Under the GIIS Leadership Lecture Series, students from GIIS Singapore campuses interacted with the editor-in-chief and a news anchor of Indian news channel Times Now, Mr Arnab Goswami on 9 April 2015 in Mumbai. The highly interactive session saw him answering students’ questions about objectivity, sources, etc. and also giving key insight to an ethical and efficient way of reportage in the Indian media. Mr Goswami emphasised on the need to recognise journalism as a determinant of social, political and economic change. A key aspect of this interaction was defining news as not just factual information but an act of creative construction for the democracy.

As part of the ‘GIIS Leadership Lecture Series,’ an initiative by GIIS which aims to facilitate student interactions by inviting eminent thinkers from various professions, Mr Goswami led an interactive session with the students. Elaborating upon the social media space and its dangers, Mr Goswami said, “A journalist should be wary of social media and should not let social media decide his/her journalism. I do not hesitate to put forth opposing views, which might seek the ire and disapproval of politicians, interests groups and other ‘powerful people’. I am more interested in the idea of digital technology than social media as it brings me and my viewers closer.”

Arnab Goswami writing a message for fellow GIIS students

With a nostalgic tone to his voice, Mr Goswami interacted with the students about his journey in the television space so far. Taking this forward, the session was centred around the idea of democratisation of public opinion with the digitisation of news.

Elucidating upon the discourse of the news media, he raised a pivotal question to students. Ranging from issues of sensationalism to stereotypes, Mr Goswami managed to engage students on a common platform. His witty rhetoric coupled with satirical anecdotes made the session worth remembering. “His words were inspirational and full of energy - the feeling of speaking to one of India’s best anchor, was amazing,” said Rahul Parthasarthy, GIIS East Coast Campus student.

For students it was a spellbinding interaction where they had an opportunity to introspect and learn about different elements of journalism from Mr Goswami. He made a number of points that highlighted the opportunity for the Globe in a well-connected world. He advocate that Indian journalism is more “fiercely independent” than American journalism, and Indian media presents itself “to the point.” Further he asserted, “With the widespread use of technology, all the importance is now shifted to the content of the news. I believe Indian media will go global in about 2 to 5 years. Digital space is allowing people from diverse backgrounds and spread over large geographical areas to be at the centre of news coverage.”

GIIS students greeting Mr Arnab Goswami

Students were enlightened with the views presented by Mr Goswami on various national and international issues. “Conversing with Mr Goswami was an honour for all us. His frank views and opinions, knowledge, confidence and the thought process enlightened us about the various practices in journalism and responsibilities attached to it,” said Rujuta Khanapurkar from GIIS Queenstown Campus.

When asked about personal attacks while anchoring debates, Mr Goswami said, “I am prepared to take on an onslaught of personal attacks to ensure that the issue being raised is done so in the most efficient and direct manner. I have developed a ‘thick skin’ to stand tall against these attacks to help bring about social change and to mould public opinion over an issue. I prefer to think of the heated debate taking place today as one of the stepping stones to awakening of the Indian democracy.”

He believes, “To compete at the global level, Indian organisations are ‘technically capable’, ‘visually savvy’ and ‘technologically driven’. In terms of pure marketing and branding, they are as aggressive as the western competitors, and all this has to be done from a unique Indian matrix. We cannot be copy cats.”

The interaction session was organised at the news channel -Times Now studio where students were given a tour of the Times Now studio, ET Now and Zoom TV set. Elated with the experience of visiting a newsroom, Ishaan Mittal, a student from GIIS Queenstown Campus said, “As I stepped inside the Times now studio I felt a rush of adrenaline. All of us were excited yet nervous at the same time.”

Another student, Neil Shah from GIIS Queenstown Campus adds, “We had the opportunity of seeing the studio of the show Planet Bollywood, which is telecasted on ET Now and the server rooms of Movie Now and Romedy. We saw various high end editing software, which allowed the complete editing and inclusion of special effects on the show. The experience was so real and extremely informative.” Adding further, he said, “During the tour, we learnt that to produce 20 minutes of on air feed, four-hour worth of effort to cut and compile pictures, voices and videos was required. We were also familiarised with the data storage systems at TV stations and were stunned to understand that just one segment of the channel utilises over 50 terabytes worth of space.”

The interaction with Mr Goswami was stimulating and discussions were thought provoking, which made the experience engaging, productive and memorable for life!