reader's Digest magazine. The outlet produced stories in electronic format. He later became Editor-In-Chief of the technology news team at CNET.com where he was responsible for overseeing reports published in real-time. 

"I knew, while I was at CNET.com, the internet would take off," Singh said. "I didn't know exactly how or when, but I knew it would happen."

Since then, he has been part of the evolution of online journalism. He firmly believes that developing successful online reporting models are simply a matter of time.

GALA: RAJU NARISETTI On COVERING NEWS IN INDIA AND THE U.S.

Editor's Note: At this year's SAJA Gala Awards & Scholarship Dinner, three of the most senior South Asian Journalists in the United States were asked to appear on a panel called "View from the Top". Two of them - Madhulika Sikka, executive producer of NPR's Morning Edition; and Raju Narisetti, managing editor of the Washington Post - are winners of this year's SAJA Journalism Leader Award, given for outstanding leadership. The third speaker, Jai Singh, won the SAJA Journalism Leader Award, in 2003, along with Rena Golden, then head of CNN International; and the late Peter Jennings.

SAJAforum student bloggers talked to the SAJA Gala Dinner panelists ahead of the event. Here are excerpts from the interview with Raju Narisetti. Read the ones with Singh here and Sikka here.

Interview by Shanti Venkataraman.

Raju Narisetti is a journalist who frequently makes news himself.

In 2006, the veteran The Wall Street Journal editor decided to move to India to launch a business newspaper in a highly competitive market that already had four flourishing business dailies. In 2008, he made news again when he returned to the U.S. as the managing editor of The Washington Post.

Ahead of the SAJA Gala on July 24, 2010, Raju Narisetti offered us his view from the top. Here are excerpts from an interview with SAJA Forum blogger Shanthi Venkataraman:

How is it to be back in the US, after your experience of launching Mint in India? Has your perspective of journalism, and the news we cover, changed?

The three years I spent in India were actually that of real adjustment after spending 20 years in American journalism. If I had to do it all over again, I would do it in a heartbeat. You can spend a lifetime here and never get the chance to launch something new and see it grow well. It was immensely satisfying experience, and Mint continues to do well. Just this month, it launched another edition in Ahmedabad, India. And it just broke even, three years after its launch and that, too, in a global recession. For it to be recognized as a paper with quality, ethics and analysis – that accomplishes everything that I set out to do.

 What was your experience with the media industry there?

Obviously the industry was completely different. It is a dynamic industry. Unlike here circulation and advertising there is growing in the double digits. The business side of the media is doing really well. On the journalism end of it: multiple choices have not necessarily led to a substantial increase in quality of journalism. The industry is in a transition phase, though and Mint is evidence that quality journalism and analysis has value.

UK: BBC Asian Network on the Chopping Block?

When the BBC Asian Network was launched back in 2002 as a nationwide digital radio station throughout Britain, the BBC's then-radio director, Jenny Abramsky, called it "one of the most important things the BBC has ever done."  Since then, the Asian Network has developed a loyal following, both in Britain and, via the internet, around the world.

[Because of immigration patterns, "Asian" is the UK word for South Asians.]

Today, however, the Asian Network's future is very much in doubt. On the eve of British general elections, a strategy review by BBC management proposes major changes in the BBC's operations -- including the closure of the Asian Network (and another network, BBC 6 Music) altogether.

CONV: Revisiting The Mumbai Attacks

[ See all SAJA@15 Convention & Career Expo coverage ]

A few hours into coverage of the Mumbai Attacks – something didn’t feel quite right to a lot of viewers.

There seemed to be almost too much coverage. This was a key topic of discussion at a session with Dan Harris of ABC, Indira Kannan with CNN-IBN and Samanth Subramaniam from MINT as panelists at the SAJA convention.

“Media circus” and “security breach” became the buzz words. As the coverage continued, viewers began to express their dismay and anger on the Web. One of the first forums online was the Facebook group “Can you please take Barkha off air,” referring to reporter Barkha Dutt who covered the attacks for NDTV of India.

The group's "wall" was filled with messages about “irresponsible and insensitive journalism” and reporters trying to be celebrities.

ABC's Harris (above) said the Indian media had done a good job of covering the attack, and all media outlets do make mistakes while covering big stories. A case in point, he said, was the American media’s dismal reporting in the run up to the Iraq war.

Part of the problem, all three journalists noted, was the mismanagement by the government. Reporters found themselves in a “chaotic mess” where there was no point person or organized way of receiving accurate information from the authorities.  

One reporter in the audience noted that the Indian media should be applauded and not censured for their extensive coverage.

Mint's Subramanian (below) said that the coverage involved a lot of irresponsible statements being made on air such as  Pakistani flags were being flown in Muslim neighborhoods of Mumbai, and journalists blaming the attacks on Pakistan prior to any investigation.

The initial momentum failed to hold up. While the posts continue on Facebook about the attacks, follow-up coverage by media outlets has been lukewarm, the panelists said. 

Subramaniam pointed out that only two print publications were regularly following the trial of Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, one of the accused attackers.

“We haven’t learnt anything,” Subramanian said.

Photos by Preston Merchant

CONV: Peter Bhatia Says Web Opens Up Options For Print Media

[See all SAJA@15 Convention & Career Expo coverage ]

EDITOR'S NOTE: In celebration of SAJA's 15th anniversary, we talked to senior journalists who have been with the organization since its early days. In these profiles, they share a bit of themselves and their association with SAJA. 

Peter Bhatia, executive editor of The Oregonian, was always a journalist. As a 12-year old, he published his own neighborhood paper with stories about what kids in the neighborhood were upto. Bhatia worked at student papers while in school and college.

“The public service aspect of [journalism] really appealed to me,” he said. 

And this he says doesn't change. Bhatia sees a role for newspaper even in the face of increasing pessimism about the fate of print media.

“We now have the opportunity to do different things, infinite space to display work on the Web,” he said. “It expands the portfolio of what we can offer. A well-written story on print still has currency and audience.”

Bhatia has been with SAJA since the organization's inception.

“SAJA opens up a broad world of really interesting and talented people,” he said. “It’s made it possible to have broader discussions rooted in some common heritage and allowed me to interact with some very smart people and expanded my view of what journalism can be.”

CONV: SAJA TO OFFER TIPS ON SURVIVING THE DOWNTURN

[ See all SAJA@15 Convention & Career Expo coverage ]

SAJA is 15 this year, and is revving up for a special anniversary convention and career fair on July 10-11 in New York City. Buy your tickets today at SAJAconvention.org.

Aparita Bhandari, SAJA's vice president and chairwoman of the 15th Anniversary And International Convention, shared some of the highlights of the event to student blogger Newly Paul.

The SAJA convention is designed to help journalists face the realities of today’s newsroom amidst the economic downturn and job losses, Bhandari said.

One of the main intentions of the convention is to give journalists skills necessary to survive the current environment. It’s no surprise then that new media guru Jeff Jarvis will deliver the opening keynote speech at the convention. Other speakers will discuss reporting for a multimedia platform, using social networking tools to remain competitive and relevant, and the art of creating a blog.

“This (new media) is where the industry is headed, and this is what we should be looking at,” Bhandari said. “At the same time there’s something to be said for storytelling techniques,…you need to know your basics to be a good reporter.”

That’s where discussions about long-form writing come in. For those in broadcast, there’s a workshop by Steven Wadhams, a senior radio producer at CBC/Radio Canada, who will discuss compelling storytelling techniques for radio.   

Freelance writing is another major theme at the convention.

“Given that newsrooms are shrinking, freelancing is something quite a few people are looking at,” Bhandari said. “This is something you could potentially make a life out of, if you know how to go about it the right way.” Attendees can look forward to Voice of America’s South Asian bureau chief Steven Herman’s session on the challenges and opportunities for freelancers in that region.

One of the most interesting things about the convention is the broad range of speakers.

“The one thing we don’t want his convention to be, is old-school or pedantic,” Bhandari said. “A lot of younger journalists are leading the charge today and we like to showcase some of the work they are doing.”

For instance, one of the speakers Anup Kaphle is a recent graduate, who currently is reporting in Afghanistan through a SAJA fellowship.

“The news business is evolving, and while we want to hear from the veterans, we also want to hear from younger people and their techniques for dealing with challenges in the newsroom,” Bhandari said.

Suitably, Dr. Reza Aslan, one of the world’s leading experts on religion and a columnist at the Daily Beast, will offer the closing keynote remarks.

“We’ve tried to strike a balance—you get access to networking opportunities and know what’s happening in the industry,” Bhandari said. “It’s all about advocating nuanced coverage and talking about the realities of today.”

PAKISTAN: The press pushes back against the Zardari gov't (Q&A)

[A guest post by Maha Atal, who works for Forbes and blogs here.]

Once a week, I go to my grandmother's apartment to watch Pakistani TV stations via satellite. Like many Pakistani-American families, we have spent the past two years glued to our screens as lawyers, politicians and citizens agitated for the restoration of the judiciary, disbanded by then-President Pervez Musharraf in 2007. Meanwhile, just as Pakistanis were tuning in, Musharraf and his civilian successors increased regulation of the televised and print media. Journalists ventured onto new media platforms and my mother and I spent many hours following the protests on news websites like GEO.tv, and when these too were restricted, on social media platforms like YouTube. Sometimes, we saw content from activists who used the web to promote their cause; sometimes, we saw journalists wander into the fray to cover it, and occasionally, to insert themselves into the protests. Now that the Chief Justice and the judiciary system have been restored, I asked Ayesha Tammy Haq, host of 24Seven on BusinessPlusTV what the convergence means for Pakistan's Fourth Estate.

SAJAforum: In some sense, there have been two protest movements underway here, one to free the judiciary and one to free the press. But the line between them is pretty thin, since many journalists have been active cheerleaders of and participants in the lawyers' marches and rallies. Can you describe how this happened? 

HAQ: When this started [in November 2007], an independent press was a relatively new phenomenon in Pakistan. We didn’t have a formal code of conduct yet. The journalists and young reporters who went out to cover the movement were sympathetic as they saw it as a force for change. The clampdown on the press brought them in to direct confrontation with the state hence their active role [in the events covered].

So the press became fairly partisan. During the marches, the producers would keep the frame tight so they never showed gaps in the crowd. People were killed in the streets in Karachi, but the media never showed the bad side.

The Daily Times did a whole series about whether the movement should be transitionist or transformationist. They became active participants not because they were marching with the lawyers but by using [their coverage] to shape government policy and saw this as their role. It was a conceptual movement.

Is there any concern about journalists giving up their objective stance to become newsmakers?

UK: BBC Journalists to Strike Over Proposed "Offshoring" of South Asia Services

Journalists from across all services of the BBC have resolved to hold two one-day strikes next month, prompted in large part by plans to "offshore" operations for the BBC World Service's Hindi, Nepali, and Urdu programming to Delhi, Kathmandu, and Islamabad. From the Guardian:

TV, radio and online news will be disrupted on Friday 3 April and Thursday 9 April after nearly 800 members of the National Union of Journalists chapel at the BBC today voted in favour of industrial action in a national ballot.

More than 1,100 of the union's nearly 4,000 members at the corporation took part in the vote, 77% of whom voted in favour of a strike.

The most urgent threat of compulsory cuts is at the World Service's South Asian section, where up to 20 members are at risk, the union has said. Staff in Scotland are also understood to be under threat.

The NUJ general secretary, Jeremy Dear, said: "Journalists at the South Asian services have been fighting a heroic struggle against the outsourcing of their jobs ... now they have the weight of thousands of NUJ members at the BBC behind them." [link]

In late February, journalists within the South Asia services held their own one-day strike to protest the proposed restructuring. In addition to worrying about lost jobs in London, the journalists fear that shifting operations to the subcontinent would compromise the quality and independence of the BBC's coverage:

Staff are concerned that moving production of these BBC language services abroad will result in poorer output and a loss of independence which is integral to the BBC World Service.

One member commented: “If the BBC’s succeeds in imposing change, the tendency will be for the output to become more and more India-centric, in the case of the India service, as they try to compete with local FM broadcasters.

“This moves away from the World Service’s USP: impartial news with a global perspective. Why should the British taxpayer end up paying for a local Indian radio station?” [link]

The International Federation of Journalists has echoed these concerns, asserting that "the BBC management's off-shoring plans will put at risk seventy years of first-class journalism and expose their journalists to political and commercial pressures beyond their control." On the eve of last month's one-day strike, John McDonnell, a Labour MP for west London, elaborated upon these concerns even further:

OUTSOURCING: SAJA debate on editorial outsourcing to India

EDITOR'S NOTE: In addition to Sabrina's report, please see video here and here (shot by Pracheta Sharma)

 

On January 27, 2009, the South Asian Journalists Association, The Southern Asian Institute and The New York Press Club co-hosted a debate on editorial outsourcing to India. "Outsourcing News: Boon or Boondoggle"  brought together panelists who supported and opposed the growing trend of shifting media jobs to India.

James Macpherson, one of the panelists and publisher of PasadenaNow.com, made headlines for his website’s use of India-based journalists. In November, Maureen Dowd profiled him in an article titled, “A Penny for my thoughts?” and in 2007 over 30 major publications covered his decision to begin hiring journalists in India to cover Pasadena city council meetings via webcast. Macpherson was joined by other panelists Robert Berkeley, CEO of Express KCS and Tony Joseph, CEO of Mindworks Global. Express KCS and Mindworks Global provide editorial production services from India to media companies around the world.

On the opposing side, it was panelist Anthony Ramirez, a 19-year New York Times veteran that was most vocal about his enmity to editorial outsourcing, who referred to Macpherson and the other panelists as, “Lucifer and his minions.” Bruce Lambert, 21-year Times veteran and Phil Pilato, editor and news writer for 1010 WINS radio also sat by side in opposition to the idea.

MEDIA: Q&A with media critic Sevanti Ninan on the Mumbai attacks coverage

[ See SAJA's full coverage of the Mumbai attacks, including our webcasts ]

In the immediate aftermath of the Mumbai attacks, we asked Sevanti Ninan, media columnist and editor of The Hoot, to give us her thoughts on the coverage. At the time, she was too busy, but the uproar over the Indian media's coverage hasn't subsided so we put some questions to her last week.

Some background: There's an ongoing debate in India over whether the government should impose greater controls on the media. Additionally, several prominent journalists are under constant attack from people who felt the media either did a poor job, or even worse, aided the terrorists during the operation by broadcasting sensitive information.

NDTV's Barkha Dutt, who seemed to report nonstop throughout the ordeal, has been taking constant heat since the attacks, from prominent pieces in The Telegraph and the Christian Science Monitor to a Facebook campaign ("Barkha Dutt for worst senior journalist on the planet" has 1,748 members now). She also has lots of fans who have come to her defense, but recently another controversy emerged over Dutt/NDTV's threats of legal action against a blogger who criticized her. As this Hoot article makes clear, the blogger retracted his original post and conceded that it had been "untrue and defamatory." Dutt and NDTV have been accused of trying to stifle free speech.

In that context, we caught up with Sevanti Ninan. We also asked her a couple questions about the state of the Indian media, which is now seeing a downturn after a period of intense growth.

SAJAforum: What do you think are the more constructive criticisms to have emerged of the media, in the wake of the Mumbai attacks?

NINAN: That it should be far more restrained in its live coverage, that it should be aware of the import of the information it is dishing out in an unfolding crisis, that its editorial bosses should be in the studio directing sensitive coverage and not out in the field reporting breaking news, because no one  in the studio is  senior enough to rein them in when they go overboard. That it is neither the place of  TV reporters and anchors  to editorialise constantly while reporting, nor to war monger or promote ridicule of politicians.And that there should restraint in labelling the news, and trying to queer the pitch with slogans like "enough is enough."