Manipal, March 19: “Scrutiny of Media is possible by you and me”, said the Vice-Chancellor of Central University, Tamil Nadu, Professor B. P. Sanjay at the inaugural ceremony of National Seminar on Media Conscience: Changes, Challenges & Chances organized by Manipal Institute of Communication, the constituent institute of Manipal University (MU).
The Social Responsibility theme seriously forced people to ponder upon the issue, increasing change and challenge represents the dilemma faced by the masses in the current scenario. Professor B. P. Sanjay on this occasion said, “This the very same media that during national struggle embedded goals to reach freedom and accountability and played active role to aid, cooperated to build nation in the Post Colonial era. The only time when the media had to bow down before somebody is the dark era of vulnerability of media to the political prowess. This is the Boom in media when the private sector started mushrooming as capitalism bestowed itself the purity and the principles got reversed, we can see a change as of now “the focus is not on developing ideologies but of spreading propaganda”. Today the media is working more in the favour of marketing and many dimensions of media are changing today.” he added.
“Media is not a monolithic enterprise, embedded in the activities of industries and the readers who combine to form a collective introspective. Hence there should be a balance in the wants of public, their needs and what the industry can give.” Prof B. P. Sanjay being in the field of media education expressed that as ethics in the profession are diminishing the civilians are more and more disoriented as mostly everything is biased, we say we have freedom of expression, little do we know news is still censored although in a different method.
Dr M. V. Kamath (Padmashree), the only living journalist who is working in the media since pre-independence said, “It is our responsibility to raise the reputation of media as a reliable & remarkable public service.”
Dr. Ramdas Pai (Padmabhushan), Chancellor of MU, Dr. H. S. Ballal Pro-Chancellor of MU and renowned media professionals Alok Mehta, Gyani Shankaran, Mukesh Sharma, Manasi Kundan Vyas marked their presence.
Following the inaugration, Sandhya Pai, Managing Editor of Taranga (a Kannada Magazine) was the first speaker to address the gathering. Speaking about – “Print Media – Where is it going?”, Pai raised concerns on how free the media is today since most of them are owned by corporate houses, and how media ethics that once existed are now amiss.
She also spoke on what the media should print and the future that lies ahead for the print media which gave a splendid beginning to the conference.
Mukesh Sharma, Director, Prasar Bharati said, “The digital divide is creating a generation disconnect and this is because of the advent of technological and digitized world. The thinking and processing of information by 'Gen- Next' is becoming fundamentally different.” Further, he added “The younger generation approximately spends 10,000 hours meddling with video games, 20,000 hours talking on mobile or browsing, 10,000 hours on texting SMS, whereas they spend merely 5000 hours reading books.”
TS Sudhir, Resident Editor of NDTV, Hyderabad and Swati Vashisht, Chief Bureau of CNN IBN (Rajasthan) preceded with second session of the seminar with the topic – “Television – Blurring Vision”. Sudhir during his speech concentrated on the role of social networking and other new media. He further went on telling about the concept of citizen journalism incorporated by NDTV and how it was playing a major role.
The Chief speaker of the Session, the Editor of Outlook Magazine Vinod Mehta, made the best out of this opportunity to discuss the intricacies of his Profession.
“Media is no more a public service, but a commercial business”, said Vinod Mehta explaining the cause behind it to be the large amount of investment spun around for it mostly invites loss. He alerted the gathering that media is a profession where one must be ready to take up risks, but also oblige if one does a mistake no matter if one has to give up the job. According to Vinod Mehta, the key to survive in this field is to live with idealism and work to your best possibilities without sacrificing them.
In the valedictory function of the two day seminar, GK Prabhu (Registrar, MU), Vardesh Hiregange (Director, MIC) and Dr. MV Kamath shared their experiences and thoughts about the changes to be brought in the society.
Dr GK Prabhu gave away the certificates to the delegates present and then while addressing the gathering he congratulated everyone and expressed his pleasure upon being a part of the seminar. He stressed upon the idea of having more such events so that the students can learn in a more stress free and interactive environment. Pondering upon the idea of information buried under noise, he innovatively related to the delegates and said communication must be smart.
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