In the midst of quacks of all hues

According to the author, The media landscape is changing vigorously. These quacks are not making it any easier for the practitioners to understand these dynamics. They make a bad situation worse by talking the talk they never walked or even tried to walk

The first workshop I ever attended on journalism was a fancy two-day affair. Held at the Blue Waters, funded and conducted by the European Union it was star class treatment. The buffet was sumptuous, the drinks free flowing and the banter, well, gossipy at best, but mostly defamatory. 

But importantly what did we gain from the whole affair? Very little by way of skills. There was no structured imparting of skills. I don’t think that was the intention. There were no real experts on journalism attending. There were mostly talking heads who were very good at two things, talking, obviously, and networking. 

There are some media experts and trainers who have never spent any time in the shark tank that is a newsroom. A few of them have dipped their toes to check the temperature, most have never been anywhere close. But still they speak, preach, advice and criticise the media practice

Since that experience things have changed for me. I have transitioned careers twice, first from a journalist to a trainer and now as a researcher on media studies. But I am still left speechless by the pre-eminence of the bobbing talking heads in the Sri Lanka media training sphere. 

When we joined journalism, a false adage was you are thrown in at the deep-end and either you swim as best as you can or you sink. This was flat out wrong. No one was thrown in at the deep-end, rather, the new comers were left to do as best as they could with very little help or guidance from most of the ‘seniors’.  
The swimming equivalent of splashing around with your feet touching the bottom. There were a few who however tried to swim and swam well, there were loads who just remained in the shallow waters or hung on to the walls and made of scene of swimming. At least they were in the pool. 

There are some media experts and trainers who have never spent any time in the shark tank that is a newsroom. A few of them have dipped their toes to check the temperature, most have never been anywhere close. But still they speak, preach, advice and criticise the media practice. It is like me talking about climate science. Just because I have written about it, does not make me an expert. My journalism, most certainly does not give me any authentic expertise to talk skills. If I were, I would be talking BS. 

The media landscape is changing vigorously. These quacks are not making it any easier for the practitioners to understand these dynamics. They make a bad situation worse by talking the talk they never walked or even tried to walk

Recently, I was talking to a Sri Lankan colleague, and I mentioned the idea of ‘quasi experts’. It is true, isn’t it, the fact that Sri Lanka lacks a truly authentic, robust academic culture focusing on journalism, it in turn creates room for counterfeits of all hues to flutter about. 

Not only are they talking and talking nonsense, but some of them are also now into formulating policy as well. Not only is this self-serving practice unethical, it also does more harm than any good to the media community. 
Most of these talking-heads rely on word of mouth anecdotal information, sometime without any verification to base their assessments. A little better but still second hand is the reliance on outside research and know-how. What is woefully lacking is concerted and focused expertise gained by way of dedicated study, under the strictest of supervision. 

Not only are they talking and talking nonsense, but some of them are also now into formulating policy as well. Not only is this self-serving practice unethical, it also does more harm than any good to the media community

Why would the media, which essentially is a practice that relies on heavily verified information for their work, allow, unverified, inauthentic, charlatans to preach on their very practice?
This unchecked trend has allowed for the propagation of self-assumed experts like termites after the rains. They will stick to the woodwork till it’s no more. This latest wave of quasi expertise is now emerging on the back of the Aragalaya protest wave. 

The media landscape is changing vigorously. These quacks are not making it any easier for the practitioners to understand these dynamics. They make a bad situation worse by talking the talk they never walked or even tried to walk. 
This is not going to change any time soon. So, we are stuck with it, possibly for a few generations more. 
But it feels good to call out the charlatans, really, really good. 

The writer is a journalism researcher. He can be reached at [email protected]