THE RISE AND FALL OF GOA'S FIRST 24 HOUR NEWS CHANNEL -- OF BAD EGGS IN NIRVANA'S NEST

When reports of a 24 hour news channel in Goa first started filtering in, there were varied reactions. Some scoffed. Some said Goa wasn't big enough. Some called it a fly-by-night operation. Some said oh... finally some relief from these numerous one-hour-news-bulletin rackets.
Less than a year has lapsed. The 24 hour news channel we are talking about STV GOA NEWS has already shut shop in a very very suspiscious manner. For a few days before its closure, all that was bombarded on the channel were ads for Nirvana's Nest, a residential complex which the promoters of STV GOA NEWS had a stake in.
A few days ago we interviewed former input editor (designated) Ajay Thakur over email about the functioning of this 24 hour media-mushroom, which showed up and disappeared as quickly as that. Here's the first part of that interview. The second part will be uploaded tomorrow. It has a very, very interesting disclosure about STV GOA NEWS' holy cows in the channel's editorial policy. Do look out for it.
If you guys have any counter questions, mail them to us. We'll see if we can get some responses from Ajay.

Q) In what capacity were you associated with GOA NEWS?
A) I was interviewed as a News Editor with a total editorial command. In charge of both Input (news identification, collection, gathering & updates) as well as Output (news production, processing, bulletins, news packaging, the form & content). But when I joined in I was handed a contract saying that I was to be the Input Editor only reporting to an Executive Editor. Later, after the unceremonious exit of my senior, Executive Editor in last August, I was handling the entire Editorial Operations till the last Bulletin was aired on February 28th, 2008. You could call me the Editor but then (a) I was given no written orders stating to the effect, I just ‘took’ over & (b) according to the Law of the Land, to be an Editor my name should have been submitted when we applied for the license. I dunno if they did that.

Q) What were the levels of investment, technology, manpower used by STV GOA NEWS?
A) I think the overall investment would not have been more than Rs 1.5 crore. Analog (read dated) technology was used. Machines were sourced from their Delhi stable. Skilled manpower was brought in mainly from Delhi. They were paid peanuts by Goa yardstick forget the Industry Standards. The Channel was supposedly losing 25 lakhs a month! On what, I ask myself sometimes. Reporters used cameras that lasted for not more than 10 minutes & conked-off periodically. Producers were freshers out of college, but with attitudes of industry veterans. Equipment was dated almost archaic. Softwares were pirated (quite paradoxical to the profession that upholds truth). There were no vehicles to ferry reporters. Telephones & cellphones would be discontinued without notice.

Q) In retrospect Ajay, do you believe that Goa has enough fodder for a 24 hour news channel?
A) Yes, I strongly believe so. Back in journalism school I had learnt the definition of news and we stuck to that. Report everything that happens in your neighbourhood. Bad News and Good News too. Yes, Goa News didn’t look all that forceful, but then in an audio-visual medium you need graphic tools & animation to supplement a story. The management hadn’t invested in it. But then, check remote & unrepresented news areas like Sanguem, Pernem, Bicholim, Satteri and even Salcette. We were a force to reckon with. People wanted us to tell their story. I still marvel at the fact that people would call Goa News before they would call the administration or the police. Goa has enough for a 24 hour Community Television Station more on the lines of NY1 or CSB, etc. Please don’t expect a BBC, CNN, NDTV or CNN-IBN over here. In fact, I was amazed to see that the news that we reported would appear in the leading dailies in the State even after a week. Hey, we used to file in and show 45+ stories a day (that was besides what our Maharashtra based reporters sent). Someone needs the proof, I still have the registers on my iBook and the rundowns that we have to mandatorily store for three months for I&B Ministry, daily, to prove the point.

Q) As a senior editorial hand, whom did you perceive as competition on the news gathering front. a) HCN? b) The numerous one-hour bulletins? c) The channel's management? Tell us why.
A) Competition in news gathering? I don’t think so. A section of the Herald & GUJ did try to run a campaign against us. Our reporters and cameramen were threatened but that was initially. People powered us and they reported to us. The leaders followed suit. The people (refers to the one hour news-bulletins) that you mention above didn’t compete with us from news-gathering point of view. The problem between us and these people was to do more with distribution. It is like this. You switch off the TV and who will watch you. Television business has this one big elephant that you have to rear, its called Distribution. The bigger channels give carrier fees to the Cable Operators to broadcast them. That is where they make their money and not from providing cable connection to your house or mine. Everywhere we were asked for these fees ‘cos we were a satellite Channel. We paid everywhere including Panaji and Porvorim. From newspaper legends to cable operators to fellow journalists, everyone said that we muscled them off different regions in the State. That is incorrect, we had to pay carrier fees and in the bargain if the cable guy wanted to do what he felt like, he could. HCN and the one hour bulletins, all have people as well as Government patronage. “How could we and also, why should we bump them off” was what went misinterpreted. The channel’s management actually came down on its knees when the question of visibility in the Capital came up. I don’t think there was ever a problem on news gathering front.

Q) Spell out the reasons, why GOA NEWS failed.
A) Direction, People, Money…just about everything was questionable. And Yes, it was a beautiful idea but something that was not well placed. 1) IF IT WAS WELL BEGUN…The Editorial Face of the Channel was a certain gentleman who has a string of NBWs for cheating & forgery against him. The management included people who travelled in PRESS sticker-ed cars to sell real estate, the majority of people working were political recommendations or the Executive Editor’s kin. 2) PAY PEANUTS GET MONKEYS…Barring me and three journalists with some experience, there were no journalists in the set-up. If there were some, they had their own political agenda (showcasing certain people but that was restricted to Konkani Bulletins). We simply could not attract and retain senior journalists or good people. HCN did take a gamble and weaned away quite a few of our colleagues, but then if You have a Satellite Channel you have to pay them. Most importantly, it also works the other way. If You get, freshers from the College who are more interested in hanging on to their mobile phones or celebrating birthdays, than getting a solid angle to a story, how frustrating can life get. 3) SHOW ME THE MONEY…We never invested in a good marketing team to sell slots, gestures like wishing a certain Minister on his Birthday by a certain section of staff got us more brickbats than bouquets. We were running losses not because we were not delivering but because the Management was not willing to get GOOD people to sell the slots. I was shocked when my Reporters were asked to sell slots. We unitedly put our foot down. But the fact remains that no money was coming in. 4) DROP THE DEAD DONKEY…in this case, it was technology. We were a Satellite Channel showing news by a 30 minute delay. We had not used (invested) in an OB Van. Where was the live news? Plus, every time we needed a vehicle to cover the vicious cycle from where is the money to why we can’t cover an event ran hundreds of time everyday. No cameras, no transport, no technology (Broadband, NRCS, Digital Newsroom, etc), A Hindi expression explains this situation well… Bhagwan hi malik tha. 5) WRONG HIERARCHY…wrong managers manning operations and crucial decisions like transport, salaries, staffing. There was no Chain of Command, anybody could say anything to anybody. There was no understanding of why someone was positioned above another. Check this…a wannabe MBA suddenly surfaces as an Administrator but is more interested in the News Operations. So while there is no transport, no phones working, the said person is holding meetings on how news should be covered somewhere. A 9th Class pass chappie is suddenly hauled in as Head of Administration with powers to stop coverage of news, knock off anchors from a bulletin. And hold your breath… even stop bulletins from being aired!!! 6) FOCUS…Dear Penpricks, this is the moral of the story. Any Channel can succeed anywhere. If you have your focus right, your homework right, your effort (not just attempt!) right. GOA NEWS failed on all those counts, other issues are related and just explanations of this.
(to be continuted)