Date:05/05/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/05/stories/2008050558350200.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

‘Media, higher judiciary still enjoy people’s confidence’

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: Flinging their tassels and graduation caps into the air, this bunch of future journalists, are all set to take on the world and uphold the journalistic principles that Editor-in-Chief of Outlook and chief guest Vinod Mehta spoke about at the convocation ceremony of the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media held here on Saturday.

As many as 54 students were awarded postgraduate diplomas in print, broadcast and online journalism. As they stood at the threshold of their careers, Mr. Mehta wished them luck and asked them to approach their profession with intensity, passion and the desire to set things right. He gave away prizes for best print and television student to Gayathri Vaidyanathan and Vaishnavi Vittal respectively.

‘Get basics right’

Mr. Mehta implored students to get the basics of journalism right and not be weary of politicians and public relations people. Besides the boom in the media — antithetical to market trends elsewhere in the world — Mr. Mehta said it was a good time to enter a profession viewed as “the last hope” by many. “I feel all our democratic institutions are failing and have no credibility. Only the media and the higher judiciary still enjoy the confidence of the people,” he said.

Dismissing sting operations as lazy journalism, Mr. Mehta said good journalism involved talking to people, cultivating sources and cross-checking facts.

He urged the students not to be enamoured of such methods and step away from the need to provide instant gratification to audiences through their reports. Mr. Mehta also advised them to take up print journalism and learn how to do a report thoroughly. “Television does not give you the scope to do a well-researched report. No one remembers your byline on television unlike in print,” he said.

‘Be professional’

While it is natural to have views or inclinations, your work should be tempered by professionalism, he said. “News, you must remember, is something, someone, somewhere doesn’t want published,” he concluded.