Assignment (MJMC Sem-2, Paper-6)

Assignment for the second semester

Subject - ‘Editing In Print Media’

Paper 06

Topic- Necessity, principles and process of editing

Guide- Dr. Vinod Pandey

The generation of 21st century enjoys digital media 24 hours, thanks to the economic data packs and the rolling Internet connectivity. Every need of entertainment and information can be satisfied with just a flick of the finger. The latest graphic media has captured the soles of the youngsters to the bones. The high definition video games not only entertain but also becomes a platform to interact with the machines and man simultaneously. The social media have been tremendously successful in allowing the much desired expressiveness of the young blood. No matter, what type of the content, it sells; the only condition is it must entertain. This platform has long ago banished any such word as ethical from its techno-emoji vocabulary. Most of the much popular social media platforms, be it Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp or Instagram, all have made the user the chief in command of his/her content.

The world of print media, however still abides by the selective approach in terms of content. Although newspapers and magazines are not popularly known by the name of social media, but the style of presentation is more social than that of social media. Starting from the news gathering to news production; layout, news-advertisement ratio, and the attack on the major governmental policy through constructive editorials, all comes under the authority of editor of the newspaper. It is the editor by whose name the newspaper gets published everyday.

An editor is the captain of his newspaper. The way a ship requires a lot of mechanism in order to run in the sea, a newspaper too requires complex coordination of various departments and activities. The editor makes sure that all the connected departments finish the task assigned to them before the deadline. For instance, a lapse in coordination between advertisement and news department could lead to the delay in publishing of the newspaper. Therefore all the departments of news making- Editorial department, Advertising department, Circulation department, Publishing department, and Administrative department- are held directly responsible to the editor. Many people believe that an editor’ task in newspaper is to write editorial and be the Supreme voice in news selection. This is however quite diminutive view to editor especially in the present context.

Every newspaper has particular hierarchy in terms of the required duty for every employee to perform. To better understand, one can organize them in the following hierarchical ladder.
• Publisher
• Editor-in-chief
• Managing Editor
• Assignment Editor
• Copy Editor

Let us now look at some minute tasks of sub editors and copy editors which require extreme concentration. A copy editor has to design layout for the news which is assigned to him. He/she also has to give suitable headlines to the news which require an acute sense of news and linguistic competency. Modern day editors also must have good understanding of photograph and graphics as hardly any prominent newspaper go without them. All this leads to the constant micro editing on the part of sub editors.

‘Unease lays the head that wears the crown’, the editor has to be constant vigil and keep his back ready for any inadvertent result of news publication. The Gate keeping model of communication lays great emphasis on the role of editors in the news making business. According to this theory, the editors decide if the particular news should be published or thrown in the bin. Thus, the editors are in the command position of news dissemination.

Renowned English writer George Orwell said that, ‘Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed; everything else is public relations.’ His words help in understanding the serious business of editor ship. A good editor always has some fundamental principles regarding life. He is a visionary, a principled figure who is greater than life itself. For instance, the founding father of The Indian Express newspaper, Ramnath Goenka, whose newspaper still run by the tag line, ‘Journalism of Courage’. The tag line shows the temper of its proprietor Goenka who did not like to bow down before the bureaucrats. For the sake of generalization, one can have some principles elaborated.
• Honesty: it is the basic requirement in any civil society. A man/woman first should be honest as a human being, let alone a newspaper editor. Newspapers play a crucial role in building up of a civilized society by providing truthful information to the readers. The editor must professionally be honest while in selection of news. If he is dishonest figure then the newspaper too will negatively impact the mass audience of the nation.
• Vision: A true editor will have a vision for his newspaper. He must lead his newspaper in the direction of mass welfare. The readers of newspapers are not always able to understand the deeper implications of the governmental policy, so the editor helps them better learn by warning them in advance through his editorials.
• Inclusiveness: A society is made up of varying strands of people. An editor must know the difference between the powerful and the powerless. He should protect the interests of the downtrodden, meanwhile giving proper space to the powerful too.
• Fearlessness: Journalism is called the forth pillar of democracy. A timid editor can never make bold decision in regard of the continuance of some story. There are many incidents of journalists losing their life while telling the deaf a deaf and blind a blind on his face. But it is what true media stands for. The onus rests on the shoulder of the editor to protect his\her journalists and writers when they are writing against the powerful people of society.
• Democratic attitude: The emergence of the press itself was due to give voice to the people, the mass and not for the rulers. Therefore, democratic ideas must fountain up from the news stories, columns, features and editorials in the newspapers. A good editor should always remain uninfluenced and unamused to the world of politics, personal likes and dislikes. One thing, he must know that he/she is the representative for the mass, not agent of the government. The editor must unveil all the disguised attacks of authority on the Democratic constitution of the nation.

To sum up in short, the work of editor is much complex and highly responsible. It is both a social service and professional which needs efficiency and smartness to survive in the industry. Therefore, the editor must synchronize the contrasting events and aspects of news making process.


From- Alpeshkumar Makvana

First Year, Second Semester, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad.

Request

It is pleasure to inform all of you that our honorable Vice Chancellor, Dr. Anamik Shah has finally asked us for our opinion and ideas as to the probable solution on part of us, for the present crises of Covid-19, in his letter, 04/2020/21, dated 20/05/2020. I hope you all have received and read it well.

Our respected VC has asked about our ideas, opinions to mitigate the impact of Corona virus in our local area. He also has assured us of all the necessary help if we initiated such activity. But as we all know, it has all the time been Ahmedabad, the worst hit place from this pandemic in whole Gujarat state.

I personally believe that if any kind of service for humanity should be conducted, it must be in Ahmedabad.

There are still plenty of out state laborers and Gujarati daily wage earners, who perhaps are finding it hard to survive due to continuous lockdown. Most of them are still on the road or in some unhygienic places as they have not enough money to stay in hygienic place.

What I propose is that our campus of Gujarat Vidyapith should be allowed for these people for temporary stay. Our campus is one of the best in terms of infrastructure and spaciousness.

Although, most of the rooms and buildings are already preoccupied with the students’ personal belongings, still our gymnasium courtyard, Mayur Garden, sports ground, both guest houses, and even the newly built big house of Chancellor can be allowed for those homeless and jobless mass.


This will benefit, both physically and psychologically, to this scattered class of  homeless men and women. They can easily be served the basic necessities of life in our campus and distance can also be maintained among them. We can establish a screening center at the gate which will help identify those with symptoms of Covid-19. We can take sufficient help and guidance of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation in this humble task.

In addition, a good number of our students are already  willing to be volunteers in such services for humanity. This will give them a much necessary opportunity to truly understand the purpose of our Gandhian education by practically serving the community which has been often idealized in our books.

I know this task is difficult and dangerous for the campus staff and the volunteers. For any small mistake could lead to the spread of Corona among those who would be engaged in the service. But at such critical time, we must keep faith in ourselves. We have been training for so many years to live with discipline. Our vast experience of independent life and skill to survive on fewer means would be our guiding stars. At last, this is the holy land of Mahatma Gandhi, who himself was the greatest champion for the cause of the last men/women of society.

I, therefore, request all of you to mention this proposal to our honorable Vice Chancellor, when you respond to his email.

Alpeshkumar
Student, Department Of Journalism and Mass Communication, Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad.

Loophole in the structure

Corona virus has been relentlessly wracking havoc upon all the nations; the universal efforts of preventing the subtle disease have not met with significant satisfaction.

At first, it was hoped by most of the governments of the world that the universal panacea of ‘lockdown’ would hold back the Covid 19, and meanwhile the some health laboratories or institute would find out the vaccine for the disease.

Unfortunately, despite many nations claiming discovering the vaccine, none are confident enough of its feasibility.

Now the pressure is back on the governments which now have to doubly deal with the virus and the restoration of economies.

In the countries like India, majority of the population depend upon the daily wages and agriculture. The government of India has already started delivering cereals allotments, LPG gas and some monetary benefits to sustain the lower middle class people. There are also news of many state governments buying the agricultural produces from the farmers at the minimum prices. But the largest unstructured and unorganized class of laborers have borne the brunt of the situation. The biggest problem with the labor class is its disorganized state.

It would not be exaggeration to say that India has perhaps first time realized the complex structure of informal laborers. Most of the laborers do not belong to the place where they work, which makes it clear that they neither have their home nor its confidence to survive.

As soon as the third announcement of continuation of lockdown aired on the media, this class was forced to rely on their feet. It is not that the governments do not wish to help them but in sincere reality it has failed to realize the volatile impact which the laborers are now facing.
Many laborers, the men, women and children all are on the roads. Some have already come near to their destination and a few have broken their breaths while walking.

One of the most responsible reasons for the current hardships of the laborers is the inherent  structural loopholes of system. It may be the first time that these loopholes have come out in the public. But they were always there.

If only the laborers have been accommodated with basic needs of social securities such as food, water, hygiene, the laborers would never have been so unconfident of the mere sustainability.

You

You all alike come in flocks and packs

At the same time though from different lands.

You stay and stroll then stay again only to go.

‘You earn a lot’, They say.

‘But hide to haul back wafts of bundles.’

You ceaselessly produce and reproduce and then they produce.

They also say, ‘you come to pollute the towns you belong not.’

But you mostly walk on foot the way Gandhi did.

Need to have breath

Breath is the most fundamental requirement of any live being. It is a complex mechanism by which air is inhaled and exhaled out of bodies. All living organisms have distinct breathing mechanism. Both predator and prey use fast breathing in order to survive in the wild. For example, the cheetah uses its controlled breath enabling it to make a sprint and capture its prey. On the other hand crocodiles can hold their breath for a long period of time in water so that they can ambush its kill at the river bank.

Humans, always preferring to distinguish themselves superior to animals, have attributed breathing to a superhuman phenomenon. Like many other similar activities, breathing too holds more of a mental and spiritual layer of meaning than biological one for humans. It looks as if democracy has guaranteed each individual at least full freedom of breathing. Therefore, in most of the cultures of human society, breathing has been  taken for granted for long.

The social world of man and women rather prefer to revolve around food, shelter and spouse hunting. From renaissance to globalization, these concepts of food, shelter and spouse have drastically changed. It is both a journey for freedom from oppressive hands and self expression of the voiceless in the society.

The scientific invention and theories of knowledge have completely baffled men and women alike. All areas of preceding centuries have been challenged. Both human and machine language have been restructured at the psychological level. The land,  sea and sky have been explored at an unimaginable speed. The rise of Internet has forced the traditional repositories of knowledge to be public to be relevant. Even the subjects which were earlier considered a taboo, now explored at an unprecedented rate. The pure boundaries between all the isms such as idealism, realism, pragmatism etc., have disappeared into a complex web of superhero who more enthrals people than spending time in library.

All this hustle bustle has led to the birth of cyber word in which eye holds more influence and importance than other sensory organs. The 21st century man is perhaps the most busiest of all time in human history. All are so engrossed in the making of external life that our pure fundamental requirement of life ‘breath’ has physically evaporated into the haze in urban areas. Those who have achieved enough are so old that they prefer rest of their life peacefully and those who are young have yet to achieve all the material pleasures. Skill, something new is in demand everywhere.

Although there have been praiseworthy attempts by some religious and social institutes which directly or indirectly slow down this blind marathon for something. But all the same, most of the traditional institutes are struggling hard to survive in this crunching times. The young generation is either total apathetic to religion or are driven by the jingoism of it, as relief is unwelcome. Although the great literary scholar, T. S. Eliot had already lamented about this apathy, this stark absence for zeal of life, but interestingly the situation is rather different in this time of cyber world.

There are some significant vain attempts having one’s own share of joy by walking along the river bank with one’s puppy and children. Most of the upper middle class people are doing all this stuff and are highly satisfied of transmitting this practice to their progenies.

Moving on  to rural life, the picture is still rather optimist for traditional economy rules here. Though overdoses of chemical fertilizers have seriously damaged the health of natural sources and somewhere company culture has replaced farming. But still, the majority of rural life is rather sound and safe at least in terms of health issues of humans. One more good thing about the rural life is its slow life. There is no unnatural and unhealthy haste in rural life.

Nowadays, Corona pandemic has shaken the all class and types of people. It has hit a blow to the human activities. In a very long period of time such situation has been forced upon this world where man/woman is forced to spend time with the self. It looks to many as if the breath has returned to them, although the worries of new forms of employment in washed economy keep haunting.

The Corona virus has come into global man’s life as some kind of mysterious teacher. It has not preached but shown miracle. It has successfully shown the hollowness of each and every mighty forms of institutes whether scientific or religious or even so called military might. In a swing of some magic wand, the Corona disease has transformed everything around us, both physically and mentally. Like some invisible enemy of Hollywood movie- The Predator- the Corona is picking out one by one each and everyone. Although many do not like to call the present situation as war but in reality it is way more dangerous than war. It is even more deadly than some type of fanatic religious campaigning. The pandemic has fatally struck a blow to the heroism of many a brave heart and their glory. This is no open arms battle and killing is completely futile. Only the constant consciousness of hygiene and a little portion of luck can save the humans.

In this dire situation we are advised to stay in home, though many don’t have it or have their home in remote regions. But do not those who are lucky enough to be in their home right now need to rethink our whole approach to life?

There are many news of improvements in natural habitats; both flora and fauna are blooming more cheerfully in the good absence of humans. Wild life seems to be rejuvenated and the animals seems to be rightfully claiming their territories with help of nature. The fish and sea both are glad to have us lost. The foam is much more brighter, the shores more serene and the rivers clean. The bees have spread the message of secured sources of food. The sparrows are chirping in a more confident way and parrots seems to be abandoning human language. It is also the very first time happened that in such long period of time, the cats and dogs are repenting on the decision of leaving the freedom of wild and choosing the slavery of humans. Human proximity has made them smart enough to be afraid of future calamities.

All this naturally leads us think, now we have nothing better to act, than think, what have we lost in our so called proud evolution and revolution that we are left with fear, suspicion, hatred, hunger and enemy of humankind whose cumulative existence rests upon uncertainty. It is not the first time that these types of existential questions raised first time. But the relevance of these question looks more genuine at such times of crisis. Moreover, the solution for this does not lie in some mysterious world of space or the scriptures. It is just as near as oneself if one can feel his\her breath and most distant like some hazy star of the space if one cannot feel it. In simple words, those who are well furnished with basic necessities of live must slow down and make sure that those who are bereft of this should get it. The breath can help achieve this ideal state in society. Concentrating breath can disentangle one from the unnecessary superfluities of oneself. One can soon realize that many of us are duly gifted with almost all the basic necessities to live in this world. This realization will soon lead to compassion for those who have not sufficient means for survival.

All such things may sound very spiritual to many and therefore could look futile. But looking at the paralytic state of majority of the people against the Covid 19 virus, the spiritual boost is also required along with all the other scientific measures. This is to remind those who highly blinded by the accumulative polices and have far removed themselves from their selves. It is for those who have successfully killed their inner being and still continuously influencing others to do so. For those too whose greed is multiplied and institutionalized with the help of twisted terms such humanity, social welfare, community participation. But in reality, the sprint is for gaining something material wealth under the mutual accordance of family, society, religion, market and even the state.

Although the quantity of  curative measures taken against all type of oppression is unprecedented in this time. There are number of charity institutes and NGOs for the poor people and the other helpless living creatures. But if one can compare the rate of destruction to the rate of conservation, one would be startled to notice this gap of inequality. Our efforts however commendable would always become inadequate as this is not aim of the majority of people. At one side some people, whether governmental or non governmental are continuously trying to restore what has been wronged. On the contrary, some are using mass means of destruction to ravage the natural sources.

In the battle of ethics and law, they win who smartly manipulate the terminology of words. This point is not to discourage those who are rightly fighting against the injustice. This battle for justice must continue legally and socially. The efforts of restoration through religious, charity or whatever way continue, let them too go on. The crux of the point is to radically change our way of living. And humans do not have to go far to be inspired to do so.

Almost every civilization have produce some radicals who have successfully put a brake on this sheep line to fall off the cliffs. These saints have warned against the material pursuit of wealth. Unfortunately global time has established virtual wheels of individualism and materialism in the deepest layers of our psyche and freedom from this clutch of death requires self denial first and foremost.

Let us anyway hope that this crisis of Corona pandemic would at least result into some restoration of human consciousness.