Swenarski, who is also Public Diplomacy Officer in the US Embassy at New Delhi, was delivering a lecture on “New media versus old media and its impact on agricultural journalism” held under the auspices of Department of Agricultural Journalism, Languages and Culture in collaboration with Society for Advancement of Academics, Sports and Cultural Activities, College of Basic Sciences and Humanities.

Comparing mobile democracy with mob democracy, she underlined that there was a greater challenge than ever to verify the accuracy of content, photos and video. Quoting a survey by the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ), Swenarski stated that agricultural journalists feared budget cuts with the emergence of new media. The IFAJ emphasised on promoting research and distribution of fair and accurate information, encourage unbiased and objectively presented work and contribute to a better understanding.

Presiding over the lecture, Dr S.K. Maan, Dean, Post Graduate Studies, said that the task of rural development by the media was an arduous one as most of the mass media was quite often urban-biased and urban-based in their content and treatment. More often than not, their approach, being individual-centric rather than idea-centric, keeps agriculture and rural development out of the loop.

“The coverage of agriculture in both print and electronic media is far from being adequate”, she said. A variety of communication vehicles from mass media to community media as well as from traditional media to new technologies can be used to strengthen the socio-cultural process of dialogue, information-sharing and mutual understanding. Media can play a pivotal role in improving governance in developing countries by enhancing public participation at the grass-roots level, she opined. She said that good journalism required the best we could muster in terms of disciplined learning, intelligent analysis and prudent judgment.

Earlier in his welcome address, Dr Tejwant Singh, Dean, College of Basic Sciences & Humanities, said that media could transform the otherwise marginalised sections of the society into participants in decision-making process. Therefore, considerable planning, resources and creativity would be needed to reduce the digital deficit along with other socio-economic problems, he said.

Media technologies have undergone an incredible transformation over the last few decades. Growth and development of the new media has led to their wide diffusion and application, thus increasing their economic and social impact. However, the rhetoric of ‘Global village’ smoothly connected in cyberspace is now being replaced by concerns over growing digital divides.

SPAN’s Urdu Editor, Anjum Naim and Madhuri Sehgal, Program Manager at American Center in the US Embassy also graced the occasion. SPAN, a bi-monthly general interest magazine on India and the United States, is published in English, Hindi, and Urdu by the Embassy of the United States in New Delhi since 1960. Now, it is serving its third generation of Indians.