Interview with Ms. Rachel Lopez - Senior Asst Editor - Hindustan Times_Mumbai_India

Profession :Senior Assistant Editor – Hindustan Times

World Map:Mumbai, India

Rachel Lopez has been a journalist for the last 12 years and has worked with eminent organisations like the Times of India (where she was the company’s youngest editor at their youth magazine JLT), Time Out, Vogue and the Hindustan Times. She has covered Mumbai, culture, news features, events and of course books. Her job has required her to chase cattle smugglers, wear fake fracture casts and walk on the streets, meet Manipuri Jews studying Hebrew texbooks in English from Marathi teachers in Mumbai, and solve 30-year-old Mumbai mysteries.

Rachel received acclaim for a cover story about the marketing strategies behind the success of Amish Tripathi’s books, and her reporting on the city’s history. She has interviewed Mindy Kaling (for which she was part of an American Library event recently), Madhuri Dixit and many eminent personalities. She is currently the Mumbai head for the Hindustan Times’s weekend magazine Brunch.

•  What is Journalism and what does it symbolize to you?

For me it is the finding of a story that may interest a reader, gathering the right information pertaining to it, presenting it in an appropriate way and making it worth a reader’s time. In the larger sense, it’s a way of documenting a very complex and ever-changing world using carefully chosen words that will educate and entertain.

•   How did you get inspired to get into this field? Or who inspired you and why?

I grew up reading pretty much everything I could get my hands on – instruction manuals, encyclopedias, comics, magazines, novels [way too inappropriate for me] and newspapers. It made me realize that there is a bigger world out there, that the right words make all the difference and that there’s pretty much nothing more powerful than having people listen to you.

•  What is the current social role Journalists / editors play in today’s society? Is there any pressure?
   There have been pressures of various kinds ever since the first newspaper came out in Germany in 1605 – anyone who thinks this age is worse than others needs a history lesson. Many of the same problems persist: Should I tell the truth and risk death? Whose truth should I believe?  What if reporting today’s news shuts down my own paper? Am I biased in my reporting? Do I wait and check my facts or be the first one to break the news among my competitors? Am I being descriptive or prescriptive in my reporting? Have I been brainwashed by the advertising and PR machinery? How much of my editorial integrity am I willing to give up in exchange for an exclusive story?               

Journalists play a more important role than before in the age of the internet. This is the time when anyone can start a blog or post their opinions on Twitter or create their own platform. In a way this is very liberating: most print outlets have limited space, and the web lets you cover the things that would not fit in a 24 page newspaper. Plus, your online content can be accessed long after the day’s print edition has been thrown away.

On the other hand, it raises issues of trust if anyone’s version of the facts (or indeed anyone’s facts) becomes news without them being verified or passed through the filter of objectivity. Take this as an example: If enough Indian middle class people start blogs to complain about their maids - readers will end up with the idea that we are slaves to our evil domestic help, who work badly, take too many holidays, are stupid and needy. No other side will be reported – such as the fact that Indian domestic help are the world’s most poorly paid, often get Zero paid leaves a year, have no means of redressal, are abused in petty and humiliating ways and are victims of a system designed to keep them poor and needy. Newspapers have editors, fact checkers, team of reporters who are trained to look at the other side which an individual blog (and even millions of blogs put together) does not.

•       How has working with a prominent newspaper helped you in your current professional vision?

In terms of getting work done, it has certainly opened some doors and closed some others. People often respond faster when they have heard of your publication. But often they’ll refuse an interview to you if your paper has been publishing news they are not comfortable with.

I previously worked with the Hindustan Times when they had just launched in Bombay – it was a task getting them to understand that I was not calling from the Times Of India. Today we’re the #2 paper in the city so things are easier. My sense of pride is two-fold as I have contributed to make the paper a success too.

In terms of being an employee, it is only a blessing. We are a news company first – not an oil company that has decided to buy a newspaper, for example. So the priority is geared to news. Little things make the difference: Salaries come on time, the internet works, you get the budget to fly to a different city to report a story you believe in, there are confidential forums for sexual harassment at the workplace, dedicated teams of trained photographers and editors to polish your story. There is scope for growth. I know how high the climb is and where I want to go.

•       How does your current profession affect you on a private / family and professional basis?

On one hand, I have very little free time, as news is always happening somewhere. On the other hand, if I want to avoid someone, there is always a ready excuse related to today’s headlines! But often, you end up curbing your own opinions in a social situation as most people do not want to know the gory details of a news issue when they are chilling out. When you meet people willing to discuss the news, it’s a total blessing, even if your opinions are different.

•  Is it easy to be a Woman Editor especially at a very young age? Could you tell us how you overcome pressure and competition?

I do not think of myself as a woman editor, but as an editor. There are more women in the news space than in most other professions, actually. It is now being seen as a lower paying job not befitting a primary earner in India. So more women are in the ranks, not men. This does not affect competition (a good idea can come from anyone, older or younger, male or female) but it does make you think twice about the stories you tell. I could never, for instance think of a story about how hot Scarlett Johanson has been getting in comparison to Meghan Fox!

•       Tell us about the real Ms. Lopez that exists behind the curtain.

She is up reading till 4am so she sounds like a rockstar at work the next day. She is interested in everybody’s stories but unfortunately says “no” more than she says “yes”.  She is not interested in Bollywood or cricket and therefore has to work doubly hard to attract readers in a film-crazy and sports mad country. And unlike many in her profession, she’d rather edit, than write. This year end she’ll have read 48 books.

•       Please share your words of inspiration to young aspirers in this field who dream to be in roles of Journalism that help promote their national and regional cultures on an International scale?

Be plugged in to your neighbourhood, your city, your state, your planet and respect them all equally. America is not cooler than you. Burgers are not tastier than your mom’s cooking. But Western civilization

has many lessons to offer. You are a generation that has access to the world’s information in that smartphone in your pocket. Use it for more than cat videos and selfies.

If you care about writing, look within yourself, but also look at what great writing actually means today. Read at least a book a week, even if you hate the writing. Read every magazine you can. Don’t let your education stop with your degree.

Do not, for a minute, believe that you can’t do something different. But do not, for a second, think the world will fulfill your dreams just because you dreamed them.

•             How do you contribute or give back to the community you indirectly promote through your work? Any Social Responsibility projects you may undertake?

Most journalists cannot help but be involved. We are often roped in to create literature and promos for non-profits. There is no specific community that is indirectly promoted through my work as a journalist – but there is a much higher social responsibility among us, for which I am proud.

 The editorial side of the office, for instance, ensures that our housekeeping staff gets a Diwali bonus (we pay from our own pockets, and the women pay extra for the female janitor), we ensure they are invited to our office celebrations and are treated with dignity. It’s something the marketing side of the business does not bother with. And it’s only one of many examples.