Blogging Matters!!! : The Workshop Run-down [Day 1]

Day 65.

Welcome to another special edition of BM!!! where I'll report a workshop attended on Friday, November 11. This is the objective report of workshop on 'Enhancing Human Development Coverage : Skills for Reporting/Writing', organized by the Rajasthan University (rest details can be seen from the image above). The topic for the first day was Village Journalism. So, without further ado, let's get the report rollin' now, shall we?

Session 1 - Introduction (Moderator - Mr. Sanjeev Bhanawat - Professor & Head : Public Relations & Communications, University of Rajasthan)
Key Remarks Of The Session :

Mr. Kunjilal Meena (IAS) -

• Country's 70% population is in villages. If we write a report on a farmer or a similar person, then that would amplify the value of journalism.
• Request to all students. If you join a news agency, keep in view that you would write for rural areas. There is a dire need to do positive journalism.
• If media does a positive job then a lot can happen. The importance of media will not end. It is such a thing, that nothing can shake it.

Mr. Rajeshwar Dayal -

• It seems as though there is too much negativity in the country. Today's media is full of negativity. Last week there was G20 meeting. Among those 20 nations, 3 of them (France, Germany & India) were safe from recession. But, media doesn't tell that.
• Similarly, when President Obama came here, he signed a deal that 50,000 Indians would be given job. But, media only talks of corruption.

Ms. Nandini Sahai (Director, ICG - International Center Goa) -

• The population of Goa is about 14 lacs. This is all media hype that shows Goa as fancy,fun and beach loving place. There aren't many hospitals, buildings, schools, etc over there.
• This is where the job of journalist comes in. For all of you journalism should not be a profession, it has to be a mission. A newspaper isn't only a newspaper, it has ideology behind it. Now, money is the bottom line for everybody.
• We have lost the art of talking and interacting on one to one level. Journalists don't talk anymore. So, don't lose the human touch.

Mr. Manohar Prabhakar (Senior Journalist, Rajasthan) -

• Today, there are people who respect the values of journalism, while there are those who have made journalism a business.
• A lot of sensibility has come in the journalists, but we have to look for the medium from which it has entered.
• Thousands of workers come to Jaipur from small villages, but no one covers their numbers. No one covers their plight, etc.

Session 2 (Key Remarks) :

Ms. Nandini Sahai -

• Journalism should never be joined for money. There are 45,974 newspapers in India, including 5,354 daily newspapers in 100 languages. I would say that this is an overload of information. How many of them write about things that really concern?
• Media actually feels that you all are interested in knowing what Shahrukh Khan is doing in Goa or Fashion Week, but they don't talk of real issues in Goa. You should be questioning, you should be reading between the lines.
• There are ethics also in journalism. There are so many do's and dont's in journalism that are being flouted. Newspapers are calling each other names. For eg; In 26/11, you had dead bodies in bags. Some senior journalists actually opened those bags to get the face of dead victims. You are not supposed to get hysterical and report a situation.
• Media should not be a part of a problem but part of the solution. As a journalist you don't have to be sensational, you have to be sensitive. Papers are making a distinction between what is interesting and what the people are interested in. Media should have a conscience, but cannot take on the role of conscience activism.

Session 3 (Key Remarks) :

Mr. Anil Lodha (Senior Journalist, Rajasthan Patrika) -

• Ever since the arrival of electronic media, every person feels that he should have a mic in his hands, become a reporter. People who enter journalism for recognition aren't hard working people.
• Journalists receive greater recognition and respect in rural areas rather than urban areas.
• Write for good journalism . Write on the changes occurring in family, society, villages, etc.