Summer Academy
A training programme on Freedom and Responsibility in the Media
March 26 - April 6, 2012
The Asian College of Journalism in association with the International Institute for Journalism, Berlin, conducted a Summer Academy on Freedom and Responsibility in the South Asian Media for young journalists from the SAARC countries.
The aim of the programme was to enhance the quality of journalism in South Asia. 14 young journalists from newspapers, news agencies and online media attended the academy. The two-week programme covered a range of issues in journalism and looked at a comparative practice of the profession in Europe and India. Lectures covered the emerging media, tabloid journalism, gender reporting, reporting poverty and ethical issues. Participants also went on field trips to slums in Chennai city
UK Minister at ACJ
February 14, 2012
Jeremy Browne, the British Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, visited the Asian College of Journalism during his visit to India. Mr Browne spoke to students on topics ranging from his responsibilities as minister, the London Olympics, the Arab Spring, and the growing role of young journalists in reporting and the media, especially in India. He also responded to questions covering contemporary politics, race relations, UK’s new immigration laws, foreign aid in the context of India’s purchase of fighter jets from France, and Britain’s nuclear and climate policies
US Diplomat drops by
January 13, 2012
The wave of uprisings and civil resistance in the Middle East, popularly referred to as the Arab Spring, is something practitioners of journalism have been fascinated with. So ACJ students were fortunate to interact with retired Ambassador James Larocco, director of the Near East South Asia Centre for Strategic Studies, in a “deep background session”. Ambassador Larocco, with over 35 years of experience as an American diplomat, travelled extensively in the Middle East through 2011 and described to students his impressions of the movement, its ardency and shortcomings, and oversights in media reports from the region. He also fielded questions on where the USA’s foreign policy could be headed and the changing nature of geopolitics in an increasingly multi-polar world.
T G Narayanan Memorial Lecture
by Prof. Utsa Patnaik
January 13, 2012
The T G Narayanan Memorial Lecture has been instituted at the ACJ in memory of T G Narayanan, a journalist renowned for his socially responsible coverage of the Bengal famine, the war on the Imphal front and his interviews with India’s freedom fighters, by his son Dr. Ranga Narayanan.
In the inaugural lecture, renowned economist Prof. Utsa Patnaik analysed social deprivation in the context of the dynamics of the global capitalist system and the process of globalization, and spoke of how neo-liberal policies have undermined food security and led to poverty and unemployment,.
Drawing parallels between present-day capitalism and past globalization via direct colonialism and imperialism, Prof. Patnaik explained, in her lecture titled ‘’Capitalism and the Production of Poverty’’, how the modern capitalist system has created a ‘global imbalance’, where rich economies are funded by the world’s poorest. She also explained how the dependence of the advanced countries on developing ones is parasitic, involving the grabbing of primary resources in the global South to fill supermarket shelves in the global North, and of how global price fluctuations and inability to repay debts have led to the shocking number of farmer suicides in India.
With reference to food security, Prof Patnaik explained how the decline in per capita production and supply of food grains is a consequence of neo-liberal policies, and has resulted in nutritional decline. She spoke of how the claims made by the government and the World Bank on reducing poverty levels were fallacious and derived from a methodologically incorrect procedure to calculate poverty, and did not, therefore, reflect the reality of mass deprivation in the country.
Performance of Bengali Play, Nadite (Come to the River)
November 30, 2011
(Adaptation of Edward Bond’s We Come to theRiver)
Composition: original version 1980; revisedversion 1992
First production: 2002
Come to the River depicts the plight of the masses bearing the burden of war in the reign of a tyrannical emperor. The enemy is defeated but it is only after the soldiers fighting for the tyrant have suffered heavy losses. The loyal General seeks to maintain order and discipline in the victorious army (even by issuing order to execute the deserters). Things, however, change once he encounters the looters. Having lost their near and dear ones the women are forced to survive looting the dead and wounded soldiers. A baby in a mad widow’s arms makes the General see the reality he has helped to perpetuate ― the merciless killing of the people in the name of war. His thoughts being subversive, the General soon finds himself confined in an asylum waiting to go blind owing to a previous injury. In the mean time, the oppressive regime continues to do away with the detractors. But the voice of the people ultimately finds expression in a rebellion which draws inspiration from the General. Therefore, in an attempt to demoralize the rebels, the emperor sends assassins to the asylum who drive knife into the eyes of the General. However, the General, having lost eyesight, sees an altogether new world where all the dead victims return to life. The play ends with a song that restores faith in the revolutionary strength of the masses ― symbolized by a baby who, though vulnerable, is the potential source of power that can change the world in a radically different way.
The Malcolm Adiseshiah Memorial Lecture
by Prof. Rajeev Bhargava, Director, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi
November 21, 2011
Prof Rajeev Bhargava spoke on “Political Responses to Religious Diversity” in the Malcolm Adiseshiah Memorial Lecture on November 21, 2011 at the Asian College of Journalism. Prof. Bhargava, Director and Fellow, Centre for Study of Developing Societies, Delhi, discussed the unique features of the Indian form of secularism.
Prof. Bhargava, who has been honoured with the Malcolm Adiseshiah award for distinguished contribution to development studies, argued that Indian secularism must be understood separately from the European and American models. Here, multiple religions exist not as peripheries, but have been present at the inception ofthe Indian state. This leads to an acceptance of community-specific rights,absent in several Western secular nations.
Nirmala Rajasingam, author/activistand founder member of the Sri Lanka Democracy Forum (SLDF) spoke on the'Tamizh question in Sri Lanka'
November 15, 2011
Nirmala Rajasingam, the woman who fought with the LTTE but dared to break away from the group a few years later, interacted with the students of Asian College of Journalism onNovember 15, 2011. Ms Rajasingam related her experiences within Sri Lanka, and outside of it, as part of the Sri Lankan diaspora in the West. She spoke of many things -- her days in prison while fighting with the LTTE, her subsequentjail-break, the huge resource base of the LTTE, and, finally, her experience of being hunted by the organisation in Tamil Nadu and in the UK.
Screening of the documentary
MY CAMERA AND TSUNAMI directed by R.V.Ramani
October 22, 2011
The film shares special moments that the filmmaker experienced with his camera, a special bonding over a period of 4 years, interms of creating cinematic imagery, relating, exploring, seeking and interpreting notions of his reality. It is a memory of a camera which perished in the Tsunami, along with its last filmed footage. It’s last recorded footage, an elusive image, evoking multiple possibilities,seeking parallels and new perspectives.
Screening of the documentary
THE OPEN FRAME directed by Chetan Shah
October 21, 2011
‘The Open Frame’ tracks the artisticand personal journey of S.G. Vasudev: his early years, the establishment of Cholamandal Artists’ his creative process, his collaborations with craftsmen and his sustained efforts to nourish and foster the art world. Art historians,colleagues and friends provide insights into the life and times of Vasudev. ‘The Open Frame’ is a visually rich celebration of colour and texture.
WORKSHOP ON LONG FORM JOURNALISM
by Aman Sethi, Chhattisgarh correspondent for The Hindu
October 20, 2011
A workshop conducted by journalist and writer and ACJ alumnus, Aman Sethi introduced students to the revolutionary New Journalism movement of the 1960s and to the art of long form journalism. Sethi, who covered the Maoist insurgency for The Hindu, explained the techniques used in this type of writing, in which the traditional inverted pyramid structure is done away with and elements of prose writing are employed. With the help of one of his own essays and of other pieces considered classics of the narrative journalistic style, he explained how long pieces are structured, how to kindle and sustain the interest of the reader, how to set a scene, and finally,the importance of the ‘nut graph’, the peg on which the entire piece is hung.
Sethi spoke of his new book, ‘A Free Man,’ a non-fiction work that describes the lives of Delhi’s itinerant labourers, and of the long but satisfying creative process leading to it. In an interactive session with the students, Sethi described his experiences reporting from Chhatisgarh.
WOMEN IN THE POLITICAL SPACE
Reading the Assembly Elections of May 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
A one day workshop on ‘Women in the political space’, was organised by Women’s Feature Service, WFS, and Friedrich Ebert Shiftung (FES) in association with ACJ. The workshop looked specifically at the results of the May 2011 elections in four states from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives. Experts from the media, academics, and civil society, highlighted the gap in the nature of political participation women engaged in, and their actual representation in public office. The interactive session with students brought forth the need to closely examine women’s participation in politics,from the local panchayat to the national parliament.
Mani Kaul – A Tribute
July 20, 2011
This event was to reminisce and pay tribute to one of India's most distinctive film makers, Mani Kaul, who passed away on July 6, 2011. Film maker Kumar Shahani spoke about Mani Kaul and his work and lead a discussion followed by the screening of two of Mani Kaul’s films, 'Arrival' and 'Siddheshwari' (Hindi).
Inaugural Lecture
July 11, 2011
The inaugural lecture to the Class 2012 of the Asian College of Journalism was delivered by Dr. K.N. Panikkar. His lecture was titled "Is Democracy what Democracy does? Reflections on India's Political Present".
Lawrence Dana Pinkham Memorial Lecture
May 3, 2011
Mr. Jairam Ramesh, then Union Minister for Environment and Forests, was the chief guest for the Convocation of the Class of 2011 of the Asian College of Journalism. He delivered the Lawrence Dana Pinkham Memorial Lecture on the occasion and also awarded the Diplomas to students. The subject of his talk was “The Hedgehog and the Fox Revisited: Further Reflections on the Environment-Growth Debate”.
Summer Academy
A training programme on Freedom and Responsibility in the Media
April 4–15, 2011
The Asian College of Journalism in association with the International Institute for Journalism, Berlin, conducted a Summer Academy on Freedom and Responsibility in the South Asian Media for young journalists from the SAARC countries.
The aim of the programme was to enhance the quality of journalism in South Asia.
11 young journalists from newspapers, news agencies and online media attended the academy. The two-week programme covered a range of issues in journalism and looked at a comparative practice of the profession in Europe and India. Lectures covered the emerging media, tabloid journalism, gender reporting, reporting poverty and ethical issues. Participants also went on field trips to slums in Chennai city.
NCERT - 4th Gijubhai Memorial Lectures
February 10, 2011
by P.S. Krishnan IAS, Former Advisor, GOI
‘Contradiction Between India’s National Aspirations
and Neglect of Constitutionally-mandated Rights of
Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes:
Can Indian Society and Teachers Take the Challenge to Bridge the Gap?’
March 25, 2011
Prof. Zoya Hasan, Professor, JNU & Former Member National Commission for
Minorities, GOI
‘Democracy and the Persistence of Inequalities’
India Pakistan Roller Coaster
2000 - 2010
January 24, 2011
Former foreign minister of Pakistan, Khurshid
M Kasuri addressed students on the theme‘India Pakistan Roller Coaster 2000-2010’.
Former Union Minister and MP, Mani
Shankar Iyer, chaired the session and
Mr Kasuri took questions on a wide range of
issues relating to Indo-Pak relations.
