Nov 9, 2017

Press Coverage: Tinka Tinka India Awards 2016

Tinka Tinka India Awards on Webdunia



Tinka Tinka India Awards, TOI Bareilly








Guest Lecture: Dr. Ambrish Saxena

The Department of Journalism hosted a guest lecture on 3rd November, 2017, conducted by Dr. Ambrish Saxena, Head, Department of Journalism for Zee Academic Institute, Noida. Dr. Saxena has served as a journalist with three prominent dailies including The Pioneer and three Hindi Newspapers including Aaj Tak. The lecture was organized on ‘The Patterns of State Ownership in Radio’.

The session started with Dr. Saxena touching upon some of the basics of Journalism, the first being that as a journalism student, one should be exposed to all mediums, extensively, and that change in technology has increased mediums for dissemination of information, however, every medium has its own advantages and one cannot substitute the other, only supplement it.  He then went on to talk about the contemporary era as an era of convergence, and adding to this, he gave the example of ‘Integrated News Rooms’ that may be understood as a central point that cater to a channels- Television, Newspaper, Radio and Digital Mediums, all from one central newsroom.  

Elucidating on the distinction between Digital and Social Media, Dr. Saxena said that on one hand, where Conventional Mediums have gatekeepers, including the digital websites/applications curated by Media Houses, the news aired by these channels/mediums may be considered valid with due verification. On the other hand, there is social media that is unregulated with the absence of a gatekeeper, and hence cannot be relied on completely without checking the authenticity of the same. For example, he talked about facebook and whatsapp, and how it is easy to circulate information on these mediums without any gatekeepers. He then emphasized on the need for attribution, and said that news without attribution should not be trusted. And as a journalist, one must check the source of the news before trusting it. 

Dr Ambrish Saxena at the lecture

News, in the 21st century is so live, that there is a tough competition and every second counts. The Television medium fights for (a) speed and (b) reliability. Radio,  as explained by Dr. Saxena, traces its roots back to 1926, when proper broadcasting began. However, the Indian Policy concerning Radio Broadcasting does not permit news broadcasting by radio channels.  The radio was in control of the government (Information and broadcasting Ministry) until 1997.  Talking about the emergency period, he highlighted how AIR & DD, were misused by the government, and hence a need was felt for the autonomy of these organs. The Congress government, as explained by Dr. Saxena, was in favor of controlling electronic media under the umbrella of ‘National Interest’, and the Opposition wanted the bodies to be autonomous. After multiple proposals and rejections, the bill for autonomy of these organs was passed by a Non-congress government in 1997, almost 20 years after the first introduction of the bill in the parliament. Then, Prasar Bharati was established, independent from the government, which took over AIR (All India Radio) and DD (Doordarshan). 

The lecture proceeded with Dr. Saxena making the students realize the void that the absence of a Broadcasting Bill created in our country. He stated that in 1997, the government of India created the draft for the Broadcasting Bill, however, the bill hasn’t been passed until present day. As a result of this, policy making in radio is still ad-hoc, but in lieu of the same, TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) has made a significant difference. It regulates broadband, satellite connections, Radio, Telecom ( Cable & wireless networks) etc. and has been pursuing the government to allow private Radio channels to broadcast news independently, however, the private players are only permitted to re-run the news bulletins aired by All India Radio. The request is denied on the basis that frequencies pose a threat to National Security and hence Prasar Bharati enjoys monopoly over News Broadcasting and Current Affairs Programmes broadcasted on all radio channels.

Dr. Vartika Nanda, speaking at the lecture

Talking about the structure of news in the three conventional mediums, i.e; Print, Radio and Television; Dr. Saxena made clear distinctions in their structure and format. A reporter, writing for the print medium must remember that the story is only meant for reading and must follow the inverted pyramid structure. Referring to the 70’s and 80’s, he said that the only attribution given to newspaper articles was ‘By Correspondent’ or ‘By Staff Reporter’, and no names were used, as the media houses believed the credibility of the newspaper to be above the reporter writing for it. Today, however, the print medium has adopted from the Television medium -  the feature of using names, and so, all newspaper articles attribute the name of the reporter covering the news story as well as their email id, which not only establishes a two-way connection between the reader and reporter, but also adds authenticity and accountability to the report.

Unlike Print, a Radio story is carried by two persons- (1) The reporter covering it, and (2) The anchor/news presenter. Hence, its structure is different from that of the print medium and is divided into 3 parts: (a) Anchor Piece, (b) Bites, and (c) Voice Cast. In 2001, AIR decided to introduce a new format in radio news, which was to use the voice of the correspondent while presenting news bulletins, and launched ‘FM Gold’, the channel identity being Bollywood songs and news and current affairs.  The advantages of this medium as compared to Television, as highlighted by Dr. Saxena, are that it doesn’t require the reporter to go to any external spot, and voice cast can be recorder from the studio,  by simply calling the reporter.

Television, much like radio, has 3 parts of production: (a) Anchor Piece, (b) Bites, and (c) Piece to camera. After the inception of Television, as talked about by Dr. Saxena, Radio became obsolete and it’s listenership dropped drastically. In the Television medium, ‘Piece to camera’ is of utmost importance for the viewer to be able to relate to the reporter. Receptivity is strong as the news is coming directly from the reporter and the backdrop of this piece is usually the spot where the event has occurred.

Dr. Saxena then opened the floor to questions and a few students from the second and third year batch asked relevant questions. In his concluding statement, Dr. Saxena touched upon the need for curating content that delivers to the target audience while at the same time following journalistic ethics.

-Written By Paridhi Bhanot, Student of LSR

Suggested Readings

Suggested Readings:

 

Media Theory

 

Name of the book

 

Author

 

Publisher

 

Year

 

  Link to the PDF

A Hand Book for Journalists

M V Kamath

Vikas

2007

Companion to Media Studies

Angharod Valdivia -

Blackwell Publishers

2004

   http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/book/10.1002/9780470999066

Communication for Development

Melkote and Steeves

SAGE

2001

India's Communication Revolution

Singhal and Rogers

SAGE

2001

Understanding Media

Marshall McLuhan

Routledge

2001

 http://robynbacken.com/text/nw_research.pdf

Mass Communication Theory

Denis McQuail

SAGE

2001

 http://docshare04.docshare.tips/files/28943/289430369.pdf

India's Newspaper Revolution

Robin Jeffery

Oxford University Press

2000

Manufacturing Consent

Herman and Chomsky

Pantheon Books

1988

 https://focalizalaatencion.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/herman-chomsky-2002-manufacturingconsent.pdf

The Global Media

Herman and McChesney

GDN

1997

Here is the News

Rangaswamy Parthasarathy

Sterling Publishers

1994

History of Indian Journalism

J. Natrajan

Publications Divisions, Ministry of I&B, Government of India

1997

The Press in India

G N S Ragahvan

Gyan books

1994

Mass Media and Cross Cultural Communication

S.R. Joshi and Bela Trivedi

Indian Space Research Organization

1994

The Indian Media Business

Vanita Kohli

SAGE

2006

Mass Communication and Journalism in India

D.S. Mehta




Allied

1992

Whose News? The Media and Women

Ammu Joseph and Kalpana Sharma

SAGE

1996

Image Journeys

Christiane Brosius and Melissa Butcher

Sage

1999

Being in the World

Jonathan Friedman

Sage

1990

 

Broadcast Media

Television in India

Nalin Mehta

Routledge

2008

India on Television

Nalin Mehta

Harper Collins

2008

News and Entertainment

Daya Kishan Thussu

SAGE

2007

Advanced Journalism

Adarsh Kumar Varma

Har Anand Publications

2000

Satellite Invasion in India

S. C. Bhatt

Gyan books

1994

Broadcasting in India

G.C. Awasthy

Allied

1965

Broadcasting In India

P C Chatterji,

SAGE

1991

Satellites Over South Asia: Broadcasting, Culture and the Public Interest

David Page, William Crawley

SAGE

2001

Television in India: Changes and Challenges

Gopal Saxena

Vikas

1996

Television Handbook

Patricia Holland

Routledge

1997

Indian Broadcasting

H.R.Luthra

Publications Division

1986

Watching Dallas

Iena Ang

Methuen

1985

This is All India Radio

U L Baruah

Publications Divisions, Ministry of I&B Government of India

1983

The Radio Handbook

Carole Fleming

Routledge

2002

Radio Journalism

Guy Starkey  & Crisell

SAGE

2009

The Practical Media Dictionary

Jeremy Orlebar

Arnold

2003

 

Online Journalism

Online Journalism

Jim Hall

Pluto

2001

Web Production

Jason Whitmaker

Routledge

2001



Media Ethics and Press Laws

Law of the Press

D D Basu

Prentice Hall

1986

The Press

M Chalapati Rao

National Book Trust

1974

 

Media Management

The Fundamentals of Marketing

Edward Russell

Ava Publishing

2009

Marketing of Newspapers

R Padmaja

Kanishka

2008

Strategic Management in the Media

Lucy Kung

SAGE

2008

Media and Communication Management

C S. Rayudu




Himalaya

2003

Newspaper Management in India

Gulab Kothari

Rajasthan Patrika Limited

2000

 

Media and Politics

Headlines From The Hindi Heartland

Sevanti Ninan

Sage

2007

Women Heroes and Dalit Assertion in North India

Badri Narayan

Sage

2006

The Argumentative Indian

Amartya Sen

Penguin

2005

Dalit Diary

Chandra Bhan Prasad

Navayana

2004

De-constructing the nation

Andrew and Vernon Hewitt

Oxford University Press

2004

Media Reform: Democratizing the media and democratizing the state

Beata Rozumilowicz

Routledge

2002

Politics After Television

Arvind Rajagopal

Cambridge University Press

2001

Need for News Service

Kanshi Ram

Bahujan Samaj Publications

1997

Rethinking The Public Sphere

Nancy Fraser

Cambridge

1992

Rethinking The Public Sphere

Nancy Fraser

Cambridge

1992

Rethinking The Public Sphere

Nancy Fraser

Cambridge

1992

Scheduled Castes

O.P. Sharma

Kar Kripa

1990

 

Photography

Complete Idiot’s Guide to Digital Photography

Steve Greenburg

Pearson

1999

 

Films

How to Read a Film: Motives, Media, Multimedia

James Monaco

Oxford University Press

2007

The Cinematic Imagination: Indian Popular Films as Social History

Jyotika Virdi

Permanent Black

2007

Bollywood: Sociology Goes to the Movies

Rajinder Kumar Dudrah

SAGE

2007

The History of Cinema For Beginners

Jarek Kupsc

Orient Longman

2006

A Dictionary of Film Terms: The Aesthetic Companion to Film

Art

Frank Eugene Beaver

 Peter Lang

2006

Our Films Their Films

Satyajit Ray

Orient Longman

1976

 

हिन्दी में इन्हें भी पढ़ा जा सकता है

Name of the book

Author

Publisher

Year

खबरें विस्तार से

श्याम कश्यप

राजकमल प्रकाशन

2008

टेलीविजन और क्राइमरिपोर्टिंग

वर्तिका नन्दा

राजकमल प्रकाशन

2010

पत्रकारिता की लक्ष्मणरेखा

आलोक मेहता

सामयिक प्रकाशन

2006

मीडिया की खबर

अरविंद मोहन

शिल्पायन

2008

टेलीविजन की भाषा

हरीश चन्द्र बर्णवाल

राधाकृष्ण

2011

टेलीविजन की कहानी

श्याम कश्यपऔर  मुकेश कुमार

राजकमल प्रकाशन

2008