An Appeal to Journalist/Reporters to join Dalit Camera

We now really need Panthers on the web..  In fact, there is a serious problem in the way we understand caste. If case atrocities have continued for these many years then we have to adopt a different model. We should change the coverage.

Media outlets are biased and most often news reporters act as campaigners to maintain the status quo of this oppressive society which is racist, casteist and anti-Muslim. We are nauseated by all the English news channels (Web/TV/YouTube) in India. Most of their everyday work is against particular castes and religion. As Rohit Vemula said, “we have been reduced to numbers in all fields, including media”. I would go further and say we are not humans in this media. 

We are sad, angered and outraged by this state of affairs. Our anger did not erupt suddenly, it’s this anger that made us start Dalit Camera in 2012. Prof. Satyanarayana once said “We have only Dalit Camera for us, NDTV and CNN/IBN will not cover our story” Prof. Gopal Guru said similar things and Dr Muralidhar Thadi also once said Dalit Camera is our NDTV and CNN/IBN. All this happened 6 years before. At least then we had looked up on some news outlets to publish our stories, but now with the virtual world and the politics around us, there are so many news channels online but the situation is much worse than before. 

Most of the time when we go with a camera and cover an atrocity the victim speaks to us thinking that the visuals would reach a larger audience and get justice for what they were denied but those who could take this voice forward always considered us as some random people and we are not able to question all parties.  But for any other news outlets, even the simple YouTube channel, they would wait to give information and spend a lot of time. So most of the time we are pushed to the side and what we cover most often gets archived.  

We were helpless in having good reporters, though we really understand the value of one, because starting a news web portal and getting funds are not easy when you are a Dalit, Adivasi or a Muslim. Hence when we covered issues we tried contacting our friends in the Media and most of the time they say that they cannot cover the issue, as the management does not give permission. In fact, there is a serious problem in the way we understand caste. If case atrocities have continued for these many years then we have to adopt a different model. We should change the coverage. 

Dalits, Adivasis and Muslims have been protesting against the news channels for not giving them coverage. Their voices are hard hitting the status quo. Yes, there are a few committed alternate spaces on the web and we stand in solidarity but those spaces are insufficient and we feel their coverage on Muslims, Dalits and Adivasis are not worth referring to. Many things are happening around us that affect all of us and we are divided and we are pained that we are dragged into one issue after the other. 

Until now, we looked up to the existing news outlets and now we have stopped looking and we are thinking of starting our own national news portal which would have original content addressing the masses. Certainly we are not alone in this thinking; there are already many regional language outlets and YouTube channels  that address almost everything that we are proposing. However, there is none in English. We also have to deal with a history of Dalits starting newspapers and magazines with so much hard work, that ends midway. We haven’t tried working in the virtual world. We might be successful or fail at developing a news portal addressing our issues, but we  will run it as far as we can and hope others will follow. We are starting this as a pioneering attempt to fill up the present vacuum. 

We now really need panthers on the web. 

As you all know all these years Dalit Camera survived not because of one particular caste or one member, but because of the money and labour of people from different castes. We salute all of them. Now we need to expand this effort  and we need part time, full time and issue based volunteers of reporters/journalists to write news for our website and provide video content for our YouTube channel. 

When one opts to become a reporter or a journalist, his/her aim largely is to contribute towards addressing injustice in the society and to be the voice of the people. We want you to be with us to fulfil both your dream and ours, because on the ground there are so many people who are not able to get their voices heard. We are not people who have money in a bank account or property. We are born in a caste not allowed to have property, not even an address, and abandoned to have nothing but dreams. We have overcome this with our dreams and now we have our years of work, which is our biggest asset.  As a beginning, we have registered our address as “Dalit Camera” and we accomplished this with the hard labour of 12 years. 

We have our dream, passion, courage and friends that’s most valuable quality for such a start-up investment. Just remember somebody can contribute money, but the labour done by the reporter/journalist gives us more than any money can give. We need this labour because you have the language and required skills to address people and their issues and only you can take this platform forward. We cannot run without you, we need journalists/reporters to contribute regularly or whenever they can, or on pro bono but we need you. 

Join our team and lead us forward. We assure you our model will not be voluntary always, this is just the beginning and let us start rolling.

If interested Please contact Dalit Camera with your Resume at  [email protected]

+918220705729 Raees Muhammad reverted to Islam

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