PIB146;s resolution 146;03: Rewrite

Attacking the media may be the Government8217;s flavour of this season but are the first winds of reform blowing in the Press Information B...

Attacking the media may be the Government8217;s flavour of this season but are the first winds of reform blowing in the Press Information Bureau, that institution which churns out 8216;8216;official8217;8217; press releases?

Well, maybe it8217;s too soon to come to conclusions, but going by a PIB circular issued to its staff on how to write year-end reviews, one thing is clear: the PIB wants to be taken seriously.

In a frankness, rare for a Government organization, the PIB admits that most of its current prose is just 8216;8216;good background,8217;8217; lacking 8216;8216;any clear goal, purpose, intent or perspective.8217;8217;

So it has asked its staff to write clean, write short, personalise a story, put a face, get big names, get quotes and 8216;8216;evocative8217;8217; photos. If not? In what may rile hardened hacks, the PIB puts it bluntly: Otherwise 8216;8216;negative and trivial matters like communal riots, forest brigands, terror in temples, scams, controversies, fashion events8217;8217; would define the year because of 8216;8216;the bias and ignorance of mediapersons.8217;8217;

The circular, a copy of which is with The Indian Express, is signed by Information Officer Coordination V Palanichamy. Sources say it carries the fingerprints of the I038;B Ministry8217;s new Media Advisor from the PMO, Sudheendra Kulkarni.

The circular hasn8217;t escaped typical Government bungling8212;it8217;s dated December 24 while it specifies the deadline for compliance as December 20! But lest you be cynical, read on. 8216;8216;We need to present our thesis of both accomplishment and challenges,8217;8217; the circular says.

8216;8216;It needs to be neither sycophancy nor hagiography but really a look at the brighter side of India and telling the story of a positive India 8212; what the honourable Prime Minister has called Parishrami Bharat, Parakrami Bharat, Vijayi Bharat.8217;8217;

Story continues below this ad

So how will the PIB go about it? It asks its staff to identify 8216;8216;two large stories of the year in each ministry which are detailed out and supported pictorially.8217;8217; Not just that, the stories should present perspectives and should have 8216;8216;quotes from key people in the sector 8212; minister, secretary, other key officials and key personalities from outside the Government.8217;8217;

In fact, it illustrates this with the example of a telecom story that should have quotes from people like Mukesh Ambani, Sunil Bharti Mittal and Rajeev Chandrashekhar.

8216;8216;If, for instance, a key achievement in the Ministry of Human Resource Development is, say Sarva Shiksha, the story needs to be told through an experiential write-up with emphasis on telling a story that people would relate to and would like to read about. Tell it through the eyes of a child or someone involved,8217;8217; says the note.

8216;8216;Stories need to be written the way a journalist would. If need be, get a journalist to write the story. When published the story should capture the imagination and leave a lasting impact on the reader,8217;8217; it says.

Story continues below this ad

The circular also proposes two reviews by eminent people from each sector 8212; for instance, 8216;8216;Narayanmurthy for I-T and Subhash Chandra for media entertainment.8217;8217; It also suggests drawing on in-house talent in the bureaucracy.

Bad design kills good content is the other blunt message which comes with the advice to hire a good designer. 8216;8216;We should learn from the way many Indian corporates, foreign embassies and foreign governments present themselves through their releases.8217;8217; And the quality of paper needs to be improved with online and soft copy in all languages made available.

All this to what end? The PIB has a vision: each Information Offcier should 8216;8216;target sic that at least a quarter of the PIB8217;s output8230;is picked up by at least six of the top 10 English publications in the country.8217;8217;