So many men and women in the profession I know have, over the years, become as carefully tuned to deal with something really big that could be just around the corner- as the best in any disaster management service. They are on standby for the worst- and in those times- getting out accurate timely information isn't just a calling- it's also a service.
Does that make us ugly dark people- who just seem to mark time between one disastrous event and another? No- I think- you can't fault journalists any more than you would criticize paramedics in a hospital or firemen for being prepared for the worst.
For years, the unwritten law for the profession was- you could spend the year wherever you like- but you would ring in the new year with your colleagues- probably far far away from home. And the past decade has really proved the rule. Particularly when you are still working your way up- and are the one put on "stand-by" for any news in the festive season.
Here's a sample- Christmas eve 1999 blended into Christmas day with no sleep- as we followed the frightening flight path of IC-814 until it landed in Kandahar. New Year's eve- the last one of the last millennium was spent on the tarmac waiting and reporting on the return of the hijacked passengers (the real disaster there was in the government's handling of the whole thing).
Christmas and New Year of 2000 was spent on security alerts after the Red Fort attack on December 22. In post 9/11 2001, we thought we could relax after covering the Parliament attack but no, the army stand-off , 'Operation Parakram' was just beginning. And right on New Year's eve the government decided to cut diplomatic staff in Pakistan by half- and stop all flights. Goodbye sleep, gooodbye celebrations.
My colleagues spent the next Christmas not here- but in Baghdad-covering Saddam's 'recovery'. (We will spend the next week, I fear, wondering when Saddam's execution will take place- I am among those already on 'standby'). We had Musharraf's escape from an assassination attempt- and Vajpayee's Islamabad declaration to keep us warm in the 'festive' season.
The day after Christmas in 2004- it was a Sunday- I stepped out of the house at breakfast, saying I would report on the 'typhoon' in TamilNadu, and be back in time for lunch. I returned to a very cold lunch more than ten days later- having spent New year's eve with an equally exhausted crew in the Tsunami hit Andamans. Last year changed things a bit- the news wasn't outside- but inside the office- as CNN-IBN launched just before Christmas- and it was in many ways the most intense experience of them all- to be on standby - but in the studio.
None of this is recounted to impress- or even to elicit some of your sympathy- dear readers- simply to make the point that they also serve, who are on 'standby' to report.
Lets just hope this festive season is calm, safe, and spent at home with family.
Happy 2007 to you all!
About the AuthorSuhasini Haidar Suhasini Haidar is Diplomatic Editor, The Hindu. Earlier, she was a senior editor and prime time anchor for India's leading 24-hour English news chann...Read Morefirst published:December 29, 2006, 00:19 ISTlast updated:December 29, 2006, 00:19 IST
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Ask many journalists, but particularly television journalists, what their most "alive" professional moment was- and the ugly dark truth - it's likely to be a catastrophe or a disaster of some sort. Bombings, typhoons, riots, death, destruction - real breaking news. Stuff only the most immediate medium (that includes the web) can convey in real time.
So many men and women in the profession I know have, over the years, become as carefully tuned to deal with something really big that could be just around the corner- as the best in any disaster management service. They are on standby for the worst- and in those times- getting out accurate timely information isn't just a calling- it's also a service.
Does that make us ugly dark people- who just seem to mark time between one disastrous event and another? No- I think- you can't fault journalists any more than you would criticize paramedics in a hospital or firemen for being prepared for the worst.
For years, the unwritten law for the profession was- you could spend the year wherever you like- but you would ring in the new year with your colleagues- probably far far away from home. And the past decade has really proved the rule. Particularly when you are still working your way up- and are the one put on "stand-by" for any news in the festive season.
Here's a sample- Christmas eve 1999 blended into Christmas day with no sleep- as we followed the frightening flight path of IC-814 until it landed in Kandahar. New Year's eve- the last one of the last millennium was spent on the tarmac waiting and reporting on the return of the hijacked passengers (the real disaster there was in the government's handling of the whole thing).
Christmas and New Year of 2000 was spent on security alerts after the Red Fort attack on December 22. In post 9/11 2001, we thought we could relax after covering the Parliament attack but no, the army stand-off , 'Operation Parakram' was just beginning. And right on New Year's eve the government decided to cut diplomatic staff in Pakistan by half- and stop all flights. Goodbye sleep, gooodbye celebrations.
My colleagues spent the next Christmas not here- but in Baghdad-covering Saddam's 'recovery'. (We will spend the next week, I fear, wondering when Saddam's execution will take place- I am among those already on 'standby'). We had Musharraf's escape from an assassination attempt- and Vajpayee's Islamabad declaration to keep us warm in the 'festive' season.
The day after Christmas in 2004- it was a Sunday- I stepped out of the house at breakfast, saying I would report on the 'typhoon' in TamilNadu, and be back in time for lunch. I returned to a very cold lunch more than ten days later- having spent New year's eve with an equally exhausted crew in the Tsunami hit Andamans. Last year changed things a bit- the news wasn't outside- but inside the office- as CNN-IBN launched just before Christmas- and it was in many ways the most intense experience of them all- to be on standby - but in the studio.
None of this is recounted to impress- or even to elicit some of your sympathy- dear readers- simply to make the point that they also serve, who are on 'standby' to report.
Lets just hope this festive season is calm, safe, and spent at home with family.
Happy 2007 to you all!
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