Creating content that can be relied upon

“Nobody wants to talk to me”, said the journalist, annoyance clouding his voice. He had come to write an article about Auroville and had asked the staff of OutreachMedia to find people to whom he could talk. The search had been unsuccessful. “Not many Aurovilians want to be interviewed these days,” says Divya. “Too many had negative experiences and sometimes we don’t manage to find someone. But we give all journalists printed materials and access to our videos.”

OutreachMedia is the Auroville unit that is responsible for all interactions with outside media. It started in the 90’s as a two-person interface team for visiting journalists, providing them with background materials, organizing interviews, taking them around and telling them what can and what cannot be photographed. This work continues but the focus has shifted from the printed word to video reporting. "It started with ‘A Dream Down To Earth’, a short, 14-minute introductory video on Auroville,” says Serena, the team’s filmmaker. “It was made for the Auroville International Centres, which had asked for a short video. And from that, naturally and organically, video production became what it is today.”

“The turning point was Auroville’s 50th anniversary,” explains Fabienne. “Suddenly there was a large demand for information on Auroville, both from the media as well as from within Auroville. Many newspapers and television channels asked for content. Doordarshan, one of India’s largest broadcasting organizations, aired many of our videos. For one month, it broadcast one video each day. The visit of the Prime Minister brought another demand for publicity and we had a lot of interaction with the media. Then there were the Auroville festivals in New Delhi, Baroda and Kolkata. For these we outsourced the newspaper coverage, but we made our own films and photographs and took full care of the social media. Our team expanded accordingly. We now have seven persons working full-time. There is an editorial team, a photographer, and a team of filmmakers and video editors.”

“February last year was a whirlwind, every day there was something new. There is quite a lot we can criticize about the 50th celebrations, but the sheer fact of it meant that OutreachMedia had to start collaborating with people, had to start centralizing things, and all of that very quickly,” adds Matthew. “That meant we had to restructure, which was, in fact, a good thing. We now have a close collaboration with the Auroville Archives and with the Auroville Radio and with individual film makers in Auroville.”

Ever since the 50th celebrations, the outside interest in Auroville has increased. More and more requests are coming in for information, for pictures or for permission to make photos or shoot films inside Auroville. “We are very careful,” says Divya. “There are people who want to use Auroville or the Matrimandir as a simple backdrop, for example for their commercial products, or as a location for their TV series. That’s a no-go. Others wish to shoot photos for private reasons, such as family photos in the Matrimandir Gardens or photos in the Inner Chamber. That, too, is not allowed. Genuine requests we entertain. But here too, the Matrimandir is off-limits.”

“It’s not only the Matrimandir which is attractive: the Auroville forests are also very popular,” says Fabienne. “During the weekends, people come to make photos of newly married couples wandering amid the trees in our forests. They are looking for pristine places which, with all the garbage lying around outside Auroville, are not so easy to find. In fact, there is so much demand that in one of our meetings a suggestion was discussed that we should create a dedicated space which can serve as a décor or backdrop.” The suggestion was not taken up.

The photographs are Marco’s department. OutreachMedia has handed over the digital image bank to the Archives. It is now a fully searchable image catalogue. Marco constantly updates the image bank with the newest photographs, tagging them as they are uploaded.

The video demand is both from outside and from within Auroville. Television networks request ready-made films, if possible with subtitles. For the Tamil networks, OutreachMedia provides films complete with Tamil subtitling or dubbing (voiceovers).

The requests from within Auroville are on the increase. “Every day we get a minimum of five requests,” says Fabienne. “For example, for fundraising purposes, or to explain why the proposed highway between Auroville and the East Coast Road would endanger the environment. This led to ‘The Highway or the Higherway’. Other requests come from Auroville units, such as SAIIER Confluence, Village Action, Eco Femme, and Upasana; they all ask for videos which they can use in their outreach work. For example we made ‘Fantastic Plastic’, a 14-minute documentary for outside Auroville.”

“Then there are requests to record a specific event such as a musical performance or a conference,” adds Serena. “But what’s the point of recording an entire conference? Nobody will watch it. So we edit these videos and transform them into short videos that can be shared. But if there is something which is really important for the community, we record it for archival purposes.”

Apart from responding to specific requests, the team also decides what topics need to be covered for future communication. Culture and its related expressions will be its next focus. It will be covered in a video, two or three photo reportages and a basic editorial and will be publicly accessible on OutreachMedia’s website, on its Facebook page, on Twitter and on Vimeo. “The idea,” says Mariana, “is to create content that touches people and to share it as widely as possible.” But isn’t there a risk of portraying Auroville more rosily than it really is? “We are aware of that and want to bring a change,” Fabienne replies. “A future topic may be the challenges that Auroville faces - for example, the solid waste pollution in the villages and the health impacts of pesticide spraying on cashews crops. Such videos will also contain interviews with the villagers.”

“But the dirty laundry from within Auroville does not need to be presented to the whole world, at least not by OutreachMedia,” says Divya. “Hard-nosed journalism is not what we do. We try to avoid publishing personal beliefs or perceptions or ideas. Discrimination could be an issue, but then as a case study for reflection.”

“We try to provide quality content,” adds Matthew. “Two years ago, if you visited YouTube and searched for Auroville you would find tons of dross, much of it material generated by people who had spent two days in Auroville. OutreachMedia’s videos are quality. Everything we publish has been checked for accuracy and correctly reflects Auroville as far as we are able to ascertain. We create content that can be relied upon.” But, he says, “We do not ‘advertise’ Auroville.”

Like the image bank, a video database was created. It contains all videos made on or in Auroville, including all historic videos, and is maintained and improved by Doris at the Auroville Digital Archives. The catalogue is searchable by Aurovilians and copies are available on demand.

So how can one identify those ‘truthful’ videos online? “OutreachMedia’s videos all carry our logo,” says Serena. “The videos from other Auroville film makers have the Auroville symbol.”

What about the ‘negative’ articles or videos on Auroville that continue to be published? “There is not much we can do about that,” says Matthew. “Journalism sells when there is negative content and articles are rarely fed back to us for our comments or factual corrections before being published. We do get back to the magazine or newspaper in case the article is really outrageous. But most of the articles on Auroville that have recently appeared are ok. A recent article in the English Daily Mail, which is famous for carrying negative stuff, was even positive.”

“But even in negative coverage there is always something positive,” says Fabienne. “Recently, Arte broadcast a documentary on utopias and Auroville was mentioned. They had used old video material but it was still ok. The material they used wasn’t really what we would have liked, but the good thing was that the philosopher they interviewed spoke about the ideals of Auroville and didn’t refer to it as a sect. It shows that Auroville is slowly gaining recognition.”

In providing information on Auroville, OutreachMedia hasn’t yet interacted with two important sites: the official Auroville website and the Visitors Center. “The website could do with an overhaul, and the Visitors Center would benefit from a few more installations where people could press buttons to see different videos on various aspects of Auroville,” says Mariana. “We are open for exploring productive and creative collaborations. For example, we can provide the latest videos, but not the equipment.”

OutreachMedia moved into the new Archives building a few months ago. The allocated space was soon too small and a meeting room was annexed for video editing. Yet, even the two-room space is already bursting at its seams. “We have asked for a budget increase,” says Fabienne. “For the work we do is service-oriented and essential for Auroville.”