History of Press (Mr. Vikas Pathak)

Mr. Vikas Pathak’s second lecture on the ‘History of Press’ centered on many aspects that played a decisive role in our nationalist struggle against British occupation. He first explained to us the role that print capitalism played in the creation of ‘imagined communities’ (a concept credited to Benedict Anderson) and how newspapers created the foundations of such a community. He then articulated the difference between a Pre-Modern and a Modern State and the reasons for the semi-hegemonic nature of Colonial India. Then, borrowing from Antonio Gramsci’s theory of ‘war of position’, he gave us a synopsis of Gandhi’s book ‘Hind Swaraj’ that chronicles the ideological struggle that he and scores of other faced to reverse the hegemony of the State pre-independence. The lecture was concluded with a detailed analysis of the Nationalist Press of India and how it united the people to fight for freedom.

Media Laws (Mr. Satya Prakash)

The class lecture dealt with state functionality and how the protection of rights provided to the citizens has to be subject to reasonable restrictions. While the state derives its legitimacy from the consent of individuals, it’s this very heterogeneity prevents the existence of absolute rights for speech. Talking about free speech and it’s implied connotations for the media, Mr. Satyaprakash discussed how the state is a self-preserving entity, and therefore promulgates laws that seek to dissuade dissent. While reasonable restrictions are imposed on free speech, the metric to gauge whether the imposed restriction is reasonable or not is the ‘direct impact’ method. Simply stated, this method ascertains whether the restriction imposed completely hinders the very right it has presupposed to exist.

Financial Journalism (Mr. K.A. Badarinath)

The class started with a brief introduction. Professor K.A Badrinath, is the editor of Financial Chronicle and has previously worked with The Economic Times and The Pioneer. He commenced the lecture by talking about Journalism. He said that Journalism was like kite flying and required a certain realm of imagination.

 He listed down the top financial newspapers, namely, Economic Times, Financial Express, Mint, Hindu Business Line, Financial Chronicle and Business Standard. He also stated that “Reading a business paper is an art in itself”. Then he asked us to give our opinions on the state of Indian economy.

Talking about the Indian economy he stated that:

 1. The Indian economy is the ninth largest economy in the world. It’s divided between four sectors, namely, Industry, Agriculture, Export/trade, Services.

 2. It is the second largest foodgrain producer in the world.

 3. Our iron ore exports our banned. Iron ore is converted to steel and then exported to earn higher value.

4. Our net worth in terms of GDP is $1.87  trillion. Of which, 56.4% is contributed by service sector,17.4% by agricultural sector and 26.4% by the industrial sector.

5. However not even 5% of this forms the part of world trade.

6. Our GDP is the ninth largest as per the 2012 data.

7. India is the tenth largest importer and the nineteenth largest exporter in the world. Export accounts for $309 bn and import accounts for $512 bn.

8. In terms of the ease of doing business, India is on the 192^nd position which means it is very difficult to do business in India.

9. We engage in contract manufacturing. This means, our locally produced goods are further branded and sold worldwide.

10. To overcome all these problems, India first has to deal with its rural difficulties which include illiteracy, health, poverty and infrastructure.

Some of the world’s richest people live in India and own big business empires. Right now according to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the Business houses ought to contribute 2% of their profits towards social upliftment. However in practice, this rarely happens.

The lecture ended on the question, whether these business houses should come up and take initiative to contribute towards India’s social sector projects?

Communication: Concept and Process (Ms. Parul Abrol)

Communication:

Provide an abstract understanding of the communication process as an understanding. One can move beyond deciphering a single event, i.e. one can apply it everywhere.

Communication process:

The communication process is made of four components:

1) Sender-

The sender can be an individual, a group or an organization. The sender is responsible for sending the message. Sender’s experience, skill, attitude, knowledge, perceptions and culture influence the message.

2) Message-

It involves a threefold process. Written words, oral communication, non-verbal language selected are of paramount in ensuring the receiver interprets the message as intended by the sender.

For example: Burnett & Dollar.

·         The first step is Encoding in sending the message.

·         Encoding : - “Translating the information into a message in the form of symbols that represent the concept.”

·         Symbols used could be language, words, gestures, etc.

·         For effective message and message encoding, there should be clarity on what message needs to be sent.

·         To transmit the message, an appropriate channel is utilized.

         For example: oral or written communication, etc.

         Narendra modi writing English Editorials.

 The Message is pitched on the basis of:

a)    Urgency.

b)    If immediate feedback is received.

c)    If the documentation required should be permanent.

1) Receiver:-

This involves the next step viz. Decoding. Decoding is done by the receiver. Once the message is received examined, the brain interprets it.

How does a receiver interprets the message depends upon the following:

a)    Skill

b)    His/her knowledge on the subject

c)    Relationship between the sender and the receiver

d)    Experiences, attitudes, perception and culture.

1) Feedback:-

The Receiver may respond in some way and signal responses to the sender. This may be in the form of a smile, a sign, abuses, facial gestures, etc.

·         “A lack of response could also be a form of response”- Bovee & Thrill.

·         The communication process is the perfect guide towards achieving effective communication. This helps to ensure that the receiver gets the message and understands it.

2) Barriers:-

The communication process can be hampered by barriers.

• Inappropriate language, incorrect grammar, inflammatory words, words that conflict with body language, technical jargon.
• Noise and disturbances, etc.

All these factors can distort the message or prevent the receiver from paying attention. 

Journalistic Trends (Ms. Vichitra Sharma)

Sensationalaization has nothing to do with matured news, said by Ms. Vichitra Sharma, the veteran news editor and journalist, here on Wednesday.

Addressing the students of the department of English Journalism she pointed out that those media which sensationalize the news are more or less putting false assumptions to the reality. As the landing of India’s new fighter Super Hercules at the border of China has never reflected any sign of conflicts or between the two countries , the titles such as  a‘’showing of muscle’’ and  ‘’India dare to China’’ were far more exaggerated. Comparing the news headings of ‘’The Hindu’’, ‘’Hindustan Times’’, ‘’Times Of India’’ and ‘’The Indian Express’’ among them on certain issues Ms. Vijita indicated that when events are transformed in to news it should not be deviated from the reality.

She added that the journalists should keep a kind of responsibility towards the nation’s diplomatic affairs. Stressing the importance of it, Ms. Vijitha introduced the new special cell that has been created under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs known as ‘public diplomacy’.

 Giving conclusion for the lecture a warm debate was also conducted on the topic ‘’Will Social Media be The Future Platform of Journalism’’. All of the students actively participated in the discussion. While majority of the students were of the opinion that the social media will surely be the platform of the future journalism, others argued against the view. They argued that, as the social media do not have a say in media ethics and laws professional writers and think tangs are not so much ready to come to that field. They added that social media cannot defend any writer from being blamed or mocked by indecent utterances. 

News Report (Ms. Namita Kohli)

How is news made?

News is not something that merely “happens”. It is something that is actively “put together” by reporters, editors and publishers. Gathering, selecting and writing news is subjective.

News Filters

In their book Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of Mass Media, Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman postulate five “filters” that determines the type of news that is presented in the media.

The five filters are –

1)    The size, concentrated ownership, owner wealth, and profit orientation of the dominant mass-media firms.

2)    Advertising as the primary income source of the mass media.

3)    The reliance of the media on information provided by government, business, and "experts" funded and approved by these primary sources and agents of power.

4)    "Flak" as a means of disciplining the media.

5)    "Anticommunism" as a national religion and control mechanism. In Indian context, this religion can be replaced with “pro markets”.

Please Note: Post September 11 WTC Attack, Chomsky and Herman updated the fifth filter to “War on Terror or Antiterrorism” and believed it operated in the same manner.

For detailed reading on these propaganda models or news filters, kindly refer to:

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Herman%20/Manufac_Consent_Prop_Model.html

Writing for Newspaper (Ms. Satrupa Chaudhary)

The Lecture of Ms. Satrupa Chaudhary was on Writing for newspaper.  She started with the evolution of writing as to in what form it started, the changes in it and in what style it is accepted now.

·         Advertisement’s

·         Book reviews

·         News article

·         Editorials

·         Business letters

·         Interview

·         Movie review

She continued with the different forms of writing in books which included educational textbooks which were further divided into fiction, poetry, novels and sciences, mathematics and atlases. After books it was the social media which was classified by writing on twitter, facebook, texts, SMS, and even the blogs. Then the other form was the Media which had print and electronic forms in it.

Writing in newspaper is a medium to communicate with the people or the target audience through the different parts of newspaper articles like

·         International / national news

·         Local / metro news

·         Editorial – letter to editor

·         Business/ financial

·         Weather forecast

·         Sports

·         Supplements – lifestyle , entertainment, matrimonial

At last she concluded her lecture with the factors that affects the writing. That included the content, the structure, the style and the deadline. For effective writing, a writer should be careful of all these factors for effective reach of views to the target.