Kolkata : The Department of Media Science, The Heritage Academy, Kolkata recently organized ‘Journoscope 2023’, a mega Journalism event. The event, inaugurated on 14th March, 2023, showcased budding journalistic talents from the institute on a variety of platforms like News Package, News Reel and Photography. The event also saw various industry professionals sharing their insights and inspiring students at the event.
This year Ms. Moupia Nandy, Deputy Editor, Zee 24 Ghanta, inaugurated the event. During her inaugural address, Ms. Nandy spoke about the pre-requisites a person should have to start journalism as a career. “Journalism is changing constantly and the advent of digital media had made a phenomenal change in the way journalism is shaped today. But the basic things about news making remain the same,” she added.
The first day of the mega event also witnessed the trailer launch of the upcoming film in the Eken Babu series, in the presence of the cast and crew. The entire audience was thrilled to watch the trailer and interact with the actors. The actors, in turn, inspired the young minds about film making and spoke about the way Bengali films are evolving, be it through social media, web series or the box office. The students were also given hands-on insights about the ways films are promoted to target the right audience.
On Day 2 and 3, 15th and 16th March, 2023, a special Master class was also organized, addressed by Mr. Paranjoy Guhathakurata, who spoke on ‘Social media and ethics’, followed by Ms. Swarnali Sarkar, Senior Editor Republic Bangla; Ms. Pew Roy, Senior Assistant Editor, TV9 and Ms. Manogya Loiwal, Editor, ABP News, who all deliberated on various crucial topics to give students a well-rounded exposure to the world of media.
During his address, Mr. Guhathakurata spoke about the basic differences between Journalism and Public Relations. He went on to stress upon the ethical aspects of journalism, and the importance of journalists projecting the truth behind every story that they report. Ms. Pew Roy and Ms. Swarnali Sarkar spoke about the basic traits of journalism where journalists have to lead from the front. Ms. Manogya Loiwal spoke about how field journalists report the news and the finer points of the same.
On the penultimate day, Mr. Tamal Saha, Bureau in Charge, Times Now, Kolkata and RJ Praveen from Red FM 93.5, discussed ‘New Age Content’ which is continuously being used by news channels and radio stations to engage target audiences.
The final day of the event on 16th March also witnessed the launch of the web series ‘Seven’ to be available on the platform, Zee 5 from 17th March. The web series is directed by Mr. Anjan Dutta and was launched by him along with cast members, Mr. Gaurav Chakrabarty and Ms. Riddhima Ghosh. The launch witnessed the entire cast and crew interacting with students. “Characters are very important in a web series and you want to watch it because of the characters that inspire you to do so,” said Mr. Anjan Dutta speaking to students at Journoscope.
The mega event gave students an opportunity to interact with industry leaders in the field of journalism and engage with them to gain an understanding of current trends. “Every year we organize this event which gives the students the right platform to know what is currently happening in the field of journalism. Here they also actively participate in various competitions like news making, news reels and many more, which are judged by the industry stalwarts,” said Dr. Madhupa Bakshi, Dean, Department of Media Science, The Heritage Academy, Kolkata. The mega event was supported by Mr. P.K. Agarwal, CEO, Heritage Group of Institutions, Kolkata and Prof. Gour Banerjee, Principal, The Heritage Academy.
The Institute currently offers undergraduate and post graduate programmes in Media Science, apart from offering BBA and BCA programmes.