 For any brand in today's time any media brand is how do you win trust? You know we have a word in television which is often used and much misused and abused which is TRPs, television rating points. My belief has always been that there is a need to redefine TRPs. It should stand for trust and respect points because the real challenge of our times is not just how do you get television rating points but how do you win the trust, respect of viewers and readers. And I think sometimes we tend to confuse the notion of trust with popularity. You can be popular that doesn't necessarily mean you are trustworthy. And I think this it's an almost intangible how do you define this notion of trust? Because link to this notion of trust is another interesting word called credibility. How does a brand build credibility? It cannot be built in a week. It cannot be built overnight. And I think too many of us beat in any aspect of the media, beat in PR, beat in marketing, advertising or journalism tend to believe that we can almost overnight win trust or win credibility. To my mind is an incremental process that has to be done step by step. It's almost a torturous process at the end of which maybe if you stick to your core values, you can actually reach your destination. So I think the challenge is to be patient. The challenge is to be consistent. And the challenge to my mind is to stick to your core values. If you can do that, then I do believe that you can win the trust of your client. You can win the trust of your viewer in our instance or of your reader, but it's a long haul. It doesn't happen overnight. I think we must be resistant to the pressures to try and overnight try and build trust. It won't happen. I think it's very clear that social media has created a surround sound which can disorient the best of us. It is a bit like an echo chamber. And when you are in an echo chamber, the sound can almost rattle you. So I think social media has done that. It's become a disruptive influence. It's disrupted the media landscape. And I think the challenge of our times is to understand the nature of the disruption that's taking place rather than being swayed away by it. I wouldn't say embrace it, but certainly start recognizing what social media is all about. Don't allow it to sweep you off the floor, but find ways to engage with social media. I believe today we are in a multimedia world in the truest sense of the word, what I call media 360. And platforms no longer matter. What matters is content, the quality of your content, even in the PR industry, the quality of the message that you're sending out to my mind is critical. It's not enough for you to, you know, jazz up the message. What is key is does your message have an intrinsic value to it? And that is something which where I believe you can use all these platforms, including social media to send out a powerful message that people will soon over time begin to trust and begin to feel that this is a message which is worth it. I think what they don't teach you in media schools is ethics and ethics is something which, you know, ultimately is again core to any business. You cannot take shortcuts when it comes to ethics. Ethics cannot be compromised upon and my belief is ethics is linked to a critical word which is conscience. I believe brands that have a conscience, brands that have core ethical values sustain and last much longer than brands which try to take shortcuts and compromise on ethics. To my mind, it's that value of ethical behavior which determines the average brand from a great brand, which really tells the real story. In the case of journalism, I think the core value has to be to stick to facts above all else, to be honest to facts. In the PR world, it has to be again, in my view, to stick to your core message. To my mind, the core of journalism should always be in the center, the ability to be able to appreciate that there could be two sides to a story. That stories are not always black and white, that there is a color called gray also that exists. And the more complex stories are often found in shades of gray. And the challenge for journalism is to locate the complexity of a story. It's very easy to be caught in these polarities. The challenge as I keep repeating is to somewhere or the other have a dialogue. I think journalism should be able to stick to facts and the opinion should be dialogue based. The opinion should not be forced down someone's throat. The opinion should respect the viewer, should respect the reader. Opinions are free. Facts are sacred. We tend to mix facts and opinion almost all the time now in journalism. And that's what's caused this credibility crisis. The larger credibility crisis is because the lines have got blurred between fact and opinion, whether it's on television and in some instances even in print. So respect the difference that exists between facts and opinion. Number two, I believe that we must be ready to really look at journalism as something which is beyond television rating points or box office. This is not about popularity contests. This is about, in my view, about having a basic intrinsic respect for information and for knowledge. That's to my mind the way in which journalism should move. And thirdly, in my view, journalism must retain a strong ethical core. Journalism cannot be about manipulation. It cannot be about manipulating information or falsifying facts. It should be at the end of the day about sticking to a core ethical value which is truth above all else. To my mind, if you can combine knowledge with truth, you will have empowered your viewer or reader. I think a lot of this is exaggerated at times to believe that journalists are constantly being asked to compromise their independence. Yes, there are threats to the newsroom. There are corporate pressures, there are political pressures, there are owner pressures. But let's not also exaggerate them. At the same time, I think it is important to realize that there must be a Chinese wall that must exist between the owner, the corporate, the politician and the journalist. Newsrooms must, to whatever extent possible, be insulated from these outside pressures. You cannot have what I call Supari journalism. You cannot have agenda-driven journalism which is driven by the interests of the corporate owner or driven by a politician. Journalism at its core, if you are to retain credibility, must be insulated from these pressures. You know, when I started journalism in the late 1980s, to be very honest, to be in PR was looked down upon. There was a sense that PR was someone who was, a PR person was constantly manipulating and falsifying facts. The PR person was almost bribing the journalists, was the ecosystem in which I started off in journalism. I believe over time the PR world has evolved. We now talk of corporate communications. The true meaning of PR, I believe, is effective communication. Ultimately, you have to communicate a message. Today, journalists rely on this entire large PR machinery to also get a chance to effectively communicate their message. You need to know two sides of a story for which you often need the help of people who are in the PR corporate communication world. I think we need to give the PR corporate communication world the dignity it deserves, the respect it deserves. And we need to see this as a relationship which is not adversarial between the journalist and the PR person or even that it is based on complete co-option. It should be a healthy, harmonious relationship. And I think an award ceremony like this will encourage PR professionals to ensure that they retain that sense of competitiveness, but also ensure an element of ethical values and harmony which will only benefit the profession. I want to first of all congratulate Exchange for Media for organizing this event. I want to congratulate all the winners. No one ever can tell me that they don't like to win a prize. So I'm sure all the winners are going to have a great time today. And in a way, this is another moment of the coming of age of the PR industry, the fact that it's being recognized in this manner. And all I can say is have a great evening. Sorry, I cannot join you today. But I am confident that the PR industry in this country will go from strength to strength and that you will, in a way, the winners in particular will give us a sense of the direction and the road ahead for the PR world. So we also wish Rajdeep all the best for today and for his coming years. Of course, he set the tone for tonight. We're going to be talking about media in the age of mistrust. There used to be a point in time when like how Rajdeep said that the journalists were a little wary of the PR industry and now I guess the PR industry is a little wary of the journalists. This is what's probably going on right now. And we've got a robust panel talking about the various nuances of media as we experience it today. Risk, reputation, brand building, effective communication. Of course, as far as journalism itself is concerned, the divide which is happening literally. So I'm going to be calling out the names of our panelists here tonight, request you all to please come and these are fancy nice bar stools for you all. We don't want you to be too comfortable because we want you to come back and party with us here on the floor. Alright, with a loud round of applause, I invite my first panelist on stage, Ms. Pooja Pathak, co-founder and director, Media Mantra. A successful entrepreneur with immense creativity and business acumen which assists her to undertake diverse roles in life including being a businesswoman, a lecturer and a mother of two lovely kids. I think that really kind of requires a loud round of applause to be handling home and professions and now we need to be imparting this knowledge to the men folk as well I guess. Mr. Bhubendra Chaubey, TV journalist since 2000 from NDTV to CNN and IBM has covered three general elections as a political journalist now hosts a weekend show hot seat rights for various Hindi and English publications both online and offline. Thank you Mr. Chaubey for taking the time for being here. Ms. Vibha Bhakshi, a national award winning filmmaker acknowledged by the president of India for the best film on social issues. She's also made films for the United States government and HBO both of which have been highly acclaimed. Vibha's also studied journalism and broadcasting from the Boston University and New York University. Thank you Vibha for taking the time for being here tonight. Our moderator Kumar the Banerjee who heads external communication for Vodafone looking into stakeholder engagement for reputational brand management. Prior to this he's been a broadcast journalist with Zee, Ajta and Bloomberg TV. Thank you ex-colleagues yes. And last but definitely not the least can we hear it out loud for Mr. Sharif Ranglaker, chairman integral PR, a former journalist and researcher. Sharif has led the firm as its CEO for over 10 years and taken over as its chairman in 2015. Amongst other things of course we all know Sharif personally but I don't know how many of us do know he's associated with an initiative I Am Who I Am and also a band Friends of Linger. He sings as well and he's raising his voice for the LGBT community as far as India is concerned. Can we hear it out loud for Sharif? All yours 45 minutes Kumar Deep please do keep at least 10 minutes for this wonderful audience to post some questions to you. All yours. Is the mic working now? Thank you Suparna for that wonderful sort of an introduction that takes away about 5 minutes from the introduction which I had set out. So very good evening ladies and gentlemen and thank you for making it through this traffic filled Delhi evening which is a common feature in the central part of Delhi. Thank you for all being here. Thank you exchange for media events. Thank you Suparna for getting an eclectic mix of ladies and gentlemen and putting them under the spotlight this evening to discuss one of the most crucial existential angst that has hit humankind ever since the general elections in one of the most prosperous democracies in the world. Okay well not that dramatic but yeah as Rajdeep was mentioning today we discussed something what Denzel Washington had once said that if you subscribe to the media you are uninformed and if you do not subscribe to the media you are uninformed. If you do not subscribe to the media then you are misinformed. So media in the age of mistrust is what we are going to discuss and we have a whole host of experiences right here under the spotlight and we carry forward our what we call the bar side chat because this is not a five side chat. So we'll go ahead with our bar side chat and Suparna and rest of you. Some of you are far bigger authorities sitting right there at the back on the topic at hand and on the switching of narratives, the shifting of narratives, the shifting media escape, the bipolarity, the polarities in the world that we are seeing right now. So we will have ample time for question and answers. Suparna please be the timekeeper if any of us tend to exceed that 45 minutes window do raise your hand or do throw away some of those stuff that you could find near you. So without much ado, quick opening remarks from our fellow panelists. Should I go left? Should I go right? I don't know which one. But let me go with you Sharif. So Sharif has got some interesting takes on mistrust and media. So let's hear you. Let me put in a question towards your opening remarks. Do you think a good amount of mistrust is actually good for business? Maybe you can tackle it as well. I really don't think mistrust is good for business. Mistrust might be good for certain media houses I think, you know, to mislead people and due respect. I think the thing is that we're taking up this topic perhaps a little, to take up and that toward a PR forum because invariably the trust aspect as Rajdeep said has been questionable when it comes to the PR industry for a long time. And even today I think there are a lot of journalists who don't trust PR people. But I think the biggest problem is really not in PR because I think as an industry we, the clients that we represent stand for scrutiny, they are up for scrutiny. We engage directly with the press. We engage with other consumer groups, stakeholders, etc. But I think the story of mistrust as far as the press goes, goes back a long way. And I think many of you all would remember an ad campaign from one of the largest newspapers in the world actually in English, which compared a newspaper with the price of a newspaper with a samosa. At that time itself, the press itself started to relook at itself as what it was. A leading promoter of the same group stands up and compares a newspaper with a fast-moving consumer group, a consumer good, which is basically saying it's like a soap, it's like shampoo, etc. So I think the dumbing down of press itself started long ago and perhaps we didn't notice it. And if we look at even the current situation, as Rajadeep also pointed out, you're seeing a polarization where certain press believe they're nationalists, certain press believe they're anti-national or they're being termed anti-national. There are press where, as you just said, should I look left, should I look right? So that ideology is another problem that the press is facing. So I think the issue for PR is much easier today as far as trust and representing brands, but I think the problem lies really and resides mostly with the press, who today is owned by corporations and while there might be Chinese walls, but we all know Chinese walls, I mean the Chinese wall is not a wall. And so we don't know where that gray area is perhaps a challenge for us to address, but in terms of credibility, it's for the press to really sort that out. Thank you, Sharif, for those opening remarks. They are pretty cogent. Should I turn to Bhupendra? Do you want to directly take that on? Or should I go with the ladies and for your opening remarks as well, Bhupendra? I don't think you're audible. Do you want to mic? And this is one of those rare moments when you are being subjected to a moderation and not audible. Okay, this is fine. Firstly, thanks to the organizers of this event. Lovely place, last place to be having an intellectual-intelligent conversation since the bar is right in front. The bar side chat. Yeah, it's a bar side chat. But since the topic is such and since Sharif has set up this debate in frankly, if I may say so, very predictable manner, all points which he's raised are points which have existed before the press for a very long time. And the fact that this debate has been kick-started by a journalist pontificating about what the PR industry is all about also tells us a lot about the times that we live in. So firstly, let's be honest about the reality of the times that we live in. I have a lot of friends in the PR industry and truth be told, Sharif, over the last seven to eight years, some of the best stories that I've done have all come from the PR sector. A huge round of applause to all of you because I do believe a lot of my colleagues have actually switched over to the PR profession. So I don't buy this theory for a moment that there was a time when PR was being looked down upon and journalists were these great souls and PR people were somewhere there. I don't buy that at all and that's one of the reasons why I'm here. What I do believe where this word mistrust has kind of got embedded with our industry and I'm even willing to say that this is a huge opportunity before India as of today where PR and press can frankly both coexist and cooperate with each other. I do not see anything wrong whatsoever with a representative from the PR fraternity coming to me and telling me about a story which let's say may be helping a certain client of his or may be against a certain client of an adversary as long as a story is factual. As long as there is some merit and some depth, if it is backed by facts, if it's backed by documents, I'll go with the story. My job is not to look after your client's interests or the interests of someone's adversaries. My job is to bring the information out. Now to that extent if the press will be called compromise, if the press will be called taking sides and so be it, our job is to bring out facts, our job is to bring out the story. On the question of Chinese walls, on the question of corporate ownership, I've just earned 40 this month, this year. And I have been around now for what? I started working with NDTV with my dear friend Shivraj sitting right there many, many years back. Since the time I started working as a professional journalist till now, and even before when one would be hearing about the press and about the media, all these questions have been raised. If the allegation is that the press is compromised today, let me say press was always compromised. If the allegation is press has no credibility, let me say press has never had any credibility whatsoever. Having said all that, I think there is still enough scope. Despite the restrictions, despite the pressures which Rajdeep very lucidly has pointed out, which are applicable in all of us, I think there is still scope, there is still opportunity in which all of us can discharge our responsibilities. And as much as I salute and compliment my friends and colleagues in the PR industry, similarly I compliment all my friends and colleagues in the journalism space who despite those polls and pressures still managed to put up some kind of a reasonable product out there night after night. This challenge of whether you're right, whether you're left, what's your ideology, I face this challenge on a daily basis. I'm just 48 hours back. I'm looking at a scenario where a political party has sued us for supposedly towing the line of a party B and the party B 24 hours later sues us for supposedly towing the line of party A. Now both these parties are upset and both these parties are going to accuse us of taking their sides and I think that we're doing something right. Because our job is to ensure that both party A and party B are equally upset with us. Thank you, Bhupinder. That's an interesting conversation to have and you have the round of applause to suggest what it means. We will park some of the thoughts that you have raised there and I'm sure our lovely audience, the informed audience that we have has some questions. Let me turn to you, Viva, and you more from a civil society perspective, more from an observer perspective, though you are one of fairly vocal content creator in this space. How do you look at this entire media space? How do you look at the narratives which are being weaved around mistrust through various channels? First of all, a big thank you to everyone for being here. Yeah, I've just landed from, well, just driven down from Haryana where we started the sequel for our film Daughters of Mother India. But I just want to say that as a documentary filmmaker, I will always be a struggling filmmaker. The issues that we take up are going to be very sensitive and the last one that we took up was on what happened to India after the night of Nibbia's rape and murder. I don't think I could have got into a more sensitive and a volatile zone. And the result has been that besides the National Award, which we are very grateful for, the film got embraced by the government, by the police, by the activists, and academia. And I think there was a lesson to learn there, which was that even as a documentary filmmaker, you can create emotions that you have that ability to create emotions. And so you have to be very responsible. When this film came out, there was only one thing that the team said, that we will make a responsible film. And if the intent and emotion is right, your viewer is very smart to understand it. We have gained access to the Delhi Police Control and Command Room and I could have done whatever I wanted with the police. The codes that I could have got would be similar to the other film that got released. It would have been sensational. I would have swept the international awards. At one point, I really thought nobody would watch Daughters of Mother India besides our families. But that's not what happened. And that's when I say you've got to be true to yourself in whatever you do. Your viewers are smart enough to understand that. The film had no solutions. The film had no heroes or villains. And that's what we talk about. It doesn't have to be black or white. Leave it to the audience to derive what they want to out of it. And I think I am an extremely small part of what unleashed. You need the help and that's where I bring up the Public Relations Company. We could not have made a small film like Daughters of Mother India Movement without Weber-Shackvik, which was a PR company that supported us pro bono. And really a big round of applause to them because we could not have done this alone. And that's when I appeal to everybody that those who are in the position of power and influence then do it the right way. Use it when you need to because that's far more important than just branding. Thank you, Viva. That was very interesting because you alluded to what Rajdeep was saying. Facts are sacred and if you have the right kind of intent then facts are what it matters. But let me turn my attention to Pooja and you are a career communicator as well as a mother of three, though Subarna said mother of two. Having said that... What is the company? Okay, we will not create mistrust here. So tell us how does one manage reputation? What are the reputational risks and reputational management risks in an era of mistrust, something which you are passionate about? A very good evening to all of you present here. I think today's discussion is something which is very alarming and it is something which is very crucial considering the point of time and the point of art that we are today in. There is no silver bullet solution to deal with this kind of worst situation but the only thing that has to be done in today's epoch of mistrust is that we need to prioritize our integrity and we need to start respecting our values. That's the first thing that we need to do as responsible individuals and that's the first thing we need to do as responsible professionals. Not just that the issue of mistrust is not in one industry. It is seen across the verticals and it is seen across the sectors. You take the recent example of Tata and Cyrus. That's the clear-cut case of corporate mistrust. We take the example of surgical strikes. That's the case where we are today questioning our own army officers. This is completely uncalled for and this is something which we have never done in so many years. I have insurance claim for everything but we cannot have an insurance claim for reputation. So it is therefore important to handle reputation with a lot of care and with a lot of caution. Thank you Pooja. Well said, well said. And there you have the teams clapping for you. Let me turn a quick question to Bhupendra. Sorry. So there are these echo chambers which exist and we are somehow tired. We are part of the process. We are somehow drawn into it. What Rajdeep was alluding to as surround sound of media. Do you think that it's the birth of these echo chambers which is keeping away the real narrative from emerging in front of the audiences? Actually what is a real narrative? Let me put that question on the table. What is reality? What you describe as an echo chamber, what a lot of people around us describe as a platform which thrives on a non-imperty, which thrives where reputations are assassinated on a daily basis if not an early basis. For many that's a reality. For many the reality that we attempt to dish out on a daily basis on our news platforms is not the reality. It's a skewed version of reality. So it depends on which side of the table you are really on. I think what has really happened and why you're having this debate and why you're using this word mistrust is because somewhere along the line maybe because of the kind of spectacular growth that social media platforms have seen maybe the fact that increasingly news increasingly gets broken on Twitter or Facebook and more often than not when it breaks on a social media platform it turns out to be false. But because there are no checks and balances as such you want to say something about me you can go, you can tag 20 people, you can say whatever you want to say about me. I want to say something about you and let me just say this that while I applaud and compliment my friends in the PR fraternity manipulation of social media manipulation of perceptions as many of you would certainly know itself has turned out to be a huge industry. I mean I don't want to take names here but let me just say this that some friends of mine they actually showed me they actually showed me how Twitter trends can actually be manipulated. Now someone is doing that boss. There are professional teams out there which are manipulating perceptions something that I am describing as perception as I said to many that's reality and they say that what we dish out is a perception if I fall for that then that's where my fault is and I think that's where also the distinction between the so called mainstream media and the so called social media really comes in the new forms of media really comes in because at the end of the day I think there is still some filters they've been compromised they've calmed down quality may have calmed down I'm always the first one to admit that but I think it's still much better in comparison to where we are as far as social media platforms is concerned and I think it will take some time before both these really come together so this word mistrust will forever remain embedded with our industry with our profession till such time there is no equality of sorts between what is new age media and what is so called old world convention media Thank you Bhupendra very interesting I would like you to think upon one interesting bit has the world really changed post the general elections in US when we saw these echo chambers leading to what they did in a way but we'll park that thought but let me turn to Sharif and perhaps Pooja and Vibha also do you think it's the echo chambers as the social media is turning out to be which is the real culprit for this mistrust or do you think there is a more manipulative agenda at play and if the social media weren't there there would have been something else See I think Bhupendra is right I mean there's perhaps a lot more manipulation that takes place because a lot of what flows around in social media is also word of mouth and then if Bhupendra is my friend and he posts something I trust him I might repost it but I may not verify what he's posted and a lot of that happens but I think manipulation just like he said this whole issue of credibility in the press or credibility of PR they've been consistently perhaps questionable for a long time but I think the manipulation is seems to be part of a certain kind of culture that we also live in just like was being seen in the times that we're living in and because when you have ideologies also impacting and I think it was if I remember Madan also Madan Bihal of ADFACTORS had tweeted when the US results came and he's made a tweet which had something to do with you know that the press in the US should have put its ideologies aside and reported the news of what was happening and I think so when you're looking at manipulation it's not just in the US but it's been happening here as well when a large corporation that has also been the name was mentioned pulls out an ad campaign or pulls out all of its ads from a newspaper and uses that as a tool to determine what stories also come that's also manipulation and that goes back a long time so it's not today can I just add and can I really be blunt with this I think the word mistrust is being debated here in this manner simply because there's one simple perception and there's one simple thought and I just want to put it very very clearly by the day I'm getting more and more convinced that hatred in our society is getting institutionalized we love to hate each other we don't love to love each other anymore and that's why we love it if I could be distrustful towards you the reason to hate you it'll keep me going absolutely I just want to add something because this whole thing of hate and without referring to which television program this is not television this has got nothing to do with TV or politics it's the times we live in we were sitting in an ad agency one of the largest ad agencies and they were debating this primetime TV news thing and they said the most of the people watch it because they wanted to know who will get it thank you Sharif actually thank you for that but this entire concept of politics of hatred and the politics of the counter narrative is something which we should ask Viva about because some of the issues she deals with are on the politics of hatred so do you think by any chance these echo chambers are helping in creating a positive narrative or they are creating to what you call the era of mistrust first of all films like us it's very hard to get people to watch it first of all so when people watch our films we are very very grateful so what a lot of people do what you're talking about mistrust I think in the world of documentary films we won't call it mistrust we'll call it sensationalism right so if you rather than handling a subject sensitively if you sensationalize it you just feel you're going to get more attention on it and we've seen that we've seen that happen again and again even the way India's portrayed internationally I mean I remember when my when I went to New York for the festival I mean at that time you know got the reputation of being the rape capital of the world I remember I was walking with a group of Indians and everybody was looking at the Indian males as potential rapists is what sensationalism now since I made a lot of films for HBO New York which dealt with sensitive issues I looked at the audience and said what if I filmed a white United States racist and there was pin drop silence and I said with that called daughter of mother India and please look at it from a balanced perspective so I think again in our world you sensationalize it it's very cheap publicity which will last very short while sensationalism is something which Pooja would discuss on the reputational management bit so do you think again I'm getting back to the question I put to Sharif there do you think a little bit of mistrust means good business and I gave it a thought before asking I repeat that question so you know in my opinion I feel that individuals today are the agents of change they are the influencing community today having said that it means that today the strings of effective communication are with the individuals today also there is when we talk about business mistrust and reputation it is not reputation it is risk management it is risk to reputation which needs to be managed and that is a bigger question when it comes to mistrust in the era of this in current scenario I feel we are still a thin layer away from creating an era of distrust which is going to be even more alarming so I think it's better that we wake up now thank you and for the sake of time and my timekeeper is showing me so what I will do is we will take couple of quick sharp questions from our audience please raise your hands there will be our team mates who would go across round the table and put across the mic before you actually throw the floor open can we have like a last word of what do we do in the existential situation what is the solution we've all spoken about what the problem is as far as mistrust is concerned as far as journalism is concerned as far as manipulating things are concerned and sensationalizing where can we actively along with the PR fraternity along with the journalists along with the entire media industry how do we approach this if everyone individually of course wants to kind of portray a certain kind of a thing but what finally is getting done is a representative of what you and I are putting out being responsible that's what it is I mean let me try to do one positive trait a day think about one positive thing a day rather than thinking about the natural perceptions that we have the natural things that we do and what Rajdeep and what all of us have been trying to hint at is that doing the right thing sticking to the facts, sticking to our ethics our core ethics whether you are a communicator whether you are a public affairs personal whether you are a journalist whether you belong to any part of the world doing what you think is right and sticking to the facts because they are sacred will help us wade through some of these noises which have been created in the echo chamber ten occasions if you listen to your heart on seven occasions three occasions you'll be forced to compromise no problem seven occasions if you're willing to listen you would have changed the world I think you should report with integrity and intelligence that's the way forward would you give up business when you know that the corporate doesn't have any ethics would you give up business I'll talk over drinks but many of the actually many of the corporate PR agencies sitting out there have given up on business on businesses which they think are not aligned to their corporate ethics but Sharif might be adding to that please Sharif your last word on that definitely I mean if we find a corporation has certain practices that are not ethical they're not responsible they don't believe in being a responsible citizen then I think we're going to keep a huge distance from them and I think them enough I think I can speak having been part of PRCAI and during the Nira Radia incident at that time I think the whole industry came together and stood by certain guidelines which were developed by the Europe and Public Affairs Commission at that time and I think that's important because we need to consistently follow that thank you thank you Sharif and ladies and gentlemen please have the questions flowing otherwise what Suparna has been telling me there will be no drinks flowing so quickly some questions please if you want some glasses yes sir please go ahead Hi I'm Janam from Aviva question more directed towards Mendra off late if you see the front page of a newspaper or any of the news channels most of the news that comes out are the kind that she made a documentary on now obviously they are sensationalist in nature as an editor when you decide the layout of a newspaper or when you decide what news should come first do you consciously think that it is a news that needs to be sensationalised or do you act on your conscience or given to your business pressure saying that you know this news will guarantee the front this news on the front page can actually increase my circulation thank you Jai Ram we will collect a couple of questions and take them in yes please no no no no let's not make it a shouting match this evening please so just a follow on from what Suparna asked you know in journalism in communications so at the end of the day what is the solution clearly there has to be an alternative because if we are going to crib about it we are not going to get anywhere so do you have a question directed towards somebody so what is the solution anybody can take it okay I will take it anybody else with questions some ladies Dr. Kapoor sitting right there at the back do you have any questions Mr. Madanbhai do you have any questions for any of us if not then we will so let me just answer question which was raised by Jai Ram actually Jai Ram's question just proves what I have always believed in that we as Indians and I am sorry if I offend any one of you I believe that we are the biggest hypocrites and I am convinced including me including me right we want to say something we want to do something else now I can give you so I do this program called Big 5 at 10 on a weekly basis and I will be very honest to you I can give you at this point of time I can give you 5 stories from across the country from back and beyond of places that probably many of you may not even have heard of but you know what will happen I will put those stories out at the end of the day I am also as much as I hated but I have no other option right now let's say subservient to this beast called TRP my TRP will be 0 right on the contrary if I was to pick up a story which you describe as sensationless I won't use the word sensationless but let me use the word shock so if there was a story which really shocks you I will give you a classic example of few weeks back just before the surgical strikes in September there was a beautiful story which came from Jabua district of Madhya Pradesh it's a tribal dominated district and the story was of a group of school girls who all came together and who gave out the office of the district magistrate of that area because the school that they were going in that school did not have a pakka road leading up to the school funds had been allocated and various ministers had come and gone and nothing had been done for several years and those girls imagine that back and beyond of Jabua it's one of the poorest districts in the country they came together and in the unknown future I spent a good half hour on that story we called the district magistrate got hold of the chief minister led to some impact road was built in like 48 hours time flat that was a kind of impact so the political class certainly is very what comes out what comes out on the media but when I actually looked at the ratings the next week it was abysmal so I can do it once I can do it twice if I keep doing if I keep playing these stories and if I keep seeing then you know so that's it so seven times I let my heart decide three times I will let the realities of the world that I live in also decide thank you Bupindra I think that number is great I kind of agree with Bupindra because often in a newsroom sometimes you would hear this the boss Krishi Darshan thodi chalana hai and by the way Krishi Darshan and it is free to air prime time but look at the let's not get into the TRP coming back to the question what is what is the answer what is the answer my solution is the same you know because this dilemma of how do you ensure that you just stick to facts I would like to say that we should stick to facts 100% but as I have already stated very bluntly and clearly if you listen to your heart on ten occasions out of those ten if you listen to your heart on seven occasions if you sort of make peace with your reality and the lives all of us have EMI to pay on those three occasions no problem I'll go with that I think the real challenge is not to cook up something which doesn't exist I think the biggest disservice the biggest mistrust which we can create whether as PR people or journalists I think is to cook up something which doesn't exist and that is why my real concern frankly comes from these new age broadcasting platforms which have given so much power in the hands of individuals and you know if I'm not a responsible person if I get drunk here and if I feel like saying something really nasty and bitchy about some high profile person and I use that platform because it's me and because it comes from me somebody actually believes it that this may well have happened and it leads to a story and over a period of time it becomes a fact I think that will be the biggest disservice the biggest mistrust that we would have created as far as our viewers and our own self is concerned so we need to figure out we need to figure out are we willing to only and only restrict ourselves to facts short answer is yes we must do we I'm not really sure at the bottom line we have to if we are in the show business all of us are by the way in the show business we have to glamorize facts to an extent what is the thin line where do we where does one need to stop and at how much how much does the audience decide is a question which remains up in the air as we speak thank you all, thank you Sharif thank you Vibha, thank you Pooja and thank you sorry thank you Bhupendra thank you KD and we will not let you go before we request of course may request German from Aviva to hand over a token of appreciation on behalf of the exchange for media group for this wonderful panel here of course we talk about the fact that yes everybody has to pay their EMI's but like Bhupain said seven out of those ten times if you listen to your heart as an agency head as a journalist as a communicator stating facts and not deviating and for the rest of the three you can look after I guess paying your EMI's I guess that should also do the trick with a loud round of applause for this wonderful panel here Bhupain, Pooja, Vibha, Sharif and of course Kumar Di for having moderated this particular session