How we're helping local reporters turn important stories into national news | Gangadhar Patil

翻译人员: Gracia Chew 校对人员: Helen Chang

我是一名记者。

而我知道当你的故事不受关注时，

那是多么恼人的事。

我在印度家乡贝尔高姆 从事当地记者的职业时

曾体会过这种感受。

I'm a journalist.

我以为加入国家报社会有帮助。

And I know how frustrating it gets

when most of your stories go unnoticed.

因此，我接受专业培训

并与印度的三家国家报社工作。

I felt it when I worked as a local reporter

in my hometown Belgaum, in India.

我在为期五年的工作期间 曾为了撰文而在外奔波。

I thought maybe joining a national newspaper would help.

我曾于2012年初

踏上约1000英里的路程 从孟买亲赴印度南部的沿海乡村。

So I went through professional training

and worked with India's three national newspapers.

我去那里撰写一篇

During my five-year stint, I used to travel for my stories.

有关核电厂对环境的危害的文章。

It was in early 2012

当我与当地的活动分子谈话时，

他说数百名村民对一家核电厂 提出抗议的事件

I traveled 1,000 miles from Mumbai to a coastal village in south India.

I was there to do a story

on environmental risk of a nuclear power plant.

被当地媒体报道后，

经过六个月才被国家电视频道播出。

When I spoke to a local activist,

he said the story of hundreds of villagers protesting against a nuclear power plant

我为了报导其他故事 也曾有过相似的经验。

这证明了国家媒体所窥知的故事

was reported by local media

很早以前就被当地记者知晓。

six months before national TV channels picked it up.

但这些记者和我一样 缺乏分享故事的平台。

I had similar experiences when I traveled for other stories.

根据2011年的媒体研究，

It confirmed my belief that a local reporter knows a story

只有2%的印度主流媒体报道

much before it is picked up by national media.

与乡下的课题有关，

But like me, they did not have a platform to share them.

尽管我国大约70%的人口，

According to a 2011 media study,

only two percent of India's mainstream media coverage

高达13亿的人口，居住在乡村。

is about rural issues.

这着实令人心烦， 因为对身为民主国家的印度来说，

Even though almost 70 percent of India's population,

透明度是为每个人， 尤其是贫困人士，伸展正义的关键。

我确信建立一个能让这个重要的故事

1.3 billion population, live in villages.

受到全国瞩目的平台势在必行。

This is disturbing for a democratic country like India,

因此，我于2014年12月 辞掉在“经济时报”的工作。

where transparency is key to ensure justice to everyone, especially the poor.

在接下来的六个月里，我自由接活，

I was convinced that there's a need to build a platform

也创建了数据库，当中存有2万名 遍布全国的记者的资料。

to bring out this important story at the national level.

So I quit my job with "Economic Times" in December 2014.

在那期间，

随着报社为了节约开支而解雇

For the next six months, I freelanced

数百名全职记者，我看到多名编辑

and also built a database of 20,000 local reporters across India.

正在寻找越来越多撰稿人。

我看到了能突出 这些重要故事的机会，

During that time,

I saw editors who were looking for more and more contributors

只要我能让这些当地记者受训

as news organizations cut down cost

并与主流媒体衔接。

而这正是我们在做的事。

by getting rid of hundreds of full-time reporters.

我们的网络平台是首个发掘当地记者，

I saw an opportunity to highlight these important stories

栽培他们，

if I can train these local reporters

再协助他们为国家和国际出版社 写作的平台。

and connect them with the mainstream media.

一组资深编辑针对 每个被记者们提交的故事

And that is exactly what we are doing.

Our tech platform, for the first time, discovers a local reporter,

与他们展开紧密合作。

这个过程不仅帮助当地记者学习，

grooms them,

and helps them write for national and international publications.

A team of experienced editors works closely with these local reporters

也让他们的故事更可信。

on each and every story filed by them.

在2017年的六月，

我们其中的一位当地记者 Saurabh Sharma

This process not only helps the local reporters learn reporting skills

因报导了流浪街头的 年轻女孩面对的艰苦

而赢得了欧洲委员会颁发的国际奖项。

but also gives credibility to their stories.

In June 2017,

我们也正尝试通过给当地记者

one of our local reporters, Saurabh Sharma,

发比现前金额高两倍的薪水 来纠正市场的状况。

won an international award from the European Commission

领取更高的薪水并获得认可后，

for his story on the hardships faced by young girls living on the street.

他们更有信心进一步地 挖掘和揭发系统与社会的腐败。

We're also trying to correct market for these local reporters,

最近我们报导了印度东北部的故事，

by paying them three times more than the existing rates.

故事中的孩童每天都需冒着生命危险，

Better pay and recognition is giving them confidence

to dig deeper and expose corruption in the system and society.

乘坐一个大煮锅过河，

因为那里既没有桥也没有船。

这个故事被主流媒体窥知

We recently reported a story from Northeast India

并引起一位当地当选议员的注意，

where children have to cross a river in a huge cooking pot,

其议员答应建设一座桥。

risking their life every day,

在最近三年的营运中，

because there's no bridge, there's no boat.

我们共报导了超过2,500个类似故事。

The story was picked up by mainstream media

and it caught the attention of a local elected representative

为了刊登这些故事以达到 更广泛的认知和影响，

who promised to build a bridge.

我们与16家顶级媒体屋合作，

In the last three years of our operations,

他们都乐意接收这些故事，

we have reported more than 2,500 such stories.

因为他们无须进行编辑或管理记者们， 因此这能降低成本。

To publish them for a wider reach and impact,

今天我们的网络有超过1,200名记者

we have partnered with 16 leading media houses,

who are happy to take them,

负责撰写和核电厂故事相似

as it brings their cost down, by not editing or managing reporters.

且在被主流媒体忽略的地方 或从未被报导过的地方

Today, we have more than 1,200 reporters in our network,

发生的故事。

在未来的五年内，

我们打算把记者们个别调派到 印度的5,500个分地区，

covering stories like the nuclear power plant,

from places that are either ignored by mainstream media

涵盖整个国家，

or never covered.

以确保这些重要事件都不会被忽视。

In the next five years,

we plan to have one reporter in each of the 5,500 subdistricts in India,

covering the entire nation,

以后当你看到来自乡下的故事时，

to ensure that none of these important stories go unnoticed.

请不要对它视而不见。

多阅读和分享它们，因为 它们有可能是突发性事件。

这样，我们才能确保

所有重要的故事都不会被忽略。

Next time you see a story from the countryside,

谢谢。

（掌声）

please do not ignore it.

Do read and share them, they might be breaking stories.

This way, we can ensure

none of the important stories go unnoticed.

Thank you.

(Applause)