UNUSED RUSHES

BY Shefalee Vasudev| IN Media Practice | 13/04/2002
UNUSED RUSHES

UNUSED RUSHES

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.