Pramila taking notes for a story

Pramila Modachur Krishnan is a senior reporter at the Deccan Chronicle, an English-language daily in Chennai, the capital of India’s Tamil Nadu state. Pramila’s parents are both farmers, and she was the first in her family to get a university education; she has both a bachelor’s and master’s degree. Now 27, she’s especially interested in reporting about the environment and issues facing women and children. In 2013, she took part in a DW Akademie workshop on environmental reporting in Chennai. Her pluck, resourcefulness and dedication convinced her trainers to recommend she attend the recent UN climate conference in Warsaw. onMedia asked her a few questions about her chosen career.

Why did you decide to become a journalist?

I wanted to be in a job that would provide me the opportunity to contribute to society. And I wanted to learn new things and not get bored by doing the same thing throughout my life. I want every day to be an exciting one and that happens in journalism.

What did your parents and/or friends say when you decided to become a journalist?

My parents are farmers and I was the first person in my family to get a college education. I decided not to take run-of-the-mill courses. When I learned about journalism and communication studies, I thought this would be a good fit. My mother encouraged me as she always believed that I should study what I like and not what others want. But others in the family, including my father, stressed that I should get married since that was the custom in many families. My friends doubted I would get a job.

Do reporters have a good reputation in India?

Yes, particularly women journalists, who are in the limelight now. Several media houses have increased the number of women journalists in the last few years.

What do you like most about your job?

I am learning and contributing to the society. I’m happy when I report about an issue and the government or voluntary organizations react and problems are set right. I am hugely satisfied when people whom I have not even met call me to say thank you for a story which I’ve published and which impacted their lives.

What do you dislike most about your job?

Sometimes I am forced to deliver an incomplete story because of deadlines. But I enjoy my work, so I don’t have many complaints.

What was the most difficult story you have covered?

I worked on an investigative report on how elderly people are killed by their own families. In the south of Tamil Nadu there is an age-old traditional practice under which grown-up children conduct a ritual named “Thalaikoothal,” which involves giving sick elders an oil bath and feeding tender coconut water to them to kill them. I visited the villages and met people who had killed their parents. I met quacks who took money and killed elders with lethal injections. I risked my life posing as the granddaughter seeking help in killing her grandfather. After the story was published, it created ripples across the country and the government came up with a mechanism to stop the murders. Now self-help groups have been formed to protect vulnerable elderly people.

Is there a story that you have covered that has particularly affected you?

The story about the murders of elderly people affected me personally. In covering the story, I saw the problems of senior citizens who could well be considered disabled people. They lose their eyesight, hearing, mobility, and ability to think clearly. I understood that I have a grandfather but didn’t spend much time with him. That story changed things. Recently I published a short story book penned by my grandfather. I encouraged him to read books and write stories. Now, I have become a resource person for many elder groups and help them organize events.

Pramila (left) at a DW environmental workshop

How do you feel you are developing as a journalist and advancing along your career path?

I have widened my perspective from a beat reporter to a senior journalist who can cover topics ranging from social issues, the environment, politics and education. I’m also able to lead media campaigns. For example, my “Green Chronicle” initiative in my newspaper featuring stories on e-waste created new awareness. Through the campaign, three tons of e-waste were collected for safe disposal.

Still, I feel I need training in digital journalism skills and specialized subjects like the environment and health.

You were recently invited by DW Akademie to attend the UN climate change conference in Warsaw. What was the experience like?

I was excited about participating. Covering an international event like that for the first time was thrilling. Thanks to my trainers, I was able to cover it and deliver stories every day for my newspaper.

What did you learn there and how will you use it in your future work?

I was able to break down the science in simple terms for my environment stories. I now understand climate change with a little more clarity than before. Participating in the conference gave me hope that I could specialize in environment reporting.

What kind of equipment do you use in your work?

I use a computer, a camera for photos, voice recorders for interviews, and mobile phone applications like WhatsApp and others for receiving and sending photos and other info from government officials and other voluntary organizations. I use mini-cameras if necessary during investigative reporting.

What are your dreams or goals as a journalist?

In the long term, I want to be an editor and give opportunities to young reporters from rural India. More short terms goals are to learn and update my knowledge in areas like the environment, women and children’s issues, and digital journalism.

Personally, I would love to travel around India in a van to explore and write about people aren’t normally written about. I like to travel, learn new things, meet new people and report previously unreported stories.

Interview: Kyle James

Raúl Peñaranda, Former Director, Página Siete, Bolivia
Newspapers will keep that name for centuries from now. But they won’t be distributed on paper. A more proper name would be “newstablets” or “newsmobiles”. But “papers” will remain. New technologies and the ever-growing number of people all over the world who have access to the Internet and to new mobile devices will make distributing the printed news unfeasible. It is more expensive, affects the environment and is not relevant to younger generations. What will certainly remain is journalism itself – the dissemination through the media of factual, well written, ethically crafted news that is relevant and put into context. So, the future of print is bright – as bright as the screen of whichever device will present the news.

Alina Radu, Director, Ziarul de Garda, Moldova

“It is difficult to say. But there is definitely a future. We journalists working for independent media in Moldova have faced a variety of threats, have been sued and have to go to court every single week to explain again and again why we wrote a certain story about corruption, human trafficking, abuse of public money or the violation of human rights. And after all of this, we now face a new challenge related to print media. All these years we have managed to continue our investigative work at the Ziarul de Garda newspaper in Moldova and I don’t doubt that we have more work to do and more ideas to keep us going.  Yes, Moldovans  have today more Internet devices than flush toilets and Moldova is among the countries with the fastest Internet in the region. But this doesn’t mean print newspapers will disappear any time soon. Maybe more of them will go online but at the moment we still have high levels of corruption, high poverty rates, lack of transparency and poor respect for human rights. This means there will always be teams of restless reporters who will keep newspapers and journalism going for the sake of democracy.”

“Peter Okong’o, Deputy Managing Editor, The Standard, Kenya

Tomorrow’s newsroom will be fully integrated. Online, print, TV and radio will be together with a converged news desk at the center of the newsroom with editors, sub-editors and reporters all sitting together. The Standard in Nairobi, Kenya has already adopted this model and its working fine!”

Murtaza Solangi, Former Managing Director, Media Times and former Director General, Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation

“The newspaper of the future might not be on paper but it will continue to retain the tradition of comprehensive reporting and analysis. It will, however, combine new features such as archives, “editability” and interactivity as well as incorporating audio, video and pictures. Although newspapers of the future might have some sections dedicated to breaking stories and updates, primarily they will provide in-depth stories and more analysis.”

Kenneth Ashigbey, Managing Director & Editor-In-Chief
Graphic Communications Group, Ghana

“The future will require newspaper people to do things differently. It will require the use of a great deal of audience insight and a shift from the “readers’ perspective” to the “audience’s perspective”. It will require redefining the business that we are in from a “newspaper business” to a “content provision business”. Newspaper will have to provide audiences with more than just information, education and entertainment. They will have to become a tool that people live their lives with. This will require an integrated and converged newsroom and management. Also, journalists will no longer be simply print journalist but rather multimedia journalists who produce content for multiple platforms. The future will require telling the day-two-stories better and going beyond reporting the news to producing compelling and exclusive well-researched stories, including investigative stories, which are told with the audience at the center.”

Luz María Helguero, Publisher, El Tiempo de Piura, Peru

“We believe that the future of print is electronic which is why we are trying try to improve our online presence. At the same time, we also have to consider that our printed newspapers may still have a decade or more of life left in them. We believe that the closeness of local newspapers to their local communities is an advantage that we should not lose regardless of the platform we use. This has lead to a total reassessment of our organization so when our newspaper turns 100, we can accompany our readers in the twenty-first century. The rationale of a newspaper – to provide information that society needs for the benefit of those who make up the society- is part of the DNA of our daily paper and this will continue to be our focus.”

Nikola Tomić, Deputy Editor in chief, DANAS, Serbia

“The future of print media is vague and uncertain but its fate isn’t yet decided. Print media will exist as long as the people who want to read them and that’s not such a short period. However, the market is volatile with advertisers switching to online and readers increasingly using digital devices. The survival of print media during these changes depends on their ability to adapt to new global circumstances. Digital forms of content placement and the diversification of business activities should be two main future directions for print media. Also, of the greatest importance is much more active convergence with readers. We need to move out of the “ivory tower” of newsrooms and editorial boards and interact  dynamically with the community. But insisting on high-quality journalism must remain at the core of everything. Regardless of the economic crisis, all activities of print media must be based on providing the best possible, highly professional, journalistic and editorial content.”

Aleksandr Tuzov, Deputy Chief Editor, Vechernii Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

“I believe the future of print journalism is strongly dependent upon the younger generation being interested. In this regard, the example set by the German publication Die Welt in developing a youth publication Die Welt Kompakt is quite significant. Advertisers will also maintain interest in print media since in some countries with developing e-media like Kyrgyzstan, print ads still guarantee higher financial gains.”

Tangeni Amupadhi, Editor, The Namibian, Namibia

“The advent of the Internet may have made it easy for people to get information but it has made it difficult to find quality information. That’s where journalism comes in. More people will become more reliant on journalists to help them figure out what is important and how much of the information they need to interpret to make decisions about their everyday live. Mass news media will be replaced by boutique journalism. I think it will be journalism that pays well because the readers would value the info highly as opposed to what social networks and similar avenues will do. Pity though the newspaper [emphasis on paper] will be hard to find.”

For the Future of Print Journalism workshop, DW Akademie invited newspaper editors from Bolivia, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Namibia, Pakistan, Peru, Serbia and Uganda. The editors also visited the newsrooms of several leading German newspapers to learn about their editorial strategies for the future. Click here for more information about the workshop.
Project team: Oliver Schilling (Project Coordinator), Jutta vom Hofe (Trainer and Project Manager), Peter Berger (Principal Trainer), Patrick Hashingola (Project Assistant)

Authors: Steffen Leidel/Kate Hairsine