Editor, author and columnist Rajdeep Sardesai holds forth on sensational news hogging prime time news in the country
“There are large parts of this country increasingly which simply do not register on the map of the so-called national media. A little bit of water-logging in Noida, a little bit of water-logging in Mumbai...and that becomes breaking news. What will it take to register a Manipur or an Assam on the national map?” demanded editor, author and columnist Rajdeep Sardesai, delivering a guest lecture at Vista 2015, IIM Bangalore’s annual business and ideas festival.
Hosted by the students of the Post Graduate Programme of IIMB, Vista 2015, held from September 25-28, 2015, had a galaxy of speakers from industry, politics, media and entertainment addressing the participants.
Warming to the theme of his talk, ‘Media’s role in the Idea of India’, Rajdeep remarked: “Jharkhand is one of India’s largest states; it’s one of the states where there is much to report on, but it does not register on the national map. Mumbai and the bright lights of Mumbai will be covered, but a Manipur just doesn’t register on our collective conscience anymore. So what kind of a media are we promoting and what kind of an idea of India are we trying to project? Is it an idea of India that is reflected through the mirror of a Delhi or a Mumbai?”
Speaking about the emergence of private news channels, he recalled that the television revolution in the country took place about 21 years ago, in 1994, with the intention “to break the monopoly of Doordarshan”. However, he lamented that what happened since then was that private news channels, instead of taking news into a new independent world, turned it into “an outrage industry”.
Instead of trying to find space for sane opinions, television or media, he argued, was always looking for two loud extreme opinions. “Because unless you have two loud extreme opinions, how are you going to create television drama? Peace does not sell!”
Pointing out that India had created a business model driven by “talk TV”, he said he was saddened that media houses were not being driven by investment in deep investigations anymore. “We are a country, I believe, which needs to reflect social change; we are a country in transition. This is a critical period in this country’s history and we need to show the change. Can we find, therefore, a better quality media in this country?”
Closing on a positive note, he suggested a system where people were willing to subscribe and pay for better quality TV or a BBC-like trust model be developed. “We need more informed quality media – that’s the key. If we can get more informed quality media, then that person who is sitting in Manipur will not have to ask me again, ‘Sir, am I a citizen of this country or not?’ To my mind until I find an answer to that question, I believe I will have failed the idea of India.”
Vista 2015 concluded on a high, on September 27, with popular film maker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra exhorting students to work on big ideas while paying attention to the fine print. Quoting from his own life as a director, he said: “When I was chasing money, I delivered flops, but when I chased ideas I gave huge hits, I made a lot of money”.
His talk was followed by a panel discussion on ‘Make in India’ and a Young Leaders’ Forum. The panel declared that ‘Make in India’ was not just a media campaign but had deep-rooted logic in promoting economic development through providing employment in the product and services sectors.
Sameer Nair, Group CEO for Balaji Telefilms, shared his experiences on formulating strategy for the entertainment house and touched upon his foray into politics and his stint in advertising. Highlighting the importance of hard work and networking, he told the students: “You might not make your presence felt, but be sure to make your absence felt.”
The Public Policy student club had earlier organised the Model United Nations (MUN), a two-day event, as part of Vista 2015. A total of 220 delegates, representing over 70 countries, attended the event and debated global concerns such as ‘Ensuring economic stability and development in post conflict nations’, ‘Children in armed conflict zones’ and ‘The impact of economic sanctions corresponding to geopolitical conflicts in the context of Russia and the European Union’.
Former Infosys Co-Founder and Chief Executive Nandan Nilekani gives away the award at Bzzzwings to The Climbers.
The fest had some unique events such as Bzzwings, where young entrepreneurs pitched their business plans to an eminent jury and walked away with cash prizes and incubation offers from IIMB’s NSRCE. With over 220 submissions received, 16 teams were shortlisted through a rigorous screening process. These 16 teams were further coached by industry experts and professors on different aspects of running their ventures. These 16 teams presented their business plans to a distinguished panel of judges during IIMB’s flagship entrepreneurship summit, Eximius 2015, in August 2015 and the top 6 teams were shortlisted for the mega finale. The six finalists made a final pitch to a panel of judges including potential investors and experts, at the grand finale on September 26, during Vista 2015, and the prizes were given away by former Infosys Co-Founder and Chief Executive Nandan Nilekani.
“India is set to become data rich from data poor in three to four years, helped by higher penetration of Aadhaar cards and a rise in people who own smartphones. This opens up a whole new way of looking at applications,” he said in his keynote address at the event.
Youth mentoring network, The Climbers, won a cash prize of Rs 40,000 and an incubation offer, while chronic disease management platform, Medcync, bagged the second offer.
The Climber is an online platform that helps students discover and pursue their passions by enabling them to select right career options. It was created by two engineering students, Sameer Ramesh and Mohammad Zeeshan two years ago, after facing similar challenges and doubts as teenagers.
Medcync was started by two management students, Sowmiya Reddy and Sachin Manishi, and an alumnus of Harvard Medical School, Dr Anupama Gangawati. Having identified chronic disease as a rising epidemic, they built Medcync as a support network for both the doctor and patient community.
Over three days, Vista boasted speakers such as the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, who inaugurated Vista 2015 on September 25.
Addressing IIMB students and participants at Vista 2015 about how to have a vision to make India the next superpower, he said: “India is a rich country with a poor population. It is time to plan and make India the next superpower. We need vision and great leaders. We have brilliant minds like you, who can convert knowledge into wealth, and that is the right vision for our country.”
Editor, author and columnist Rajdeep Sardesai holds forth on sensational news hogging prime time news in the country
“There are large parts of this country increasingly which simply do not register on the map of the so-called national media. A little bit of water-logging in Noida, a little bit of water-logging in Mumbai...and that becomes breaking news. What will it take to register a Manipur or an Assam on the national map?” demanded editor, author and columnist Rajdeep Sardesai, delivering a guest lecture at Vista 2015, IIM Bangalore’s annual business and ideas festival.
Hosted by the students of the Post Graduate Programme of IIMB, Vista 2015, held from September 25-28, 2015, had a galaxy of speakers from industry, politics, media and entertainment addressing the participants.
Warming to the theme of his talk, ‘Media’s role in the Idea of India’, Rajdeep remarked: “Jharkhand is one of India’s largest states; it’s one of the states where there is much to report on, but it does not register on the national map. Mumbai and the bright lights of Mumbai will be covered, but a Manipur just doesn’t register on our collective conscience anymore. So what kind of a media are we promoting and what kind of an idea of India are we trying to project? Is it an idea of India that is reflected through the mirror of a Delhi or a Mumbai?”
Speaking about the emergence of private news channels, he recalled that the television revolution in the country took place about 21 years ago, in 1994, with the intention “to break the monopoly of Doordarshan”. However, he lamented that what happened since then was that private news channels, instead of taking news into a new independent world, turned it into “an outrage industry”.
Instead of trying to find space for sane opinions, television or media, he argued, was always looking for two loud extreme opinions. “Because unless you have two loud extreme opinions, how are you going to create television drama? Peace does not sell!”
Pointing out that India had created a business model driven by “talk TV”, he said he was saddened that media houses were not being driven by investment in deep investigations anymore. “We are a country, I believe, which needs to reflect social change; we are a country in transition. This is a critical period in this country’s history and we need to show the change. Can we find, therefore, a better quality media in this country?”
Closing on a positive note, he suggested a system where people were willing to subscribe and pay for better quality TV or a BBC-like trust model be developed. “We need more informed quality media – that’s the key. If we can get more informed quality media, then that person who is sitting in Manipur will not have to ask me again, ‘Sir, am I a citizen of this country or not?’ To my mind until I find an answer to that question, I believe I will have failed the idea of India.”
Vista 2015 concluded on a high, on September 27, with popular film maker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra exhorting students to work on big ideas while paying attention to the fine print. Quoting from his own life as a director, he said: “When I was chasing money, I delivered flops, but when I chased ideas I gave huge hits, I made a lot of money”.
His talk was followed by a panel discussion on ‘Make in India’ and a Young Leaders’ Forum. The panel declared that ‘Make in India’ was not just a media campaign but had deep-rooted logic in promoting economic development through providing employment in the product and services sectors.
Sameer Nair, Group CEO for Balaji Telefilms, shared his experiences on formulating strategy for the entertainment house and touched upon his foray into politics and his stint in advertising. Highlighting the importance of hard work and networking, he told the students: “You might not make your presence felt, but be sure to make your absence felt.”
The Public Policy student club had earlier organised the Model United Nations (MUN), a two-day event, as part of Vista 2015. A total of 220 delegates, representing over 70 countries, attended the event and debated global concerns such as ‘Ensuring economic stability and development in post conflict nations’, ‘Children in armed conflict zones’ and ‘The impact of economic sanctions corresponding to geopolitical conflicts in the context of Russia and the European Union’.
Former Infosys Co-Founder and Chief Executive Nandan Nilekani gives away the award at Bzzzwings to The Climbers.
The fest had some unique events such as Bzzwings, where young entrepreneurs pitched their business plans to an eminent jury and walked away with cash prizes and incubation offers from IIMB’s NSRCE. With over 220 submissions received, 16 teams were shortlisted through a rigorous screening process. These 16 teams were further coached by industry experts and professors on different aspects of running their ventures. These 16 teams presented their business plans to a distinguished panel of judges during IIMB’s flagship entrepreneurship summit, Eximius 2015, in August 2015 and the top 6 teams were shortlisted for the mega finale. The six finalists made a final pitch to a panel of judges including potential investors and experts, at the grand finale on September 26, during Vista 2015, and the prizes were given away by former Infosys Co-Founder and Chief Executive Nandan Nilekani.
“India is set to become data rich from data poor in three to four years, helped by higher penetration of Aadhaar cards and a rise in people who own smartphones. This opens up a whole new way of looking at applications,” he said in his keynote address at the event.
Youth mentoring network, The Climbers, won a cash prize of Rs 40,000 and an incubation offer, while chronic disease management platform, Medcync, bagged the second offer.
The Climber is an online platform that helps students discover and pursue their passions by enabling them to select right career options. It was created by two engineering students, Sameer Ramesh and Mohammad Zeeshan two years ago, after facing similar challenges and doubts as teenagers.
Medcync was started by two management students, Sowmiya Reddy and Sachin Manishi, and an alumnus of Harvard Medical School, Dr Anupama Gangawati. Having identified chronic disease as a rising epidemic, they built Medcync as a support network for both the doctor and patient community.
Over three days, Vista boasted speakers such as the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, who inaugurated Vista 2015 on September 25.
Addressing IIMB students and participants at Vista 2015 about how to have a vision to make India the next superpower, he said: “India is a rich country with a poor population. It is time to plan and make India the next superpower. We need vision and great leaders. We have brilliant minds like you, who can convert knowledge into wealth, and that is the right vision for our country.”