#ActiveCitizenship | Ear to the Ground: Grassroots Media and Active Citizenship

Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies co-hosted a track on ‘Resilient Societies’ at Charcha 2021. Here is a summary of a session on grassroots media: the critical role it plays in ‘pulling’ government services and ‘pushing’ citizen participation.

The media landscape is evolving rapidly, and the line dividing the professional creed of a journalist from their anxieties as a citizen is getting increasingly blurred. How has technology altered the relationship between reporters and readers? How can we encourage more grassroots media? And how can journalism push people to be informed, empathetic, and invested citizens with a unified intent of a strong society? These are some of the questions that our panelists answered in our session ‘Ear to the Ground: Grassroots Media and Active Citizenship.’ Dhanya Rajendran, Editor-in-Chief of The News Minute, and Meera Devi, Bureau Chief Editor at Khabar Lahariya, talked with Barkha Dutt, an award-winning Indian television journalist, author and owner of MoJo Story on YouTube.

The Line Between Journalism and Activism

Today’s media is fast becoming either ‘chamcha ya morcha,’ i.e. supplicants or activists, says Barkha Dutt. While these are two extremes, it’s important to note that journalism can never fully be unbiased or neutral because biases are built into every decision made from the choice of the story and angle, the kinds of questions asked, and the amount of coverage it gets. Citizens must also cultivate a discipline of understanding the difference between opinion versus reportage and where that line may blur for specific organisations. In the end, good journalism will allow the story to speak for itself. For Meera Devi, what’s critical is to highlight the issues people usually ignore and platform voices from the grassroots and marginalised communities.

Encouraging Local and Grassroots News

We need stories from all parts of India. Still, Dhanya Rajendran argues that our national media has ceased to be truly national in its scope and mainly focuses on Delhi and Mumbai-centric stories. Area-specific and topic-specific organisations can allow for deeper and more nuanced coverage. India has the appetite for a thousand more publications doing the kind of work that Khabar Lahariya is doing. The audience is ready for it; however, our revenue models are not — regional websites publishing quality journalism are struggling financially. We need a combination of local news and national coverage to amplify the story so that politicians are pressured into action. Only then will our media be effective in serving society and holding institutions accountable. The challenge is to find a compelling way to tell a story so that there is something universal about it, regardless of its geographical context, says Barkha.

“The issues that don’t have mass interest, mass following are the ones that need to be highlighted more.” Meera Devi

The Tyranny of Algorithms and Advertising

Journalists believed that their job was to jolt people out of their comfort zones and talk about things that may not have been popular. However, the tyranny of advertising, algorithms, revenue models, and the tyranny of the state has made this job very difficult. Barkha explains that Indian media has seen three phases of control — the first was the state where we had no private television, only Doordarshan; the second was television at the tyranny of the market with sponsors always looking for TRPs, and finally, now we have tech companies dictating the visibility of content based on certain keywords resulting in click-bait headlines. To judge the quality of journalism based on this is unfair. One might take certain compromises as an organisation to get views; however, the dedication to telling the important stories must always win out. Good journalism cannot be driven by echo chambers on social media or revenue models.

“There are certain things that we do for revenue, there are certain things we do for the audience, and there are certain things we do because we genuinely believe that they are important. And I think that if we are truthful, we all do a mix of all of these three things every day.” Barkha Dutt

Questions of Funding

Revenue directly impacts the quality of work that journalists can do. Organisations, media start-ups, and individual journalists who aren’t backed by large corporate houses are increasingly relying on revenue from their readers. Still, few are willing to pay for quality news, says Barkha. In India’s current socio-political atmosphere, there is a greater need for philanthropists to support media ventures. Many funders view media as a risky sector; however, this is when media organisations need funding the most to speak truth to power. Dhanya points out that funders and corporates must also realise that media is not a scalable property — you cannot put money in and immediately expect the money back. Instead, the point should be to cultivate an interested audience that appreciates nuanced coverage of the issues.

“This is a time when you should put money in the media because this is the time when we need more people to speak up, speak truth to power.” Dhanya Rajendran

How Tech Influences Journalism

Digital platforms have accelerated the decline of television news; however, visual storytelling is changing quickly to adapt to new platforms and attention spans. One story about a particular incident may get a lot more views and traction than others simply because of the algorithm-driven news atmosphere on social media, says Dhanya. Many organisations, therefore, have to consider how to publish the kinds of stories that will get clicks and revenue but do it in a way that is intelligent and aligns with their ideology. Journalists also face a lot of trolling online that may affect what they choose to report on.

Conversations about the effects of social media on journalists’ mental health and the need to mute or block the abuse that comes their way should be happening in newsrooms. Young people especially are in danger of being impacted by this and could start self-censoring themselves in anticipation of online backlash, warns Dhanya.

A Hopeful Future

While the media landscape is facing complex challenges right now, there are many Indians who are invested in the betterment of cities, states, and the country and who believe in the ability of journalism to affect change. Moreover, Dhanya believes that sustained coverage, for example, in-depth and on the ground reporting during the pandemic, has allowed people to renew their belief in the importance of the media. Finally, Meera reminds us that journalists should believe in themselves and the value of their work, which is what our country needs now more than ever.

Our takeaways:

• How can we encourage more area-specific and topic-specific grassroots news outlets to cover issues that don’t necessarily get national coverage?
• How will evolving technology change the way we consume news, and how will organisations and journalists adapt to these changes?
• Can funders re-examine their assumptions about investing in the media and offer support when many organisations are struggling to stay afloat?