By Thomas Scaria
Moodbidre, March 3, 2020: More than 500 students of journalism colleges have pledged to promote “positive journalism” after attending a media conference on Climate Action.
“Natural calamities are man-made disasters, so fighting climate change is everyone’s responsibility,” said Narottam Mishra, a media critic who opened the February 28-29 international conference on “Media and Climate Action- in realizing sustainable Development Goals” at Alvas College, Moodbidre, near Mangaluru.
Mishra, who is also the director general of Income Tax, Government of India, observed that media always like to highlight disasters and negative news but hardly anyone reports positive actions in environment protection. “Let us resolve to promote positive journalism and identify our role in promoting climate action, if we want to protect our Mother earth,” he urged the budding journalists.
The Department of Journalism and Media under Center for Post Graduate Studies and Research, Alvas College, hosted the conference in collaboration with Ecolink Culture and the International Institute for Knowledge Management (TIIKM), Colombo. The Hindunewpaper was the media partner along with Global TV and News Karnataka.
Kurian Adhikarathil, the principal of the Alvas College, told Matters India that his institution maintains an organic garden and several projects of watershed management in the campus with the initiative and involvement of its more 17,000 students. The college is nestled on the slope of the Western Ghats.
The village TV, a concept developed by the college’s journalism department with Global TV, has made several episodes on how villagers contribute to the climate action.
The conference organizers have distributed seed pencils for the participants along with badges, and made them recite a pledge to plant the seed on June 5, the environment day.
Kurian who welcomed the participants, observed that most print and visual media outlets have been hijacked by the corporate sector and politicians making journalists lose their identities. The goal of the conference, he added, was to promote “responsible journalism” which is possible only if students of journalism becomes “more assertive and visionaries.”
During the conference, students and researchers from 22 colleges presented more 60 papers on projects related to climate action undertaken in their campuses.
The students prepared for the conference through panel discussions, documentary presentation, and technical sessions on climate action. They were also involved in competitions such as street plays, painting competitions, and elocution.
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Kishore Alva, president of the Udupi Power Corporation who attended the conference, observed that Bengaluru, the capital city of Karnataka which was once known as the city of lakes and gardens, has now become a concrete jungle.
“Most of the lakes have been encroached and built huge apartments and corporate offices, and now the city is facing water shortage,” he said and warned that all the ground water sources will be dried up within 5 to 10 years, unless some climate action activities are initiated urgently.
P.G Diwakar, a senior officer in-charge of earth observation and disaster management program, ISRO, who gave a key note address provided aerial views of the earth and explained that the earth is passing through a very dangerous and serious situation with regard to the climate change.
He predicted several climate change related disasters in the coming years based on the scientific evidence he has collected from the earth observation tools with regard to floods, draughts, wild fires, earthquakes, tsunamis, and landslides. “Media should play a serious role in not only warning people about the dangers of climate change, but also initiate and motivate climate action among people,” he added.
Vivek Alva, the managing trustee of the Alva’s College, said his Institutions have cherished an eco-friendly environment and initiated several students centred activities to promote ecological balance and climate action.
Lal Goel, chairman of the Organ Donation Foundation India who released a documentary on the effects of Tsunami among the fisher folk in Tamil Nadu and their resilience measures, said journalism and media need to plan more active role in promoting climate action. “There are many community based initiatives happening at village level which often go unnoticed,” he added.
“A news which is reported should elicit a response.It must lead to proactive measures and result in more climate action,” said Mangalore University vice chancellor P.S. Yadapadithaya. He also observed that “positive reporting will need to more positive actions.”
Now, media is filled with more negative news which is resulting in more negative reactions. “Respond positively, if you want to save our earth as a liveable place,” he cautioned.