Scholar-Journalist of the Week: Apeejay students showcase creative brilliance at ‘Brand Culture Gully’

The word that can best define Apeejay Institute of Mass Communication student Swagatam Roy is ‘ambitious’. He narrates how during his school days, he was heavily burdened with expectations. “Like every average Indian household, I was expected to either become a doctor or an engineer; but, I chose ‘The Road Not Taken’. I decided to become a communicator, at best, a journalist,” he explained.

Despite being a science student at the higher-secondary level, Swagatam switched to Journalism and Mass Communication during his undergraduation education. Since then, there has been no turning back. The passionate budding media professional has worked with various digital news portals and newspapers. “I also own a film production house, ‘Rai Manohar Productions’, and we have produced two feature films so far. In my 3.5 years of work experience, I have donned job profiles like anchor, producer, content writer, video editor, camera person, VO artist, and so on,” he highlighted.

In addition to the above, he was also the official representative to the Parliament for the state of Assam in the National Youth Parliament Festival, 2023. He represented India as a youth delegate in the first international Y20 summit. However, he never left Science behind and has received the DST INSPIRE award, a prestigious award given to young scientists. Alongside showcasing great interest in participating in debates and Model United Nations (MUNs), the multitalented personality has also represented Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan at the 24th National Children Science Congress.

The above-mentioned qualities and accolades truly describe Swagatam who was recently selected as the Scholar-Journalist of the Week. Read edited excerpts of his interview to know more about aspirations and writing journey.

What inspired you to pursue journalism? What according to you is the best part about this profession?

Since I was a child, I have been outspoken. I would always call out things that I perceived as wrong back then. Besides, I loved to pen down and speak up my intrapersonal thoughts. But what’s ironic about me is that I was never into the news. However, right after completing my higher secondary exams, I found myself wandering. I started switching between multiple subjects in my graduation. That’s when I came across the idea of becoming a journalist. I had already participated in various state and national debate competitions back then. This had made the senior journalists in my locality identify me, who assigned me with freelance projects that I gladly accepted and completed. However, my journey as a student journalist started during the COVID-19 pandemic. I joined a news portal formally for the first time and reported local positive counts and death tolls extensively. I saw myself going down to ground zero to report the horrors of the pandemic. Since then, I have reported the disastrous 2022 south Assam floods, aggressive and violent protests against the 2023 Assam Delimitation Draft and the infamous Assam-Mizoram border dispute.

Read Here: Apeejay students showcase creative brilliance at ‘Brand Culture Gully’

I have witnessed lathi-charge and police firing live in this tiny career. I received legal notices from the Police Department. I interviewed celebrities like Shailesh Lodha aka Tarak Mehta, Pawandeep Rajan, Deathmaker, to name a few. Above everything, I have received people’s love. These are the best characteristics of this profession.

Do you have an interest in writing ? How did you develop this interest? Any anecdotes you would like to share?

I love expressing my thoughts via all media; writing is one such medium. What developed this is my affinity for storytelling. It will sound funny but I narrate stories of my life while in the bathroom. You must have heard about bathroom singers, but I am a bathroom storyteller.

What was your first ever article that you wrote and was proud of? 

There are various articles of mine that I am proud of. But, the first article, that I formally wrote for a news portal, was on the poor waste management practices in my hometown. That article received administrative attention and the impact was that the domestic waste heaps, dumped by the roadside, were cleared immediately.

That’s wonderful! So, what other topics do you like to write on? Any favourite book or author?

I like covering politics and crime, and thus, writing political and crime articles. However, creative soft stories excite me as well. I love the way Dr. Shashi Tharoor articulates his books. I am not talking about the ones he uses jargon in, but his books like Why I am a Hindu and The Great Indian Novel. I have no favourite book in particular. I love reading socio-political books.

Any learning from your writing journey? 

One must avoid digressing from the central theme of one’s article. Besides, to write in a style, conveniently understandable to the readers, is very important. I usually avoid jargon. Through my journey as a content writer, I have always focused on understanding the nuances of languages. Besides, in today’s digital world, it’s important for a content writer to understand the number of discrete spaces between words, punctuations and characters.

What are your future aspirations?

I aspire to become a TV news anchor in the far future. But understanding how the industry works, I have developed a liking towards pretty much everything related to journalism and mass communication. Any job profile that allows me to grow is what I would love to do.