Manipal: M V Kamath Comes Down Heavily on Commercialization of Media
by Kevin Rodrigues
Daijiworld Media Network—Udupi (CN)
Manipal, Feb 28: Veteran journalist and former chairman of Prasar Bharati M V Kamath, expressed the fear that news may soon disappear from the pages of newspapers given the current trends of commercialization in journalism.
He was speaking at the inaugural of ‘Article 19’, the annual communication fest of Manipal Institution of Communication The three-day event concluded on Friday February 27.
Kamath said, “The tragedy is that not only is news controlled but a time may come when we forget what news is.” He lamented that newspapers have stopped covering important events. “An even more dangerous development is that now news can be bought for a price. The reader is hardly aware of what is going on behind his back”, said Kamath.
Declaring the festival open, Dr Pushpa Kini, director, student affairs, Manipal University, said Article 19 of the Indian constitution has given all citizens a precious set of freedoms but these freedoms should be enjoyed with utmost responsibility and social commitment.
Speaking on the occasion, MIC director Varadesh T Hiregange said, “‘Article- 19 media festival’ provided a platform for media students from across the globe to display their talents. The festival is also an occasion to celebrate freedom of speech and expression.”
The festival was organized and managed by MIC students and featured workshops, seminars, and film screening on various issues relating to the media.
Entries were solicited for different 10 categories from all over the globe and the best five of these were chosen for the ‘Express Awards’.
On the first day, a workshop on ‘Corporate Film Making’ was held by Prem Chawla, best corporate filmmaker.
‘Goal for Globe’, a football match, was also held on the same day to raise funds for the Shiridi Sai Baba Cancer Hospital, Manipal.
The second day saw a workshop on photo journalism conducted by award winning photographer Pablo Bartholomew.
A sub event called ‘Media Imperialism( Effect of Western Media on Our Media) between Industrialist Professions and the Students’ was conducted by three experts Pradip Thomas, professor, social media and change, from Queensland, Australia, Sadanand Menon, professor from Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, and Aniruddha Bahal, co-Founder of Tehelka.
The workshop on web designing was conducted by Amit Paul. And a fun fair was held at the end of the day.
The third day of the event had a workshop on ‘PR Tools (Public Relations)’ conducted by G V Krishnan, executive vice-president, Lowe Lintas.
MIC is the first to hold the media fest which has been held for the past 11 years.
Daijiworld.com was the official online media partner for 'Article -2010 Media Fest'
The Express Awards Winner of Article 19 under 9 different Categories are
Radio Express – Sandya D’Souza, St. Aloysius College, Mangalore
Documentary Express – Rituraj Sapkota, Vintage University, New Zeeland
Graphic Express – Supratim Nayak, ICFAI, Sambaalpur
Generalism Broadcast Express – Sandya D’Souza, St. Aloysius College, Mangalore
Generalism Print Express – Munnera, K. C. College Mumbai
Photograph Express – Priyam Malhotra, PICASE College Mumbai
Ad TV Express – S. Aravind, L. V Prasad Academic, Chennai
Ad Print Express – Mishal Mehammud, John University Bangalore
Film Express – Mugil Chandran, L.V. Prasad Academic, Chennai