Disclaimer: These are my personal views. They aren't endorsed by my employer.

The Press Club in Delhi is a landmark of sorts. Are you even a journalist if you haven't gone there for the greasy (but yummy) food and cheap alcohol?
I attended my first Press Club meeting after joining The Wire five years ago. Hearing journalists I look up to gave me hope and made me feel proud to be a part of the industry. Let's be honest -- pride is all we get since we make bare minimum in terms of salaries and our work never stops.

In the past decade, press freedom in India has been one of the casualties of the current government. Every few days, press releases are being issued by media authorities condemning the treatment of journalists, illegal arrests, newsroom raids, etc.

We might have bypassed a certain politician when it comes to 'kadi ninda'.

But does it make any difference? No. Most journalism bodies have no teeth. I am not getting into why because that's a whole other long discussion.

So is there nothing the Press Club can do to help journalists in today's political environment? That's not true. Here are some suggestions:

1) Stop hosting manels. Even today's meeting to discuss AltNews founder Zubair's arrest had around 5-6 men on the dais and 1 woman.

2) Get some younger journalists to be a part of these sessions because the issues they face on the road are different from the ones editors in newsroom face.

3) Form a team that can work on messaging and audience engagement. We can't be taking photos of printed press releases and tweeting them. If nothing, that tweet might not be most algorithm-friendly.

4) Create lists of journalists, divide them on the basis of their social media following and reach. These will come in handy when you need to get the word out. We are constantly cribbing about how social media is used by certain people for doing bad things. Why are we not using it for good?

5) Help educate journalists about their rights, the laws that can protect them. Host digital sessions with lawyers, media activists, and so on. Create and circulate a list of lawyers who would be willing to advise reporters on the ground. We can't just rely on small organisations like The Wire, Scroll, News Laundry to do this. This will also help guide young reporters who are going out in the field for the first time.

Today, there was talk of setting up a legal fund for reporters who are being harassed by the authorities. I hope that happens soon.

I am sure many digital journalists (including me) would be willing to donate time and money to the Press Club to get all of these things done.

Dear PCI, the ball's in your court now.