By Mumtaz Alam, IndiaTomorrow.net,
New Delhi, 21 Dec 2014: Indian press, at least a section of it, is often charged for neglecting core issues of marginalized sections of the society, particularly religious minorities including Muslims, and highlighting only ‘bad’ news about them resulting in a gap between them.
Mumbai-based journalist Danish Reyaz has seen the gap growing firsthand in Mumbai in 2012 when media persons and TV channels’ vans were attacked by a group of young Muslim protestors at Azad Maidan leading to aggressive counterattack by the media on the community. Editor of bilingual financial magazine Maeeshat, Reyaz came up and hosted an interaction between press and community next year in order to bring them closer so that they could understand each other well.
“Maeeshat Media, during the challenging times of Azad Maidan incident in Mumbai in 2012, has been a great advocate of impartiality and integration. It not only worked towards bridging the gap between aspiration and realities but also between various groups of media and people associated with it,” said Reyaz.
Upbeat with success of his Mumbai program, young journalist Danish Reyaz, has planned to hold a similar media conclave here in Delhi. This is not the only purpose in his mind. He wants sync among the community-run media outlets to make their voices united and effective on minority issues.
“We have planned to bring media outlets run by minorities on a platform to cooperate, interact and share experiences – to make a united voice on minority issues as mainstream media does on corporate issues or other political issues of their interests,” says Reyaz while talking to IndiaTomorrow.net.
The approach of mainstream and vernacular press on social, economic and political issues is different, causing confusion among the readers and minorities, he said. “We want to identify main issues and problems that should be focused by the media,” he said.
“Victim’s voice is hardly heard in mainstream when incidents happen. There is a need to convince mainstream to take up victim’s voice also,” said Reyaz Maeeshat Minorities Media Conclave 2014 is slated to be held at Constitution Club in Delhi on 23rd Dec.
Through the conclave, the organizers also want to highlight problems of minority journalists also.
“There is a lot talk about paid media and unbiased reporting, but hardly does one talk about the problems, particularly economic ones, of the journalists working in community media and Urdu press,” says Affan Kamil, one of the directors of Maeeshat Media.
