Amity Syndrome is Killing Journalism:- subhash dhuliya

Long back, Dhurv Todria did his journalism course from Garhwal University and came to newspaper in Lucknow I was working with for internship. He was very talented among the lot and on his own decided to work at district level as he rightly felt the real events occur at grass root level. He did not pay any heed to my segmentation that initial few years he should spend at some major city. He became correspondent of Amar Ujala at Rishikesh in Dehradun district -my home town-and was doing extremely well. He filed a story against Dr Gupta the "Mrigi specialist". (The doctor is now in jail) as most of us now aware. He was offered bribe and he refused. Then one fine morning he was removed and the Doctor made it a point that he does not get job in any other organization. The Doctor was providing huge advertisements to all newspapers-the TV boom has not occurred at that time. He was highest income tax payer of UP and even "physician" of "president of India" as per his claim. The entire medical fraternity of Dehradun region knew the about the "medical expertise" of the Doctor but there was not a single media outlet that could take on him.

No one can afford to be so utopian that would suggest that every media outlet can afford to offend advertisers. Advertisers do have a say and it is fact of life. But there has to be “lakshman rekha”. Can we afford to have a media model in which people involved in all kinds of businesses can buy media because they happen to carry huge money bag? We have large number of business and industrial houses and they do indulge in irregular practices and media perhaps cannot do much. But do we need to have some kind of threshold for this kind of irregular practices? What can be ignored and what cannot be? Media news gathering model is becoming very anti-people in a way. Good news story need more expenses so they tend to go for a story which is easily available for little money and that is why all kind of fraudulent practices that are prevailing in rapidly booming education industry are being ignored by media.

I know a bit about media education and know large number of institutions who have taken affiliation form more than one university because they can take only sixty students in one professional course-more affiliation means running more courses from same facilities and minting more money. Three year degree course and sixty students in mean 180 students for BJ and if fee is 50,000 you can calculate how much money it means? And more than one degree course and MJ too. Soon they will start providing PhDs also and if academicians like former Director of IIMC have a say they will be best sited to become faculty members at premier institutions of the country? And quality of education- they are just selling dreams; promising these youngsters job of anchors in leading television channels; promising them to make them famous in half an hour and why not in this age everybody can be famous for 15 minutes; claiming 100 percent placement – see the flood of advertising and the claims that are being made. These youngsters are not guided or trained but misguided and misinformed and our news media is not bothered to pay any attention to the fraud of this colossal nature.

How can education be permitted to become this kind of naked commerce? Amity got university from Chatisgarh and once supreme courts intervened on Prof. Yash Pal pleas-they “managed” it from UP? What are the fee structure and the faculty in all this kind of universities? How come there are only three sections in Class X and in Class XI it are eight sections of sixty students each. Students being attracted from state like Bihar, MP, UP –promising international class education. How much fee is charged? These are just few random information I got from my personal experience and it was job of news media to inform me what is not within domain of my personal and direct experience but I know nothing more.

Now with regard to Amity the first question which arises is why any organization having commitment to education should get involved in the kind of aggressive media blitz that Amity in involved in? Why an education institution should try to buy media as was the case of Tehelka and same thing was repeated to NDTV-offering huge advertisement? If there is nothing fishy why to be afraid of”false news”? Education is not blatant business of street smart capitalism mode. Few days back I happen to visit a "journalism school" having affiliation with Bhopal University. It was a small space with very clumsy class room and even the address was fraudulent. I discover that this institute has affiliation with four universities -Bhopal, Hissar and two from south India. The would be anchor does not read newspapers only “guides” for examination of journalism and who knows perhaps this is the need of fast expanding television news media and I may prove wrong ? People like me are branded too “Idealistic” who do not know needs of the news industry that is being governed by weekly market rating! And rape sells well and fast not colossal fraud in education as if education is not concern of common people.

Subhash Dhuliya