In this day and age, you can apparently become a bona fide journalist without ever having to even step inside a newsroom or have been a reporter - for even day - for an actual newspaper, news channel or even a news website.
All you need is your own YouTube channel and a very low threshold for following the basics and ethics of Journalism 101. Since you have never set foot inside a newsroom and neither have you ever been an actual news reporter, the bar (if one exists at all) for supplying verified information is extremely low for you – it is, in fact, non-existent.
You assume that whatever ‘news’ or ‘information’ comes your way, or whatever your friend’s brother who works in the Supreme Court as a peon, or whatever you happened to hear from your ride-hailing service driver on the way to running an errand is hard and accurate news. For you, verifying a story means having heard it from one of these kinds of sources – as for actually checking the contents of a ‘news story’ by checking with officials or the government, that, you think, is for the other journalists, not you. Because whatever you say on your YouTube channel will be the Gospel truth and cannot be challenged anywhere – not even in a court of law.
If you have never worked in an actual newspaper or, a television channel, or with a professional news website, no problem. Who does that anyway these days, you say. Besides, audiences don’t care for such minor details, they only care about what you will say on your YouTube channel, and the more chat-patta (trumped up and embellished) and filled with masala (spice) it is, the better it is – certainly for the traffic on your YouTube channel and for increasing subscriptions to it.
Since the otherwise necessary requirement of actually verifying and factually checking anything you put out as news doesn’t really apply to you, you can focus totally on content and how to make it as attractive (read sensational) as possible. The first and foremost objective is to monetise your YouTube channel (and other social media platforms), and then comes the aim to make as much money as possible from it. In fact, make so much money that it becomes your primary source of income. Of course, not everyone is able to achieve that high a subscriber base, but if they are, like some of our leading YouTubers, then the sky’s the limit.
Some of today’s top YouTubers have been actual journalists, though whether they remain in that role is debatable. Some have stumbled on to this, guided in part by some state institutions who thought it best to utilise their social media skills and talents in the service of their favourite party and politician. And many of them still seem to be pushing content out in the party and politician’s service
So, what kind of content can get you a lot of views and subscribers? For starters, the spicier, the better, and don’t worry about having to verify or fact-check it since you are your own editor, gatekeeper and content provider all rolled into one on your own YouTube channel. Of course, these days, it helps greatly if your content is angled towards supporting a particular individual and his political party. The party’s social media effort is driven mostly by a healthy mix of misinformation, fake news and outright disinformation, and if a YouTube channel is aligned with this view, it fits in neatly. Of course, having said that, one should not forget that in the not-too-distant past, the same institution that is now at odds with the political party was its biggest backer and the whole concept of YouTubers pushing a narrative was pioneered by its public relations arm.
That said, some of today’s top YouTubers have been actual journalists, though whether they remain in that role is debatable. Some have stumbled on to this, guided in part by some state institutions who thought it best to utilise their social media skills and talents in the service of their favourite party and politician. And many of them still seem to be pushing content out in the party and politician’s service. Then there are some lawyers who suddenly think that they are also news reporters and qualified to be bona fide journalists – so have also flocked to YouTube because their television show was discontinued (usually for lack of ratings).
All this while many bona fide, serious journalists who are not comfortable putting out half-truths, misinformation and propaganda because they know that’s the very antithesis of their profession.
But that’s irrelevant in a time when social media is increasingly displacing mainstream news media as the primary provider of news and information, even in Pakistan.