Journalists need to stand united or perish in isolation

Initially they came in singles, then in dozens, afterwards in droves and finally it turned into a crowd of hundreds. The lawns at Press Club of India, New Delhi, were brimming with journalists. Soon there was no space left even to stand. The side veranda was packed and then they moved over to an inner hall where a TV news channel was telecasting the show live.

They were angry and perhaps a bit sacred too. After all, they had gathered there to express their solidarity with murdered journalist Gauri Lankesh. Everyone had a query at the back of his or her mind: Would it be me next if I wrote like Gauri?

Yes, it could be you and me the next time if we dared to be Gauri Lankesh. She was killed by the same dark forces who killed Kalburgi and others who raised their voice against hate politics. Gauri’s crime was that she named the Sangh and the BJP for crimes like mob lynching and love jihad. She was fearless to the bone and knew she could be killed like Kalburgi. But she did not succumb to that fear and ultimately paid for that with her life.

But Gauri has left behind a question for all journalists and writers like us. The questions is: Would you listen to your conscience or succumb to pressures from your bosses? She even has answered the question with her death. Gauri’s clear answer is that you may even die if you listen to your conscience but you will always be remembered if you stand up for truth.

How many of us have the guts to be another Gauri? Not even a dozen if I may say so. Gauri was killed because we, journalists, succumbed to pressure right from the word go. Well, I clearly remember things began to change in the profession from the advent of electronic journalism in the later part of 1990s.

TV is a medium where you need huge money to run the 24/7 show. Frankly, none of the big brand news channels of today had that kind of money to run their show when they launched. Journalists were paid huge salaries. Electronic equipment with television channel set-up cost hundreds of crores of Rupees.

Who had that kind of money when TV news channels started? The easy option was to take the ruling establishment’s support in the form of big advertisements to finance the channels. Once news was financed by official quarters, they had their own pound of flesh exacted. Right from the new tribe of owner-editors to anchors and reporters, all willingly gave in to the government of the day to ‘soften’ the content. The owner was happy because he became too big and powerful with TRPs on his side and journalists were happy because they were getting fat salary cheques.

That’s how journalistic conscience was killed. As the days progressed, the establishment became too demanding. It even learnt to put pressure on owners by threatening to disclose their financial misdeeds. Journalism over the years became a profession of mutual nexus between politicians and journalists.

The rules of appointment too changed in a big news setup. A bureau chief was appointed for his proximity to the corridors of power than his professional merit. Anchors were told that they would get a share from the advertisements they would bring in. Pardon me for saying so but it is a fact that many so-called journalists turned middlemen rather than being honest professionals. It is, indeed, an open secret within the journalists’ circuit.

It is for all to see now how the profession of journalism has gone to dogs. The result is those with conscience have been either marginalised or left like Gauri Lankesh to fight their battle on their own. Isolated from the rest, journalists like Gauri are easy prey to those who have forgotten to tolerate dissent.

It is time to go back to journalism of conscience. It is the only tribute that journalists can pay to Gauri Lankesh. Just being angry and getting assembled inside press clubs across the country would not bear any fruits. We live in different times now. Stand united or perish like Gauri in isolation.