In an effort to bridge the information gap between the North East and the rest of India, I conceived and launched the North East Media Exchange Program in 1996 (through the National Foundation for India), which awards scholarships to media persons from the region and other parts of the country to study and report on issues which they may not, in the normal course, get a chance to research and write about. Thus in the past years, not less than 67 journalists (42 from the North East and 25 from other parts of India) have benefited from this effort to bridge the information and communication gap between the NER and the rest of India. C-NES wishes to organize and offer two major fellowships, each lasting about six months, along the lines of NEMEP but much more in-depth. We propose a Committee of eminent journalists and editors to select the fellowships. One fellowship will be for a senior journalist from the NER; the second will be for a journalist from the rest of the country. We wish to offer the fellowship to the North East journalist in the specific area of local governance and the use of communications (particularly information technology) in states such as Andhra Pradesh or Madhya Pradesh. The second fellowship will focus on development perspectives from the grassroots, especially local innovations, in the North East.
This effort, we believe, will bring the region closer to the rest of the country, especially by making journalists and communicators b e t t e r informed about issues and, in turn, informing readers and audiences. My effort through the fellowships which we have been conducting is to widen this base of knowledge and understanding, to sensitize journalists and communicators to major issues.
The work of the fellows could be edited and published as monographs and extensively distributed. In addition, we could conduct workshops for journalists in the NER with the participation of prominent media figures and scholars to enable direct interaction which would broaden perspectives and deepen understanding, particularly on new technologies and approaches. Workshops to familiarize journalists and media in other parts of the country about the NER could be similarly held with NE participation in such workshops. These events could also be documented and widely disseminated.
We appeal to the Non- Resident Assamese and others of NE origin in the US to back us with a grant that will enable us to run such activities and programs over the next years with competence and professionalism so that the aims outlined above are met. The North East is a major priority of the Government of India (it has set up the Department f o r the Development of the NE Region in the past few years) and we feel that the strategies outlined above could play an important role in bringing the region closer to the rest of the country.
The obvious question that would arise immediately is what would be the impact (visible) of such fellowships? Those in market research, impact assessment and interested in the outreach of such activities would have such a query, which is most appropriate. The impact of such fellowships is difficult to quantify – I can only share some experiences as someone who has curated an innovative set of fellowships for the past seven years.
The immediate visible impacts are on the fellows who win the awards. First, there has been an interaction of journalists with host organizations such as the Hindu, The Times of India and the Indian Express and Statesman and the building up of their capacities, especially from the North East. This has had several results: people are promotedwithin their own organization or they get a better job elsewhere (at least 15 journalists have been appointed to good positions in new organizations) or they are absorbed by the host organization or work on a freelance basis for it. Thus, Sushanta Talukdar, who was a fellow is now the Hindu correspondent for the NE; Ritu Raj Konwar, who worked also with the Hindu during his fellowship as a photographer, is their cameraman for the region. We have better informed writing and reporting on the region as a specific result and thus are able to fight for more space in the media.
The second impact which can be mapped clearly is that on those traveling and working in the NER for the first time. Their own knowledge levels have grown as have their personal and professional interests and in the process they have benefited substantial, influential reading audiences.
Thus, AJ Philip, formerly Senior Editor at the Indian Express and now Associate Editor of The Tribune at Chandigarh, never misses an opportunity to write edits or share information with readers about issues of the NE. Similar is the case for several others. Preeti Gill, formerly an editor with The Book Review and now an editor at Zubaan (successor to Kali, the feminist press) who went to Assam and wrote about Assamese writers, helped organize a seminar on Assamese writing in Delhi (Indira Raisom Goswami – Baideau – still speaks of it as one of the few efforts to enablewriters like herself have an interaction with international and national publishers like Penguin) and now is planning to bring out at least three volumes of writings (novel and non-fiction) from Assam and the NE for Zubaan, including a new novel by Mitra Phukan.
Thus, media practitioners develop a commitment, greater interest and a love for the region and its people. The fellows are both a network (email association) and a strong resource base for visiting journalists as is the S e l e c t i o n Committee, comprising of editors and reporters from the region and outside.
The third impact is slower and takes longer and needs sustenance: the building up of information and better understanding among larger sections of the media, particularly television, and information among the public. I would draw your attention to a press conference that some of us held in Bhopal after a workshop which drew over 70 participants on March 29, 2004, on Critical Issues before the North East and the report in the Hindu from their Bhopal correspondent: ‘Slowly, but surely, their voices are being heard” on 31 March 2004.
We from C-NES conduct these workshops because we feel it’s time the NER stopped whining and complaining and instead went ahead to share its experiences and stories, its challenges and hopes with people across India. We had a little modest funding from theIndian Council for Social Science Research which enabled us to do that at Bhopal – the enthusiasm generated was visible and exciting. It shows how much goodwill exists in the rest of the country for our lands and also how many of our young men and women are doing well outside the region (not just in the West) and form a vibrant pool of talent and resources that we can tap. This we propose to continue doing and raising funds for.
I believe that the Media Fellowships which can be funded by the Assamese and North Eastern friends in the United States can be a major step in plugging the information gaps which exist and at developing a clearer, better informed image of the region which will help in a number of other ways – they can, for example, enable potential investors to take realistic decisions, based on facts, not media hype or rhetoric.
The media’s role in developing a correct image of our region and peoples is critical. The fellowships program which I have outlined is part of the process of enabling a better flow of information and changing both mindsets and prejudices: in the minds of journalists and editors as much as in the general public. For if the media is misinformed, then can the public be blamed? We have to tackle the problem at its root – and I share this as a practicing journalist who is committed to helping young journalists from our area find better professional opportunities and space.
Budget
(Figures below are for one year: we propose a minimum of three years)
Two Fellowships for six months @ Rs. 100,000 each Rs.2,00,000
Travel/lodging allowances @ Rs. 50,000 each Rs.1,00,000
Advertisements, dissemination,
publicity, press conferences Rs. 60,000
Stationary, faxes, communications, printing,
secretarial assistance, administration Rs. 50,000
Meeting of Selection Committee (in the NER)
(committee will include two journalist/editors from outside
the NE and two from the NE: i.e. air fare for two persons
Delhi-Guwahati-return approx. Rs. 36,000 plus taxis, local conveyance, accommodation and sitting fee for all members) Rs. 65,000
Coordinator Rs. 1,00,000
Publishing of monographs (two every year @ Rs. 10,000 each
and mailing/distribution costs of Rs. 2,000)
Rs. 10,000 + Rs. 2,000 x 2 x 3 Rs. 72,000
Miscellaneous Rs. 10,000
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Total Rs. 6,57,000 _______________________________________________________________
For three years: Rs.6,57,000 x 3 Rs.19,71,000
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Contributed by Sanjoy Hazarika, Managing Trustee, C-NES and Consulting Editor, The North East Page (oped)
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