tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post111536199217802963..comments2024-03-27T14:57:37.031+05:30Comments on Jabberwock: Journalism vs writingJabberwockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1133260169016334952005-11-29T15:59:00.000+05:302005-11-29T15:59:00.000+05:30I entirely agree with you.Having worked at the des...I entirely agree with you.Having worked at the desk for decades, I can tell you that most of the reporters are quite unaware of the muck they churn out, feature or otherwise. As to the new entrants in the profession, they want instant gratification. When I tell them to go out and meet a couple of people more for better quotes, most are unwilling to do anything.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1115641442563334072005-05-09T17:54:00.000+05:302005-05-09T17:54:00.000+05:30Dude, you've made your point by hitting the nail w...Dude, you've made your point by hitting the nail wherever you wanted to. True most Indian news reports and features are badly written. A huge problem is obviously the dearth of "language" skills at the desk level (what else do you expect with the Hinglish, Benglish, etc being the mother tongue). Secondly quite a number of people who join journalism think that "subbing" a copy is really not there; you have to be a writer/reporter with huge by-lines. Most newspaper managements tend to give the desk short shrift.<BR/>True, foreign features are so bloody good. Any N'Yorker or FT feature writer can take the pants of our best writers. My favourite though remains Spectator (I detest their politics though). <BR/>A journo friend, after returning from England and six pegs down, said we shouldn't call ourselves "English" language journalists. According to him we know eff-all of the language.<BR/><BR/>Is it because it is not our first language (at least for a majority of us)? Do you think we'll do a better job if all our English language newspapers turned in to Hinglish, Benglish ones?<BR/>YBAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-1115481034253447022005-05-07T21:20:00.000+05:302005-05-07T21:20:00.000+05:30Here's my take:It's not surprising that everybody ...Here's my take:<BR/><BR/>It's not surprising that everybody wants to jump into feature writing and exhibit their flair for writing. It's the reporter's dream - I can work from home and write contemplative essays about ice creams and stray dogs. The thing is, even those require a fair amount of reporting. Observing what's around you is reporting, isn't it?<BR/><BR/>Which is why I believe that young journalists/reporters need to write all those so-called banal stories. How to entice a reader into a story about a stock going up or down, or one about a legislative session - sounds boring but it's pretty damn hard to do. And that's how one learns. You meet different people, you talk to different people, you quote different people. And you observe and somewhere along the way you start making sense of at least part of what we know of as life.<BR/><BR/>Because the best journalism and the best literature is about people, no?<BR/><BR/>Graham Greene, my absolute favourite, worked as a reporter. I think Maugham did too - albeit as an undercover British spy. I'm pretty sure Mark Twain was a newsman early in his career. There are so many examples.<BR/><BR/>Of course, there are many great writers who weren't journalists. But, you know what I'm sayin', right?<BR/><BR/>Another thing - during the dotcom boom there were 25-year-old millionaires. But, you didn't see a 25-year-old running Wired or the Industry Standard or Red Herring or any other publication.<BR/><BR/>It's a very hard job being a journalist - and for some it may come naturally to report and write, but for the rest of us it takes a lot of time to get good at the art.<BR/><BR/>And a sign of that art, for me, is somebody reads your story, understands what you're tryin' to report and the reader doesn't say anything. She's satisfied and moves on to something else. That's a step up in the ladder.<BR/><BR/>And as far as stuff like the New Yorker goes - we're so far behind. Long form American magazine journalism is a marvel to me. It's awesome when it works. And I can't even imagine how long it takes to perfect that art. <BR/><BR/>We don't have anything like the New Yorker or the Atlantic and unless somebody uses the Web to showcase talent...or lack there of...we will never know.vivehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05206395075050693310noreply@blogger.com