MUMBAI:  Describing the race for TRPs among some private television news channels as ‘Blood Pressure Raising Points (BRPs)’, Prasar Bharati chairman A Surya Prakash kicked off the two-day conference of the Global Communication Association (GCA).

Communication professionals from across the world gathered in Bengaluru for the conference with the theme of ‘Breaking Barriers – Creating new communication horizons’.

Prakash went on to say that certain news channels keep having eight to 10 panelists debating at the top of their voices. “No other country in the world seems to have this kind of a maara maari on TV news channels,” he said and called upon the viewers to switch over to Doordarshan, if they get fed up with the private channels.

“We do not ape the west, we are very much Indian,” he remarked describing the ethos at Doordarshan.

Pointing out that mass media in general has been experiencing an exponential boom in the country, Prakash called for ‘our own solutions’ to meet the challenges of growth.

Echoing the same sentiments, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramiah, who was the chief guest, said some electronic media channels appeared to be in a great race to meet deadlines. This was why, he said, sometimes the viewers might not see anything big in the so-called “breaking news”.

He suggested that steps should be taken to curb monopolies among media houses and even private treaties. The role of the Press Council should be redefined to cover TV news channels as well, he said while emphasising that he always stood for the freedom of the press and constructive criticism.

In his keynote address, Shell India former director of corporate affairs and communication consultant Deepak Mukherji, dealt with challenges in breaking barriers of communication and said the professionals ought to differentiate between trustable and trustworthiness. “We all seem to be experts in publicising promises and not what is delivered,” he said and called for an increased focus on the trustable element rather than talking about mere transparency among corporates.

Conference curator and organising secretary Krishna B Mariyanka said the two-day event will focus discussions on faltering media social responsibilities, communication CSR through media, news distribution in social  media, communication for PPPs, sustainability communication, branding, new digital journalism, challenges in multi-cultural communication, political communication, digital privacy, healthcare communication, and so on.

Achievers in various sectors will be felicitated with the AP Chowdappa memorial award for excellence in communication at the end of the conference. 

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