By Our Spl correspondent
Shillong: When the founders of JM (Journalism Mentor) Foundation for Excellence in Journalism, Mumbai, senior journalists Shishir Joshi and Dr Aloke Thakore said they would install two scholarships each for aspiring students of journalism from Meghalaya, Nagaland and Manipur for a 12 month intensive course in the theory and practice of journalism, many wondered why they were concerned about distant North East India.
The Shillong Times connected with the duo to find out more about JMF as it is commonly called and what has spurred the two philanthropists to take up this non-profit venture. Incidentally JMF also provides workshops in Citizen Journalism (CJ) across the country. They had scheduled one for Shillong sometime in June this year but it had to be postponed due to certain reasons.
The workshops not only acquaint participants with the laws that impact their life (civic, police, press, PILs, RTI, Lokpal and consumer laws) but also inform them about journalistic ethics, how to gather and verify facts, how to ask relevant questions and to whom. Eventually workshop participants are taught to write a news article “Citizen journalism acquired the accoutrements of a movement in the early 2000s, particularly in the US,” points out veteran journalist Shishir Joshi. “But the origins of citizen journalism are as old as journalism, when pamphlets and reports were issued by citizens. Some of the most powerful pieces of journalistic writing can be traced back to the initiatives of citizens as reporters, not reporters as professionals.”
Talking to this correspondent about the 12-month course, Joshi said, “It is our belief that a good journalist is not born but trained and that no one should miss out on good education because he/she could not pay for it.”
Highlighting the quintessential role of Citizen Journalism, Joshi says it is an informed expression by citizens, of issues impacting their lives, using either the mainstream media or social media, in their various forms. “It is a citizen’s style of expressing a piece of information in a verified manner as opposed to unsubstantiated story telling,” Joshi observed.
According to Joshi, Citizen Journalism prises open issues which mainstream journalism could sideline for various reasons. “CJ is largely unfettered. Hence, there are no ‘market’ pressures to kill a good story, or water down relevant information,” he added.
Pointing out that in India there are several instances where mainstream media have been compelled to pick up issues underscored by social media, which they would not have done due to market or management pressures, Joshi said Citizen Journalism is here to stay and play a critical, complementing role.
When asked why the duo have plunged into a venture which major media houses have stayed away from, Joshi refused to be drawn into the controversy. He said, “I am sure there are many who are doing superlative work in various fields but which may have gone unnoticed.
Both Aloke and I believe that education can and should have a good revenue model, but it should not be a ‘business’.
About the objectives of JMF Joshi emphasized that Journalism requires the best teaching and best teachers. “Our mandate remains that there would be no age barrier, no language barrier and above all that, no one deserving, would be deprived of education, for want of money,” Joshi added.
On the term journalism mentor, Joshi quipped, “Mentoring is when people who have gathered vast experience, hand-hold those in the same profession or endeavour. We found a huge gap between what is taught and what is practiced. That is primarily because many of those who are in journalism education do not have the right combination of academic and professional competence that is needed for good journalism.”
When asked to define good journalism, Joshi responded that there is nothing like bad journalism. He however asserted that there are rules of journalism which if not followed violate the very idea of journalism, adding that every self respecting journalist ought to follow that primary objective.
Dr Aloke Thakore commenting on social media and citizen journalism said, “Social media is a many-to-many communication model, while traditional media is a one-to-many activity. So the reach, response, and immediacy of social media cannot be matched by traditional mass media.”
Thakore explained that citizen journalism is not about using only social media. It is about using a media channel that is cheap enough for citizens to reach out to people. “If there are some citizens in a neighbourhood who put out a wall newspaper about local issues and concerns, that is Citizen Journalism,” Thakore observed adding that JMF offers a place on the web where citizens participate and they only facilitate the process.