News of the media, for the media, by the media – Puneet Bedi Bahri

I joined exchange4media in May, 2008. From a business newspaper to a portal on news related to the advertising, marketing and media industry has been quite a change… and before I realised it, I was glued to my beats – print and electronic media, which amidst the economic slowdown saw a lot of activity in 2008.

The incident that shook the entire nation was the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, and there had been a series of bomb blasts in key cities of India throughout the year. The attacks shook up the country’s conscience and woke up the slumbering machinery like nothing else had. An enraged nation started seeking answers, and the Government had had to take some decisive action. As a reporter covering the print and electronic media, I had my hands full following up all the developments in the aftermath of the attacks.

The news channels came under a lot of flak from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry over the relentless coverage of the Mumbai attacks. So much so that live telecast had to be stalled for some time on strict orders. The action has been swift. The NBA has set up guidelines for covering crisis situations.

As the drama unfolded, it was interesting to keep a close tab on the I&B Ministry, which time and again sent notices to news channels asking them for explanations for their negligence shown during the terror coverage. Here, I would like to take the opportunity to thank all my sources who took the extra efforts to explain details regarding the developments to help me file better reports.

I hope the coming year sees an active growth period for both electronic and print media. I feel the slowdown will weed out the weaker players and the stronger players will emerge winners. As a reporter I am looking forward to bringing all the latest developments in my beat and come up with some thought provoking news reports in the year ahead. 2009 is going to be my best year yet.