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Fundamentals of a demanding profession

K. NARAYANAN

A veteran journalism educator once pointed out that journalism is the only profession that does not require specialised qualifications. A degree or diploma in journalism, which many institutions offer, is not a prerequisite, though it is an advantage, for entry. Those who come with this background have a definite edge, being grounded in the basics, but they do need training to fit in with the requirements of the organisation.

Training is the key. I have always held that any person can be trained to be a good journalist if these requirements are met — language skills, good general knowledge, curiosity and a desire to learn (and keep on learning), and a critical, questioning bent of mind.

Of these, knowledge of, and facility with the language is central to the craft of journalism in an English language newspaper. This can make or mar the final product.

* * *

How crucial is this skill was my first lesson in journalism. The teacher was none other than the distinguished and dedicated journalist, the late V.K. Narasimhan. He began my first class in the diploma course that Madras University offered by dictating 50 words of common use, sounding simple, but with tricky spellings. After evaluation, he told the lowest scorer: you ought to change your profession. A strong foundation in English was the key, he emphasised.

I learnt why soon after I entered The Hindu. The seniors handled the important, but easier, copy from national correspondents and agencies. The juniors, under supervision, tackled the difficult copy, mostly from stringers in the southern States. Their task, as the gentle yet tough news editor C.R. Krishnaswamy never ceased to emphasise, was "to make it English."

* * *

I recalled those early days as I read the mail from Humphrey Jenkins of Udhagamandalam. He said: "As an Englishman living in Udhagamandalam and one-time admirer of the quality of writing in

The Hindu, I feel compelled to protest at the standard of English that is now finding its way into the publication ... There was a time when I encouraged my children to read your newspaper ... this is no longer the case. I simply could not spare the time to explain to them what the article meant or the amendments that would be necessary to correct it into any form of readable English ... Please try to do better."

Reading the report he cited, I agonised more than Mr. Jenkins did. The copy had hardly been edited. Some samples from the report: "Travelling to their native may never be so painful ... with the bus stand overflowing with passengers the swelling crowd started to spill over along the route the buses enter into the bus stand ... Restive passengers blocked the buses even ahead of a km from the bus stand ... Reminding the agony during Deepavali every year ... Authorities failed to anticipate this much crowd more ... Whenever a bus entered into the stand ... people travelled on footboards even to distanced destinations."

The comment Mr. Jenkins made was no doubt a sweeping one and cannot be applied to the paper as a whole, but one or two examples a day like this can breach any defence that is attempted.

* * *

Today the overall quality of writing in the paper is good, but the weak spot is editing. The reasons are many. The skill has been devalued. Journalism schools do not emphasise this aspect enough: writing gets more attention, but not processing and polishing it.

This is also the least glamorous part of the job, invisible to the public and therefore little appreciated, but most exposed to internal upbraiding. The sub-editor is no longer the last gate, the final check, a copy has to cross before it gets on the page. We are moving to the stage where the writer directly places his input on the page.

The volumes of news inflow have increased, so also the pressures of time (always in-built in journalism) and page reshuffles for editions. Add to it an inadequate grounding in grammar and a dependence on spell check. The result: comments like that from Mr. Jenkins.

The reality check comes from reader reactions. Every day, they cite numerous instances of errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation. Most of these do not get into the daily "Corrections and Clarifications" column, which mainly takes up significant errors of fact (more of these next week). Even then the column reminds reader V.S. Sethumadhava Rao (Pammal, Chennai) of his teacher in high school correcting the English composition notebook. Pankajam Sitharam (Srirangam) however is amazed that readers pay so much attention to minute details, and appreciates the corrections made.

The real question, Sethumadhava Rao asks, is "what strategies and management measures are suggested by you to raise the standard." The measures are simple, but have to be continuous, on an every day basis — monitor, evaluate, assess, correct, refresh (what is being done regularly, to an extent, by consultant G. Krishnan), strengthen editing skills, and finally motivate to excel.

A tall order? Yes, but then journalism is a demanding profession, one which is under continuous public scrutiny.

* * *

To all readers, casual, critical and caustic, my greetings and best wishes for a happy new year, a year that I hope will offer them pleasant reading.

readerseditor@thehindu.co.in

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