What Tamil journalism needs: Hyperlocal news, niche topics like science, and more
Panel discussion at MOP Vaishnav College for Women, Chennai, also examines need for sensitive news reporting, and the need for plurality in the newsroom
A panel discussion held on Monday (March 10) at MOP Vaishnav College for Women, Chennai, offered insights into the history of Tamil journalism, the necessity for sensitive news reporting, and the need for plurality in the newsroom.
Pramila Krishnan, Assistant Editor with The Federal, moderated the panel discussion, titled 'Tamil News: The Road Ahead'. This was part of a journalism conclave called ‘The Future of News: Technology, Ethics and Other Dimensions’, conducted by the Undergraduate Journalism Programme at MOP Vaishnav.
The panel featured eminent voices of the Tamil news and media industry: Indhuja Raghunathan, Editor of YourStory Tamil; ‘Cyber’ Simman, Columnist and Tech blogger; and N Vinoth Kumar, Assistant News Editor of The Times of India.
The Federal is the digital media partner of the journalism conclave.
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Shift in journalism over the years
Raghunathan spoke at length about the necessity for sensitivity in news reporting. In the current age vis-à-vis when she joined the field of journalism 25 years ago, there is a marked change, with the need for consent of news subjects, she said.
The audience at the auditorium largely concurred with her. She went on to say that in her belief, the future of journalism cannot be sustained if basic ethics are not followed.
All the panelists agreed that the purpose of writing stories in journalism is to create an impact, or take up stories that create an impact.
Will AI change journalism?
Simman began by stressing on what Raghunathan said, saying what differentiates an 'ordinary' journalist from a professional journalist is their stand on ethics.
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He expressed a ‘wishlist’ for the state of Tamil journalism. "I would like to see more journalists write about niche topics like science, technology and so on in Tamil," he said. "There needs to be a focus on hyperlocal news and more independent journalists writing in Tamil."
According to him, AI is going to have a large impact, but, without humans feeding AI data, it cannot produce content.
Krishnan concurred with his points and highlighted that in the modern age of digital journalism, the average time spent by a reader on a news article is proportional to the success of a website.
Look to the past for the present
Vinoth Kumar spoke at length about the history of Tamil journalism, and its long tradition of nurturing readers. According to him, the basic function of a journalist is to stand up against the government when it is going awry or making decisions at the cost of the people.
"Censorship of the media has become a real challenge for journalists," he said and discussed ongoing issues of media censorship that were contested by Tamil news outlets. He spoke about the Vernacular Press Act and schemes for student reporters from Tamil news organisations, that they can avail.
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He also spoke of plurality in the newsroom, where people from all social backgrounds come together to break societal constraints and put their unique, individual news perspective forward.
