Pune: Journalism is all about asking questions and not just following what you are told or applauding everything that you hear. This was the opinion expressed by the panellists at the second edition of ‘The Fifth Estate: Towards a Digital Paradigm’, a corporate interface event that was held at Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication Lavale campus.
This year, the two themes of the event were - ‘Interrogating Truth: Law and Digital Media’ and ‘Confluence: Reimagining Cultural Journalism’. Experts from the field of law and journalism spoke about the current situation of journalism and how the laws affects it in the country.
Journalist Niranjan Takle, who broke the Justice Loya case, political analyst and The Quint Associate Editor Vakasha Sachdev, RTI activist Anil Galgali, lawyer Kritika Agarwal, film critic Ajit Duara, travel bloggers Parichay Mehta and Parampara Patil Hashmi, independent journalist Bhanuj Kappal, Citadel Editor Ketaki Latkar and Influencer Nikita Chawla were the panellists for the event.
Using RTI
Galgali spoke about the importance of the Right to Information (RTI) Act and how it can be useful to get correct documents for a story. However, on this, Takle said, “It is extremely difficult to access data, documents and information when the system does not want to give it to you. While interrogating the truth, you have to be ready to pay for the truth.”
Sachdev advised the students on how to avoid lawsuits when publishing stories on rich/influential personalities. “Any infringement to the right of privacy has to be as per the procedure. Ask the questions, no matter how inconvenient,” Sachdev told the students.
Kashmir issue
Kritika Agarwal addressed the situation in Kashmir, the media blackout and the violation of human rights. “Good journalists are the ones who understand the silence. Journalists should be ashamed of what happened in Jammu and Kashmir before and after August 5. There was total media blackout and local journalists were not allowed to cover the news. Everywhere, the power of journalists is being curbed,” she said. Chawla informed that governments across the world are trying to control social media. “Governments have started to call out social media platforms. For example, in Dubai, you need an (media) influencer license from January 2019,” she said.
Three major points discussed during the event
Rule of law should be infused with the machinery of the states for the survival of a free press.
Even though censorship is the biggest issue for a free press, other factors like accountability, transparency and a strong judiciary are indispensable for working of the press.
Obsolete laws ideating civil and criminal defamation, sedition are aiding as tools of harassment towards journalists.
In terms of RTI Act’s usage, it is required that utmost carefulness is paid to the wording of such applications, which otherwise when not done properly, render it being rejected by authorities. For journalists, RTI applications are best means of culling out relevant information, making such applications pieces of documentary evidences.
We, as students, don’t understand what goes on in the media industry until we talk to someone who has been in the industry for a long period. The panellists spoke about topics that are not discussed easily. This helps us in forming a perspective.
— Khevna Pandit, Student at SIMC
If we are not able to question those in power, then what is the whole point of them staying in power. That is what needs to be addressed and the panellists have spoken about how we can address the issue. We saw many different points of views.
— Rahul Pandey, Student at SIMC
