Monday 15 February 2010

NWMI CONDEMNS THE PHENOMENON OF `PAID NEWS' AT KOZHIKODE MEETING

Ammu Joseph very kindly mailed us the following:

Nearly 60 women journalists from across India and an equal number from different parts of Kerala met in Kozhikode from 5 to 7 February 2010 for the eighth annual conference of the Network of Women in Media, India (NWMI). This represents the first gathering in Kerala of such a large number of women working in a variety of media in multiple languages.
The NWMI is a national network that aims to provide a forum for women media professionals to share information and resources, exchange ideas, promote media awareness and ethics, and work for gender equality and justice within the media and society.
The main theme of the three-day meeting was the media and democracy. As professional women in the media, we strongly believe that the present crisis in the media, of which "paid news" is a grim symptom, requires urgent, serious intervention by media professionals working together to safeguard the principles and values of journalism and the credibility of the news media, which are both critical factors for the effective functioning of our democracy.
A panel discussion on this issue was one of the main public events organised by NWMI in which eminent journalists Mrinal Pande, the new Chairperson of Prasar Bharati and T.N. Ninan, Chairman and Editorial Director of Business Standard, as well as editors of several leading Malayalam newspapers, participated. They spoke about the phenomenon of "paid news" within the context of the ongoing deterioration of ethics and standards in the media, suggested several steps that could be taken to curb this trend including naming and shaming those publications that resort to such practices and consumer resistance to media that is selling its viewers and readers short.
Well-known social and political activist Aruna Roy, who inaugurated the conference, also spoke about the need for a more constructive intervention from the Fourth Estate on several key issues confronting the country today including attacks on tribals and minorities. She said that society looked upon journalists as "empowering agents" in a democracy and that any campaign for human rights was incomplete without the participation and support of the media.
During the conference, issues such as the Kerala media's coverage of terrorism as well as the practice and politics of veiling and unveiling, especially within minority communities, were also discussed. Likewise the apparent disinterest of much of the mainstream media in issues related to local self-government raised questions about the media's role in promoting democracy.
Another major learning emerged from several presentations on the current state of what is commonly known as "the Kerala model of development, " issues concerning women's health in Kerala, myths and realities about women's status in Kerala, what decentralised local governance and anti-poverty schemes have meant for women in the state. These insights emphasised the complexity of any society and the need for journalists to go beyond demographic data and other statistical indicators.

Kozhikode
7 February 2010

Friday 5 February 2010

Fellowship in Media and Communication Studies

I have received the following today. I think this is a good opportunity to communicators to do some serious research and writing.

THE TEJESHWAR SINGH MEMORIAL FELLOWSHIPS
A third fellowship in the social sciences added!


SAGE invites applications for the award of
THE TEJESHWAR SINGH MEMORIAL FELLOWSHIPS FOR 2010
in SOCIAL SCIENCES, BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT and MEDIA & COMMUNICATION STUDIES

SAGE instituted THE TEJESHWAR SINGH MEMORIAL FELLOWSHIPS in 2009 to honour Tejeshwar Singh, Managing Director of SAGE India for 25 years and doyen of the publishing industry in South Asia.
ADDITIONAL FELLOWSHIP IN 2010: SAGE is pleased to announce the addition of a third fellowship in the SOCIAL SCIENCES in 2010. Proposals in the areas of social justice--including individual rights, changing lifestyles and the significance of an expanded educated class would be preferred. Preference will be given to proposals that are interdisciplinary in scope. For the purposes of this award social sciences comprise economics, economic and social history, political science, psychology, sociology and social anthropology.
PRESIDING PANEL: Rolf Lynton, T N Madan, Surendra Munshi, Bhikhu Parekh, T V Rao, Jagdish Sheth, Arvind Singhal, Sanjay Subrahmanyam and Romila Thapar.
DURATION: One year with a stipend of Rs 50,000 a month. Rs 50,000 can be claimed for travel during the tenure of the fellowship. There are no restrictions of theme or ideology but the work must contribute to an understanding or an advancement of the subject in South Asia. The principal brief to the fellows is to author a book on their chosen subject of research at the end of the fellowship. The book may be published by the scholar's choice of publisher with due acknowledgment to the Tejeshwar Singh Memorial Fellowships for supporting the research.
ELIGIBILITY: Open to nationals of South Asian (SAARC) countries, including those currently resident overseas. Candidates must be below 40 years of age on 1 April 2010.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: Applicants are invited to submit their curriculum vitae, a research proposal and a 5000 word sample of their writing. The last date for receipt of applications is 31 March 2010.
AWARD OF FELLOWSHIP: The applications for each fellowship will be vetted by a jury of four experts including one representative of SAGE. The award of the fellowships will be announced in June 2010.

All applications should be addressed to:
Ms Smrithi Sudhakaran
Public Relations Executive
SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd
B-1/I-1, Mohan Cooperative Industrial Estate
Mathura Road, Post Bag 7, New Delhi 110 044
T: 91 (11) 4053 9222; ext: 256; F: 91 (11) 4053 9234
e-mail: smrithi.sudhakaran@sagepub.in

Tuesday 2 February 2010

Prof. B.K.Kuthiala takes over as VC Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism & Communication


I am delighted to report here that the veteran  communication scholar, Prof B K Kuthiala has taken over as Vice Chancellor of Makhanlal Chaturvedi National  University of  Journalism & Communication located in Bhopal, the state capital of Madhya Pradesh. He has a rich and varied experience of 39 years in media and academics and colleagues like me are confident that he would lead the university to further heights. 
The confidence is based on the fact that he has worked in every capacity in the university academia and has won support from his teaching and non-teaching colleagues for the assignments he was handling at that particular point of time.
His recent positions include Director and Professor of Institute of Mass Communication and Media Technology, Kurukshetra University, Kurkshetra., Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Media Studies, Proctor, Head of the Department of Advertising and Public Relations.
He was Dean, Faculty of Religious Studies and Head, Department of Religious Studies and has performed as Dean, Academic Affairs, Dean, Faculty of Information Technology & Computer Sciences, Chairman of the Department of Communication Management and Technology, Department of Printing Technology and also of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.
His major positions included Chairman, Foreign Student Cell of the University at Guru Jambheshwar University of Science & Technology, Hisar. Director (Hon), Panchnad Research Institute. National Vice President and President  (Haryana Chapter) of Indian Media Centre. He was one of the Directors of the Board of Directors of the Hindusthan Samachar, the Multilingual News Agency. He has achieved major success in the work he took upon himself or was nominated to carry out. Some of these concerned
Chief-Coordinator, UGC Special Assistance Programme (SAP) on human resource development in Internet Journalism.
Principle Investigator of major project Research on the Study of Awareness, Motivation and Mobilisation Roles of Print Media in Independence Struggle of India.
Founder teacher in Guru Jambheshwar  University with which he was involved right from the planning stage and with its growth and development from the beginning.
Responsible for selection of courses and establishment of eight (8) departments. Also held additional charge of the Director, Public Relations of the Guru Jambheshwar  University for four years and of Proctor for three years. Secretary, Council for International Affairs and Human Rights and also  General Secretary, Centre for Policy Initiative. Active member and office bearer of many international academic and professional bodies.
He taught at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi for 21 years Kurukshetra University for about two years. A known scholar in the field of Mass Communication and Media Research,  he has to his credit more than 100 research reports, more than 80 research papers, about 200 newspaper articles and about 100 radio and TV programmes.  Has introduced many innovative and job oriented courses and initiated many new teaching practices and research methodologies. Edited many journals and two books.
Post graduate in Anthropology and also in Sociology. Trained in the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune and Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi. A trained and practicing computer programmer. A teacher, practitioner and researcher in the field of journalism and media.
An established  academic manager. Received many awards including Guru Shreshtha and Sarvashreshtha Sancharak. Contributes regularly in English and Hindi Newspapers
Produces, anchors and participates in regional and national Radio and Television Programs. Consultant for newspapers, television channels, advertising agencies  and many academic organizations of higher and professional education. Associated  actively with University Grants Commission, IGNOU, NCERT and  16  universities .and 22 institutes of higher learning.
Specialist areas include: Organizational Communication, Feedback Systems, Publicity Campaign Planning, Convergence of Technologies,  Media Research and Academic Management. Currently engaged in experimenting with On-line Education, Internet Journalism  and Web Radio.
Presented a paper in the World Journalism Teachers Conference at AMIC, Singapore, (July, 2007) advocating introduction of Indian Values in Media and also in the International Conference on Convergence, Citizen Journalism and Social Change in the Queensland University of Science and Technology, Brisbane, Australia (26-28 March, 2008) proposing a Non-business Model for Media. "It is Gold Rush in India Media" in January, 2009 in International Conference on New Media in Shanghai University, Shanghai, China.