My Dronacharyas

It is a part of Indian tradition and culture to respect the gurus (mentors).Theresa Collington Moore,the news researcher of CBS affiliated WTSP 10 TV,St.Petersburg,Florida, whom I consider my mentor.From my early days of journalism,I learnt a lot about news research from her works.She is my Guru Dronacharya,I follow her like Eklavya (In the Hindu epic Mahabharata,Eklavya was a young boy belonged to low caste,who wanted to learn archery from great Guru Dronacharya.But after rejected by Dronacharya,he erected a clay idol of his guru and started practising infront of the idol.Soon he achieved a great skill in archery and Dronacharya came to know that and met the boy and demanded that he should gave him his right thumb as guru dakshina or teacher’s fee.Without much hesitation,Eklavya cut off his right thumb and gave it to his guru by jeopardising his carrier) minus the painful one.I try to follow her style with my own interpretation.According to her,news researchers of local TV stations should have the ability to provide background checks of anything including background checks for the reporters in the field.They work side by side with the reporters but unlike reporters they work behind curtains.They don’t get enough credit for their work.But,as information junkies they enjoy every bit of it.They check and recheck every information and follow the journalism mantra,when your mother says she loves you check it out.News researchers believe that facts are more important than adjectives.I also consider Deborah Potter,President of NewsLab,a broadcast training and research center and a former network correspondent as my mentor.I was inspired and motivated by her  works and learnt a lot from her about media ethics .