Mobiles for Social & Behavior Change

Free Journalism Training Workshop by Poynter Institute

Following forwarded by Mr Subhash Naik:

Free Journalism Training Workshop by Poynter Institute, USA.

"Join our free workshops in March and explore ways you can address the challenges facing news organizations, journalists and journalism educators.
The free, three-day workshops are designed to strengthen journalism best practices and help educators prepare tomorrow's journalists with cutting-edge curriculum. The professional-level workshops will bring together well-known U.S. journalism editors, media executives and educators with their counterparts in India to address the challenges and opportunities facing Indian journalists. They are offered by The Poynter Institute, a U.S.-based journalism training organization.

Apply now at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/IndiaWorkshopApply to reserve your seat at one of these locations:

Chennai, Tamil Nadu: March 19, 20, 21 (at Taj Club House)
Kochi, Kerala: March 23, 24, 25 (Gateway at Taj)
Bangalore, Karnataka: March 27, 28, 29 (Vivanta by Taj)

You will learn:

• How to be a better leader in times of turbulent change
• How to use social media tools in the newsroom and classroom
• About collaboration between the editorial and business departments
  
  • Strategies for ethical decision-making
  • Storytelling in the digital age
  • How to coach reporters and student journalists
  • How to write with and edit for clarity

Who should attend:

These workshops are intended for mid-career journalists, mid- and high-level editors and managers, media business professionals and journalism and media educators. Apply now. You must complete the application to be considered for this FREE training event.

We encourage you to share this email with colleagues, especially those in mid-level management. Also: We encourage participation from business-side leaders and educators.

For more information about the program, syllabus for the workshop, faculty biographies and locations please visithttp://india.poynter.org.

The Poynter Institute is working with The Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media in Bangalore, the Kerala Press Academy in Kochi, and M.O.P. Vaishnav College for Women in Chennai.

Support for these workshops is through a grant from the U.S. Consulate in Chennai.

Contact: hfinberg@poynter.org
Print a flier to promote within your organization
Print the syllabus for the workshop
Apply now"

Touching farewell to Balasubramanya

Touching farewell to Dr A S Balasubramanya

I envy  Prof. Dr A S Balasubramanya, the media teacher in Dharwad, who retired recently. The touching farewell he received from his students, present and former, is simply beyond my imagination. In the words of Mr. Raju Vijapur and Basavaraj Kambi, the President, of the Felicitation Committee, it was just wonderful, superb, fantastic, marvelous and touching... 

About 40 photographs Mr Vijapur has attached to his mail show how grand the felicitation was. I have pasted only three of them, but they give us a fairly good idea how the fare was.

Read on:  

We feel like language is inadequate, words fall short, adjectives are very few, there should have been more punctuation marks to explain how the felicitation to Dr A S Balasubramanya function was. It was just wonderful, superb, fantastic, marvelous and touching... 

Dr A S Balasubramanya, his grand son were taken in a traditional bullock cart and Dollu Kunita procession from his house to the Manasollas Auditorium. The seminar was started half-an-hour late. Mr Sugata Shrinivasaraju (in the first session) and Mr Aminmattoo's (in the second session) speeches were thought provoking. 

Dr A S Balasubramanya's reply to the felicitation was touching. He thanked every student who passed out (and those who discontinued after six months or one year) from the MCJ department for their concern, and love for the department and teachers. He mentioned names of his colleagues in the department and thanked them for their cooperation in running the department. 

Journalist Ravi Belagere's presence in the function was a pleasant surprise to many. He thanked Dr ASB for teaching him a lot (about journalism). Students were craving for handshake, autograph from Mr Belagere.

Interaction with Dr A S Balasubramanya was also meaningful. He gave memento and Abhinandana Granth personally to every past student inviting them on the stage.

A drama and music programme (Hindi old songs) made the audience go down the memory lane.

There was a party for (the past students) those who stayed in Dharwad on Sunday night. The party was jointly hosted by Mr Basavaraj Kambi and Dr Chandunavar.

--

Here is wishing a very happy and meaningful post-retirement life to Dr Balasubramanya and his wife, from me and all his friends who could not be in Dharwar that day. Kiran Thakur

--

His mail address: balasubramanya52@gmail.com, balu_kud2005@yahoo.co.in

--

Journalist Pramod Pagedar is no more

Dilip Chavare informs me that our friend and colleague PRAMOD 

PAGEDAR passed away in Ahmedabad yesterday. 

Pramod was a senior journalist, worked with The Indian Express, The Hindustan Times, The Economic Times, and the Times of India. He died of cancer his grieving but composed daughter Jui told Dilip. 

He was cremated in Vadodara, his hometown. 

'I will miss a friend,' says Mahesh Vijapurkar.

AMC Call for Papers

ASIAN MEDIA INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION CENTRE (AMIC)
23RD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

Communicating in an e-Asia: values, technologies and challenges

in partnership with
Chulalongkorn University
Bangkok, Thailand
9th-12th July, 2014

Globally, the last decade has seen exponential growth in the use of mobile technologies and the Internet. From e-mail to e-governance, e-commerce to e-learning, Internet usage has changed the way the world communicates.

At the forefront of the electronic and digital revolution in Asia has been the mobile phone. Recent International Telecommunication Union (ITU) statistics indicate that in the period from 2005 to 2013, mobile (cellular) phone subscriber numbers in the Asia-Pacific region have soared from 833 million to 3,547 million users. The era of an e-Asia has dawned.

The benefits of instant, intranational and trans-border communication have impacted upon almost every aspect of life, with mobile phones and the Internet providing new pathways for inter-personal communication, business and commercial enterprise, community development, educational opportunity, governance and democratic reform. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are an enabling factor in supporting marginalized societies to more beneficially interact with a broader citizenry, while the convergence of computers, media and telecommunications has created new platforms for entrepreneurship, education and political inclusion.

However, in the Asia-Pacific region, where cultural traditions and family values are hugely respected and deeply ingrained, the influences of a new ‘e-Asia literacy’ are impacting on social conventions, etiquette, language and community structures. In a homogenized international ‘knowledge society’ where communication processes transcend national boundaries, the retention of traditional values and ways of life are increasingly challenged.  

Conference streams (including):

• communication and society
• cultural impact of ICTs
• social media and society
• youth and the Internet
• e-learning, trends and possibilities
• media and a free press
• communication and marginalized communities
• ICTs and development
• the ‘knowledge society’
• future of communication technologies
• remote/island societies and new technologies
• media and gender
• society and new media
• education and new technologies
• development communication and social change
• broadcasting, past and present
• freedom of expression in transition societies
• media history
• communication theory and ethics
• environment, climate and communication
• print media, past and present
• socio-political development and media
• cross-cultural influences and developments
• policy and communication
• media empowerment

CALL FOR PAPERS
Papers will be selected on a competitive basis and all submissions will be screened by an expert panel.
Abstracts due:     4th April, 2014
Full papers due:  1st June, 2014
Abstracts and papers should be submitted via e-mail (conference@amic.org.sg). Please do not send papers to the personal e-mail addresses of conference organizers.
FORMAT FOR ABSTRACTS
Indicate your proposed “Conference Stream” in the subject line of your e-mail.
E-mail should include the following:

• paper title
• author name, position, institution
• short biography of author (100 words)
• paper abstract (500 words)

FORMAT FOR PAPERS
Indicate “Full Paper” and relevant conference stream in the subject line of your e-mail.
Papers:

• should be written in English.
• be of 5,000-8,000 words in length.
• have citation in APA style.
• should be Microsoft Word or RTF document. Font should be Times New Roman, 12 pts. Please use plain text and not formatting.

For more information, please contact Ms Sangeetha Madasamy at sangeetha@amic.org.sg or Assoc Prof Martin Hadlow at m.hadlow@amic.org.sg

Note to all authors: By submitting your paper, you agree that if your paper is selected, you will register for the conference and present the paper. All co-authors attending and/or presenting at the conference must register too.

CRITERIA FOR REVIEW
Abstracts
Criteria used to judge abstracts will include (but not be restricted to) the following:

• topic
• theoretical orientation
• research design
• results
• quality of writing and organization of the paper
• indications of potential contributions of the study to communication research in Asia

Full papers
Criteria used to judge full papers will include (but not be restricted to) the following:

• purpose of the paper
• organization of the paper
• literature review
• research methodology
• relevance of the paper to the conference
• subject of the paper representing a significant direction for communication research in Asia
• quality of writing
• evidence and conclusions relating to the purpose of the paper

Competitions for Mass Communication Students

Following from Prof. Hampesh K.S, Programm Coordinator,

Department of Post Graduate Studies in Mass Communication and Journalism

SDM College (Autonomous) Ujire – 574240, D.K. Karnataka

[Re-Accredited ‘A’ Grade with CGPA 3.59 by NAAC]

National Seminar on

“Social Networking Media: Boon or Bane?”

In Association With

Karnataka Madyama Academy &

On

March 7^th & 8^th, 2014

Venue: College Seminar Hall

The College

Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara College is an autonomous college under Mangalore University managed by SDME Society. The institution is guided by the visionary leadership of Padmabhushan Dr. D.Veerendra Heggade, Dharmadhikari of Shri Kshethra Dharmasthala. The college is identified as "College with Potential for Excellence.”

SDM College offers 23 graduate and 11 post graduate programmes. The college granted Autonomous status by UGC, and is also Re-Accredited by NAAC at ‘A’ Grade with CGPA 3.59 out of 4. Being the recipient of various awards from different quarters, SDM College has marked its presence in the domain of higher education at the national level.

The Department

In keeping with the tradition of educational excellence, the college established the Postgraduate Department of Mass Communication and Journalism in 2008 with the vision of emitting good quality journalists outfitted with necessary skills. The department envisions the empowerment of the students by providing a holistic approach towards academic excellence.

Detonate

Competitions for Students

I.                   Group Competitions

1.      Short Movie

·         5 Members in a Team

·         Theme: Social Media

·         Maximum one movie from one college

·         Film on any language

·         English subtitle is mandatory

·         Two DVD’s should reach the department on or before February 28^th, 2014.

2.      TV News Anchoring

·         3 Members from one college

·         Time: 3 minutes

·         Topic will be provided on spot.

·         Contestants should submit the soft copy of the script before the commencement of competition.

3.      Walk through

·         3 members from one college

·         Time: 2 minutes

·         Topic will be given on spot

4.      Radio Jockey

·         2 members from one college

·         Time: 2 minutes

·         Topic will be given on spot

5.      Collage

·         Two members from one college

·         Theme: Social Media and Crime

·         Time: 30 minutes

6.      Pagination (Newspaper Preparation)

·         Two members from one college

·         Topic will be provided on spot

·         Contestants should prepare content on spot (No readymade contents allowed)

·         Time: 1. 30 minutes, Size: A3 – Black and white.

·         Contestants should bring Laptop and required software’s.

II.                Individual Competition

7.      Piece to camera

·         One member from one college

·         Time: 30 seconds

·         Topic will be given on spot

8.      Radio News Presentation

·         1 member from one college

·         Time: 1 minute

·         Topic will be given on spot

9.      Feature Writing

·         One member from one college

·         Time: 30 minutes

·         Topic will be provided on spot

10.  Report Writing

·         One member from one college

·         Topic will be provided on spot

·         Handwritten copies only

·         Language: English or Kannada

***

For Queries:

Sunil Hegde

Asst. Professor

Dept. of MCJ

SDM College, Ujire

Mob: 9880478096

Email: skumar.hegde@gmail.com

 --

Will Marathi be without comma?

The following is the response from Ganesh Puranik to the post  

http://mediasceneindia.blogspot.in/2014/02/comma-may-be-abolished-from-english.html 


धन्यवाद सर, एक महत्त्वाची माहिती 'share' केल्याबद्दल !

खरं तर मुळात भारतीय भाषांमध्ये रूढ अर्थाने विराम चिन्हे नव्हती, 'गद्य' साहित्य तात्त्विक दृष्ट्या 'पद्य' साहित्यापेक्षा श्रेष्ठ मानले जायचे, पण 'पद्य' हे अर्थातच लोकप्रिय होते ! पद्याचे संख्यात्मक प्रमाण अधिक असल्यामुळे बहुदा असेल, पण 'एकल दंड' (। ) आणि 'द्वि दंड' ( ॥ ) या पलीकडे विराम चिन्हांचा विचार भारतीय भाषांमध्ये झाला असेल, असे वाटत नाही.   

नागपूरला कवि कालिदास संस्कृत विद्यापिठात 'भाषा शास्त्र' शिकतअसताना, एका व्याख्यानादरम्यान आम्हाला सांगण्यात आले होते कि,'वेदोक्त संस्कृत' मध्ये किंवा 'संस्कृत' मध्ये शब्द आधारित, जोडाक्षरे आधारित 'विराम स्थळे' (विराम चिन्हांचा 'प्रगत' अथवा 'अप्रगत' प्रकार)होती. (अर्थात पाश्चिमात्यांकडे जे आज आहे, ते आमच्याकडे त्यांच्यापेक्षा आधीपासूनच आहे, असे सांगण्याचा अभिनिवेश पण त्या व्याख्यानातहोताच !) 

एकोणिसाव्या शतकात मेजर थॉमस कॅंडी ने मराठी भाषेत विरामचिन्हे रुजवली.  भारतीय भाषांमध्ये सर्वप्रथम आणि सर्वाधिक विरामचिन्हेमराठी भाषेमध्ये आली, रुजली आणि वाढली, असे मानले जाते.  मराठी भाषेत आज सहजपणे वापरले जाणारे रोमन लिपी आधारित  'पूर्ण विराम' (.) यासारखे विराम चिन्ह अजूनही हिंदी भाषेत पूर्णांशाने रुजलेले नाही, हे इथे आवर्जून करावेसे वाटते.

असो, सदर बातमीमध्ये लिहिल्याप्रमाणे जर खरोखरच स्वल्पविरामाला अलविदा केले, तर सगळ्यात आधी गोची होईल, ती आपल्या वकील लोकांची !  'अर्धविराम' (;), स्वल्पविराम (,) यासारख्या विरामचिन्हांचा सर्वाधिक वापर होत असावा तो कायदेशीर भाषेत, विरामचिन्हे जर काढूनटाकली, तर एका कलमाचे अनेक कलमी अर्थ लावणा-या आमच्या वकिलांचे कसे होणार? (खर तर अनेकांचे जरा जास्तीच 'भले' होणार ;-) )

शाळेत स्वल्पविराम किंवा विरामचिन्हे यांचे महत्त्व सांगताना "डोईवर जांभळे पागोटे खांद्यावर उपरणे पायात जोडा हातात छत्री खिशात केसरी अशा वेशात टिळक गायकवाड वाड्यात आले" यासारखीअर्थाचा अनर्थ करणारी अनेक वाक्ये वानगीदाखल सांगितली जायची.सारांश, विरामचिन्हे नसतील तर अनेक ठिकाणी अर्थाचा अनर्थ होऊ शकतो. 

तळटीप: अधिक प्रभावी 'शब्दानुशासन' (हा व्याकरणकार 'पतंजली' चा आवडता शब्द) असावे यासाठी आपल्याकडे विरामचिन्हे आली ती पश्चिमेकडून आणि आता तेच लोक विरामचिन्हांना अलविदा करण्याचा विचार करतायत …. एक circle पूर्ण झाले म्हणायचे !  :-) 

आपलाच, 

गणेश

Abstract Submission for IAMCR extended to Feb 17

Following from Prof Vinod Pavrala,

Dear friends:

If you have not yet submitted an abstract to the upcoming IAMCR 2014 to be held in Hyderabad from July 15-19, 2014, you have another opportunity to do so now. The number of submissions as of yesterday has crossed 1200! The deadline for submission has been exteded up to February 17, 2014 to allow more people to participate. See all the relevant links in the below mail from the IAMCR local secretariat.  

As you know, the prestigious conference is returning to India after 25 years and provides us a great chance to showcase the research and scholarship in our region to the rest of the world. Eminent speakers such as Manuel Castells are lined up for the conference. While the registration fee may sound high, remember that it is the premier conference in media and communication studies in the world, and you save heavily on international travel. If you would like to explore possibilities for getting economical accommodation, please contact the IAMCR local secretariat atiamcr2014@gmail.com for suggestions.

Look forward to seeing everyone in Hyderabad in July,

warm regards,

Vinod

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: IAMCR 2014 <iamcr2014@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 11:37 PM
Subject: IAMCR 2014: Deadline Extended

Respected Colleagues,

Greetings from the Local Organising Committee of IAMCR 2014!

At the request of some people in different parts of the world who have been experiencing technical difficulties unrelated to IAMCR's online abstract submission system, the Executive Board has agreed to extend the deadline to submit proposals by one week. 

The new deadline is Monday 17 February at 24:00 GMT. 

IAMCR's Executive Board and the Local Organising Committee in Hyderabad are pleased that the conference has already received more than 1200 proposals and hope that the extension will facilitate the widest possible participation of the global media and community research community.

See the links below for general information about the conference as well as available awards and scholarships:

• Hyderabad IAMCR 2014 local site
• General call for proposals
• Specific calls for proposals of individual sections and working groups
• Information about available travel grants
• Smythe Award 2014
• UCF/IAMCR Urban Communication Research Grant
• Submit your abstract

We look forward to your participation.

Warm regards,

Shruti

Comma may be abolished from English language'

Comma may be abolished from English language'

LONDON: Death of the comma? One of the most commonly used elements of written English - the humble comma - could be abolished as a punctuation mark without doing much damage to the language, a US academic has suggested.

Professor John McWhorter, an associate professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University, believes that removing commas from most modern US texts would cause little loss of clarity.

McWhorter said that as Internet users and even some writers become increasingly idiosyncratic - if not indifferent - in their use of the punctuation mark, it may have outstayed its welcome, 'The Times' reported.

You "could take them out of a great deal of modern American texts and you would probably suffer so little loss of clarity that there could even be a case made for not using commas at all," McWhorter said.

He cited the Oxford comma, inserted after the penultimate item in a list, as an example of the mark's obsolescence.

"Nobody has any reason for it that is scientifically sensible and logical in the sense that we know how hydrogen and oxygen combine to form water," McWhorter told Slate magazine.

"So these things are just fashions and conventions. They change over time," he said.

PTI story published in newspapers on February 10, 2014

--

Comma RIP: Is this ubiquitous punctuation mark heading to a full stop?

Columbia University professor John McWhorter suggests the comma is way past its expiry date. This is not just because we've learnt to save time and use words — or 'wrds' — composed of collapsible letters today. McWhorter says the comma need never have been a pillar on our grammatical landscape for there's no inherent logic to the little chap. You could apparently withdraw the comma from most modern American texts and not even notice the difference.

The stinging dismissal will certainly cause many writers to pause mid-phrase. We anticipatePico Iyer — who's earlier written a blushing essay in fulsome praise of the comma where he likens the punctuation mark to how we bat our eyelashes and murmur endearments to lovers — will express disapproval replete with red-faced full stops. But Pico's party of punctuation-lovers will face stiff challenge from Gertrude Stein who condemns the comma stringently. Stein writes the comma is basically "a poor period that stops and lets you take a breath". She tartly elaborates — "But if you want to take a breath you ought to know yourself that you want to take a breath." That's not all. Stein remarks a comma enfeebles. It distracts. It annoyingly dilutes what must be intense.

Clearly the comma war won't pause just yet. But it will tickle grammar's grandmasters by presenting new games. Oscar Wilde delighted many by confessing he'd spent most of the day putting in a comma and the rest taking it out. From there to writing editorials sans a comma at all is just another fun move on changing chessboards of words where clauses and pauses keep shifting but the challenge — to communicate — stays the same.

(Times of India, Edit, Feb 11, 2014)