Originally Published on15-07-2008 in indiainteracts.com
The first aim of the journalist is to interest; of the historian it is to instruct – of course the good journalist and the good historian try to do both, said A. J .P. Taylor, the noted historian. I am not so sure of good history-writing, but there is a lot of good journalism happening these days in India, the kind of journalism that not only draws the readers, but also stimulates them for social action.
Last week’s special issue of India Today (July 07, 2008) is a befitting example of this new brand of social journalism. In the introductory note to the issue devoted to the ‘Spirit of India: 50 pioneers of change’, Aroon Purie, the Editor-in-Chief, wrote: “Every day, all of us in the news business find ourselves surrounded by bad news: war, terrorism, natural disasters, national tragedies, economic crises. Yet, in a world full of adversity and hardship, we also know that people everywhere respond, and respond with great positivity, to the smallest stories of human endeavour. In a world of bad news, it is as if these stories about change for the better, about small acts of goodness enable people to renew their own faith in the future. It is with this in mind that India Today has decided to launch a series of special issues in 2008 celebrating the Spirit of India. We want to recognize and celebrate perseverance, optimism and unsung achievements that are to be found in this country.“
Here, unsung is the key word. After all, India Today has had a series of special issues on the powerful people of India, which invariably featured the usual suspects: those who had made it big, often by illegitimate means. They have always been the toast of the media, because with their swank cars, designer clothes and night-is-young parties, they are the staple of interesting news.
It was not that India Today was the only one to follow this path; the Times of India (TOI), the country’s highest circulated English daily, had at one point of time embargoed any news item that had anything to do with the poor, the starving or the tribes or anything the like as its market research team was seized of the insight that a majority of the readers of this elite newspaper did not want depressing news on its pages.
For quite some time, the TOI tried to be interesting, without being instructional. Presenting information in an entertaining way became its buzzword. Laxman’s Common Man, continued to provide food for thought, but the sorrows and agonies of the man on the street were virtually banished from the paper.
This was a phase when the publishers of the Times of India raked in a lot of money; the paper’s circulation increased manifold, but, as it turned out, it became a soulless behemoth. And the owners of the Times of India were soon to realize it. And then began the metamorphosis. Its obsession with the rich, the powerful and the sleaze, which was central to the newspaper, was relegated to the sidelines, to its glitzy supplements. The main newspaper recast itself, grappling with the issues and concerns of the lay man (and the woman), propelling the administration to act on their behalf.
Some may say that this is not radical enough; but, anyway, radical journalism is not the stuff of the mainstream media. If a newspaper succeeds in informing, and thereby empowering, the deprived sections to lay claim to their rights, it is a great tribute for its calling.
The turnaround came about not in the Times of India alone. There are many others who followed suit. The India Today seems to have joined the league for practising what Taylor called good journalism. Highlighting the unsung heroes is a testimony to it; it has marked a departure from the elitist perspective that the journal pursued for decades.
But, at the same time, one is constrained to say that strands of elitism persist, even in this special issue. The first person to be featured, in the galaxy of the 50, is Abhayanand, a senior police officer in Bihar who has played an important part in the Super 30 success story.
Sangharsh India 