Disgruntled Way Not Lead to Cope with Corona Pandemic Gravest Situation- APG Varsity Webinar

Shimla, May 24 – The School of Media and Mass Communication of APG Shimla University organized a webinar on the topic role of media in Covid-19: Awareness and prevention here on Monday that presided by Chancellor Prof. DR. Ramesh Chauhan, the vice-Chancellor of APG Shimla University and senior journalist Dr. Ashwani Sharma, the moderator of the coordinated of this webinar. The webinar started with the inaugural speech of Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. Ramesh Chauhan in the presence of Pro-Chancellor Prof. Dr. RK Choudhary, the Vice-Chancellor of Venkateshwara Open University.

The media doyens Dinesh Sharma, the editor from India News Channel, senior journalist and author Rashid Kidwai, and Prof. Dr. Shashikant Sharma, the former bureau chief of Dainik Tribune, from journalism department of Himachal Pradesh University attended in the webinar as key expert speakers. All the students of APG Shimla varsity, media students, teachers and people attended the Webinar to listen the media experts and role of media in corona pandemic. Dr. Ashwani Sharma addressed the students, teachers and participants that media has a greater role to cope with the gravest situation of corona pandemic if right information, fact based reporting and ground reporting are available to the masses from which governments and health system can be guided towards the right path to cope with the corona crisis. The key speaker senior journalist Dinesh Sharma said that in corona period, the role of is more inevitable. “Media should disseminate ground reality of the corona crisis to the public in order to aware them and prevent corona outbreak. The corona pandemic is more challenging for media persons and their family members as they bring news and information even from the hotspot of corona to aware the public and show path to the government as well health system of India to provide better health services to the masses”, said senior journalist Dinesh Sharma during the webinar. Dinesh Sharma said it is the duty of media to expose the disgruntled health system to improve it for public health and safety. In this time, media is being criticized if media spread sensational news on corona but sensational information is good if reality or fact based truth is heralded for public health, said Dinesh Sharma. Senior journalist and author Rasheed Kidwai addressed that India needed more researches on health services to tackle the human crisis in advance. The media plays it’s greater especially during any emergency when government system fails to tackle any crisis. “This time is not for criticizing one another by opposition and ruling political parties but they should united to rend out the cloudy shadows of the corona by honing the health system to save the public first”, said Rasheed Kidwai while addressing the APG varsity students, teachers and participants in the webinar. The traditional and dross ways of governments and health system of India are not the solution of reducing corona crisis among the masses as it needed advanced strategy and advanced health system like of developed nations to deal with the present corona situation, said Rasheed Kidwai. Rasheed added more that Indian society as well as   Indian governments’ mind sets is of traditional way as it had used before seventy years ago; he said this time is not for criticizing governments and media. Rasheed said that masses too follow the protocol of corona if they seek safety. Prof. Dr. ShashiKant Sharma from Himachal Pradesh University said that media is playing a greater role to address the present situation of corona and alerting governments and health system towards the service of the public and their health issues. Prof. Shashikant added more that mass media must surveillance on the gravest situation of corona and disseminate fact based news on corona and safety from corona. Media must make panic situation for public safety against corona pandemic and criticize governments and health system to be strong to provide good health services to the public. How many media persons died in corona pandemic, governments have no data, while media is criticized for its ground reporting over the failure of health system of the government”, said Dr. Sashikant Sharma.