Kitchen Startups

March 16th, Sonipat: To set the tone for the spring semester, JSJC Media Conclave(previously Journalism Tomorrow), JSJC school’s annual flagship fest was organized on March 14 (Thursday) and 15 (Friday), 2024. The fest kicked off on Wednesday, March 13, at 10:00 AM, at the Performing Arts Theatre, with a keynote speech by Mr. Dillip Cherian, a prominent public relations expert in conversation with Professor Ambreen Khan from JSJC.

Professor Ambreen Khan with Dilip Cherian at JSJC Media Conclave 2024. (Photo taken by Ashar Anjum)

The fest’s name was changed to incorporate the growing spheres of JSJC beyond just journalism– corporate communication and film. “We (the faculty) felt that our flagship program should not be limited only to journalism. Journalism is one part of the media landscape in the country. The media landscape includes public affairs, corporate communication, films, and books. And therefore, this year we’re a bigger event,” said Professor Uttaran Das Gupta, the Associate Professor of JSJC, and Coordinating team of Media Conclave, on a radio JSJC episode.

As a collaboration with the Danish Siddiqui Foundation, JSJC also organized an exhibition at the Buddha Quadrangle (T1, Ground floor), themed ‘A World at War: Perspectives Through the Lens.’ The exhibition demonstrated the works of renowned photojournalists from different parts of the subcontinent. The featured photojournalists at the exhibition were Aasma Waguih, Prashant Vishwanathan, Altaf Qadri, Rafiq Maqbool, the late Danish Siddiqui, and so on.

Altaf Qadri and Rafiq Maqbool delivered an illustrated talk at the JSJC event themed ‘In focus: Witnessing War through the Camera.’ Maqbool and Qadri joined the crowd at the Performing Arts Theatre to share some of their experiences and anecdotes from their work on the field in tough situations of war, including Qadri’s experience going missing in Libya while reporting on the field.

Altaf Qadri (left) and Rafiq Maqbool (right) at JSJC Media Conclave 2024.

A special workshop was conducted on March 14, at Day 2 of the event. ‘Frame by Frame: Mastering the Art of Visual Storytelling’ was held by Dinesh Krishnan, a Visual Editor at The Hindu. “The workshop was one of the most interesting events that I got to attend for Media Conclave. Mr. Krishnan explained the ethics of photography and the challenges that lie behind clicking photographs during a crisis in a manner that moved the people in the room. Photographs of the Vietnamese girl, Alan Kurdi, and the stories behind them were not something that a weak-hearted person could witness,” said Moksh Dhand, the general secretary of the student council, and the attendee for the workshop.

Alongside the workshop, a second discussion took place at the Big Bang Conference room titled ‘Democracy and Disinformation’ moderated by Ishan Mukherjee.

Finally, to set a smooth ending, the 1983 classic, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro was screened at the PAA, followed by a discussion by former JSJC professor Jai Arjun Singh, writer of the book “Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro: Seriously Funny Since 1983,” in conversation with Abhija Ghosh, an Assistant Professor at JSJC.

Jai Arjun Singh with the JSJC students pursuing Film and New Media