'What we expect' vs 'what we actually receive' ❤️

What we expect vs what we actually receive from the media

The Day Today | Daily Diary

This morning, when I unlocked my mobile phone at around 7.05 am, after an eight-hour digital sabbatical, I was surprised to find a note of appreciation from our virtual big bosses, on Digital Wellbeing!

In fact, their weekly report has been very encouraging.

‘You used your phone 2 hrs 50 m less than last week.”

Thank you big boss! 😊

Indeed, after having started on my eight-hour digital detox on a daily basis for the past many months, (either from 10 pm to 6 am, or 11 pm to 7 am) I realise that I now have a lot of personal time for I, me, myself. 😊

In this space that I’ve gained, I do a lot of reading and writing. Well, to confess, I’ve just finished reading Demian by Hermann Hesse, (recommended to me by Ms. Lakshmi, II MA) and I’m almost completing Ramachandra Guha. After that, I plan to read, Our Social World: Introduction to Sociology.

Today, in my first hour class with the II MAs, we had a discussion on Print Media and Cultural Studies.

Students had come to class much ahead of time. Students were given a copy of the day’s newspaper. We then discussed the various components of a newspaper from a ‘Cultural Studies Matrix’, which yielded rewarding insights.

I began with the premise that –

All media houses are business houses, that create and distribute content that is ‘highly economically valuable’ to their business. This they do through their competitive pricing, liasioning with rich business/corporate houses which in turn helps them get their daily quota of advertisements, and thereby build for themselves a loyal subscription base as well. This ‘brand building’ and ad-space marketing, more often result in media bias and favouritism in ‘reporting’, which affects what we receive!

So the two questions that were put forth today are –

What do we expect from the media?

vis-à-vis

What we actually receive from the media?

With this in mind, a few representative sample news items, advertorials and editorials from the day’s newspaper were analysed in class.

Later, some endearing news reports/features were also analysed.

Giving a few of them here -  

‘Zakir Hussain always entered stage with a smile’ says L Subramaniam.

Video of couple kissing at Kol metro station kicks up social media storm

A video of a couple deeply engaged in a kiss at Kolkata’s Kalighat metro station, somewhat oblivious of their surroundings, led to a furore on social media, prompting Kolkata police to come to their rescue from harassment by trolls.

To thwart any possible attempt to distort the video or share anything demeaning, police on Monday issued a stern warning to social media users.

“Will take action if a complaint of distortion or hampering private life is made,” said a senior officer at Lalbazar, the police headquarters.

The warning came after reports of moral policing, trolling and online harassment. Some social media users even created objectionable memes. Several police officers took to social media to send out a message. “Grow up Kolkata … grow up humanity,” an OC of a police station said in a post on X.

Eco-conscious feature articles also got prominence in the newspapers today.

Wise Turtle, Foolish Man: Olive ridleys travel great distances to continue life, we destroy environments with abandon

Forest legend, tree activist Tulasi Gouda is no more

Forest encyclopaedia and Padma Shri Tulasi Gouda— who had extensive knowledge of deep forests, planted more than 30,000 saplings in a 60-year close ties with Uttara Kannada’s jungles, and won hearts of millions of people by walking barefoot to receive the Padma award from then President in 2021. Her ties with forests began at age 12 and continued for more than 60 years. She was named after the Tulasi plant. Her knowledge of plants, trees and shrubs, their growth patterns and care requirements earned her the title ‘Vriksha Maata’.

After oil spill, Ennore Creek is on a green mend

Ennore Creek, which was the site of an oil spill during Cyclone Michaung in Dec 2023, is showing signs of recovery with a greener outlook thanks to the forest department’s restoration efforts — planting mangrove saplings and native species along the creek’s bund to revive the ecosystem.

This apart, there was a very timely initiative from the Times of India initiative that, we felt, was the need of the hour. It comes with the hashtag #CancelPatriarchy, which contains a WhatsApp message written by a daughter to her daddy.

Then, we had Professor Ken Rouse, from the Department of Computer Science, LeTourneau University, Texas, visiting us in Campus today.

The Dean of International Programmes Dr. Rufus, and the Head, Dept of Computer Science, Dr. Persis Glory, received him. Mr. Sabarinathan, our Global Student Ambassador (well-known to Prof. Ken) proved an excellent host for our guest, today. He then met with our Principal Dr. Wilson, who honoured him with a shawl.

Prof. Ken gave us some interesting insights on his teaching style in class. Speaking about technology, he said that, Technology is like a two-year-old child, It will do what they are told to do! It cannot independently navigate complex situations without clear direction, he added.

He then proceeded to the Chemistry Seminar Hall to give a lecture for the students of the Department of Computer Science.

This afternoon, we had an interaction with Professors from Nottingham Trent University, UK. We discussed the possible avenues for collaborating with NTU. Dr. Iyappan, Head, Dept of Chemistry (Aided), Dr. Sahila, HoD, Dept of Chemistry (SFS), Dr. Nimmy and Dr. Rajesh from the Department of Chemistry participated in the discussions.

Officials from Immersion Global met with us today in the Office of International Programmes. 

Photo courtesy: Mr. Sabarinathan, Global Student Ambassador