NorthEast needs space in Mainstream Media

By Bruce K. Thangkhal *

"The need of the hour is to change the Babu mentality of mainstream editors which had often ignored the northeast issues in the mainstream newspapers", said Syed Zarir Hussain, Managing Editor of News Live TV, a leading satellite TV channel in Assam's main city of Guwahati.

Why the media has little space for northeast issues? This is the common question that raises the heads of the northeasterners in today's world.

The Foundation for Media Professionals in collaboration with the Nehru Memorial Museum & Library organised the 11th Media Dialogue on "North East: Fallen off the Media Map?" at NMML's Auditorium, Teen Murti Bhawan on March 31, 2010.

Mrs Sevanti Nianan, Editor of The Hoot, a media watch website chaired the seminar. The seminar was attended by professors, retired civil servants, scholars, writers, social activists, media persons and students. She is a columnist in the Hindu.

The following prominent journalists and experts from the Northeast states had discussed the issues in the seminar:
(i) Mr Subir Bhaumik, a well-known Northeast India & Bangladesh specialist, BBC Eastern India Correspondent and author of "Troubled Periphery: Crisis of India's North East".
(ii) Mr R S Pandey, Former Chief Secretary, Nagaland, a former Interlocutor and GOI representative for the Naga peace talks, a 1972 batch IAS officer of Nagaland cadre, has also won the prestigious 'United Nations Public Service Award-2008' in New York.
(iii) Mr. Syed Zarir Hussain, a Guwahati-based 16 years news agency journalist and the Managing Editor of Assam's popular News Live TV Channel.
(iv) Prof. Sanjoy Hazarika, Professor of Centre For North East Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia University, the first and foremost northeast person who began his career in Hindustan Times as Sub-Reporter and later joined The Statesman and the New York Times in the early 80's, he had started 'Online Journalism News' with five northeast journalists in 1995.
(v) Mr. Pradip Phanjoubam, the Editor of the first Manipur's English newspaper, The Imphal Free Press, who was once kidnapped by the militants and faced several threats from unidentified miscreants, and
(vi) Mr. Debang, Former Managing Editor, NDTV India, a well-known northeast figure in the electronic media in New Delhi.

A veteran northeast journalist and BBC Eastern India correspondent, Subir Bhaumik strongly criticised, "The northeast people who had reached the top managerial post in the media did not even carry the northeast issue in the newspaper. Their attitude is seriously mainstream feelings. The level of awareness about northeast states among the mainstream journalists is very low". He added, "Most of the stories given by the northeast journalist were not pick up by the editors of mainstream newspapers."

Mr Bhaumik opened the seminar topic with a slice of true jokes which caught great applauses from the audience. He spoke brave and bold, and hit the bull's eye. The audience exclaimed in great wonder!

In northeast, the condition of journalists is worsening day by day. Several working journalists were shot dead. Protection of the journalist is more valued than any good news package in the Northeast. Does India have shown enough concern in the human rights issues of the northeast?

The Editor of Imphal Free Press, Pradip Phanjoubam said, "How do we tell the past with a sense of actuality? We are always looking the objective. But the objective does not always cover the entire story". He also pointed out that journalists working in Delhi who had just met and talked to the politicians or ministers does not represent the whole story."

According to Mr Phanjoubam, Manipur daily newspapers earned the worst income among the northeast newspapers. Last year, the Imphal Free Press earned 6 lakhs, the Sangai Express 10 lakhs, the Assam Tribune 28 lakhs and the Mizoram Post 45 lakhs. The media organisation needs the intervention of the state government in the market policy.

Today, the northeast people were seen as poor people in the mainland cities. There is lack of understanding between the mainland and the northeast. The failure of the media professionals in finding the depth of the psyche of the northeast's alienation is a great concern.

R S Pandey, former Chief Secretary, Nagaland had cited that the proliferation of the news coverage of the northeast in the mainstream media is much less beyond imagination. He articulately analyzed that the mainland media has known the northeast states as the land of violence, which is not completely true. "The coverage of the problems is less than 4% of its reality. There are so many world records made by the northeast states which went unheard throughout the country.

For instance, the tallest rice-plant in Nagaland, the hottest chilly in Meghalaya, the Loktak Lake and the women market in Manipur, and the recent Guinness world record of 'Largest Bamboo Dance' by Mizoram. The bamboo dance was only live telecasted in the Times Now channel," Mr Pandey said.

A Guwahati based IANS journalist and Managing Editor of News Live TV, Syed Zarir Hussain had pointed out, "It is sad to say that 80% of the top policy makers in the media had not been into the north east. They did not know what the regions look like or feel the pulse of the people. The mainstream media only wants violence and crimes story from the northeast. This is what I was once asked by an editor."

Mr Debang, fomer Managing Editor, NDTV India said "TV is a powerful media but not adequate in terms of delivering news. We have to understand the nature of TV. TRP has decided the entire programmes and policies of the channel. The problem of northeast is - too far, too small, and no proper communication to sell products. It is entirely different from the mainland. In the northeast, something happens throughout the season."

Prof. Sanjoy Hazarika sharply emphasized that the northeast states are the place to produce the best stories in the media. He said, "Mr Shekhar Gupta, Editor of the Indian Express and Mr B G Verghese, Editor of the Hindustan Times (1969-75) and Indian Express (1982-86), and author of India's Northeast Resurgent had done numerous marvelous stories out of northeast, since they had been into the northeast regions. Thus the coverage of the northeast issues by the Indian Express is comparatively higher than their counterparts."

It is the right time to sensitize the people in the media to cover the northeast states. There would be enough people throughout the country who would like to read it. The coverage of northeast in the mainstream media would play a vital role in shaping the minds of the Indians. NB: