A special lecture of Shashank Bengali, Correspondent for South Asia, los Angeles Times was organised by Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication in Bhopal on Thursday. Press Officer of US Consulate General, Mumbai, Jeffrey E Ellis and Kartik B Chavan, Assistant Media Advisor (TV & Radio) at the Consulate were also present on the occasion.
While addressing the students, Bengali threw light on various topics ranging from traditional media, social media to covering a crisis situation. He underlined various aspects of these issues during the interaction as he apprised the media students about how could they use social media to share their stories and the elements of the stories which would help them sell their stories.
The lA Times correspondent also informed the students about the challenges in developing sources and story ideas and discussed the ways to cope with them. Jeffrey Ellis, in his address, underlined the importance of media both traditional and social in diplomacy and strengthening the relationship between two nations. He said both the media are very important tools for branding in today’s world. Ellis, also asked the students to keep an eye on how the diplomatic agencies use social media to connect with the people of the countries they are based in and stay active on different social media platforms.
later, they also answered various questions of the students on different dimensions of the social media, traditional media and international reporting. After the lecture, a special session was held with the journalists of Bhopal wherein senior journalists from different media houses of the State capital interacted with Ellis and Bengali and they shared their views and experiences on the practice of journalism in both India and US.