No-good Goodbye to CNN-IBN

Vanakkam,
I’m not particularly good at speeches or goodbyes, but after nearly two years here, I guess I can think of a few things to say.

I find nothing gives you a shot of objectivity like putting in your papers. I wouldn't recommend it, of course! As far as workplaces go, CNN-IBN is probably the best most of us will see. The pay could be better, but the current market value of journalists is somewhere below the price of onions. I hear it's two reporters for Rs 50 in Andhra's agency areas; bargain hard enough and they'll throw in a stringer. We crib about our paychecks as a matter of principle. We wouldn't be employees otherwise.

And as for work pressure...ah, that's quite a pickle. In those job-hunting years which we try quite hard to forget, we call it 'The excxitement of working in a news channel.' When we get the job, it is magically transformed into a pain in the neck. The truth is, we all secretly draw energy from that newsroom phenomenon. It is what makes one of those firebrands on the assignment stand up and deliver their victory yell, "EXCLUSIVE PHONER! FIRST VISUALS! CLEAN FEED FROM GROUND ZERO!......TAKE IT NOW YOU BASTARDS!!! It wouldn't quite have the same ring to it without pressure. Then there's rundown.

I have always been in awe of this part of our channel. As a copyeditor, it's the most dynamic aspect of news I work with. I’ve seen the entire first segment be reworked as the headlines are on air. I’ve seen graphics popping up in seconds, I’ve seen a single one hour bulletin become the stage for four unexpected breaking news stories, all of them conveyed with a beginning, a middle and an end. Some of their innovations with available graphics have worked out splendidly on air. It wouldn’t quite be the same without pressure. Then there’s copy.

On those occasions when the copy desk and rundown finds a rhythm, even the most mundane reports become stories that simply shouldn’t be missed. A cheeky story slug, a simple set of explainers conjured up in the nick of time, packages written in 15 minutes and written bloody well. It’s a rush I will miss. But this side of the channel is built on the work of the desk.

Rundown and copy, when there’s a news flood get to pick what’s important and what’s not. The desk at no point have had that luxury. The demand on them is unrelenting. Partnered with editors, prime time packages have innocently walked into the rundown on time, saying nothing of the quicksilver decisions, uninhibited teamwork and under-valued determination to meet the deadline that went behind it. But what truly sets us apart is, well, us.

It is often said that life is short. It isn’t. Everyone gets a lifetime. But buffeted as we are by our own plans and by destiny, it’s the time we get with prospective friends that is short. Too short for grudges, too short for cynicism any longer than a cigarette in a five-minute break. Within weeks of my coming here, I was already one of you. Whether or not I come back here, I know for a fact that everyone reading this wishes me well and would rather I stayed than move away. And that makes my stint with CNN-IBN a success. I never thought I’d say this, but part of me will remain 18 till I die. And it’s all your fault.

-Ananda

Cashing In Online

The internet, arguably the most powerful phenomenon of this century, turned 40 this year. The much older phenomenon of news has been watching this with considerable interest. And it has begun cashing in, online.

On Sunday, media mogul Rupert Murdoch announced that all his news websites would charge customers for access to content. The huge losses his empire recorded might have had much to do with the shake up, but the News Corp CMD nailed the debate when he said, "Quality journalism is not cheap, and an industry that gives away its content is simply cannibalising its ability to produce good reporting." He also added that if he were successful other media houses would follow suit. Coming from Murdoch, it almost sounds prophetic.

The Financial Times predicted that all news agencies will begin charging for online content within the next year. The only point of discussion now is whether they should charge per month or per article.

Typically, the online subscriber base of a medium-sized publication is less than 5 per cent of their print counterparts. And a publication that begins charging online for the first time loses a considerable chunk of its website traffic initially. However, the trend can be bucked. A combination of innovative pay models and aggressive updating and differentiation of content will boost subscriber base. And a popular online edition tends to protect the sale of their print editions as well.

Again, the key is constant innovation. The look and content of a print edition will be defined to a great extent by tradition. This cannot be banked on online. The immediate online target audience of an age group that can be sustained only if content is packaged in an interactive multimedia capsule.

The internet is no longer simply another space for media houses to stake a claim and record a presence. While it has opened inexpensive channels of distribution, “it has not made content free,” another pearl from Murdoch. If content goes online, the price tag does, too.

Another Beginning

This is my second attempt at blogging. Another beginning, in way. The first time I tried my inexperienced fingers at creating and sustaining a blog, I was at the beginning of my career. And boy, did I have a lot to say! Most of my initial blogs were like hand towels into which I whined my embarrassing insecurities and my struggles to shake off my lethargy, courtesy years of life without the need to exercise my body or mind. Behind the lines of those blogs was an understanding of how much space I was given as a growing boy. There was also regret for how much of it I had frittered away. I have changed since then. I began learning the ropes, began working for a living, working to learn. And on some thrilling occasions, worked just for the sake of it.

This is my second attempt at blogging. Since the first attempt, I've changed jobs, fallen in love where I could have risen above it, been engaged to the wrong woman and married the right one, danced to the mysterious tune of marriage. I have laughed, learned, worried, observed, prayed. I ought to have a lot more to say now. But I don't. Since the last time I tried to create and sustain a blog, I've also had to eat a lot of my words and have on many occasions watched myself discard my own counsel.

But I guess I don't always have to talk at you, or whine, or preach. Instead, I could share. Yes, I think this time around, I will share. Welcome, reader. My world is now richer, a little wiser, and a little quieter than the last time you were here.

-Ananda