journalism

Do you think that there should be a minimum qualification to be a journalist?

“With power comes great responsibility”. This idiom holds true to almost every field of life and journalism is no exception. Media has a great ethical responsibility towards the country and its people which must be emphasized today, when facts and communication play a vital role in the development of citizens' personal attitudes and the growth of society and democratic life. A journalist's occupation consists of rights and obligations, freedom and responsibilities. The main principle of any ethical contemplation of journalism is - a clear distinction must be drawn between data, news and views, so as to not mislead the people. News is information about facts and data, while opinions convey thoughts, ideas, views, beliefs or value judgments on the part of media firms, publishers or journalists.

News broadcasting must be built on honesty, which should be ensured by the appropriate means of verification and proof, and fairness in presentation, description and narration. Rumor must not be mistaken with news. News headlines and summaries must reflect as closely as possible the substance of the facts and data presented. Expression of opinions may demand thoughts or comments on general ideas or remarks on news relating to actual incidents. Although views are necessarily subjective and therefore cannot and should not be made subject to the standard of truthfulness, we must ensure that opinions are expressed in honest and ethical ways.

Opinions taking the form of comments on events or actions relating to persons or organizations should not attempt to deny or hide the reality of data.

Hence, I believe that journalists should require minimum qualification and certification. It should not be an exception. Journalism has become a field that requires people to have a strong grasp of technology.  Journalism schools should aim polishing people who have the required language, knowledge and loyalty. Being a journalist is like walking on thin ice one has to be careful and sensitive about the news he presents. Journalism minimum qualification should be made mandatory for journalists.

Rachaita Vyas

Qualifications to be a Journalist

Journalists write about anything and everything, but when someone queries their techniques of work, they get livid. With the help of the internet these day, anyone can try and become a journalist. Using blog sites and social sites such as twitter, bloggers think of themselves as journalists. In the earlier days, because of being an undeveloped profession, journalism didn't require any level of qualifications. But today, Journalism is a profession, and according to me every profession should have a certain level of qualification for practice. If a person is not qualified for the job, they shouldn't be called professionals. Every job requires a level of qualification, for example, if I have a passion for something and I do it just for fun that would be known as my hobby and not my profession, whereas if I had a qualification for that particular job, I would have much more knowledge and experience in the field. Another issue emerging is the state of journalism today, unqualified journalists are recruited due to lack of man power, the qualified journalists, having more knowledge and understanding about journalism, are still at the same level as unqualified journalists. Many established and successful journalists never went to school, but as the chairman of Press Conference of India, Makarand Katju said “they were good journalists despite that, and not because of it and Many others could have become great journalists and blossomed, but did not because they did not have formal training.” I totally agree with him. The biggest media firms have started having a minimum requirement for journalists. I think this is a great idea as it filters out the under qualified and it would be impartial to the qualified journalists. I think every field in this contemporary world is advanced and requires a level of understanding, passion and knowledge, comprising journalism. 

Dhwani Shah

Journalists Minimum Qualifications by Mr. Katju - Views and Opinions

“To be a journalist or a film critic one needs to have certain attributes – ability to write and passion for the medium. If one has aptitude for it then qualification only adds to it. Therefore, both training and education go hand-in-hand. - Deepa Gahlot, Film Critic”

(source: mxmindia.com, website url: http://www.mxmindia.com/2013/03/mxm-mondays-do-journalists-need-to-be-qualified/)

Mr Justice Makarand Katju, the Chairperson of the Press Council of India, has recently suggested that there should be some minimum qualifications to be a journalist and that the schools of journalism should be regulated. He expressed his view that no freedom can be absolute; it is always subject to reasonable restrictions in the public interest. 

(Published in The Indian Express on March 25, 2013)

I agree with Justice Katju when he says that areas of super-specialisations like legal, financial, labour, agricultural reporting are growing. Formal training in the format of a Diploma would in my opinion be very supportive to good understanding before actual reporting since this would only mean a strong spine for journalists in their fields. Be it newspaper journalism or live TV reporting certain ethics that were followed once upon a time are not followed anymore due to lack of proper training in ethics of Journalism.

From the days of news-reporting up to the 1980's, and that this slowly emerged thereafter, has been a metamorphosis in style and quality. The news then, whether through telecast or broadcast, was always done with sombre & dispassionate tone and words, leaving the conclusions to the listener or viewer.  

Today we find channels seamlessly repeating the shortest of live clips shot by the reporter, just to hold the viewer to the screen of the particular channel. The rules of Grammar do not exist anymore. The name of the game is SENSATION, with the aim of increasing viewer-ship, popularity and revenues. 

As for technical content, for example, to report on the impact of changes in Tax structure, it would require proper knowledge of the taxation laws and basics of Taxation. Otherwise, the margins between fleecing and taxing would indeed be thin. If Insurance laws are not known, then terms and conditions of insurance policies would never be understood. The margins between payable and non-payable claims would vanish. 

Thus, socially responsible reporting does require an extent of formal grounding in various technical fields, combined with ethics in the profession of journalism

By Nikita Nilekani

FSLE-3, FLAME School of Communication