The Print media is done and dead. The Modi government is held responsible for this brutal end. This is what most people would say. It is certainly true to some extent but aren’t there any more reasons behind it?
Are you sure?
I have worked for the English newspapers and tabloids for about twenty odd years, so I can only portray the views coming from there.
We, the Indians consider speaking English fluently as the benchmark of literacy. Funny but true.
I have been to the slums many a times with the reporters for stories but always got overwhelmed when they asked questions to the slum dwellers in English. I believe it is mandatory to talk in English if you represent an English tabloid irrespective of the fact whether the person in front doesn’t understand it, swag is essential.
Coming to assignments that doesn't fit the bill. If the story does not appeal the reporter will take the liberty of talking to the person concerned over the phone and impose the task of getting the perfect picture for their story on the photographer. They will never forget to ask the photographers to get not only the pictures but some contacts from the spot. They were doing the right thing, since only the front page stories are the one which matters, who cares about the inside page stories?
The next are the desk guys. I call them illiterate literates who knows only the nitty gritties of the English language and nothing else. Since they know English, they are supposed to know everything in the world. Please take the offence if it sounded offensive. I was in MetroNow, a tabloid in Delhi which is a history now. There was a senior desk guy, who would never give byline to the photographers except the one from his own hometown, irrespective of the photographer though. After a series of such incidents, I calmly offered him ten rupees (he was not even that worthy)to give byline in photographs that I have shot. I hope he has developed the habit by now. That person nowadays writes paragraphs after paragraph on the misdeeds of Modi, a different story altogether. But in general, the desk people don’t bother to give bylines to the photographers, rather treat them as space fillers. These people have zero knowledge about photography but if you ask them, they can talk at length why they don’t want to use a particular photograph. Who wants to know?
Vox Pop, one of the shitty things one can find in a newspaper. Its nothing but peoples comment on a particular topic which they don’t know. In every newspaper you would find such things after every big incident, please don’t trust them. These are in general given to the interns to look after. To save time, they put names of their friends and a comment that suits right. They were following the protocol again, how does it matter? who is going to check the authenticity of those shitty comments?
Earlier days, photo department in a newspaper house used to be a very important department led by some really great photographers. Those were the days.
Now, Art director directs a photo editor. People like Gupta ji in HT who knows nothing about photography but is always around to pass an expert comment. From an A/C room he would direct a photographer who is standing under the scorching heat of the sun for hours. He decides the fate of the photographers too. If you know how to design then what's the big deal to judge a photograph? They are doing the right thing. It suits them.
All the senior photographers are not great people. They will always talk about ethics and all. I have seen my boss an ex-foreign agency guy doing manipulations (a major one) on his own photographs so that it could make it on the front page, unfortunately that photo was the next day lead. He is a lecture freak. There are photo editors who never goes out of their room leaves their seat even for a good photograph. A good cloud through his window? Send a photographer to capture the cloudy day. Once I was sent for an off season rain photograph. I came back badly drenched and hardly managed to get a good photograph. My boss’s first word was, “is your camera ok ?”. Obviously they were doing the right thing, photo editors should never bring out their own cameras but lecture.
Once upon a time I was transferred to Bengaluru HT. We had no edition there but they might have sent me for fun. I was asked to cover the entire South India, can you imagine the responsibility given to me? No you can’t, people from Delhi flew over to Kerala for flood coverage and I kept asking for approval. Me and my reporter colleague Vikram tried our best to cover the all important Karnataka assembly elections, but they sent a non Kannada speaking person to interview a non Hindi / English guy. They were absolutely right, so what if they don’t understand each other’s language. Anyways he is going to write what his/her master says, right?
I was sent to cover Uttarakhand flash flood in 2013. After a couple of days my office totally forgot that they had sent someone to cover the deluge. I had to call my office and tell them after filing photographs. Don’t get me wrong, they were absolutely right. Health report of Big B’s pet is more important than anything else.
If you write any thing (must not be wrong) against any politician who is close to the owner of the newspaper house, won’t get much time to grab all his belongings from his desk before the slip turns pink. But if you are close enough to them? You will get a pat on your back for something done by others too. Its very much ok, friendships matters!
Another new things is, marketing guy in newsroom meetings. The person who once sold FMCG products would decide news before the editor gives a nod to it.
However all of the above factors are not responsible for the downfall of Print Media, but Modi is.
You must be thinking, I might have looked at things from the negative point of view or may be I am a failure? May be I am a bit jealous. Or may be I am a Modi bhakt, which is a crime in today's time.
Yesterday, I have shared an old unpublished photo from my archive and a friend asked me why so many of your good photographs remain unpublished? You must have had a bad rapport with your boss?
“I had a lower back pain, I replied , so I could not bend down enough to lick their boots”, you see.
Text and Photo : ARIJIT SEN
Edited by : RAJASHREE SEN