From Snake Charmers to Snake Eaters

India has come of age insofar as coverage of her affairs by foreign journalists is concerned. The shyness, the secrecy, the distrust and suspicion about coverage in the foreign media has been replaced by an almost over eagerness to open her doors for the new, or frankly now not so new, entrants who have taken hold of the opportunity to establish a fairly strong presence in the country. The one Mark Tully of the BBC has been replaced by a host of foreign journalists representing the world media in India, and coverage of India has increased dramatically as a result. It could be her growth story, her elections or for that matter the grid breakdown that left 19 states without power just recently, it is all lapped up by the media—print, radio and television-- who have posted their correspondents here.

Many of these correspondents cover entire South Asia and travel to the other countries, keeping Delhi as the base, as it is more stable and hospitable. In the process, the begging bowl stories that defined India during the Cold War and even later have been replaced by a much wider range of coverage where poverty figures – how can it not – but the impact is often diluted by more positive stories of individual prowess or corporate success. India sells more than she ever has in the past, and hence the foreign correspondents keep pouring in to report on her failures and successes. And they are not treated like dirt by the government as in the past but as journalists with work to do. At the same time, some of the glory that covered Tully and the BBC in yesteryears has dimmed, as there are too many foreign correspondents now to merit singular attention.

Some of these correspondents have made New Delhi their home, staying on with different newspapers on the condition that they would not be posted out. Some have retired from the newspapers that sent them to India in the first place, to adopt the country and become part of the glittering elite.  Mark Tully is one of those to have made India a home, travelling extensively, no longer as a journalist but as an author.

There is a new breed of foreign journalists now, extensively travelled, being posted from country to country with the regularity of the diplomat. India is a stop between several hops. What do they bring to their job? How have their experiences been? Are they comfortable here? Do they like the people, the food? Would they return if given a chance? How has the coverage changed? How different is India from other countries they have covered, easier, more difficult? Our reporters managed to meet some of the many posted in New Delhi to get an idea to these and other questions and build a profile of the archetypal foreign journalist. But then again can he or she be a type? Read on