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Showing posts with the label Mass Media

A World of Digital Mutants?

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For people in their 50's like me, the evolution of digital technology has been surprising, overwhelming, disrupting and overwhelming. I had not even seen a television set till I entered senior college, had seen the computer only in SciFi and James Bond movies let alone touch it. I never thought I would ever make a film, simply because my family did not have deep pockets. For us, even owning a telephone was a luxury, and no thought of a mobile phone ever crossed our minds. I remember the time when I was first introduced to a computer in 1989; I was almost afraid to touch it. I remember how gingerly I used the mouse. I bought my first computer in 1992, which was a 386, with a 120 MB hard drive and a 4 MB RAM! And when there came along a 1.2 GB hard drive, we thought it could not get better than this. For the last about 100,000 years, we, the Homo sapiens have evolved with nature. We have got used to the sun, the moon, the weather, and the sunrise and sunset diurnal cycle. We fee

No Love Lost?

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This is for my students who are learning to analyse and write film reviews. I came across an article in The Times of India online edition about box office collection of two films released on Independence Day - 'Satyamev Jayate and 'Gold'. I have copied a paragraph here for reference: John Abraham's film clashed at the box office with Akshay Kumar's 'Gold' but there is no love lost here . Speaking about the clash in a previous interview, John told PTI, "Akshay is an actor in 'Gold', and I am an actor in 'Satyamev Jayate'. It's a producer's decision on both sides. So I have no say in that at all. As far as competing with Akshay is concerned, I want to make it clear that he is my senior in the industry." Pay attention to 'but there is no love lost here'. I was surprised by the use of the idiom, because I haven't come across any article that show any animosity between John Abraham and Akshay Kumar, and no

Why India having only 25% of it's population on the Internet is not such a bad thing

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There was a well-written article recently about how only 25% of India's adult population use the Internet, and how it is among the lowest in the world. The article, quoting Pew Research, was not only critical about Digital India, but also had a little negative tone in reporting. Well, let's look at it from a different angle. When 25% of India's population uses the Internet: The numbers are more than the entire population of US of A  It is almost 3 times that of South Korea! (The article compares our Internet usage with that of Korea) Even with 25% of India's population on the Internet, we have the largest number of Facebook users in the world. From 13% in 2013 to 25% in 2017, the number of Internet users in India has almost doubled So is the 'only' 25% a limitation? Let's look at it from a perspective of opportunity. Think of the numbers that are not yet on the Internet. India's population is getting younger. The census figures show that 45%

BMM Graduate? But are you industry-ready? Employable?

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What does it take to be job-ready, to take on the media world? Most academic programmes in media in India, offer several courses in all forms of media. Most courses are good, following a standard syllabus, mostly as per the guidelines given by UNESCO. Many institutes, however, lack the basic infrastructure and equipment required to train students in the modern form of media content creation. I have many friends across the country who can vouch for that. It is always a struggle for institutes to keep adding the latest infrastructure and equipment, simply because whatever we buy is already redundant in this technology driven sector. However, the fact remains that equipment and curricula need to be revised as and when required, catering to industry needs, to make our students employable. It is sad that in many places, curricula are designed based on the capabilities of the faculty involved, rather than what is needed. Today, after taking a feedback from the industry, it is clear th

An Ear to the Ground

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The Media and Communication sector, essentially has only one product - content. Content that touches the lives of people, affects the senses, invades privacy, content that becomes a part of our daily lives. Media products do not distinguish between, religion, caste, creed, status, or your geography or region. What we see on television is what the world sees. What we aspire for is what the world aspires for. And the products that we produce are for everyone's consumption. There are no geographical boundaries anymore. I visited some remote villages in Maharashtra with my students for their Rural Immersion Program. The villages of Waghawale, Morni, Arav, Valvan and Chakdev are largely cut off from the rest of the world, especially in terms of transportation and mobile connectivity. There is just one bus that arrives in the evening and leaves in the morning. We found mobile connectivity in just 2 places, and that too with a poor signal. No newspapers are delivered to this entire a

Just an MBA does not make a manager in Media and Communication sector

We say this again. To be successful in manager in the media and communication sector, a management training program should also have creative courses in the curriculum. Citing from the article below, Excel Sheets don't make successful media products, at the same time, artistic brooding also doesn't. There has to be a balance of both to make a successful film. "Industry insiders, admittedly those on the creative side, say the MBAs running studios do not understand story, script, or screenplay. So they play safe by signing on the biggest star they can. That done, they get the director the star wants. And then they look around for a script. If the movie fails, they can always say it is not their fault, after all, they did get the most saleable star." Do read up folks, you will understand why the Advanced Diplomas in Management in Advertising, Entertainment, Digital Marketing, and Diplomas in Journalism and PR at MET Institute of Mass Media will help you for getting

Communication Design - 1

Why is designing our communication so important? Let me give you some examples... Last week, I got an SMS saying that some money had been credited to my account. Well, if someone is kind enough to give me money without asking me, they are welcome. But I was curious to know who this kind soul was. So I called up customer care, input the data for the IVR menu and ultimately reached an executive. In a rasping voice he asked in Hindi, "Namaskar, mai xxx, aapki kya sahayata kar sakta hoon"? This, despite having requested for English as the language of choice. When I decided to speak in English, I was replied again in Hindi. When I persisted by asking my next  question in English, I got replies in broken not so fluent English.  I then started speaking in Hindi and my queries got solved within no time. The point is, I had to design my communication to suit the situation. Had I persisted to speak in English, it would have taken probably twice the time I had to spend. I h

Management Careers in Media - Caught in Transmedial Crossfire

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While discussing possible collaboration and association with representatives from a University from UK today, I was speaking on the peculiarity of the media universe in India. This was also a subject for which I was invited to speak on in a conference in Sweden. A majority of the Indian population has very quickly adopted the transmedial nature of content creation and distribution. We are reorienting ourselves to an environment of transmedial communication, which is redefining our cultural contexts to an extent that we are reinventing the way we communicate with each other.  I can cite a latest example - my driver.  To avoid reaching a meeting or a conference stressed out by driving in heavy Mumbai traffic, I decided to employ a driver. At 30 years of age, he is a representative of India's majority population. This month he purchased a 7 inch mobile phone and showing it off to me, he remarked, "Now I too can make and send video messages." Within days, he has mastere

Management Careers in Media - Content Syndication

The Media and Communication industry has so many facets that it becomes difficult to keep a track of how many careers are available. The media has become all-pervasive especially after the the Internet got hitched up with mobile phones. The disruption these two technologies have caused is phenomenal, but they have also created several opportunities for those who wish to make a career in management in media, entertainment, and communication industry. I wrote about Media Planning and Buying as a management career. You need to understand media thoroughly to be a media planner. A regular MBA in Marketing or Finance will probably not be able to teach you this. But a media-specific curriculum will. Let's look at another interesting career path. Very interesting because it is something that business schools do not usually teach as part of their curriculum, but has become an important managerial function nonetheless. When your client creates content, be it a blog, a write-up, a f