Acquiring a reputation of true competence and professionalism in journalism is no easy task. Many people can call themselves journalists but across the world, few really earn the title – and the respect that brings with it – through work that is not only of high quality but is also responsible, ethical and displays contextual awareness.

Some of the skills necessary for competent journalism are easily identifiable as well as quantifiable. In both the print and broadcast media, amongst the requirements are command over the grammar and nuances of the language one works in, the tone of the publication / channel and knowledge about what constitutes a complete story — the five Ws and H of what, where, when, where, who and how. Then, there are the underestimated demands of thorough research and meticulous fact-checking, draconian deadlines and the need to work at speed under immense pressure and often inconducive circumstances. On the production side, one needs an eye for aesthetics such as the balance and readability that are vital in layouts. The electronic media demand, in addition, complex presentation techniques that include graphics, music and segmentation.

So far so good, since most of these skills can be learned and honed through practice — and, in fact, constitute a good part of the curriculum taught in journalism schools across the world. But mastery over these skills can only take a journalist so far.

A really good journalist stands apart from the herd on the basis of certain unquantifiable, nebulous qualities that are all the harder to master for being apparently instinctive. There is the ability to sniff stories out, for example, what is often referred to as having a ‘nose’ for news. This requires not only imagination and creativity but also resourcefulness, meticulousness, tenacity and contextual awareness.

Most people are capable of turning in a report on yesterday’s fire and including the five Ws and H. But it takes imagination to wonder whether the owner of the affected building may possibly have needed insurance money or a tax write-off. Then, in order to embark upon an investigative news piece, the journalist needs knowledge of and contacts within, say, the business, legal and forensic fields, after which he must be able to frame his story in a manner that is not only ground-breaking and printable but is also not libellous and can be defended, if necessary, in a court of law.

Such skills are, to some extent, a matter of experience. A seasoned journalist will almost automatically wonder about arson as soon as he learns of a fire, think of large public service projects in context of whether or not an election is approaching, try and sniff out the deal when he hears of an unlikely political alliance. However, as any new entrant in the field will testify, while the techniques of journalism can be learned, the techniques of journalistic thought are another matter altogether.

In addition to all this, competent journalists –including reporters, photographers, editors, subbers, columnists or graphics / layout persons – have not only an ingrained sense of ethics but also really care at some bone-deep level. They are clear about why they are in this line of work, who or what is meant to benefit from their work and what the larger goal is.

In terms of ethics, for example, a good journalist will almost instinctively know that care is needed when publishing a photograph of a rape victim, or when writing a story on the incident. A competent news cameraman will know how to catch the emotions of a bombing victim’s family without having to thrust the camera into their faces or intrude upon their grief — which I have seen of a number of news channels in the recent past.

Furthermore, a journalist worth his salt will always, at some level and regardless of his stated levels of cynicism, have a larger aim in mind, usually one that benefits the shadowy ‘public’. One reports upon governmental corruption not just because it is something that the audience doesn’t know but also because it means the misuse of funds / services that are meant to benefit the public. Provable police torture makes a good story at least partly because it is an illegal and oppressive practice. Underlying an expose of prisoner abuse in Guantanamo Bay is the ideal of the Geneva Convention. A really competent journalist grasps the links between economic policy, class rule or feudalism and global trends on the one hand, and between world oil or wheat prices, local corruption, artificial inflation, urban migration trends and social disenfranchisement on the other.

My purpose in enumerating such intangibles of good journalism is to point out that heightened levels of personal and social responsibility delineate this field from others. Over the past decade, Pakistan has witnessed a much-lauded boom in electronic news programming, which has had an effect on the print media too. Salaries have gone up in a field that was once famed – or notorious – for its low benefits. In television, particularly, salaries now tend to compete with if not match those in the corporate sector.

As a result, journalism is drawing a number of people who are looking for the financial and career-oriented rewards they might expect of any other field. Of course they are talented and hard-working, but do they think about the implications of their work? My purpose is not to question their ability but to question their understanding of journalism.

How many of the recent entrants, who have not had the benefit of having trained for years under seasoned reporters and editors, think about the purpose of journalism and their own role within it? The issues include, for example, news as a commodity that not only informs but also furthers the debate and, in the long run, contributes towards societal change, versus a race to grab the highest number of viewers or the greatest number of ads.

The danger in being a journalist without an awareness of the underlying issues lies in being irresponsible or in inexperience causing damage. Anyone in the media business has immense power; that power must be handled with care so that nothing factually incorrect is implied and context is not twisted. For example, it may be true enough to say that the Feb 18 elections were ‘free and fair’ but that is only part of the story. The whole story, in its context, is that polling day itself was relatively free and fair but extensive pre-poll rigging took place in various provable forms, perhaps reducing the need for polling day rigging.

Back in hey-day of Fleet Street, it used to be said that journalism is not a job, it’s a lifestyle. That still holds true. Despite the Murdoch-isation of the field, abroad and in Pakistan, it is not something that one does, but something one is.

— hmumtaz@dawn.com