RAMON MAGSAYSAY AWARD WINNER P. SAINATH CONDUCTED A
TWO-DAY WORKSHOP AT PDPU
Rapporteur: Department of LLA
17-18 Oct. 2019: The Mass Communication Area of the
Department of Languages, Literature and Aesthetics (LLA)
under the School of Liberal Studies (SLS) organized a two-
day workshop on Contemporary Media and Society by
internationally acclaimed journalist and Ramon Magsaysay
Awardee P. Sainath on October 17-18, 2019. Sainath, who
was the Rural Affairs Editor of The Hindu, is the founder
editor of People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), an
acclaimed digital platform that primarily focuses on rural
journalism. The workshop was coordinated by Ms. Amrita Chakraborty, Assistant Professor of Media
from SLS.
His workshop primarily focussed on the current state of media in our country and its corporatization,
paid media, rural affairs and ethical considerations in media. On the first day of the workshop, Sainath
started his lecture with the ethical question of ‘what is good journalism?’ The question drew a lot of
attention among the audience when they shared their opinion about fake news and propaganda. He
further discussed about the ethical protocols of journalism and its intent, security and privacy of an
individual and the likes.The next topic of discussion was about the role of journalism in the freedom
struggle of India. While discussing further, the role of great freedom fighters and leaders such as Raja
Ram Mohan Roy, Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi and Bhagat Singh were talked about.On the
second day of the workshop, the session began with a discussion on ‘paid news’ and ‘corporatization of
media’. The discussion led onto the topic of journalism as a revenue stream, the problem of hyper-
commercialization and other scandals.
Lastly, Sainath discussed in detail about the coverage of rural India in the mainstream media. He further
threw light on the work done by his organization PARI and how it has been telling stories of the 833
million people of the country.
The session was attended by around 150 students, including the alumni of PDPU. The attendees were
primarily from Mass Communication, International Relations, Public Administration and Economics
majors of the School of Liberal Studies. A significant number of students from the School of Technology
(SPT), the School of Petroleum Technology (SPT) and the School of Petroleum Management (SPM),
had also registered for the event.
The workshop ended with a huge round of applause, and a standing ovation by the audience. Lastly,
Prof. Pradeep Mallik, Head of the Department from the Department of Languages, Literature and
Aesthetics (LLA) greeted Sainath with a souvenir. A recipient of the Ramnath Goenka ‘Journalist of the
Year’ award, Sainath was hailed by Amartya Sen as “one of the world’s greatest experts on famine and
hunger”. The University of Alberta honoured Sainath with the Honorary Doctor of Letters degree (D.Litt.).
He was also the McGraw Professor of Writing at the University of Princeton. His best-selling book
‘Everybody Loves a Good Drought’, published in 1996 by Penguin Books, is considered one of the finest
texts on rural poverty and farmers’ distress.
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