Having been in and around newsrooms for close to 20 years (formally for over 5, in formally for 15), I can say with some certainty that respected Justice (r) Nasir Aslam Zahid sb and media non-mogul Javed Jabbar (nowhere close to the respect I have for Justice sb) have got the point of print journalists being more trained than television, wrong. Sure, print journos may be more educated (only in some cases) than their television counterparts in that they may have flashier "card-boards" to hold up, but when it comes to news, and training for news, and understanding editorial structure, responsibility, implementing good practices, codes of conduct, they are equally untrained, inept, underpaid and as atrocious as the television sloggers. In my experience - there have been reletively few examples that I can cite where properly trained journalists are hired into newsrooms, let alone the higher editorial positions. A look at the advertisements put out by some of the papers (some others just do not even bother with adverts any more) and the base requirements listed. If you do not believe me - take look at the papers, any paper, and see the level of reports (quantitative and qualitative) and see the standards. And while this is not a measure by any means - but try comparing with the same paper from 3 years ago. The difference is apparent. If some say its about the money - may be - but I assure you that in some instances - "properly trained" journalists are paid a lot less than their untrained heads in print and tv. The malaise, while present in a more exacerbated form in tv, is very much alive in print too.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Jul 2013 03:27:19 +0000