Daljeet Singh of PTC News represents the breed of TV journalists that became more visible during 2007. In pursuit of newsworthy stories they are prepared to jump into situations where, let alone angels, even the Devil wouldn’t dare to tread. No wonder, the year witnessed unusually large number of big and small skeletons tumble out of various cupboards with scandalous regularity – be it sale of SIM cards (without filling the requisite forms) in Punjab’s border districts, the sandbag scandal during the floods, sale of liquor on the Gandhi Jayanti Day, sting operations against corrupt officials in different government departments, black-marketing of cricket match tickets, and taking local authorities, including MLAs, to task on developmental issues. One of the enduring images is of Daljeet chasing a delinquent heavyset liquor vendor on 2nd October down a market in Mohali, resulting in an ugly faceoff, with timely police intervention preventing possible violence. Risky, isn’t it?

“Unlike print media journalists TV journalists are easily identifiable,” says Daljeet, “so there is every chance that someone caught on camera doing something illegal gets violent. But that’s one professional hazard you can’t avoid.”

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