New Delhi: Amid the proliferation of misinformation, disinformation and the presence of social media platforms, media professionals are facing a “test of courage, character and journalism,” says R Rajagopal, editor of The Telegraph, Kolkata.
On September 30, he was speaking as the chief guest at the virtual convocation ceremony of the students who completed a month-long certificate course in Citizen Journalism conducted by Deepalaya, an NGO, in association with McCandlish Phillips Journalism Institute at The King’s College, New York, USA.
Unlike in a conventional speech, Rajagopal spoke in a question and answer format.
When asked whether social media platforms influence the way events are covered by the established media organizations, he said that to some extent social media networks do influence the ways media covers events.
The economic conditions of media organizations amid the pandemic have greatly affected the quality of journalism, besides other factors. Following this, citizen journalism is need of the hour in a vast country like India even before pre-Covid-19 pandemic, Rajagopal said.
“Citizen journalists have enormous opportunities to write about issues and concerns of people with impact and responsibility,” he added.
He also explained how most media houses are biased towards the pro-establishment, meaning whoever is in power, they will succumb to the power or pressure of the administration.
As many as 45 students across India and abroad attended the September 1-30 citizen journalism course taught by 14 experienced journalism teachers and practitioners.
A. J. Philip, a senior journalist and CEO of Deepalaya, conceptualized the first citizen journalism course in collaboration with other experts.
Deepalaya is working on issues affecting the urban and rural poor, with a special focus on children, women empowerment, education and institutional care in Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
The focus of the course was on how citizens can report and write stories, and blog, besides learning the basics of citizen journalism, fact-based reporting, finding sources, Right To Education based stories and environmental reporting.
The month-long course dispersed over three modules incorporating live online lectures, interactive workshops, tasks, and feedback.
The course was designed to equip participants with the skills to become competent citizen journalists. It was to empower common citizens aspiring to be citizen journalists to do impactful stories.
Common citizens can become effective gatekeepers and watchdogs. Through this course, citizens would learn to closely monitor local authorities, political and social organisations and how to report on them and what platform they can use.
The course enables citizen journalists to understand local issues, how to find news, where to find it and what the events and instances are where they can have an advantage over the mainstream media.
Faculty members from different fields provided a practical understanding of citizen journalism, as well as the skills and resources needed for evidence-based reporting. It was a mixture of online masterclasses, workshops and practical training.
“The course on citizen journalism was insightful given by experienced media professionals,” Megan D’Souza, a student said.
“Having completed the course, I would make use of the learning from the course for the good of society,” said another student, Robancy Helen.
The second batch will begin on October 15.