Sitting on the sun-soaked lawns after lunch, moderators Laxmi Murthy and Sameera Khan introduced the session for the many new members. “Since the NWMI is growing on a daily basis—there more than 750 members now—this session is to allow newer members to get a sense of our functioning and ethos, and for older members to participate in figuring out how to streamline functioning, deepen democracy and strengthen collectivism. A short background was shared, and specific points were discussed.
Members were made aware of the structure and functioning of the network, which is characterised by non-hierarchal, collective functioning. The moderators shared a snapshot of the behind-the-scenes work (website, social media, statements, etc) and how it gets done, the process of issuing statements in a democratic manner, and contributing to initiatives such as research studies and the Gender, Media and Election section on the website. Other points shared were: the process of emergence of local chapters and their relationship to the national group and the reasoning behind staying non-registered: to remain autonomous despite the challenges.
Membership criteria were discussed, in light of the changing nature of the media, the lack of permanent jobs and the low pay that was a feature of freelance work. There was a consensus that working in corporate or government PR, would not fulfil the membership requirements. Membership of political parties came in for discussion as well, with some states being more politically active than others. The consensus was to come up with a detailed document on membership criteria and discuss it with the larger group.
An ongoing concern, diversity in the NWMI, came up for discussion. Small steps towards increasing diversity like the NWMI Fellowships with contribution by individual NWMI members and travel grants to attend NWMI meetings were set up to ensure that lack of resources do not hinder participation in a non-funded network.
There were discussions about potential projects NWMI could take up, including a helpline for members facing sexual harassment at the workplace, online abuse or legal cases, and; creating a freelancers’ union, or a mentorship programme. Each of these initiatives would depend on members willing to anchor the project and also get others on board.