Bhubaneswar(Kalinga Voice) : School of Mass Communication (KSMC), KIIT Deemed to be University, in collaboration with Public Relations Society of India (PRSI), Bhubaneswar Chapter, virtually organized its 2nd Public Relations Summit on ‘Public Relations and Media during Covid-19’. Addressing the summit, Dr. Ajit Pathak, National President, PRSI emphasized on PR education and research. More and more students and professionals should come forward in PR professions, he said, while praising KIIT and KISS for promotion of education and capacity building of poor students.
The inaugural session was graced by Prof. Hrushikesha Mohanty, VC, KIIT; Prof. Jyana Ranjan Mohanty, Registrar; Prof. Himansu Sekhar Khatua, CEO, SFMC; Dr. Bidu Bhusan Dash, Course Coordinator, KSMC; Dr. Anurag Sahu, Asst. Prof, KSMC. Prof. Khatua announced the formation of a Public Relations Club (PRC) in School of Mass Communication, which is a new concept to have a students’ PR Club in Indian universities.
In the keynote session, eminent PR professionals including Dr. V.R Raju; Mr. Amar Jyoti Mohapatra, Chairman PRSI Bubaneswar Chapter; Mr. Sudhi Ranjan Mishra, Head Corporate Relations, PPL; Mr. Asutosh Rath, GM, Corporate Communication; Mr. K M Prashanth, Asst. GM, Corporate Communication, NTPC opined on pandemic and challenge for the PR personnel to manage the tangible and intangible damages; technology in the changing trend of news distribution as well as in public relations; objective journalism, and need to have strong digital infrastructure, internal communication system and pro active approach during crisis.
In the Plenary session, eminent media giants Mr. Pankaj Jha, Political Editor, ABP News; Mr. Kamlesh Raghuvanshi, Group Editor, Dainik Jagran; Mr. Sukesh Ranjan, Executive Editor, News 24; and Mr. Rana Yaswant, Group Editor, India News Network spoke on different aspects of news and public relations. Mr. Jha shared his experience with the natural disasters of Odisha and the system of transferring information before two decades. Today TV is on live mode with priority given to debates and hardcore news. Television news narrative has changed due to technology and social media influence. Mr. Raghuvanshi, threw light on the impact of Covid-19 on the print media industry. Mr. Sukesh Ranjan advised the students to be a good reporter, they need to read a lot and have in-depth knowledge on their specific issues. Mr. Rana Yaswant said, whenever time stops us, we then create alternatives, this is what we learned out of this pandemic. The deliberations followed a Q&A session. Participants from across the country and abroad got an opportunity to ask their queries regarding various aspects of the theme. Ms. Ruby Nanda, Asst Professor, KSMC moderated the session, while Souptik Garai, Faculty associate delivered the vote of thanks.
