Busting the myth that journalism was all about chic and glamour, renowned investigative journalist Jigna Vora, on Thursday, asked aspiring journos not to get carried away by all the hype and hoopla surrounding the profession and stay committed to objectivity.
Vora, freshly out of a gruelling 7-year legal battle in the infamous 2011 J Dey murder case in Mumbai, was speaking to students at Navrachana University in Vadodara.
“Don’t fall prey to the ‘addiction of Breaking Stories’,” she exhorted the students of journalism while interacting with them at the event, also attended by prominent woman journalist Chirantana Bhatt, who was born and brought up as well as trained in Vadodara by her illustrious journalist father, the late Kirit Bhatt.
Varsity trustee Sandhya Gajjar, Registrar Sandeep Vasant, PV Xavier, Dean of the School of Liberal Studies and Education and Jigar Shah, Programme Chair of the department, also attended the interaction.
“You get often get carried away by that Page 1 Story under your byline, which gives you a huge high like consumption of alcohol. Sometimes this breaking story (scoop) is a trap that someone interested in exposing it plants on a reporter. And during a high, you are either too naïve or even arrogant to bother that you are being used like a puppet,” Jigna said.
“I appeal to all aspiring journalists, females and males, to never lose your objectivity and not be taken in by all the hype you attract around you. Don’t ever commit the mistake that I committed,” Vora spoke her heart out, to loud applause by the students and the faculty.
Vora was accused of conspiring with dreaded gangster Chhota Rajan to kill Dey. Finally, she was acquitted of all charges while Rajan was sentenced to life for the sensational murder of the senior reporter. Now, her book ‘Behind Bars in Byculla: My Days In Prison’ (translated into Gujarati by CHiurantana) has inspired a popular web series, Scoop.
Vora recalled, “As a journalist who knew her conscience was very clear right from day one, I was more worried after my name cropped up in the J Dey murder case that the stories, which I desperately hunted for every single day, suddenly started depleting. I was in panic because I was not getting my kinds of stories. This was the August-September-October, 2011, period after my name surfaced in the murder case.”
Chirantana, Digital Editor for prominent Mumbai publication Mid-Day, reflected on her journalistic journey “through the rough and tumble of an all-man’s-world”. She told the students it was all about confidence that spawned from hard-work that carried one forward through all the hurdles.
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