The 3rd Subject Expert Engagement (SEE) online talk series was held at KIIT School of Mass Communication on 19th September, 2020. The SEE talk series seeks to promote student and expert engagement for an elaborate & extensive knowledge delivery, while extending the horizon of the learners beyond the confines of the syllabus.
Delivering the talk on the topic “The Politics of Voice – The struggle for just and equitable representation in media”, Mr. Debarun Dutta, Executive Director, Drishti, a media, art and human rights non-profit organization, elaborated on the journey of the media in India and its reflection in the Indian polity.
Mr. Dutta spoke at length about ownership of media and how the mainstream media works in the post-globalization era. “Drishti is trying to democratize the media. Radio, an affordable media, brought a shift towards community control of the media space,” said Mr. Dutta, who has trained over 50 community media initiatives till now.
In its seven decades long history post-independence, media has been controlled by the state and then opened to private owners. ‘Ideals of representation and ownership of common people over media’ was the main focus of his talk.
“The coming of the internet and mobile phones has changed things a lot. You can be a producer and can have your own channel. But even here conglomeration is taking place. The real challenge is about trying to tell a story. Training for better storytelling is required,” added Mr. Dutta.
Mr. Dutta is a documentary filmmaker, grassroots media trainer and development communicator. He has directed more than 50 short and medium length documentaries and mentored the national award winning film Goonga Pehelwan and directed the award winning film Smart City Blues.
The 3rd session of SEE was enriched by the presence of Professor of Eminence Dr. Sunil Behera, Tezpur Central University; Mr. Sambit Pal, Assistant Professor IIMC, Dhenkanal; Dr Fakir Mohan Nahak, UIMS, Chandigarh University; Deepak Samantrai, Guest Faculty; Mr. Ajay Mishra, KIIT School of Film and Media Sciences; and Dr Anurag Sahu, KIIT School of Mass Communication among others.
Earlier, KSMC Course Coordinator and convener of the programme, Dr. Bidu Bhusan Dash introduced KIIT Deemed to be University and the School of Mass Communication. Ms. Ruby Nanda, Assistant Professor of KSMC & SEE Coordinator welcomed the guests and briefly introduced the SEE programme.
The talk ended with an interaction, where the speaker took queries from the audience. The vote of thanks was proposed by Mr. Souptik Garai, Faculty Associate, KIIT School of Mass Communication.
Notably, the earlier talks under the series were delivered by Mr. Shubhranshu Choudhary, founder, CGNet Swara, and Mr. Ashish Jha, Chief Content Strategist, Buddy4study.com.