Stings are getting popular among students

NEW DELHI: Sting is in vogue. No, not the English musician whose numbers The Dream of Blue Turtles, Bring on the Night, Nada Como El Sol rocked the 80s, but the sting operations that have rocked the political arena of the country, of late. The new mantra in journalism is: “We will, we will sting you.”

Following the Tehelka tapes, the institutes imparting journalism courses are going strong over classes on sting operation. And now, with Operation Duryodhana and Chakjravuh rocking Parliament, lessons on tricks with hidden camera are being taught.

“Sting operations are an essential part of TV journalism courses now,” said TV journalist Manoj Raghuvanshi. Raghuvanshi’s institute Pratyaksh offers courses on TV journalism with special focus on sting operations. For a fees of Rs 30,000, young aspiring journalists turn sleuths and march out with the hidden cameras to unveil scams.

“Initially students are given simpler assignments and later they graduate to tougher stories,” said Raghuvanshi.

While accepting that sting journalism is an important aspect of investigative journalism teaching, i nstitutes like Pioneer Media School also talk about the ethics of such operations. “Students are fascinated with hidden cameras these days.

The faculty, however, also discusses the ethics of such operations,” said a representative of the school. Those in the business inform that in a year’s course, almost 50 per cent of the session is devoted to sting operations.

There are also many who do not teach these new tricks of the trade, but accept that there is a growing demand among students in this field.