Pics: Yashodhar Bangera
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (JS)
Mangaluru, Feb 27:'Media Buzz' state level seminar on sports journalism and inter collegiate competitions was held at Alva's college, Moodbidri on Thursday, February 26.
Dr G P Shivaram, professor and chairman of department of post graduation studies and research in mass communication and journalism, Mangalore University, inaugurated the seminar by lighting the lamp.
Addressing the gathering, Dr Shivaram said, "Journalism is playing a significant role these days. Earlier journalism was confined to print media. Today media is considered as a window to the world. Those days are gone when news was casually reported. But today journalism is classified as sports journalism, business journalism, political journalism and crime journalism.
"Sports journalism is growing now. Sports journalists need to have have keen interest in sports. Sports got prominence after the emergence of TV channels. Print media should give detailed analysis as readers will see everything in detail. Sports is very important but we have neglected sports. Physical education and sports journalism go hand in hand. I thank the organizers of this event for providing me an opportunity to be part of this event."
A journal titled 'Alva's Today' was released during the occassion.
Kishore Kumar, director of physical education, Mangalore University said, "Media works hard to give information to its readers. In the present era, sports and media require each other. Today most newspapers have independent sports editors and many reporters under them. Gifted writer like R Bala gave a poetic touch to sports journalism. Many irregularities like Commonwealth Games scam, match fixing, drug abuse in sports have been exposed by the media. A good sports journalist should be well prepared for the event. Sports writing in India suffers from prejudice of a certain kind. Some sports are highlighted, while most sports do not get coverage in media."
Khader Shah, district information officer, Dakshina Kannada said, "I congratulate Alva's media department for organizing this seminar. Sports photography is more difficult than sports journalism. I thank the organizers for providing me this opportunity."
Dr Mohan Alva, chairman, Alva's Education Foundation said, "We take sports seriously and work towards it. There has been no recognition for our hard work. Sports achievements are not recognized the way they have to be recognized. When we won medals in Mangalore University we had to call ten times for it to appear in newspapers. I feel surprised when half a page is devoted to horse racing in some of the papers. Are they promoting gambling is the question.
"Small states like Jharkhand and Odisha give good cash prize to sportspersons, then why Karnataka in spite of being such a big state cannot appreciate them by giving a good amount as prize? We have produced many athletes and have spent crores of rupees on them. Only cricket has been given importance. I will give free seats for students from sports background if they want to join sports journalism," he added.
Moulya Jeevan, head of the department of mass communication and journalism, Alva's College and others were present at the event.