Photo: R. Ragu

LAUDATORY EFFORT: NCERT director Krishna Kumar presents the R.K. Narayan prize for the ACJ student of the year to Ashok Kumar Ganguly at the college convocation on Thursday.

CHENNAI: The media should move the spotlight to a different kind of war. "Focus on the battles of the poor for survival, the daily battle of women for water. Why are these battles not important for the media?" asked Krishna Kumar, director of the NCERT.

"A new world is taking shape if you would care to notice it... You must find institutions where there is space for these battles of peace," he told the graduating students of the Asian College of Journalism at their annual convocation in Chennai on Thursday.

"It is very important not to be daunted by the state of the world. There is another world that is unfolding at the same speed, but it is not so visible. It is the job of the media to reveal it," he said.

The media don't just cover conflict; too often, they create the climate for conflict to thrive, Prof. Krishna Kumar said. For example, he pointed to the coverage of the Telgi scam, where several newspapers had used language and images that created a climate of tension, suspicion and a general resentment of the state. "Everybody becomes a suspect. It's that kind of climate that nurtures the seeds of conflict. Conflict does not grow in a day. It requires a climate to grow. The modern media are creators of that conflict in which we all live. We cease to be aware of the source of... that climate, because it is so pervasive," he said.

Prof. Krishna Kumar also stressed the importance of the wider perspective, both in media and education. Journalists and teachers are both responsible for linking events, weaving understanding, and shaping attitudes, he said. "Without that connectedness, events become mere occurrences. If the media only covers occurrences, it contributes to volatility and loses its educative role," he said.

The ACJ programme offers this kind of perspective, according to N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu , and a trustee of the Media Development Fund that administers the college. The curriculum goes beyond mere skills and offers a focus on the core values and key issues of journalism, he said, adding that a module on ethics would soon be included. Mr. Ram welcomed an emerging trend of "feminisation of journalism", noting that 61 per cent of ACJ alumni are women.

MDF chairman Sashi Kumar announced that, in one or two years, the college would start offering an MA journalism degree validated by the Cardiff University.

A working committee, which will be set up in a few months, will determine if the current post-graduate diploma programme will be morphed into the MA degree or whether both courses would be offered separately.

Ashok Kumar Ganguly, a student of the new Radio stream, was awarded the R.K. Narayan prize for the ACJ student of the year.

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