Chief - Guest : Justice (Retd) S.N. Jha.Chairman, Human Rights Commission

Panelists

1. Mr Punya Prasun Bajpai, Consulting Editor, Zee News
2. Mr Sanjay Ahirwal, Executive Editor, NDTV India
3. Mr Mammen Mathew, Resident Editor, The Hindustan Times
4. Mr Aaku Srivastava, Resident Editor, Dainik Hindustan
5. Mr K P Jhunjhunwala, President, Bihar Industries Association
6. Professor Shankar Dutt, Educationist

Moderator : Ms Ajitha Menon, Chief of Bureau, Asian News International, kolkata

Event Coordinator : Ms Saadia Azim, Chief of Bureau. Sahara Samay, Kolkata

Conclave Background and Agenda

      Rotary Chanakya's initiative was to define the role of media in promoting brand Bihar. The agenda was to get  together a group of senior journalists and eminent persons from different fields to outline what kind of image Bihar has and how the branding of the state can be done along more positive lines. The aim was to arrive at some basic pointers that would help the state put itself forth as a developing. Progressive region. In this, audience participation was actively encouraged and the conclave, at the end of the proceedings arrived at certain enlightening recommendations.

View of the Panelists

      There was full consensus on the fact that Bihar’s branding definitely needs improvement. The primary concern was that all the bad things about Bihar got highlighted in the media while the positive social changes and public contributions towards improvements of the life of common man got neglected. The Journalists in the panel were firm on the opinion that Bihar as a society has to first decide on how it wants to be portrayed. The media would only depict what was happening. So, if the society displayed a positive movement that would automatically get representation by the media.
     The panelists agreed that the state was finally seeing some development, but just ‘goody-goody’ images would not do. Serious retrospection and action was required on all those hitherto ignored sectors like infrastructure, health and education, which still need great thrust.
     Bihar needs to become self – dependent. There should be end to the rampant corruption, those below the poverty line should be given consideration during planning of programmes and projects and the end results should be visible. Bihar’s culture, sports, arts and traditions need to highlighted and showcased.
      The panelists opined that to achieve all the above mentioned aims, the society, media and the elected representatives of the state should all work in tandem with the media acting as a watchdog. The people of Bihar should learn to recognize their rights and fight for the same. Its in the hand of the people to effect change. They should stand up and demand facilities. The media can them offer fullsupport to the cause, the panelists pointed out.
     The panelists, not belonging to the media fraternity, offered critical comments on the role of the media and pointed out that instead of just reporting incidents, media should take up relevant issues and put them in the context of bringing forth social change. They also expressed concern over the state of primary secondary and University education as education plays a significant role in nation-building. Focus on industrial development and role of policy makers in this evolved as another important talking point.
      From the audience, questions were raised on media showing just titillating incidents instead of catching the core of the problem. There were questions on why media ignored developmental stories related to Self Help Groups, Showcasing of handicraft, promoting sport etc. Audience members also pointed out media’s failure to bring to the limelight pioneering individual efforts in fields like health and education. There was a strong demand from the audience for a self regulatory code of conduct for the media.
       The consensus emerging from the above interaction suggested that media should pay closer attention to individual and social contributions in different sectors, be more responsible in its reportage and encourage government policy to reflect the dreams and aspirations of the common man.

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