BLAZING A TRAIL
AMONG SCRIBES
http://nistharcassimsrilanka2.blogspot.com/2014/06/nisthar-cassim-background.html
Nisthar Cassim’s name is synonymous with business journalism today. What
makes him such an effective communicator? Savithri Rodrigo investigates.
he Daily Mirror Financial Times (Daily FT) turns three this month. For Nisthar Cassim, it’s a birthday worth celebrating. He can be credited with introducing the daily concept to business journalism. He was also presented the first ‘Business Journalist Of The Year’ award by the The Editors’ Guild Of Sri Lanka. He opines: “The lack of appreciation of financial journalism – both within the media, and society at large – is astounding… despite Sri Lanka being a trading nation since the dawn of civilisation.”
Cassim never wanted to be a journalist. Not overly studious, he was more interested in cricket at school and captained the teams in all age groups, though missing out on the final cap – the Under 19 team – when he switched from Carey to Wesley College to do his ‘A Levels’. “I think my writing skills emerged in my late teens, because I used to write to teen pages in the newspapers and do some Interact work. I also took up commerce and political science as A-Level subjects; and after I left school, I dabbled in a bit of CIM, because I loved marketing,” he reveals.
In 1988, an advertisement for trainee journalists at the Dawasa Newspaper Group – long known as Sri Lanka’s ‘school of journalism’ – soon had Cassim doing the rounds as a stringer for the Sun… but only six months later did he finally see his byline in print. “It was exciting,” he recalls, “because you had to earn a byline. Journalists’ bylines were not printed until they were deemed good and ready. It also put attitude into perspective and gave me an excellent grounding. I worked with some media greats – like Rex de Silva, who was the editor; News Editor Kenneth Amaresekere; Kumudini Hettiarachchi, who taught me subbing; Sinha Ratnatunge and Iqbal Athas.” At the Sun, even though Cassim worked on the usual news stories, his potential was obviously noted early, and he was given the trade and shipping round to cover. “Once I began covering that sector, I started to get more specialised and more focused,” he asserts.
At the Sun, all telephone calls went through the operator, and it seemed that Cassim was taking far too many internal calls to the pretty telephone operator/receptionist. And in 1991, the young journalist proposed and married Anne – a Sinhalese Catholic – amidst immense family opposition. “It was a difficult time for both of us, but it has been a wonderful 14 years. She is my inspiration, and she understands the long hours and pressures of my work,” he affirms. Having overcome numerous obstacles along the way – including Cassim’s 12-hour work day – the young couple eat out at least once a week, take off on weekends whenever possible and enjoy a few holidays abroad… if time permits!
Always on the ball, Cassim enjoys introducing different angles to his stories – simply because he wants to be one step ahead of the competition.
Two years later, the Sun closed down and The Island snapped him up. “Since I had some background in business journalism, I started writing for the main paper, while overseeing The Island’s business pages. I then commenced the shipping segment – which became quite popular – running three pages of shipping news every week,” he recalls. Within two years, the budding journalist was reporting full-time for the business section.
Once again, opportunity knocked and Cassim had an exciting proposal made to him by Deshabandu Karu Jayasuriya and Hemaka Amarasuriya: to handle media for Sri Lanka Expo. He took up the challenge, completing Expo 1992, Expo 1994 and a few other events in-between, while also taking advantage of a training programme in Germany on trade-fair management and marketing. Two-year spans seem to be the term for each of his jobs, and Cassim then joined the Federation of Chambers of Commerce & Industry of Sri Lanka as Director – Publicity.
Then, Singapore beckoned with a lucrative offer for a Business Development Manager at Expo International – a company wanting to set up operations in Sri Lanka and promote trade fairs in the island nation as well as in Singapore. “I was there for a month; but that was in 1996/97, and the instability within the country frightened the Singaporean company,” he reveals. However, even though Cassim returned after only three weeks, he had added another dimension to his portfolio!
Despite having been out of journalism for five years, he was soon bitten by the media bug again. With business-journalist guru Manik de Silva having just left the Daily News, Cassim was given the opportunity to prove himself again. “So, in July 1997, I was faced with the challenge of increasing the popularity of the business section – which had waned after de Silva’s departure – and to re-establish myself,” he discloses. For two years, Cassim remained the de facto business editor – though officially designated as a journalist. Nevertheless, with the promised change of designation not forthcoming – even though he felt he had restored the Daily News business section’s lost glory – Cassim was restive.
The MidWeek Mirror was looking for a deputy editor/business editor – and once it became a daily, Cassim joined its team, though he says that reorientating from the popular Daily Newsto a then unknown daily paper was challenging.
In September 2002, the distinctively pink Daily FT was born. “Wijeya Newspapers has the rights to the word ‘Times’ in Sri Lanka, and we saw the potential for the Daily FT: we identified the market early and also created a new market for a pull-out. Being different, we called ourselves the FT, blending in well with the corporate sector and helping with a common brand for the daily and Sunday issues,” he avers. Having raised the bar in business reporting and publications, Cassim now works with a team of about five.
Some of his scoops have shaken and stirred the corporate sector. It was he who broke the stories of the sensational buy-ins and buyouts of Dhammika Perera, Raj Rajaratnam and Dr. Sena Yaddehige. “We have developed a relationship with business circles, and they find our reporting to be objective and professional. They look forward to our stories to find out what’s going on,” he claims.
NISTHAR CASSIM
DATE OF BIRTH: 8 August 1967.
FAMILY BACKGROUND: Married; fifth in a family of two girls and four boys.
ALMA MATERS: Carey College and Wesley College.
STRONGEST BELIEF: “Have a ‘doer attitude’, be positive at all times and believe in people’s goodness – until proven otherwise.”
MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS: “ The launch of the Daily FT and the day I decided to get married.”
MOST PRESSING NATIONAL ISSUE: The need to keep pace with the rest of the advancing world – if that is met, the rest will fall into place.
HOBBIES: Watching Sinhala, English and Hindi movies, and listening to music.
FAVOURITE CHILL-OUT: Home – and the countryside, where there are streams, lakes, trees and where all is green.
FAVOURITE COUNTRY: Sri Lanka, because it has to be the only country that has everything and is the ideal place for relaxation.
MOST ADMIRED LEADER: Mahatma Gandhi: for his non-violent leadership.
ROLE MODELS: Besides his father, Deshabandu Karu Jayasuriya, who has both “humane and excellent leadership qualities and who – despite getting into politics – has managed to be himself and not get caught up in the political carnival”; and Lasantha Wickrematunge, for his role in revolutionary journalism.
Always on the ball, Cassim says that lead stories may change even as late as 9 p.m. the night before the paper is published. He enjoys introducing different angles to his stories – simply because he wants to be one step ahead of the competition. “Daily papers aren’t the only competition. There’s the Sunday papers and electronic media as well. We all get the same stories, the same releases and same events to cover. So how do we add value? We read the competition and what they might do, while also trying to report the story in perspective, while being innovative. We have brought in graphics and charts to make it more creative. I have enjoyed the hype and controversy created by theFT’s coverage of the stock market. Sometimes, we even go into political issues if we feel it will change the mindsets of the people. We want to contribute to society, make people think, be competitive, try and improve the lot of the poor and make Sri Lanka a better place to live in,” he declares.
Anne is definitely his anchor, but Cassim also cites Lalith Alahakoon, Ranjith Wijewardene and his colleagues for inspiring him along the way. Very proud of his roots – especially of his father Lafir, who having joined Unilever as a labourer, culminated a 30-year career in the multinational company as its first Sri Lankan accountant – Cassim says: “He really is my role model and I don’t think I will ever be like him. My mum, Huzaima, strove to keep the home fires burning for six children; and, between them, they exposed us to education – even the girls. As a result, I grew up in an environment of professionals.”
While he enjoys a relaxing Sunday watching a movie with Anne, Cassim is feeling that restless impulse once more. He wants to move on. He ponders his love of marketing, but also sees opportunity in television and has a burning desire to do for the electronic media what the Daily FT did for print. He concludes: “You don’t have to be a financial wizard or an economist to be a business journalist. I have no qualifications and no degree – I learnt on the job. All you need is a news angle, common sense and the ability to communicate it. At the end of the day, we are all communicators.”
