A SIMPLE MESSAGE FOR JOURNALISTS, CHECK THE FACTS SAYS V GANGADHAR.

Former Supreme Court judge and currently Chairman of the Press Council of India ( PCI) Markendaya Katju, is understandably peeved at the deteriorating standards of Indian journalism. Through public lectures and media articles he had attacked the 'low'intellectual calibre of todays reporters and sub editors. How many of them, he asked, can identify lines from Shakespeare, Goethe, Faiz, Iqbal, Kalidasa and so on and why do papers cover celebrities more than famine, malnutrition and so on The media is finding it difficult to answer these questions.

So far, Mr. Katju appeared to have read more of news analysis, editorials, columns and so on. Had he paid the same attention to reports, his remarks would be more severe. Let us take reporting, for instance. On the surface, it appears to be a simple job. Attend a function, note down the details, and report them. Get the names of people and places involved without errors. Revise your copy for factual and other errors. While teaching journalism for over ten years at the Bachelor of Mass Media ( BMM) course of Mumbai University, I had drilled these points into my students.

Was I successful? Mr. Katju would be upset to know I was not. Let me give examples. Some days back at Mahim a man was killed for staying too long inside a public toilet.

One of those waiting outside got too impatient, and attacked the 'slow- coach'when he finally came out so badly that he died. A tragic case, we agreed. It was covered in all the dailies. Now comes the problem? Who was the man who was killed? I get all local papers and to my surprise found the name of the victim differed from paper to paper. Two papers called him Simon Ningeri; two called him Simon Lingere and another two, Simon Lingaray. Fortunately, the city tabloid which often published women in skimpy clothes on its page one did not call him Simon Lingerie! The murder took place in broad daylight and there was plenty of time for the reporters to check major facts like the name of the victim. Yet this elementary function was ignored and the poor victim passed away carrying a multiple identity.

I don't know if Mr. Katju spotted this goof up, it would have made him more angry and frustrated. The reporters who did the story need not be familiar with Keats, Ibsen, Pasternak or Tagore. What they were expected to do was find out and check the name of the dead person. The item was dismissed as a 'brief'and hence did not qualify for an editorial or news analysis under the heading 'Toilet Rage'. While print technology had improved a lot during the years, reporters continued to ignore the same basic facts as in the past. An instance comes to mind. Some 15 years back, Bollywood film maker Rakesh Roshan, while inside a car at Juhu was attacked and shot at by a mafia goon. It happened around 4 pm well ahead of any newspaper deadline. Next day, the attack was major news and prominently displayed in all the city dailies. Shockingly, the details differed from paper to paper. What was the make of Rakesh Roshans car? We had more than six versions. What colour was the vehicle? The same result.

What happened after the shooting? 50 per cent of the dailies said Roshan himself drove the car to a hospital where he was treated, while the other 50 per cent mentioned the presence of a driver. Of course the name of the hospital differed too Mr. Katju was not the PCI chairman then.

But as a media critic for a number of papers I noted down the discrepancies and mentioned them in my column.

The reporters I talked to were rather defensive and mentioned the pressure of work. But mind you, the shooting occurred at a very 'convenient'time for journalists.

There was plenty of time for them to check the facts and file a story, yet they did not do it.

There is no humour in these two stories, or perhaps it is a case of black humour! Mistakes do occur in every profession.

But in the cases mentioned there was appalling negligence and ignoring the fundamentals of the profession.

The media should learn to accept criticism gracefully and not hurl invectives at men like Mr. Kaju. What he referred to in his writings and speeches was just the tip of the iceberg.

The full story can be quite horrifying.