Date:05/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/05/stories/2008120550480200.htm

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Rural youth get a feel of electronic media

HYDERABAD: Can rural unemployed youth, with little contact to urban life and exposure to media, foray into big media houses, like they are doing in retail outlets in twin cities? Yes they can. To prove it, Maa Television Network Ltd, opened its doors to 17 youth from Karimnagar and Warangal, for a first hand experience of electronic media.

In association with Employment Generation and Marketing Mission (EGMM), a society set up by Department of Rural Development, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Maa TV conducted a workshop for these youth. Through the workshop, the youth came to know how TV programmes are conceptualised and made. “I never thought that I would ever interact with a Telugu writer like B. Shetty. They showed us how TV programmes are made. We saw editing, graphics, scripting and direction of programmes. They taught us the tricks of the trade like how not to get tensed while facing a camera,” says Ashok, one of the participants from Warangal. While none of them managed to get a job in the TV channel, authorities said that a positive has been made.