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The dark trail: Now and then
SATYENDRA TRIPATHI/DILBAR GOTI | New Delhi, February 17, 2012 14:57
Tags : crime reporter | Crime Reporters Association | uncountable technological advancements |
Tags : crime reporter | Crime Reporters Association | uncountable technological advancements |
Satyendra Tripathi, crime reporter, Nai Duniya
I have spent 15 years of my life as a crime reporter and have seen uncountable technological advancements in these years. When I get nostalgic, I realise things have changed drastically. Today, we have high end electronic devices, recorders, pocket cameras etc, which give us solid proof. If I look back into the past – say some 10 years ago – I had enough time to work on stories, to cross check information and I used to travel to different places frequently. But today I have ready information at my disposal over the phone and other media. But, at the same time, sources are in a hurry. If I don’t entertain their information, they pass it on to others. So, we need to be alert. Every news is important for us nowadays.
On the other hand, with the availability of facts and figures, crime reporting is more in-depth now. I can’t bet about the electronic media, but print media is surely doing a good job in crime reporting. There is more crime news today than there was earlier. We risk our life, but we also leave an impact with our credibility. Few years ago, I was getting life threats on an exclusive story of mine and an officer offered me security too, but I didn’t take it. Today, I strongly feel that some concrete steps must be taken for the security of journalists. There have been strong challenges, but all I did was hard work. I have learnt a lot of things and have also got familiar with the latest technology to make sure I am not left behind.
Dilbar Goti, Metro editor, Nav Bharat Times
As a crime reporter, my experience was really great. It was between 1994 and 1996, when I started reporting crime for Nav Bharat Times. Telephones were rare, and so were television channels and the Internet. The crime trend was also different in those days, but we rarely missed any story. We had enough time to work on a specific story and most importantly, we were very close and friendly. We used to verify each and every information and only then would we report any incident or crime. Sometimes, we would go to the library for background material and would spend hours in search of a particular cutting or clipping. When I see news stories these days, I think that we were far more ethical and sensible in reporting any incident.
I remember, we used to meet at a common place (which was the PRO’s office) where we would share routine news stories. And, interestingly, we had also made a Crime Reporters Association, which was so active that anybody hardly missed a news story. Technology has helped people save time these days, but people are misusing it as well. Nowadays, there are so many crime reporters. Administrative officers hardly know them personally. In our time, we used to have cordial terms with police officers, although we never obliged them. When it comes to security, I say that security has always been in question, but when I reported on crime, the risk was comparatively less.
Issue Dated: Feb 5, 2017
