Tarun Tejpal - Public Interest Journalism: Another Side of Media

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PUBLIC INTEREST JOURNALISM ANOTHER SIDE OF MEDIA
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The words journalism and media seems to suggest
one thing, one entity, one type of public role in
the world but nothing could be further from the
truth. The bulk of the worlds media platforms
end up being platforms of record. What do we mean
by that? They primarily focus on what happened,
when, where, and sometimes, maybe by extension,
why. They track what happens that they consider
noteworthy in their field, and they report
it. But while that makes us all better informed,
it is a limited and limiting framework of
what journalism really is, and has the potential
to be a powerful tool of unearthing, revealing,
getting behind what those in power do not want
revealed, whether that power resides in
individuals or governments, in corporations or
technocrats. Journalism at its most ethical, at
its most truthful, represents national interest,
represents citizens interest and sometimes might
place both those secondary both those in order
for something even greater, the idea of human
interest, of justice, even if that implicates the
nation in wrongdoing.
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In the contemporary media landscape where
corporations own media houses and politicians
hound those that dare to investigate them, there
remains a glittering if highly contentious genre
of journalism that swims against the
tide. Public interest journalism Theyre
sometimes lauded as heroes and other times
flagellated as muckrakers. Their methods often
draw censure and ethical debate. But one thing is
for certain public interest journalism can
change a society, a country, and in some ways,
the world. And in our lifetimes alone, both at
home in India and away, across the world, weve
seen it happen.
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What is Public Interest Journalism? At its
heart, public interest journalism is simply about
telling stories the public has a right to know.
This doesnt mean merely interesting, or even
important, stories rather, public interest
journalism is, in a sense, actively calling
attention to something crucial to the publics
interest that out of focus, obscured or very
often, deeply hidden. Investigative journalism,
hence, is at the core of public interest
journalism where an individual reporter or an
organisation devotes a substantial amount of
resources, whether time, manpower, or money and
often with a potential for immense danger to
those conducting this journalism, to dig into
what someone wants hidden.
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Think, for instance, of one word that itself
encapsulates the idea of public interest
journalism Watergate, which brought down
President Richard Nixon after journalists Carl
Bernstein and Bob Woodward uncovered the
wiretapping of the Democratic Partys
headquarters a wiretapping that was eventually
traced back right to the Oval Office, along with
several other highly egregious actions vis-a-vis
political opponents. Nixon resigned to avoid
impeachment the only American president ever to
have done so and the judicial probes into the
Watergate scandal were broadcast live on PBS
network. But it was Bernstein and Woodward, along
with their informant Deep Throat, whose
identity remained undisclosed for 33 years, till
2005, who brought the whole edifice tumbling
down. And thereby gave journalism perhaps a
singular moment of impact in American history.
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• Heres a few other examples of deeply valuable
  work done by investigative journalists and
  platforms
• It may not be the most familiar name to story but
  when journalist Julius Chamber of New York
  Tribune got himself admitted to an asylum in 1872
  to conduct an investigation, his work went on to
  change the very laws related to lunacy. His
  investigation brought to light that 12 patients
  who were not mentally ill were admitted in the
  asylum, and the devastating ambiguities in the
  law that allowed this to happen. His account led
  to the release of the patients, a change in the
  laws, and later the publishing of a landmark book
  called A Mad World and Its Inhabitants.
• The Bofors Scam. A watershed in Indian history
  and Indian journalism, the Bofors scandal broke
  in 1987. Not only did it have massive fallout for
  the ruling party, the Congress, that went on to
  lose the 1989 general elections as a result, it
  went on to put corruption as an issue at the
  heart of Indian political discourse.

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• Two journalists the then relatively unknown
  Chitra Subramanian and the influential N. Ram of
  The Hindu unearthed the scandal, which centered
  around a then substantial weapons contract
  between India and Sweden, and brought to light
  illegal kickbacks given by Bofors AB, an arms
  manufacturer, in order to win contracts to supply
  India with its howitzer guns. The journalists
  created the Bofors report after secretly
  sourcing, verifying, and translating almost 200
  documents from Swedish over the course of months.
  The Bofors expose has also been featured as one
  of 50 great stories produced by Columbia
  Journalism School Alumni, in this case N. Ram.
• Operation West End. Defence deals and politicians
  seem a match made in public interest hell, as a
  2001 investigation by Tehelka went on to prove.
  This wasnt by chance co-founder Tarun J Tejpal
  made explicitly clear public interest journalism
  was the very foundation of why Tehelka was set
  up, and that the platform would aggressively
  pursue stories the powers-that-be wanted kept out
  of sight.

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• Over the course of months, undercover journalists
  carried hidden cameras and went systematically up
  the defense procurement food chain in order to
  get at the highest levels of corruption in
  defense deals. And it went higher than anyone
  could have imagined BJP president Bangaru
  Laxman was caught on camera accepting a bribe,
  had to resign, and was later convicted by the
  judicial system.
• Tehelka didn't stop there in the same year,
  living up to Tarun Tejpals founding intent, they
  also blew the lid off an explosive match-fixing
  scandal in Indian cricket. While critics often
  debated the methods required to dig out the truth
  of these stories, it remains incontestable that
  these are some of Indian journalisms most iconic
  stories.
• Tarun Tejpal later spoke of those as being deeply
  difficult times, with the government hunting the
  publication and its journalists and friends
  deserting the core team for fear of retribution.
  That said, Tejpal and Tehelka, as well as a
  glittering roster of journalists went on to do
  seminal work in public interest journalism in the
  country

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Tarun J Tejpal is a journalist, publisher and
novelist. In a career spanning 26 years, Tarun
Tejpal has been the editor of the India Today and
Indian Express groups and the managing editor of
Outlook, India's leading news magazine. In March
2000, he started Tehelka, a news organization
that has earned a global reputation for its
aggressive public interest journalism. Tarun
Tejpal's first novel, The Alchemy of Desire, was
published in 2005. Tarun J Tejpal's second novel,
The Story of My Assassins, was published in 2009
to rave reviews. Also you can check Tarun J
Tejpal.