Nov 9, 2017
Press Coverage: Tinka Tinka India Awards 2016
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 |
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 |
|
Communication for Development |
Melkote and Steeves |
SAGE |
2001 |
|
India's Communication Revolution |
Singhal and Rogers |
SAGE |
2001 |
|
Understanding Media |
Marshall McLuhan |
Routledge |
2001 |
|
Mass Communication Theory |
Denis McQuail |
SAGE |
2001 |
|
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 |