Agnitio @ SIBM Bangalore
Bangalore (Karnataka) - September 4, 2010
SIBM Bangalore (SIBM-B) organized its Media Summit- Agnitio’10 at the college auditorium today. 93.5 Red FM was the official radio partner for the event. The event witnessed the convergence of many eminent personalities from media and other fields on a common platform.
The event comprised two panel discussions on the topics – “Media: The Fourth Pillar of Democracy?” and “Social Media vs. Traditional Media: Shall the Twain Meet?”
Both the panels were moderated by Mr Krishna B. Mariyanka (VP, National Executive & Director, Governing Council – Public Relations Council of India).
Both the panels were moderated by Mr Krishna B. Mariyanka (VP, National Executive & Director, Governing Council – Public Relations Council of India).
In the first panel (Media: The Fourth Pillar of Democracy), Mr. D.B. Chandre Gowda (Lok Sabha MP, Bangalore North), citing his personal experiences, commented on the evolution of media over the years since independence. He said that the role of media, with the introduction of new technologies, has not only diversified but has increased considerably. He also stressed that not only media but the other three pillars of democracy should also be honest in what they are supposed to do.
Mr Yeshvanth Kumar (Owner, Apex Media) commented that sadly media today has become eighty percent business and twenty percent journalism. He suggested that the common man should now take the charge and question the credibility of media. He said that media’s responsibility in current global environment is doubly important as it is the window to the outside world; and, it plays a very important role in building the faith in the system.
Mr K. Giriprakash (Chief of Bureau, The Hindu Business Line), answering an audience question, opposed the concept of having a media watchdog. He said that the job of media is to be a watchdog itself; and it’s time that people stop being cynical about what is printed. Ms Praveena Sharma (Deputy Editor, DNA) cited her past experiences where the entire media fraternity was held responsible for one news agency’s wrong reports.
The second panel discussed on the topic - Social Media vs. Traditional Media: Shall the Twain Meet? Mr Kiruba Shankar (CEO, Business Blogging Pvt Ltd), a well known name in the internet space, said that though social media is a great platform for communicating an individual opinion, professional journalism will remain irreplaceable; that traditional media and social media can coexist. Mr Vigyan Verma (AVP & Client Services Director, JWT), agreeing to Mr Shankar’s views, stated that although traditional media would never get replaced by the social media, there can be a convergence of the traditional media with new-age technology. Mr Aditya Anand (Editor, Mid-Day) recognized the fear that exists in the media houses, but rejected the claim that traditional media can ever lose its shine. Mr K.R. Sreenivas (Editor, Bangalore Mirror) reiterated the panel’s view that social media can never be as credible as traditional media because trusts are formed over a period of time and also social media like blogs, Facebook updates etc are not moderated by a single reliable source. He suggested the students to regularly read The Economist to understand the art of writing. Ms Dhanya Rajendran (Bureau Chief, South India, Times Now) appreciated the fact that social media has provided a platform for everyone to voice their opinions but this must be done within the boundaries. According to her, in India, in spite of all its vices, traditional media has not been rejected, and that social media taking over traditional media is still a long way off.
The Media Summit saw the audiences questioning the panel enthusiastically about the above topics and voicing their opinions on the same. All in all, Agnitio’10 proved to be a very successful Media Summit.