The day commenced with an introductory lecture by Ms. Aditi who told us about the inverted pyramid form of reporting and rule of 5Ws and 1H. The inverted pyramid signifies that while reporting, the most relevant information must precede the less important details of the story.  We also had a little discussion about the major publications in India, their target audience and their influence.

The second lecture was on Communication Concepts by Ms. Parul Abrol. She defined Communication as “all those planned and unplanned processes through which one person influences the behavior of others.” She told us that we interact according to certain theories as they help broaden the contours of our understanding of communication behavior. They also help us predict and control our communication while providing us with an abstract understanding of communication process so that it enables one to move beyond deciphering in a linear fashion.

The next lecture was taken by Probir Pramanik who shared his experiences as a print journalist. He began by giving us an advice that while writing a report, the sentences must be short and crisp as it helps hold the attention of the reader. He said preparation study or research is a part of life for a journalist and sources and contacts are an essential part of journalism. While elaborating on each of these points by sustaining them with real life examples and interesting anecdotes from his experience as a journalist, he also remarked on some relevant facts about the media industry. He told us about the constant conflict between the industry trends and journalistic trends which is present due to the strong corporate lobby that enables the corporations and politicians to plant stories. Lastly he spoke about the newspaper’s social responsibility towards the people so that the reporter may write ethically without instigating them.