Journalists’ Literature Festival: Cricket, women in media take centre stage as three-day event comes to close

Veteran journalists and authors Nirupama Dutt, Veenu Sandhu were among the panellists for the “Women’s issues through the lens of journalism” session at the Journalists’ Literature Festival

The maiden three-day Journalists’ Literature Festival organised by Chandigarh Press Club concluded on Sunday with a series of sessions focussing on sports and women in the field of media.

Panellist during a discussion on the final day of the Journalists’ Literature Festival at the Chandigarh Press Club. (HT File)

Veteran journalists and authors Nirupama Dutt, Veenu Sandhu were among the panellists for the “Women’s issues through the lens of journalism” session. Dutt recalled a time when a mainstream English newspaper had a policy against hiring women and summed up the general sentiment of the present era where women are teeming into the newsroom.

To a question on the challenges faced by the female reporters, Sandhu underscored that not being able to socialise with politicians as easily as their male counterparts was not a handicap as the probability of a politician feeding something to a reporter in an informal setting could not be ruled out. “All journalists can get inputs as long as they cultivate their contacts and are persistent,” she said.

The talk was followed by a session on cricket and society, “The objectivity challenge: Cricket, society, and journalism”. Seasoned cricket writers Pradeep Magazine and Sharda Ugra spoke on a variety of issues including match fixing, the Indian Premier League and cricketers.

Magazine, who penned a book on match-fixing, recalled how he was shunned by players, authorities and even fellow journalists after he broke the story. “However, after a year, the truth was there for everyone to see,” he said, while also lamenting the lack of representation of Dalits in the Indian national teams.

Addressing the evolving trends in cricket coverage, Ugra said, “Earlier, journalists were considered to be a part of the cricket ecosystem but professionalisation has changed the nature of sports. Now, there are agents and managers. The game looks stylish on screen, but the real stuff is behind it.”

In the session on fiction writing, author Chetna Keer among other panellists delved into the theme of “Mirroring social concern and changes through fiction”.