“The penetration of many dailies in the newspaper industry led to intense competition and a price war,” stated Ms. Sreedevi Purayannur, Assistant Professor, Amrita School of Communication.

Ms. Sreedevi was presenting a paper titled The Effect of Competition on Local Newspaper Content: A Content Analysis at a conference in Malaysia.

This annual conference of the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) drew participants from over 25 countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Phillipines, Sri Lanka, India, Australia, New Zealand, USA, UK, Bangladesh, China, Japan and Korea, from academia, media houses, governmental and non-governmental institutions.

The theme of the conference was Forty Years of Media and Communication in Asia: Retrospect, Introspect and Prospects.

Ms. Sreedevi’s paper investigated the effects of commercialization in journalism, while focusing specifically on the breakup of long-standing media monopolies across India.

“In the price wars that stirred up in many Indian cities, it was a question of who captured the attention of the maximum number of readers; the ad wars showed the unconcealed rivalry between newspapers, each trying to establish their approach to journalism as superior to others,” she added.

“My paper presentation led to an in-depth discussion on the growing importance of entertainment-oriented journalism as opposed to journalism’s commitment to social welfare, and its traditional role in a democracy as a facilitator between the state and the people. The discussion also touched upon related issues such as advertising pressures on news,” she later commented.

The same conference also saw a paper presentation by Ms. Sudha Venkataswamy, Vice Chairperson and Assistant Professor, Amrita School of Communication. Ms. Sudha’s paper was titled Growing Up in the Digital Landscape: The Digital Natives of Tamil Nadu.

“My paper attempted to analyze the scope and nature of Internet dialogues and interactions, the so called, “Digital Natives” experience in Tamil Nadu and investigated the use of the Internet by children for information and education, mainly within the family and at school. It also explored the complex interactions of social, economic and cultural influences with contemporary technological advancements as they become more interwoven into the fabric of the lives of school going children,” Ms. Sudha informed.

Both research scholars have also earlier presented papers both at national and international conferences.

Ms. Sudha’s paper titled Managing the Indian MBA Brand: The Challenging Future was short-listed for the Best Research Paper Award during the 19th AIMS National Convention at IIM Kolkatta in August 2007.

“Presenting at the AMIC conference was an academically enriching experience. AMIC is an excellent platform for Asian media scholars to network and collaborate. Plenary sessions and panel discussions are always focused on Asian perspectives of communication, and bring in some of the best keynote speakers in the field,” shared the scholars.

August 23, 2012
School of Communication, Coimbatore