A Goan journalist, based in Singapore, wanted to know whether he was eligible to join the Goa Union of Journalists. I'm not sure whether the constitution of that body allows for it. But the GUJ, as it is called, has had a category of 'senior journalists' for some time now. These refer to journos who spent a number of years in the field and might not be currently active here.
Someone responded to him, in the same online discussion: "Leave aside GUJ. It's time to form a press club." Meanwhile, at another level, the media reported minister Vishwajit Rane as saying that there would soon be a "press room in every taluka" of Goa.
To avoid any mix-up in issues, let's be clear: these are three separate institutions. The GUJ is a trade union and, also, simultaneously, a professional body. On the other hand, the press club is sometimes seen as a watering hole for journos, though more laudable and praiseworthy goals have also been set in store for it.
Journalists in Goa point to existing Press Clubs in Mumbai and Delhi, while Delhi was itself inspired by one in London.
A press room, on the other hand, which is a third different concept, is usually a room in a government building for the press to use. You can see it as a convenient pool at which the media can keep updated with breaking news, to others from their ranks, and also to those wanting to share their news. But it could also be seen as an official attempt to "guide" news-flows, control the discourse, and keep tabs on who's writing what in the media.
This is why this subject might be topical...
On the morning of coming Friday, June 30, 2023, the Goa Union of Journalists will meet at its sixth-floor government-allocated office, at Shram Shakti Bhavan at Patto.
To be discussed amidst a lengthy 16-point agenda on that day are more routine items like minutes and accounts, condolence and congratulatory motions. Also to come up is a GUJ "journalist welfare scheme"; raising journalists' monthly pension from Rs 8500 to 10,000; and a Patrakar Bhavan, "a dream come true announcement".
Also under the focus will be welfare schemes for journalists, camera and laptop schemes, implementation of the Majithia wage board, group health insurance for GUJ members and their immediate family, a proposal to hike annual GUJ membership fees (currently Rs200 only), "unchecked digital news channels and portals", and even "tackling a fake IFWJ [Indian Federation of Working Journalists] body in Goa".
Over the years, the GUJ has been caught up between two, actually three, somewhat competing trends. The first is taking up trade union issues. Who doesn't like fighting for their own rights, and asking for more? That's a given.
On the other hand, it has also had to remind itself that it is a professional body, taking care of the interests of the media as a whole.
Yet, there is some creative tension, if not conflict of interest, between the first goal and the second. Getting the support of the government in power, and lobbying for facilities for mediapersons, also means that the Fourth Estate would mean greater compromise with the powers that be.
Focussing on what the media can give us, as compared to what we could give to the wider public through the media, makes us pull in different directions.
The third part of this triangle is the annual focus on elections to this journalists' body. The GUJ, incidentally, has long prided itself to be the first, the oldest, in the State, and the most representative of all media organisations here.
Every year, the focus goes to the electoral contest. This is only natural. But after one has interacted with this body since at least 1988, it made one realise that an excessive focus on elections, while seemingly democratic, can also be counterproductive.
Everyone tends to get worked up over the contest. They forget that the real challenge lies ahead, after the elections are over. With so much focus given to the electoral battle, far less attention is paid to doing something that could really make the media effective and efficient in our small state.
Two challenges face the media most strongly in Goa, as elsewhere. One is financial, ensuring its viability remains. It cannot be mediapersons argument that this concern is for the newspaper managements to look after.
For, if media organisations come under increasing pressure (as they have, more apparently since Covid, but before too), then everybody sinks. Media organisations, journalists, and even readers (who still, despite feeling let down, largely see the media as needed to protect their wider interests).
The other challenge is to ensure that the media retains its credibility. As the political battle for power becomes more apparently bitter and hard-fought, the media is sought to be incorporated by whoever is in the seat of power.
Such cases might not be discussed very openly, but they come up all the time. For instance, in March 2021, during the peak of the pandemic, the GUJ wrote to chief minister Pramod Sawant protesting the formation of a Press Club Goa by "non-journalists and politically-connected individuals".
It wrote that the organisation's chairperson, Anant Joshi, a former naval officer, and chairperson of the ex-servicemen's cell of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Goa, had formed this organisation "along with a few non-journalists, without any consultation with the Goa Union of Journalists".
Everyone is happy with freebies and handouts from any government in power. But these come with a sharp price tag, the possibility of being officially influenced. There's a trade off between credibility and official benefits, and one needs to acknowledge the same.
