KASARGOD: A rare enterprise shown by two siblings could well give more established presenters a run for their money. Audio news channel G&G News, co-founded by Goutham Eravil, 10, and Gayatri Eravil, 14, is a rage on social media now. Goutham, a Class V student of Government UP School, Chandera, Kasaragod, was asked by his social science teacher N P Vasantha to submit a written report of the day’s news.
But the lad came up with a nearly 10 minute-long audio clip which has become hugely popular on social sites due to Goutham’s diction and presentation.
While her brother anchors the news, Gayatri does the reportage. Goutham too ‘hits’ the reporting trail -- he changes the intonation and indeed the rendering to make the transition to Ground Zero.
Goutham takes on the role of several top TV journalists who are a daily ‘presence’ in the living rooms of Malayali households. On whether these journalists are aware of Goutham ‘reporting’ for G&G News, he merely chuckles.
“I doubt it. But recently an anchor called me up and congratulated us. I wish to become a TV journalist. I do the scripting myself. Besides watching news on TV, I read a couple of Malayalam newspapers based on which I prepare the script. Aechi (Gayatri) helps me with the editing software,” he said.
However, the story chart is prepared by them jointly. The duo takes turns to record the news on their mother’s smartphone and the audio clip is directly uploaded to Goutham’s class WhatsApp group after editing.
“It is Goutham’s show, so I do not insist on becoming the news presenter. But we ensure a special story denoting the day’s importance or some social issue. G&G news is getting several ‘forwards’ which is a real surprise,” said Gayatri.