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An
occasional column on what the media sometimes holds back
Where can I contact you?
By Shefalee Vasudev
Of course, a good
journalist must be well informed with a sharp nose for stories. But undoubtedly
the most effective, influential and powerful journalist is the one who has the
maximum ‘contacts’. Even a builder with good contacts assumes some power which
is not his own. But for journalists, their ‘contacts’ are their ladders, their
stepping stones, their support systems, their walking sticks. The power of
these contacts is on a clearer ascent now than it ever was. We are whom we
know, not what we know.
A few weeks back at a job interview for a responsible post in journalism, I was
asked how good were my ‘contacts’. Nobody was questioning my integrity, though
for a minute the question appeared misplaced to me. When it was explained that
it is about knowing enough people to be able to do the stories I had suggested,
the same question made sense to me. Sure, the better your contacts, the better
you will perform. It was a relevant question in a job interview.
The more I thought about
the stories I had done in the past and the ones I was currently doing, the more
this word ‘contacts’ appealed to me. It seemed to play as vital a role as
research, legwork, recces, needling questions, focus. Sometimes contacts become
the clinching reason for getting a story.
We all know how it works.
Get someone big and established (with ‘contacts’) to call for you and an
audience (interview, soundbite, viewpoint, photoshoot) is immediately granted.
You even get called back by bigwigs with help for your stories. We all
consciously develop ‘contacts’. We network. We have our regular ‘sources’ for
inputs. The smart journalist will have these friendly links everywhere, amongst
police personnel, politicians, people who matter in society and even the local
thugs. When we meet someone through someone, we make sure that the acquaintance
is maintained after that. We indulgently add more names to our telephone diary,
for future use. We make it a point to "keep in touch". Our means may be
different, but our goals are more often than not the same. Whether we like the
person or not, we cannot trash a ‘contact.’ Amongst ourselves we exchange
numbers and references more dutifully and with more concentration than we
exchange notes on whether India should go to war.
A journalist acquaintance
of mine who has recently been engaged to a man living in Mumbai laments "How
can I work in Mumbai? All my contacts are here. It will take me years to
develop these kinds of contacts there." Her worry is very justified.
A junior to middle level journalist with good contacts can manage anything. Breaking stories, great interviews, favours, transfers of files, telephone or gas connections, instant railway reservations, jobs for oneself and others and many other privileges. We sit at news desks and get stories with the snap of our fingers because we can make those few important calls to the know-alls. Sure, we deserve our jobs.