Newspapers have lost literary taste
By: Dr. Satyawan Saurabh
Once the literary pages of newspapers were called the soul of the country. There were not just news there, but a shared heritage of thought, wisdom and sensitivity breathed there. But today when we flip through the newspaper, there are news, advertisements, speeches by politicians, but the literary side of poetry, stories, essays, reviews and ideology is missing.
It is a great irony that the media which goes around carrying the flag of ‘freedom of press’ and ‘freedom of expression’ has marginalized its most important part – literature and writers. Literary pages have been quietly removed from newspapers, and even those which are left are just a formality.
There are writers left, but who will print them?
Even today, thousands of writers, poets, essayists and thinkers in India want to share their thoughts with the society. But where do they find space? If you send a literary article to a newspaper, you will either get the reply ‘The editor is busy’ or there is no reply at all. If you get a reply, you don’t know whether it is a rejection or just a formality. And even if it gets published – then the honorarium? That is like asking for an insult! Many newspapers publish regular content from writers without paying a single penny. And in some places, there is a system which can be called a model of writer exploitation – “Be happy after getting published, don’t raise the question of money.”
There will be no honorarium for writers, but the owners will give awards!
Now listen to the latest drama – some media organizations are now planning to give ‘awards to writers’. Wow! First you get the writers to write articles for free, then you consider publishing them as a ‘favour’, and now you are killing self-respect by luring them with awards. It is true that the tradition of awards is old in literature.
But when these awards start coming from those hands that consider writers as objects of use, not creative labourers, then questions are bound to arise. Should the award come from that organisation which considers even paying honorarium as a burden?
‘Literary page’ is now just a formality
The literary columns that are left in the newspapers have also become the centers of clubbing, factionalism and politics of personal relations. Only some special names are printed again and again. It is as if there is no entry for new writers. In the name of honorarium, you call after a month, send an email, and even then… “Your payment is in process”. Once columns like ‘Dharmayug’, ‘Saptahik Hindustan’, ‘Kadambini’, ‘Navbharat Times’ were the voice of literature. Today some institutions have become allergic to the word ‘literature’ itself.
Wordsmiths are also workers, not just those with microphones
In journalism, cameramen, reporters, anchors, designers all get salaries. But writers are still considered ‘creatures of the air’ -they only need the satisfaction of respect, not money. This thinking is indicative of deep insensitivity.
A writer is not an amateur artist, he creates with the soil of time, labour, study and sensitivity. His writing gives direction to the society, awakens public consciousness. Then why be stingy in paying him wages?
Do you want journalism to run without ideas?
Today’s newspaper is becoming a medium of nexus between corporate and power. But the people who read newspapers do not want only incidents, scandals and politics – they want perspectives that force them to think. And this work can be done only by literature and ideology. If there is no literature, the newspaper will become just a ‘garbage house of information’.
Think about it – if the literature that gives direction to society is made to disappear, then you are only creating a graveyard of ideas in the crowd of information.
Respect is given when the price of labor is given
If you are saying to the author, “We will honor you”,
So first ensure that you are paying him on time, not distorting his work without editing it, and not using it as a mere filler. The first form of respect is the value of labour. The rest of the awards, trophies, certificates, platforms – all come later.
An appeal: Know the value of the word
Newspapers which cannot pay wages to their workers they do not have the moral right to organize events in the name of literature. If you are a writer, stop submitting your works without remuneration. Raise the question on open platforms as to where is the place for literature. And those institutions which give you only the “joy of getting published”, ask them – is this the respect of a writer?
The backbone of media is not just breaking news
The soul of media is those ideas which make the society aware. And these ideas come from the pens of writers, poets, thinkers, essayists. If you stop respecting their pens, then one day that same pen will expose the advertisement-based newspapers.
(The author is a Poet, freelance journalist and a columnist)
