Better late than never!

The Valedictory Function of the Symposium featuring Mr. Dan Saint Rossy, Public Affairs officer from the American consulate as the Chief Guest kicked off a little late. The director started off the welcome address congratulating our department for hosting an extraordinary symposium. He also had words of praise for students commending them for their tireless work.

The registrar in his introductory address had tongue-in-cheek humour to make on journalists. Apart from congratulating the students on their efforts, he also had words of advice for budding young journalists reminding them of their duties and the necessity to live by the code of ethics despite the possibility of misusing the freedom provided.

 Mr. Rossy had a different approach to his speech starting off by posing a collective question to the audience just to wake them up! He continued by saying that India has for long been leading the world in globalisation adding that social media has changed the way of the world.

Reiterating on a point made by Dr. Marsha Woodbury earlier, he commented that multi-ownership has made it difficult for professionalism to sustain in the American media. He also added that the power of social media has grown so large by pointing out to the hardships faced by the middle-eastern governments due to revolutions stemming from internet streams.

 In the end, the head of school of media studies, Dr. Sridhar Krishnaswamy thanked one and all for their participation and expressed his gratitude to everyone for having made the event a success.

Kiruba Shankar - Our Own Social Media King !

 "I am a strong believer in the wisdom of the crowd," said Kiruba Shankar which sent a roaring reception among the crowd.

Media nowadays are changing rapidly he told days are gone when companies print  and you read what they are printing  but now the scenario has changed they are now acting according to the public demand as people just shift swiftly when their necessary content is not there.

News is quickly done with all tidbits of information in articles in the web this is how companies are covering the public which is acting in the public’s demand, he said

The current minds are coming up with brilliant ideas he told this by citing an example of the website justmyneighbor,com which makes you  know about your next door neighbor

You connect information and are then connected with commerce that’s how business works in media he told this as the concept of media

The clubbing of social media tools in websites and some innovative concepts being introduced has brought a revolution which still has some untapped areas  to cover  has a long way to go he concluded.

Day - 2 , Panel Discussion - Dr Sundeep Muppidi

The second speaker of the panel discussion on Media Crises in a Globalised World, was Dr Sundeep Muppidi of Nanyang Technological University. He started off by explaining the traditional roles of the media, and how it has diverted from its original vision of being factual and objective to something that is glitzy, lacking in depth and sensational.

He then started dividing the changing media into three different categories. They are ; the social watch dog, government lap dog and corporate guard dog. Quoting Outlook Magazine editor Vinod Mehta on how the quality of editors have gone down, they’re egos are somewhat similar to dogs. Therefore what is the media really?

Muppidi explained each category starting with the social watch dog media as the fourth estate, creating debate and watching out for abuse of power and went on to explain that a large part of the media now plays the role of the corporate guard dog by promoting and protecting business interests and attracting audience as a means of selling advertising.

He talked about the ‘New Avatar of the Media’ and how it has become more accessible, global, interactive and providing convergence when compared to the media of old. Concluding he maintained that this new avatar must create a balancing act between proximity/global reach of content with marketing needs and technical limitations. The ideal situation would be when a policy that advocates a balance between public interest and marketization. “You can always make more money if you provide good content,” Muppidi summed up.

Panel on Business and the Media

American newspaper has high dependence on the internet and mobile phone is perceived as the future. Blogging, facebook and tweeter are being extensively used. We write for print first and publish online. Global journalism is coping with these challenges and it need to be simplified. American readership face similar challenges brought about by globalisation. There are 38 tribes of American Indians in the US and the usage of online media are very much the same despite of where they are coming from. Technology has changed life and transformed media along with the world into a global village. Media has become highly commercialized and its changing at every moment to keep a track on global issues every moment. Mobile phone is the future wherein media will be even more accessible and dynamic.
Dr Terry Clark
Professor, Dept of Communication
Director, Journalism Hall of Fame
University of Central Oklahoma

Dr Marsha Woodbury on Crises and Response

Dr Marsha Woodbury, University of Illinois, kicked off the panel discussion on day 2 with her talk 'Crises and Response, taking the Bull by the Horns' . The panel focussed on how the media has responded to some of the crises that has taken place on the economic front. According to her, there is a growth of newspapers in India, which is a good news to journalism students since they needn't worry about finding jobs. On the contrary, the trend of newspapers in the US has been declining. She rightly pointed out that the Wall Street Journal is an exception and is the only newspaper to turn profit in 2009, according to statistics. WSJ has continued to do well because of the introduction of paid online subscription.

Speaking about the trends in the media in the US, she stressed on the increasing deregulation, concentration and conglomeration. She cited the music band Dixie Chicks's experience with the media as an example of deregulation, when they voiced their opinion against President Bush's invasion in Iraq and a certain radio station refused to play their songs since then. "Allowing so much ownership by a multinational corporation is questionable and the question is, how are we dealing with economic crisis with all this selling out of media," she said.

As an example of self-censorship, she spoke about the time when many people protested the invasion of Iraq in Washington DC and the media which was so pro government provided hardly any coverage.

She touched upon why  Facebook  and the iPad are doing so well, speaking about how they are tightly controlled platforms, with all their application being controlled by Facebook and Apple,respectively. "The machine-to- machine future is less about browsing and more about getting", she said.

She concluded on a positive note, by encouraging investigative journalism, because according to her, there is still scope in that area of specialization. This is because of the fact that investigative journalism is funded by NGOs and foundations, as opposed to newspapers.

We thank Dr Marsha for supporting the social media team and are looking forward to hearing more from her!

Panel Discussion - Day 1

“Much has changed in India such as language, clothing, culture, marriage, infrastructure and many more” said Dr Vandana. She talked about the role of media in the era of globalization. She defined globalization as a historical and continuous process, which is an exchange between cultural and national borders.

The shift and the change in cities and countries are evident, she said. In the 1990s, the world received much of its programs from the west but the landscape of media has drastically changed, she added. The convergence of media has enabled people to read and write, which has improved the literacy rate, especially in developing countries like India.

 She concluded by saying that technology has brought the change but it is not a cause for globalization and it connects locals to the global public sphere.  

Next, Mr. M.R Venkatesh, charted accountant, talked about the economic role leading to globalization. He said that the world is not globalised but there are certain factors like the internet boom, fall of communism, world trade organization etc. that led to it. He defined globalization in 1990s as an idea and a will to dominate through the army, religion and commerce playing an active secondary role.

He explained that media is and will be the engine and not the catalyst for this change.  

Daya thussu - Journalism in a digitized and a globalised media world.

Digitization is equal to Americanization he explained this concept by telling all the media channels and Hollywood which is fully of imported and inspired programming  and the  pioneer in various sections are headed by Americans which gives us a clear example of globalization.

All local transnational channels are now emerging at a rapid pace through globalization for example al jazeera English which is been in the top in recent years.

Globalization needs research; he told this by citing examples of Nicola maichevelli (1469-1527) prince of Macedonia who was a great politician and   chanakya  a  political expert  from india during monarchy period

He praised gandhi by telling him as greatest journalist in the worlds as his writing in the paper harijan is widely appreciated. 

He compared india and china in the sector of media  he said emerging ecmonomies like nidia and china are growing rapidly  even in the media as both produce abundant number of movies and also the leader in newspapers he said india stands next to china in selling newspapers

He concluded by saying that there are still some untapped markets which are yet to emerge in the future .

Paper Presentation

The paper presentation session saw two papers being presented, ranging from ‘Philosophical and ethical issues of media being a part of journalistic studies’ to ‘Television and cosmetic advertisements’. Mr. Jojan Job from the Madras Christian College spoke about media from the journalistic and philosophical angle and presented his views on the issue, signing off by saying that journalists should take humano centric approach as opposed to a euro centric approach.

The next paper was prepared by Dinesh Kumar, Satish, and Prof. Venkatalekshmi of Anna University and presented by Dinesh Kumar and Satish. They spoke about the Indian television media pre and post globalisation and also elaborated about the widespread impact of advertisements, especially those promoting cosmetics, on the public.

The main focus point was that because television has the widest reach among all the mass media present today, people are easily influenced by cosmetics advertisements which make them want to try the products showcased to improve their looks.

The flipside was also presented when they presented excerpts from the Broadcasting Code as well as the Consumer Protection Act (1986) and the Cable TV networks (Regulation) Act (1995) which clearly state that advertisements should not be misleading or discriminating.

The results of a focus group experiment and survey conducted by them was also presented, which gave the conclusion that advertisements have influenced people to the extent where 55% of the participants stated that their buying decisions were influenced by television advertisements irrespective of adverse affects on health.

"Facebook, If a Country, Will be the Third Largest" - Dr. Suri

Navdeep Suri, I.F.S, Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, spoke about the three trends that according to him bring a convergence between information technology and the media.  Firstly, the ubiquitous mobile phone with cameras, that have ushered in the concept of citizen journalists, where anyone can click photographs, report a news story and get it published, either officially or unofficially.  Secondly, the satellite TV’s have revolutionised the way news and the media works, according to him. He cited examples from the Iraq war, when the world was talking about the ‘CNN Effect’ and more recently the ‘Aj Jazeera Effect’, where the media has been able to bring the war to the living rooms. He spoke high of these phenomena, as independent factors that work devoid of any corporation or government.  Finally, the internet and the social media, has altered relationships between governments and the public. This is spreading into the realm of foreign policy and he believes that the quicker we embrace it, the better it is for us. He also emphasised that the new media, a two-way communication forum, not only helps the audience believe that they are being listened to, will lead to a fundamental, irreversible restructuring of the media.

Artemis Preeshl, Dancer, theatre artist and film maker from the Loyola University, New Orleans, was the next speaker, who spoke about digital cooperation in the global age, in her talk that she called ‘The Janice Effect’, named after the Roman mythological king with two faces, who can assess the past, analyze the present and foresee the future. According to her, understanding history is also important to progress into the future.  She compared the piracy, copyright and black market situations and policies in America and India and spoke of instances where she wondered if a DVD that she purchased was legal or not. The Copy Right Act of 1957, which has been amended many times since then, does not consider reproducing or using copyrighted material or work as copyright violation if used for religious, social or educational purposes.  Some people believe in restrictions in using material off the digital media, while other assume piracy over such media and this according to her introduces conflict between a forward momentum in the digital media.

Dr Sridhar Krishnaswamy finally gave the vote of thanks, thanking all the speakers, faculty and student audience for showing their support and making the inaugural function a grand success., before which the Provost Dr Ponnavaiko released the souvenir of the symposium, handing over the first copy to Dr Krishnaswamy.  

The Symposium Kicks Off with the Inaugural Function

The much awaited Inaugural Function of our International Symposium started at 10 :30 am at SRM's T.P Ganesan Auditorium. The masters of ceremony were Debleena Chatterjee and Sooraj Rajmohan, both students of our Journalism Department.

Dr R Balasubramanian , our Director of Faculty of Science and Humanities gave the welcome address.  While greeting the audience he also introduced the other dignitaries who presided over the function including, Dr M Ponnavaiko, Provost, SRM University, Dr. S Krishnaswamy, Mr Navdeep Suri, I.F.S and Dr. Artemis Preeshl of Loyola University, New Orleans.

Dr Ponnavaiko, Provost, SRM University then delivered the Presidential Address stating it was a great honour for him to preside over the function. " If we look at the amazing development of communications since the human race started, it will take us to a higher state of mind," he said.

He also talked about the history of communication, coming down to the history of newspapers thus tying it into the central thesis of our Symposium! “ Nowdays, before I open my front door and see the daily Hindu newspaper, my son in California has already seen it!”, he marvelled.

Dr S. Krishnaswamy of Krishnaswamy Associates, our Chief Guest gave the Inaugural Address. He spoke about the different cycles of change with respect to the media. At each step of the cycle we must stop to understand these changes and plot out what needs to be done in the future.

He then told a story of selecting a world president on the criteria that the president should be likeable and least controversial. If we conducted elections such as this, the president would be none other than Mickey Mouse he ended. Using this as an example he went on to talk about how the difference between ‘image’ and ‘reality’ has been blurred to the point where the concept of reality has been lost in the media. The idea of finding truth behind the facts, this is no longer how the media operates.

Summing up, Dr. Krishnaswamy maintained that the greatest threat that modern media poses to our society is when ‘image’ takes over reality and facts.

Exclusives!

We are going be doing exclusive interviews with the speakers and talk to them about some of the things they might not be able to talk about during their talks on stage. We  We caught up with Dr Artemis Preeshl   to talk about how the American theatre culture is different from the rest of the world, the extent at which she thinks social media helps with accelerating the reach of theatre and what she thinks of some of the Indian theatre experience she has had so far. She even spoke about her encounter with Bharatnatyam! 

The Schedule for Day 2 - 25 February, 2011

Panel Discussion (9 am to 11:30 am)

Crises and Response: Taking The Bull By The Horns?

DR. MARSHA WOODBURY                                                       CHAIR

SANDEEP MUPPIDI                                                                      PRESENTER

MR.RAGHUVIR SRINIVASAN

Corporate Editor, Business Line                                                                PRESENTER

Panel Discussion (9 am to 11:30 am)

Social Media: Blogging, Tweeting and What Not !

DR.TERRY CLARK                                                                               CHAIR

MR.KIRUBA SHANKAR                                                                    PRESENTER

PROF. A. JAYASHREE                                                                       PRESENTER

PAPER PRESENTATIONS

**  Rajalakshmi and Chandrashekar   “Social networking sites—a comparative study of student cultures in India and the Netherlands”

**  Logaranjan Tamilporai  “ Media Art in the era of Globalisation”

**  Kamala and Lavanya   “ Analytical study on the marketing strategies adopted by cloud providers”

                                                VALEDICTORY FUNCTION

2 pm to 3:30 pm

WELCOME ADDRESS                                                                       DIRECTOR

INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS                                                            REGISTRAR                                                         

VALEDICTORY  ADDRESS                                                               MR.DAN SAINT-

                                                                                                                ROSSY

                                                                                                                Public Affairs Officer

                                                                                                                American Consulate General

VOTE OF THANKS                                                                             Sridhar Krishnaswami

The Schedule for Day 1 - 24 February, 2011

INAUGURAL PROGRAMME

                                                                FEB 24,2011  10:00 AM TO 12:30 PM

WELCOME ADDRESS                                                 DIRECTOR

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS                                                           PROVOST

INAUGURAL  ADDRESS                                              PADMA SHRI Dr.S.KRISHNASWAMY

KEYNOTE ADDRESS                                                     MR.NAVDEEP SURI

                                                                                           JOINT SECRETARY

                                                                                           Ministry Of External Affairs            

SPECIAL ADDRESS                                                        DR.ARTEMIS PREESHL/ Loyola

                                                                                            University, New Orleans 

VOTE OF THANKS                                                             SRIDHAR KRISHNASWAMI

Panel Discussion (3pm to 5:30pm)

Impacting the News and Coping with Change: The Challenges of

Globalisation and Information Technology

DR.VANDHANA PEDNEKAR-MAGAL                                         CHAIR

DR.DAYA THUSSU                                                                             PRESENTER

MR.M.R.VENKATESH

Chartered Accountant, Economic

Columnist and Author, Chennai                                                                PRESENTER

Mr.T.S. SUDHIR

NDTV-HYDERABAD                                                                          PRESENTER

PAPER PRESENTATIONS:

** Prof Jojan Job  “Globalisation and the philosophical role of Journalism

**  Satish and Venkatalakshmi   “TV and Cosmetics”

** Mala and Venkatalakshmi  “ Role of TV in information dissemination to women self help groups”

Dr Daya Kishan Thussu

Another noted speaker from the international media arena to address at our symposium will be Dr Daya Kishan Thussu , Professor of International Communication and Co-Director of India Media Centre,  University of Westminster, teaches mainly the transnational aspects of media and communications.

Dr Thussu has published extensively in the field of global media and communication. His International Communication - Continuity and Change has already established itself as a key text in the field of global communication, adopted for courses in universities around the world. A Chinese and a Korean edition of this book were also published in 2004.

 His latest publications are the edited collections International Communication: A Reader and Internationalizing Media Studies, while his last authored work is News as Entertainment: The Rise of Global Infotainment , the first book-length study of the globalization of the infotainment phenomenon.

Dr Thussu has a PhD in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Before joining the University of Westminster, he was the Course Leader for the MA in Transnational Communication and Global Media at Goldsmiths College, University of London. He was a Senior Lecturer in Mass Communications at University of North London and prior to that, at Coventry University, specialising in International Journalism and Transnational Media and Communication.

 Dr Thussu is the founder and Managing Editor of the Sage journal Global Media and Communication and editor for a new book series for Routledge called Internationalizing Media Studies. He has over ten years’ experience in journalism, having worked at the Press Trust of India, India’s national news agency for five years, and as Associate Editor of Gemini News Service, a London-based international news agency with a particular interest in the developing world. Dr Thussu has also been a Visiting Research Fellow (on a Commonwealth Fellowship) at the Open University.

Dr. Vandhana Pedneker- Magal

Dr. Pednekar-Magal’s teaching and research interests include Journalism; Global Communication; Communication Policy; and Societal Issues in the Media. She has recently published an anthology titled International Communication: Essential Readings and has produced a documentary titled Divided by Language: India’s Newspapers. She has also published in scholarly journals including Communication Law and Policy; and Media, Culture and Society.  She has worked for several years as a reporter and feature writer for The Economic Times (Bombay Edition) and has published articles as a freelance writer.

Dr Vandana received her B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Bombay University, India and her Diploma in Journalism from Bombay College of Journalism. She got her M.A. in Economics, also from Bombay University and her M.A. and Ph.D in Communications, Bowling Green State University.

Dr. Terry Clark of Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame

Our next speaker, is a professor at the University of Central Oklahoma. Dr Clark is a member of the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame. Board member of The Oklahoma Newspaper Foundation and Freedom of Information, Oklahoma. He teaches writing, ethics and photography. Dr Clark has also had 20 years experience with newspapers, including owning The Waurika News-Democrat,  and  part-time copy editor at The Oklahoman. Published in Persimmon Hill, Oklahoma Today, Editor and Publisher, the Oklahoma Publisher and Publishers Auxiliary. Writes monthly column for the Oklahoma Press Association Oklahoma Publisher and conducts workshops for Oklahoma professional journalists and writers.  

He has won numerous statewide awards in writing, photography and editing. His research interests include community journalism, media ethics, international media systems, newspapers, photography and journalism education. Other journalism experienced includes Clarinda (IA) Herald-Journal, Duncan ((OK) Banner, “Coffee with Clark” program at KCSC-FM. Earned doctorate of education (Ed.D.) degree in mass communication from Oklahoma State University, a master of arts (M.A.) degree in journalism from the University of Iowa, and a bachelor of arts (B.A.) degree in English from the University of Central Oklahoma.

Artemis Preeshl - The Drama Queen

 Associate Professor of Theatre Arts

Loyola university,  New Orleans USA

Artemis Preeshl (Director) holds an M.F.A. in Drama from the University of Arizona and an M.A. in Dance from Ohio State University. She is a Certified Movement Analyst and has directed 35 plays including a commedia dell'arte production of The Merchant of Venice I in New York and the musical, Anything Goes in 2007. She has also directed contemporary plays such as Dancing at Lughnasa, The Purification and The Long Goodbye. Before directing The Fantasticks for the Old Lyric Repertory Company, she was Assistant Director on the new musicals Hangout Rainbow and Madame Bovary. Ms. Preeshl directed and performed with the Blue Collar Babes (Caroline’s Comedy Club). She played the lead in the independent feature film, Rolarz. As the Movement Specialist in the Theatre Arts Department at Utah State University, she directed and choreographed Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale and Peter Maxwell Davies’ opera, Eight Songs for a Mad King with Robert Osborne. Artemis Preeshl Artistic Director studied commedia dell’arte with Antonio Fava and mask making with Donato Sartori in Italy. Professor Preeshl toured nationally with the musical, Gold Rush!, and a bilingual Tartuffe. Her favorite roles include Hermione (The Winter’s Tale), Isabella (Measure for Measure), Viola, Rosalind, Beatrice, Lady M, Ophelia, Juliet, Cleopatra and Cunegonde (Candide). In summer 2007, Professor Preeshl received the Theater Communication Group Future Collaboration grant to work with Albanian Director and Playwright Arben Kumbaro in Albania, a Professional Residency from The Rhodopi International Theater Collective in Bulgaria and the International Actor Fellowship to Shakespeare's Globe in London. She is delighted to join the faculty at Loyola University this year.

Dr Woodbury - Urbana Champaign to SRM!

Our next international speaker, Dr Marsha Woodbury is no stranger!

She teaches ethics in the Computer Science Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. As the former National Chair of CPSR, Computer Professionals for SocialResponsibility, she is known internationally and travels widely,speaking on ethics issues. Her international interest has deepenedfrom being the faculty advisor for the Illinois programming teams that competed in the Annual ACM-ICPC World Finals, for 7 consecutive years.Her undergraduate degree is from Stanford University, cum laude, in communications, and her M.S. and Ph.D. are from the University of Illinois in Journalism and Education. In the Computer ScienceDepartment she earned the honor of being on the list of excellent teachers six times. Dr. Woodbury's textbook, Computer and Information Ethics, is in its third edition. 

She also has published articles on the topics she is passionate about, including freedom of information laws, privacy, and information integrity. Her perspective is somewhat unique in that her early career was farming in New Zealand where she and her husband still own a vineyard.

Her recent talk at SRM school of Media studies, on some of the growing issues related to ethics in the media sector is making us look forward to her talk at the symposium!

She is a Fulbright-Nehru Scholar to India for the year 2010-2011, at IIT, Madras. She has been  the former advisor for the Computer Fear Film Festival (CF3) and a;sp the former Chair, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility .

Profiling Speakers - Dr. Sundeep R Muppidi

As part of our pre-coverage of our International Symposium we will profile the various speakers who will be giving presentations and discussing in panel discussions. Also, anybody who has questions for these speakers can post them in our comments, or on our facebook and twitter portals. We will be giving credit to the people who ask questions via our podcast interviews!

Dr Muppidi who is an associate professor in communication research at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore is one of our speakers.

Dr. Muppidi is the Secretary General of the Asian Media Information and Communication Center (AMIC). He is an alumnus of the Management Development Programme of the School of Education of Harvard University. Dr. Muppidi has a doctorate in Mass Communication from Bowling Green State University in Ohio, USA and a Master’s in Communication from the University of Hyderabad, India. He has over 15 years of teaching experience at universities around the world. His teaching and research interests are in media studies, international communication, new media and communication technologies, health communication, globalization, communication for social change and empowerment, video and multimedia production, and both Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods. Dr. Muppidi is presently on leave from his job as an associate professor of communication at the School of Communication, University of Hartford, CT, USA. Dr. Muppidi is the Editor-in-Chief of the Media Asia and the AMCB and also serves as the Associate Editor of the Asian Journal of Communication.

Dr. Muppidi's teaching and research interests are in media studies, international communication, new media and communication technologies, health communication, globalization, communication for social change and empowerment, video and multimedia production, and both Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods.

Hello!

 The Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, SRM University, has actively been bringing out Spectrum, the fortnightly campus newspaper and is now looking to extend its presence on the Internet through this blog, Twitter and Facebook.

The department, which has been functioning for over 4 years now, is working toward producing world-class journalists and media personalities. The students are given ample practical experience through internships, workshops, seminars and symposiums.

Headed by Dr Sridhar Krishnaswami, the department has trained a group of Sri Lankan journalists, to help them face the changing media scene internationally. Students from the MA and BA programs have represented the university in countries like America and Japan, as a part of the Semester Abroad Program.

In 2009, a symposium on 'Development Communication' organized by the department, was a roaring hit, with speakers from all parts of the country addressing the student participants on some of the pressing issues in the media. Taking that success forward, this year, we are organizing an International Symposium on 'The Changing Face of the Media in an Era of Globalization and Information Technology', with speakers coming in from across the globe. As part of this online venture, we will be providing live coverage of the inaugural and valedictory sessions as well as the panel discussions.

Please do follow us for further updates on this blog, you can also catch us on Facebook and Twitter at Srm Jmc and @srmjmc respectively!