PRCI Webinar on “Media’s Role in Calming the Nation Amidst Crisis”
Media has a greater responsibility and role to calm the nerves of the nation during any crisis situation, said the experts in a webinar organized by Chandigarh Chapter of Public Relations Council of India.
Nearly 160 participated from across the
country in a session addressed by Chandigarh Chapter’s chairman, and
motivational speaker Vivek Atray, former resident editor of Indian Express and
columnist, Vipin Pubby, and student chair of the Young Communicators Club Shoolini
University Purvi Bhushan.
Expressing concern about the prevailing
negativity on all fronts and communicated through almost every type of media
that is vitiating and impacting the human mind, Vivek Atray said that there was
need to look into the content and consciously endeavour to spread the
positivity through all types of communication.
There is a need to balance out the
information and make it palatable so that it does not create panic among the
people, he added.
Vipin Pubby said that majority of the
mainline media is doing creditable job in checking and cross-checking their
facts but definitely, the unbridled mushrooming social media are vying with
each other to be the first with news often are throwing caution to the wind and
misreporting or exagarating the facts that disturbs the mood of the nation.
Vipin Pubby also said that there is
definitely a need to go back to our journalistic codes of ethics, and review
how we are presenting the news both in our writings and visually, that are
disturbing most of the time and are not permitted under our ethics.
Purvi Bhushan provided a youth
perspective and agreed that so much of social media is being consumed but there
is a need for a system and awareness to help youth understand what is fake and
what is fact.
The unverified data, she said was
causing much panic amongst the people, besides distributing information that could
be useful.
The the webinar was the first in the series of nationwide webinars that PRCI is organizing
along with internal talent-hunt competition, some of the noted communication
experts and veteran PR professionals participated including K Ravindran, S
Narendra, S D Reuben, G S Bawa, Vijay Lakshmi, Yogesh Joshi, BK Sahu, BK Ravi,
Naresh Kumar.
PRCI’s Chief Mentor and Chairman
Emeritus M B Jayaram, National President Dr T Vinaykumar, Senior National Vice
President C J Singh, Zonal Head North Renuka Salwan, also addressed the
webinar.
