For the Youth

Updated on: Saturday, January 28, 2012

“Good news is no news, bad news is good news,” said journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta of a nation obsessed with ‘cricket, crime and cinema’ and set the ball rolling at the sixth edition of the Y Factor seminar 2012.

Organised by the NSHM Institute of Media and Communication (NIMC) on recently, the panel discussion on ‘Media and Youth for Social Change is a Utopia’ compelled the audience to put on their thinking caps.

Moderated by Guha Thakurta, the panelists for Y Factor 2012 comprised economist Abhirup Sarkar; dancer and social reformer, Alokananda Roy; adman Prahlad Kakkar; veteran actor Dhritiman Chatterjee and industry honcho Anirudha Lahiri.

“Y Factor has been conceived as a platform where the industry bigwigs interact with the students,” said, Mrityunjoy Chatterjee, principal of NIMC in the presence of chief mentor Cecil Antony, A R Mukherjee, CEO of Tollygunge Club and Srijit Basu, campus director.

As the first to take the stage, Sarkar said, “Social change also includes economic and political change. The media has an important role to play in shaping our aspirations as it has increased the proximity of the whole world.”

Speaking from her experience with inmates of correctional homes, Roy advocated a change in the legal system of the land. “Media should reach out to the less privileged sections of society and make them aware of their rights and duties,” she commented.

Lahiri stressed on the importance of the youth and media which are inextricably linked in the process that brings about social change. “The youth are gradually realising the power they can command at the click of the mouse,” added Lahiri.

The perceptive observations of actor Dhritiman Chatterjee echoed Canadian philosopher Herbert Marshall McLuhan’s famous coinage, ‘the medium is the message’ while the trademark wit of Kakkar was in full display when he charged out at those who brand the youth of today as philistines. “Our generation did nothing to stand up and question. That’s why there are no icons or leaders left,” said Kakkar.

For the Youth

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