The two-day National Media Conference 2008 at Mount Abu, Rajasthan, India, was held on 20th and 21st September 2008.
You can read about the discussions at the conference and view pictures at PRPoint. Just click here to get the complete update on the Conference.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Dr. Kalam's Message to Youth
Our friend, Mr. Srinivasan of PRpoint met Dr Abdul Kalam, former President of India at Chennai on 24th July 2008. You can go to click here to listen to Dr. Kalam's message to the Indian Youth. CJ CorePR
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
India on the crossroads?
India is passing through a political crisis. May be for the time being. But it is great masala for all the TV channels which for the last two days have got a lot of fodder to munch around, and opportunities of "Breaking News" every hour of the day. Though India is passing through a crisis of sorts, it is time for our channels to 'make hay (the mullah) while the sun shines'.
Watching every Indian tv channel these days is an effort to find out what is the fact and what is the fiction, though for the majority of the viewers it is the entertainment value the channels are trying to offer.
What is the role of media in any national crisis? Mr Vijay Menon, former Secretary General of Asian Mass Communication and Research Centre, Singapore, in his Foreword to "Role of Media in National Crisis", writes, "The media, in the popular view, should play a healing role in times of national crisis. But there is a lack of clarity, leave alone unanimity, about that role.... The journalist is often in a quandry, torn between his professional duty to provide a true and complete account of developments or events and exhortations to temper candour with caution lest his reporting should inflame passions rather than cool them."
Looking at this definition one wonders how many journalists, especially on the electronic media, are really in a "quandry", morally, while reporting.
Let's think.
CJ
Watching every Indian tv channel these days is an effort to find out what is the fact and what is the fiction, though for the majority of the viewers it is the entertainment value the channels are trying to offer.
What is the role of media in any national crisis? Mr Vijay Menon, former Secretary General of Asian Mass Communication and Research Centre, Singapore, in his Foreword to "Role of Media in National Crisis", writes, "The media, in the popular view, should play a healing role in times of national crisis. But there is a lack of clarity, leave alone unanimity, about that role.... The journalist is often in a quandry, torn between his professional duty to provide a true and complete account of developments or events and exhortations to temper candour with caution lest his reporting should inflame passions rather than cool them."
Looking at this definition one wonders how many journalists, especially on the electronic media, are really in a "quandry", morally, while reporting.
Let's think.
CJ
Thursday, July 17, 2008
PR is not a substitute for truth
Last year there had been discussion on whether PR people lie and some of the senior PR practitioners at an international conference made no bone about the fact that 'yes they do lie on behalf of the client', that led to serious discussion on the issue, with many votaries for the business of lying.
Unfortunate indeed. Most corporates do not understand the need to be truthful, honest and ethical, and they run to PR agencies to white wash their image, who, again many of them, oblige with a smile.
As a firm believer in the ethical practice of all professions, and the dictum that Public Relations is NOT a substitute for truth, lays down the mandate for the practice of PR. It does not mean that the bad image cannot be corrected, provided the individual and/or the corporate is willing to learn and clean up its own act and adopt the right course of action.
The recent Hollywood release Hancock holds the message for the PR practitioners as well as the corporates. Here's a super hero who carries a bad image until he runs into a PR man, Jason Bateman, who helps him change his habits and his behaviour, and the good things follow...even attracting a positive media.
CJ
Unfortunate indeed. Most corporates do not understand the need to be truthful, honest and ethical, and they run to PR agencies to white wash their image, who, again many of them, oblige with a smile.
As a firm believer in the ethical practice of all professions, and the dictum that Public Relations is NOT a substitute for truth, lays down the mandate for the practice of PR. It does not mean that the bad image cannot be corrected, provided the individual and/or the corporate is willing to learn and clean up its own act and adopt the right course of action.
The recent Hollywood release Hancock holds the message for the PR practitioners as well as the corporates. Here's a super hero who carries a bad image until he runs into a PR man, Jason Bateman, who helps him change his habits and his behaviour, and the good things follow...even attracting a positive media.
CJ
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
One of our members Paddy Padmanabhan very rightly pointed out about India's rank at 120 in the international ranking, and aptly mentioned about PR intervention.
It is time that Incredible India also wakes up to the reality of our times. There are numerous issues right from corruption, bureaucratic redtapism, injustice, poverty, health crisis, etc., that emanate from mismanaged communication. Living as we are in an interdependent world, and the good that the liberalisation process brought for the Indian economy, it is time to review and improve the situation further through re-engineering the old hackneyed systems of governance, and speed up the process of development.
The need is to communicate government's concerns and vision to all segments, horizontally and vertically, and roll out time-bound action plan, besides initiating the sensitisation process within the government machinery.
Even today, any corporate initiative is looked with suspicion and every possible hurdle is put in place where the formula of MBO-management by objectives (objections?) is seen in action. Lack of intra-departmental and inter-departmental communication where each works at tangent with maximum attempt to subvert any developmental process by hiding essential information from the stakeholders.
Despite the e-governance process being implemented the accountability factor in the government has yet to take appropriate shape.
Communication challenge involves putting their cards bare with all procedures and processes shared at one instance with defined timeline of approvals without which the responsibility shall never get fixed, and India shall continue to suffer in terms of its progress, and its image.
It is time that Incredible India also wakes up to the reality of our times. There are numerous issues right from corruption, bureaucratic redtapism, injustice, poverty, health crisis, etc., that emanate from mismanaged communication. Living as we are in an interdependent world, and the good that the liberalisation process brought for the Indian economy, it is time to review and improve the situation further through re-engineering the old hackneyed systems of governance, and speed up the process of development.
The need is to communicate government's concerns and vision to all segments, horizontally and vertically, and roll out time-bound action plan, besides initiating the sensitisation process within the government machinery.
Even today, any corporate initiative is looked with suspicion and every possible hurdle is put in place where the formula of MBO-management by objectives (objections?) is seen in action. Lack of intra-departmental and inter-departmental communication where each works at tangent with maximum attempt to subvert any developmental process by hiding essential information from the stakeholders.
Despite the e-governance process being implemented the accountability factor in the government has yet to take appropriate shape.
Communication challenge involves putting their cards bare with all procedures and processes shared at one instance with defined timeline of approvals without which the responsibility shall never get fixed, and India shall continue to suffer in terms of its progress, and its image.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
National PR Education Day
Global Forum for Public Relations has always been proactive in contributing to the knowledge of the public relations practitioners, and this time it has come up with another novel idea of designating 6th August as the National PR Education Day.
The day has been earmarked in honour of former National President of Public Relations Society of India (PRSI) and Editor of PR Voice, Dr. C.V. Narasimha Reddi, who turns 75 on this day.
Indeed a great tribute that we can pay to this great personality whose contribution to PR practice in the country is unparalleled.
The young aspirants who intend to adopt PR as a career are always at a loss to understand the nuances of Public Relations practice, primarily because of the lack of adequate literature, research, and studies on the subject in Indian context.
All PR practitioners are requested to send their ideas as to how we can perpetuate this day most meaningfully and contribute to the enhancement of PR educational resources.
Let 6th August be the Day of reckoning for all the PR practitioners, and chalk out plans as to how we would like to contribute to this cause for the next five years, to make PR education and its practice in the country to match, and even surpass the international standards, and establish benchmarks of its best practices here.
So put on the thinking cap and start writing back.
And wherever PRSI, PRCI, IABC, and other similar organisations have their chapters, must hold a meeting and brainstorm on the issue engaging the academia in this process.
CJ Singh, CorePR, Chandigarh
The day has been earmarked in honour of former National President of Public Relations Society of India (PRSI) and Editor of PR Voice, Dr. C.V. Narasimha Reddi, who turns 75 on this day.
Indeed a great tribute that we can pay to this great personality whose contribution to PR practice in the country is unparalleled.
The young aspirants who intend to adopt PR as a career are always at a loss to understand the nuances of Public Relations practice, primarily because of the lack of adequate literature, research, and studies on the subject in Indian context.
All PR practitioners are requested to send their ideas as to how we can perpetuate this day most meaningfully and contribute to the enhancement of PR educational resources.
Let 6th August be the Day of reckoning for all the PR practitioners, and chalk out plans as to how we would like to contribute to this cause for the next five years, to make PR education and its practice in the country to match, and even surpass the international standards, and establish benchmarks of its best practices here.
So put on the thinking cap and start writing back.
And wherever PRSI, PRCI, IABC, and other similar organisations have their chapters, must hold a meeting and brainstorm on the issue engaging the academia in this process.
CJ Singh, CorePR, Chandigarh
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