Parvathy Gopalakrishnan
PHILOSOPHER, IMPOSTOR AND GREAT TEACHER
“I am an imposter. I don’t know what journalism is. I want to learn something. 40 years of ignorance has to end somewhere”, said Jug Suraiya, the inimitable humorist and Associate Editor of The Times of India. He was talking to journalism students at TSJ on Thursday.
The session began with an enquiry of what we had learnt so far. In response to several answers, he affirmed, “One of the best ways to recognize whether you have learnt something is to teach someone.”
He raised some very significant questions: “Are journalists disembodied spirits or are they a part of the community? Are they split personalities? Is journalism cramming opinion down the throats of people?” The answer according to him was, “Journos are like triangles with four angles.”
“Everyone looks at things through the prism of their own experiences, prides and prejudices.” Therefore a certain amount of subjectivity is bound to exist even in the most objective and unbiased reports.
Speaking about the freedom of press he said, “There can never be such a thing called freedom of expression. The journalist’s freedom is circumscribed by the establishment he or she works with.”
“A journalist is first and foremost a reader, listener and viewer. These are the ingredients of a good journalist.”
And his parting shot: "I have to go back and pretend to be a journalist."
The session began with an enquiry of what we had learnt so far. In response to several answers, he affirmed, “One of the best ways to recognize whether you have learnt something is to teach someone.”
He raised some very significant questions: “Are journalists disembodied spirits or are they a part of the community? Are they split personalities? Is journalism cramming opinion down the throats of people?” The answer according to him was, “Journos are like triangles with four angles.”
“Everyone looks at things through the prism of their own experiences, prides and prejudices.” Therefore a certain amount of subjectivity is bound to exist even in the most objective and unbiased reports.
Speaking about the freedom of press he said, “There can never be such a thing called freedom of expression. The journalist’s freedom is circumscribed by the establishment he or she works with.”
“A journalist is first and foremost a reader, listener and viewer. These are the ingredients of a good journalist.”
And his parting shot: "I have to go back and pretend to be a journalist."
No comments:
Post a Comment