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Journalism of Courage
My association with the media is now decades old. Much has changed since then, but a pressing question remains unanswered: where are the professionals? On Monday, President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam had argued for the power of journalism in his speech at the Second Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards. But it still begs the question: where are the professionals?
Compared to the 8216;media and entertainment windows8217; that we had earlier, today we find ourselves in a situation many old-timers would describe as 8220;unbelievable8221;. Everything has grown several times over 8212; the channels, the number of people in the industry, the revenues, the opportunities, the demands, the technological strides. What has not changed, however, is the scarcity of professionals. What could be the possible reasons?
It is frightening to imagine a scenario where an industry witnessing such electrifying growth could be halted in its tracks for lack of professional support. Gone are the days when a production assistant could be sure to end up as a production controller. Aspirations and native brilliance apart, a production assistant today will not be able to make the strides that his predecessors did unless he is constantly upgrading his skills. We are at a stage where film companies are going corporate and are managing to secure loans from banks. What a big change this is from the days when resource mobilisation used to be 8216;off the record8217;!
The media and entertainment industry today is looking for a different kind of work force. If one wants to pursue one8217;s passion for creativity, one will also have to be aware of the industry8217;s trends. Creativity, too, needs contextualisation, and that can only come through a thorough understanding of the technology that is used to take ideas to fruition. The production manager of tomorrow will not be an all-purpose handy man; he is likely to know all about cash flow, CPM critical path method and PRET programme review and evaluation technique. He will be an MBA in media finance and economics, not a simple accountant.
One can go on talking about the huge changes and manpower challenges, but such recounting leads us nowhere. Producers, directors, managers, and media executives alike only get frightened when
reminded of the explosion of opportunity. They evaluate their strengths 8212; creativity and resilience. They understand the opportunities but they see the daunting threats and weaknesses, too.
In its current apathy, the industry can only grow weaker and face a threat from within: the weakness being the work force, and the threat of being left behind in the global context 8212; the only context that matters today. It is time the industry built for itself a reservoir of competence. This must be an effort where its prime movers actively promote media and entertainment education across the various disciplines; a culture where the industry looks for well-trained professionals; a discipline where the periodic upgrade of skills is encouraged; and a norm where serious research is promoted.
All these and more need to be institutionalised, and until this happens, exasperated artistes and executives will keep asking, 8220;Where are the professionals?8221;
The writer is executive director, School of Convergence, Delhi
