Noted Assam journalist Teresa Rehman on Sunday said journalists in the Northeast work without any support system.
“There is no legal, social or psychological support. We are on our own and it’s always a lonely battle for us,” said the author of Bulletproof: A Journalist’s Notebook on Reporting Conflict.
She was in conversation with senior journalist Tongam Rina on the final day of the second edition of the Arunachal Literary and Art Festival (ALAF), at Indira Gandhi Park in Itanagar.
Talking more on her book, Rehman said, “We were never told what to expect when you go reporting to a conflict zone.”
“I only had a pen and a notepad as equipment, and my intuition,” she added.
“This book talks about the life of a journalist and the trauma of a journalist, and not only about the physical dangers,” Rehman reiterated.
“When we see and report violence, it also affects us. Through this book I am trying to tell my story and maybe stories of many other journalists reporting from this region,” she emphasized.
An award-winning journalist with 20 years of experience to her name, Rehman has reported vastly on the conflicts in the Northeast region.
She also had some advice for media students.
She asked aspiring journalists to ‘know what to expect when they go reporting’.
She also rightly pointed out that most of the national media houses expect their correspondents to report on conflicts and are rarely interested in soft stories like that on talk cultures, foods and the people of the region.
Rina while recommending the book all young journalists said ‘it is a handbook not only on safety but about the Northeast’.
The event also saw the launch of Rinchin Choden’s second illustration book, Lazy Rinzi Vol 2.
Her first book had won her several young children as fans when it was launched in the first edition of the ALAF.