Journalists can be the change maker for the society : DevendraTak

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Journalists can be the change maker for the society : DevendraTak

ByTitas Biswas Kolkata : Communication in this pandemic state is going to be more digital, creative, and exciting said, Devendra Tak, national manager and communication head of ‘Save the Children’ on the 8th day of #MediaNext 2020. The theme of the day was ‘Development and Political Communication Online.’ The writer of this article also took

ByTitas Biswas

Kolkata : Communication in this pandemic state is going to be more digital, creative, and exciting said, Devendra Tak, national manager and communication head of ‘Save the Children’ on the 8th day of #MediaNext 2020. The theme of the day was ‘Development and Political Communication Online.’ The writer of this article also took a brief exclusive interview to fathom his know-how.

MediaNext2020 is being organized by the Kolkata-based Adamas University in association with Sharda University, Birla Global University, DME, AIMEC, LOK Samvad Sansthan, exchange4media, ABP Education and IndiaReal. The MediaNext 2020 is being organized over 10 days from June 1, 2020, to June 10, 2020. Each day of the conclave focuses on one specialized domain of the Media and Entertainment (M&E) industry and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on that specific domain. 

Save the Children

Save the Children’s  works across 20 states of India and in 120 countries, on issues related to education, health, protection and humanitarian/ Disaster Risk reduction needs of children, especially for those who are the most deprived and marginalized.“40% of Indian population is children and people should think not only about their future but also about their present too. Save the Children is the 100year old organisation started in 1919. This organization is working for underprivileged children by ensuring their rights on health, education, protection etc. In India this organisation is working with many government and none governmental organisation. “we need to work with children as well as their their teachers and parents. It should be always  two way communication now and children are also going to be part of these change.”quoted by Me. In an exclusive interview with this writer, he also added some names of children from this organisation who overcame odds of lives. Tak added “Sumit is a child from this organisation who makes a rap song to increase social awareness in his community. There are other children also who also work to build up awareness on menstrual hygiene, human trafficking, COVID hygiene etc”. 

His journey, His Book ‘We are the Champions’

Devendra Tak started his career as a print journalist and work with the Independent, Buisness India and Indian Express Online. He is also the author of the book “We are the Champions” along with Rashmi Bansal. This book told the struggle of 15 unprivileged and marginalize child who not only struggle against many circumstances but also help other children to improve their lives too. This book is now in the 59th position of the bestseller list in Amazon and Kindle and also rated as one of the top twenty books on civil rights in 2020 globally. Tak also worked with communication and media manager for CIVICUS and as communication and development consultant at UNICEF. He was awarded the Rex Global fellowship in 2012.

Mode of Communication

Tak also presented a power point presentation where he emphasised on communications and mode of communication. According to him this situation is not only pandemic but also infodemic as well. In a personal interview with him he said, “Nowadays media has become very business-oriented, it becomes a money-making process. There are very few media houses which are still able to cover the purposeful and meaningful story and not driven by only the interest of money. It is a challenging time for media to highlight child rights in media”. Through the presentation, he showed up some statistical data that convey that Indian media is the most untrusted media. He also added some lessons that the media should follow in this pandemic situation like over information is not a solution or two way communication need to be there which means listening as well as informing is also important.

The challenges of digital media

“The older generation is more dependent on broadcast media and print media and for them using digital media is bit of a challenge,” Tak opined while talking about internet accessibility.  He further added, “Marginalized people are affected by lack of information mostly because they lack internet access and other media tools. Through digital media we can reach out to most numbers instantly but there are communities which are inaccessible too.” 

Tak also said.“Communication must be very simple and short. The platforms and modes of communication might changed with time but the messaging should be the same as before but we should understand the use of the emerging communication platforms and tools very effectively”. He also added that communication should be sensible and emphasised the audience to be the most important strategy for the communication. 

Lastly he concluded his speech by saying, “ just doing a story is not a primary task for journalist. Journalism help the community to grow and help the country to become strong. Somewhere down the line we lost the track of that vision and it is the time to come back to reality and be responsible and be a change maker as journalists.”

Exclusive Interview

  • According to you what are the strategies print and digital media should follow in post COVID situation?

Media today has become very business minded, it’s all about money. There are very few media which are still able to cover the purposeful and meaningful story and not driven by only the interest of money. So it’s challenging time to highlight child rights in the media and build communication tolls.

  • Do you think psychology of the audience will change in post COVID scenario? 

Psychology of the audience has already changed post COVID. People are more conscious and hygienic. People even started to greet each other in an Indian way. Social norms and regulation have also changed and people started understanding the meaning of codependency. 

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