Women journalists at
home, women journalists at schools, women journalists at covering stories
around the city and women journalists also catching up with family relations
but is it a piece of cake? They may make it look as it is just another day that
is passed but it isn’t. Talking to few women journalists are Asha Jhabakh and
Dishya Sharma to understand how they manage to get the best of both worlds.
What is the role
of an employee in a print medium organisation? One can define role of an
employee in the organization as a reporter, writer, photojournalist,
sub-editors, editor, special writers, page designers, etc. Every designation is
pre-defined and the journalists are expected to adhere to the tasks assigned to
them within the given time. They are expected to meet deadlines with completed
articles, get it edited from the sub editors, get it approved by the editor and
get it placed on the page layout. This was how women journalists worked all
through the years.
But today there
is more to writing for a woman journalist. The age old routine of just
reporting and writing has gone with the wind. Today many journalists have parted
ways with the tradition of confining themselves to the table of words and moved
on with doing other tasks such as photography for their own articles, making
the page layout themselves and even hosting events on behalf of their
respective company. This multi taking as helped many women journalists become
masters of their fields but is multi tasking really a choice made by a journalist
or is there more to what meets the eye.
Many women
journalists are choosing an alternative mode of staying in the industry which
has eventually resulted in the scenario of multi tasking. “The reason behind
doing multi tasking is that the market which is down and there's a lot of cost
cutting. So the employee is bound to end up doing the work of four people. That's
what many of my colleagues at my office are taking up various tasks to stay in
the industry. I do reporting writing editing. But we work at 11 teams across
India. But it's just me at Chennai. I do the work of two people in my office.
It’s not just me who’s facing this problem but also other teams and supplements
are also facing the same situation” says Bharti Govind from a leading
newspaper. She also adds in saying that since there are lack of supply of work
stations in the office, there is less recruitment happening.
Multitasking is
not only having practice or capability of handling more than one task at the
same time but also handing various fields and practices for a woman journalist
that allow them to spread their wings in various pages and fields of writing,
but there also have been many women journalists who say that they have to put
in the effort of designing the page. “I initially joined the field of
journalism as a trainee but the work I do is more than what the trainee tag
involves. I work under the City Nation Desk and am responsible for the nation
page that is published in Chennai or I suppose this was what I was told when I
joined the field. But it was more to that. I, not only handle the Chennai desk,
but am also responsible for other nation desks in the state. Within the span of
the assigned hours I have to finish all the pages and report to my editor.
Initially I thought it would be once in a while, but then it started building
up as a routine and today it has become a part of my job designation. I do not
complain that it is too much work and too less of a pay but I do have to say
that this is too hectic to handle and multitasking is not as easy as it sounds”
says Upanisha Ganesh, a trainee at Times of India.
While few are
forced to take up multi tasking while they work, there are few cannot handle
the pressure of multi tasking and choose to stay on the lines they have chosen
for themselves. “Multitasking in journalism is next to impossible given the
high pressure we work under unless if it is sub-editing and reporting like I
do, or inter departmental work. There's just no time to seek a freelance
opportunity for writing or editing because all the free time you have goes in
getting yourself physically rested for the week ahead” says Janane Venkataraman,
reporter at The New Indian Express.
Multi tasking
seems to be a way for journalists to venture into other fields of a print
organization but for one journalist; multi tasking resulted as a way through
which she joined the field of reporting and writing. “I was a designer when I
joined The Express Group in Pune. I was in charge of page making and spent more
than five years doing the same. It was one day when all the reporters were busy
with many other stories that my resident editor came up to me to cover a
political issue and I was stunned as I had not done reporting ever before. But
I took the step and worked up on the idea of my editor. This led me to multi
tasking. I started designing and reporting at the same time. I started learning
the skills of the game and managing both the fields. Today I have 14 years of
writing and design the features department page layout” shared a senior
journalist from the features department of The Indian Express.
Journalists have
seen adapting to the various changes in society, culture, and consumer
demographics and preferences. They grow in and out of the various trends of the
industry. The extraordinary growth of media multitasking means that there is
now a growing demand of journalists who can handle many tasks to meet the
demanding change. The present journalists are facing critical challenges such
as how to manage too many tasks at the same time, to give their full attention
to one task at a time and how they can complete the task without confusing
everything at one time. The industry is expanding horizontally and so are the numbers
of tasks that have to be managed by a single person. Many newspaper houses are
venturing into event managing and promotional activities to raise the goodwill
of the organization. Newspapers like The New Indian Express, Times of India and
The Hindu have all ventured into promotional activities and thus many
journalists have to be a part of such events. They are the ones who are into
the planning and organising the events that involve time and mind that cannot
be divided. Yet many women journalists are seen getting involved in such
activities and also managing their careers as journalists. Multi tasking,
though helps women to manage events properly than men, does create havoc at
work place. But it is really the need of the hour.
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