Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Practised with passion
|
Journalist for ten years, Mallika Kapur provides all the right answers to Nandini Nair
|
Photo: V.V. Krishnan
moments matter Mallika Kapur in New Delhi
It is the contrasts that strike her. Having covered the London train bombings and later the Mumbai train bombings she notices the different reactions. Mallika Kapur, a London-based reporter and producer for CNN, says, “In London, some of the ra
il systems were closed for months. I reached Mumbai a day and a half after the bombings. When I went to the train station I couldn’t even make out anything had happened. The cameraman had to point out the scene of the blast.”
Like all journalists she values fact and revels in breaking news. Bomb blasts and not beaches is where she wants to find herself, she says facetiously. In Delhi, for the CNN Young Journalist Award, dressed in spanking red, she discusses the talents she has met. Coming from a television background she says that the finalists were chosen because, “They stuck to the basics. It is all bout facts and attribution”. Convinced by their reporting style, she was also impressed at the research of the winners. They discovered unusual, and often tragic, stories.
But she does caution that Indian channels tend to be rather sensational compared to international channels like CNN and BBC. Also opinions often sneak into the news.
Think visually
Breaking news is her adrenalin shot. But, reporting live from the London Stock Exchange and making business news — exciting — is her daily challenge. “One has to think visually. It’s about the graphics.” She gives the example of a recent telecom story. The report risked being colourless. But a trip to Haryana, where a farmer and his family were shot against mustard fields, using cell phones, saved it from dullness.
Journalism has forced her to think on her feet. She recounts getting a message on her mobile, informing her that the London tube system was shut. Her first thought was how she would reach work. She left her house in pyjamas, unaware of the gravity of the situation. And had to walk to Edgwar Station. She spent 18 hours there, trying to make sense of the happenings. “I could only stand there and wait to talk to survivors and eye-witnesses,” she remembers.
Through work she finds inspiring stories in unexpected places. Shooting for “Eye on India”, she recollects doing a story on the family-work balance of working women in India. To her interest, she found, that often it is the traditional systems, which allow women to work. Mother to a young child herself, it is stories like this which she finds memorable.
Hailing from Kolkata, and now based in London, it is the growth of the media that most astounds her. She says, “When I was growing up there was only DD. Now there are hundreds of channels, it blows me away.” The importance of news to Indians is evident in the rise of the many news channels and magazines, she asserts.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
|
