The glamour of the electronic media is no longer confined to the metros. Ask Ruby Kumari and Anita Kumari, college girls from Ramlila Gachi in Paru block of Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district, who are the creators of Appan Samachar (Our News), an all-women ‘news channel’.
The girls, who carry a Sony Handycam, a tripod and a microphone to gather news on bicycles, broadcast a 45-minute weekly news program from their ‘studio’ — an asbestos-roofed room with a wooden table, two chairs and a portable TV. Programs on local issues are shot using a video compact disc powered by a battery and aired at the weekly village market. “Till now, we have been funding on our own. But we hope to get revenue from the local traders,” says Ruby. Both girls aim to make it to a national TV news channel.
Other like Khushbu Singh, a student and Ruma Devi (35), a housewife, who carries the reporters’ tripod. Says Muzaffarpur District Magistrate Vinay Kumar, “Apart from the growing professionalism in rural girls, it shows their enthusiasm to break free of the tradition.” Having shown the way, these village girls are certainly not looking back.