Demecracy will collapse if media falters & other stories

Presenting BRUNCH 117 with The CONNECT Series of a week when former Supreme Court judge B N Srikrishna has cautioned that democracy will collapse if journalists falter and media professionals expressed concern over attacks on independent media. ON the environmental front, India spoke against mindless destructive consumption and called for conserving global biodiversity, while the Yogi Adityanath government has drawn up plans for solar power thrust to meet the rising energy demands amid boost to business and industry.

TELECOM

Airtel 5G In UP – PEHLAY AAP Waali Shahar Mein

Highspeed Service At No Extra Cost For Now

Sovan Mukherjee, CEO, Bharti Airtel, Uttar Pradesh said Airtel customers can now enjoy speeds up to 20-30 times faster than the current 4G

Mobile Re-Charge Via Paytm Now

User-Friendly Interface On The App

Paytm says it is constantly looking to enhance our users' experience.”

Growing With The Speed Of Thought

81.6 Cr Broadband Connections, Rural Tele-Density At Nearly 60%

The telecom reforms and clear policy direction led to spectrum auction of 2022 garnering highest ever bids, says the Govt

ENVIRONMENT

Solar Power For UP Farms, Villages

Yogi Thrust On 18 Solar Cities

As UP power consumption is set to shoot up to 53,000 MW with industry boom, CM Yogi calls for alternative energy sources

 

‘Stop This Mindless Destructive Consumption’

India Tells The Elite At Global Biodiversity Meet

Nature is the victim of global warming, and its protective features can do little against unchecked temperature rise, Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said.

BUSINESS

Noventiq Eyes $1Bn Biz In India, Acquires G7 CR Tech

Digital Transformation Major’s 4th Acquisition

Noventiq offers multi-cloud solutions, software, cybersecurity and infrastructure.

No GST On Residential Rentals

If Dwelling Is Used For Tenant’s Own Purpose…

The GST on Ethyl alcohol supplied to refineries for blending with petrol is being reduced to 5% from the existing 18%.

We Know We Can’t Use IPO Funds For Buyback – Paytm

Company Says It Has Enough Liquidity

Paytm brushes off analysts speculations on share buyback

Seven Spring Springs A Pleasant Surprise

‘Green’ Tea Sachet Inks Deal With Accor Hotels

Seven Spring has introduced India’s first 100% compostable and eco-friendly packaging of sachet covers for tea bags.

IPOs

 

Electronics Major Elin’s Rs 475 Cr IPO Opens On Dec 20

Price Band - Rs 234-Rs 247

EMS major Elin Electronics has fixed the price band at ₹234 to ₹247 per Equity Share for its Rs 475 cr IPO.

Vroom! Landmark Cars IPO Subscribed Thrice Over

QIB, Employee Segments Get Overwhelming Response

Landmark Cars’ revenue from operations grew 52.17% to Rs 2976.52 crore for the fiscal 2022.

EDUCATION

Terribly Tiny Tales Floats Content Academy

To Connect Talent With Industry

TTT Academy is built to train world-class content creators and storytellers, company founder and CEO Anuj Gosalia said.

NATIONAL

Target Rs 10 Lk Cr: Team Yogi Goes On War Footing

Aggressive Roadshows In 18 Countries

Offering unlimited possibilities, Team Yogi receives support from the Netherlands, Japan, San Francisco and Singapore

Poor In Telangana, Puducherry Miss PMAY-G Homes

85 Lakh Houses Of The Targeted 2.95 Cr Yet To Completed

Govt says the initial timeline for PMAY-G was 2022, which has now been extended to March, 2024

Don’t Worry, Govt Ensures Food Security

Buffer Stock Way Above Requirement For Welfare Schemes

The Government has intervened to check wheat price rise, say official sources.

HEALTH

Yoga Helps Beat Breast Cancer

Milestone Study At Tata Hosp

Tata Memorial Hospital’s clinical trials show fewer chance of recurrence and death.

6 Month Old Baby With Eye Cancer Treated At Wadia

Wadia is the first trust-run hospital to do this procedure, said Dr Minnie Bodhanwala, CEO of Wadia Hospital, Mumbai

S3V Master Stroke For Stroke Patients

Makes India’s First Medical Devices For Reversing Paralysis

Of the 20 lakh people who suffer brain strokes in India, only 1,500 undergo treatment, says N.G. Badari Narayan founder of S3V

SCIENCE

Star Explosion Causing Odd Radio Circles In Space?

New Research into Mysterious Phenomenon Outside Galaxes

Dr. Amitesh Omar, Scientist at ARIES, says the explosion of a white dwarf star could have triggered the Odd Radio Circles

Pythons In HP 9 Million Yrs Ago!

Fossils Show Weather Akin To Today, Prevailed Ages Ago In Himachal

Seasonally wet sub-humid to semi-arid climate must have prevailed in Haritalyanagar area in Himachal, scientists say.

DEFENSE

N-Ready Destroyer Warship To Join Navy today

75% Made In India With State-Of-The-Art Weaponry The Ship’s Anti-Submarine Warfare Capabilities

The ship’s Anti-Submarine Warfare capabilities are provided by the indigenously developed Rocket Launchers, Torpedo Launchers and the ASW helicopters.

MEDIA

Death Knell For Democracy If Media Faltersk

Justice Srikrishna Asks Scribes To Speak The Truth

Media under increasing attack, say speakers at RedInk Awards

OPINION

The Unicommerce Universe

Advantageous Tool For Market Leadership

This innovation in E–Commerce space can revolutionise the entire online sales management system in the future, write DR RAJESHWARI KRISHNAMURTHY & YASH GUPTA

PROPERTY CONNECT

Construction Costs To Be Volatile

Home Prices Rising On Renewed Demand

With just-in-case approach, builders have begun to stack up material, diversified professional services and investment management company Colliers says

STARTUP

Moneyyapp Raises Money, Doesn’t Say How Much

Pre-Seed Round From Angellist Early-Stage Quant Fund.

MoneyyApp to launch innovative products and services for digital natives and solopreneurs to help them  grow - Fayyaz Hussain, Cofounder and CEO

 

Your Group NGO NatConnect Foundation in the news

And the Hills Come Alive

Koyna Dam-hit people go sans water as Kharghar Hills plundered

 

Unlocking PR value, Beyond Perfection

PR has come a long way since Adam-and-Eve. The profession has begun to assert itself. We have grown much beyond the pink-shirt, party happy culture to emerge as effective bridges of communication. Whether we are corpcom professionals or agency practitioners, we have begun to play a meaningful role in building and maintaining relationships through our messaging internally as well as externally, with the senior management and with the TGs.

 http://imageinfluencer.in/Single?bid=9

You can’t kill a story!

Reproduced as it is with permission from http://reputationtoday.in/

TOPICS:BN KumarConcept PRCrisisPRCIReputation

POSTED BY: BN KUMAR APRIL 19, 2016

Crisis communication is about getting facts right, setting the record straight.

Crisis comes uninvited! And it happens when you least expect!

In fact, even the best of us do not enjoy any immunity from crisis. But the severity of crisis could vary depending on whether you are an individual or a corporate.

It could be a traffic constable holding you up when you are in a hurry to go for an appointment or for that matter what happened to Vijay Mallya or Maggi.

During my media training sessions (aimed at making corporate honchos media ready!), I am often asked this question: So, how do we handle crisis?

My answer is simple: Be prepared for it!

Three decades on, Union Carbide’s Bhopal disaster continues to stay top-of-the-mind when one talks of corporate crisis. The company avoided the media when MIC leaked from its shut-down plant and killed hundreds. As a reporter at UNI – the then premier news agency – in 1984, I was struggling to get official information.

A knee-jerk reaction to crisis that I have been witnessing among corporates is: “Get that damn story killed.”

I keep telling my clients during that requesting a journalist to kill his story is like asking him not to do his job! No journalist worth his salt would like to be told to kill his story. Instead, you should look at the facts and give your side to keep the story balanced. It is only when the journalist gets his information absolutely wrong that one can suggest that he should not do the story and even caution him about the legal consequences.

Some corporates and PR practitioners may brag that they can get negative stories killed. But such ‘successes’ cannot be repeated.

Even if you are successful in blocking a story in one particular publication, there is no guarantee that it won’t appear in another publication. The ‘source’ of that information can always approach another media house. For instance, a client of mine pressurized the space marketing department of a publication into killing a news item.  His celebration was short-lived as the same story with a big headline appeared in another newspaper, two days later.

Please check this case study as well. A PSU complained to a small newspaper management about a reporter who was writing so-called negative stories about the government company. The reporter was asked to quit. The PSU might have thought that its problem is over. But the sacked reporter joined a larger publication, which thrives only on negative and sensational reporting. Guess what happens now? The reporter writes against the PSU with vengeance! The government company’s crisis multiplied instead of dying down!

Many manufacturing units, which handle hazardous material or are prone to accidents, do conduct periodic safety drills. It is essential that even their corporate communication departments and their PR consultants (who handle hazardous stories!) oil their machinery well to handle crisis.

Here are the Ten Commandments for crisis communication; some of these may sound simple. Yet please keep them in mind (or as an air hostess says: Some you may be frequent fliers and are familiar with the safety instructions. Yet we request you to pay attention to the demonstration).

1. Do not behave like an Ostrich. Trying to hide or run away from the problem will add to complications.
2. Do not be evasive. On the contrary, be responsive. Set up crisis communication machinery, let there be a single source speaking to all – internal and external audiences.
3. Keep disaster management machinery on tenterhooks – With regular drills and surprise checks.
4. Always be transparent – If the problem has arisen due to your fault, admit it and ensure that you take quick corrective steps. To err is human?
5. Take crisis head-on – Address the problem, analyze it and try to find solutions.
6. Do not panic – Remember, crisis can happen to the best of us.
7. Communicate, you must. Others may say, communicate in crisis; But, we say: communicate always to avoid crisis!
8. Maintain credibility. Credibility is the 1st victim in any crisis. Remember, liars will always be losers.
9. Educate yourself, educate the media and TGs on crisis and plans to overcome. This is all the more important if the crisis situation arises from the media reporting.
10. Listen to PR counsel. Don’t brush them aside. A PR professional is not a fool. Otherwise he wouldn’t be working for you!

BN Kumar

Executive Director at Concept PR

B N Kumar (BNK24x7 to his friends) has about 40 years of experience in mass communications as a journalist as well as a PR professional.

He started his career with Free Press Journal in late 1970s, worked with United News of India and wrote for The Daily, Times of India, Mid-Day and Indian Express. He also ran a county paper called Newsbank New Bombay catering to the needs of Navi Mumbai before returning to mainstream by joining Business India. He started his PR career with the legendary Dhirubhai Ambani's Reliance Industries and was part of the team that set up O&M PR - the first PR arm of an Ad agency - 30 years ago.

He is also the National president of Public Relations Council of India (PRCI).

PRCI focus on skill development & going global

Masterstroke Interview with B.N.Kumar, National 

President,Public Relations Council of India (PRCI)

April 7, 2015 Richa Seth Interviews. Vikypedia Exclusives

Public Relations Council of India (PRCI), a premier industry body of PR, advertising, HR and media professionals and academicians, has appointed Concept PR Executive Director B N Kumar (BNK for friends) as its next national president. Earlier, BNK led Mumbai chapter of PRCI and was the national vice president. He has close to four decades of experience in mass communications as a journalist and PR professional. In the words of PRCI Chairman Emeritus and Chief Mentor M B Jayaram, “BNK has been taking active interest in furthering the cause of our oganisation and he led two successful Global Communication Conclaves at Mumbai.” “As the programme committee chairman of the just concluded 9th Conclave, he played an exemplary role in ensuring its success.”

In this free and frank exclusive interview with Richa Seth, BNK, who has close to four decades of Media and PR experience, talks about his vision for PRCI and the industry. Excerpts:

1. In your new role, what are the initiatives that you would like to undertake? Please elaborate?

I firmly believe in inclusive communication. I would like to involve all of PRCI chapters. We have quite a few initiatives on hand.  In Mumbai, we floated a Guest Faculty pool for mass communication colleges which, as we all know, have teacher shortage. Experienced professionals from our pool will be sent to colleges on request to give practical training to PR and journalism students. We are glad to have some fine journalists in our pool. We would now like to spread this across major centres.

During the 9th Global Communication Conclave, we received a suggestion to help private and public sector companies train their new PR professionals. We are ready to take this up. As they say in Sanskrit, ‘Spardhaya Vardhanti Vidya’ (Knowledge improves by discussion). At PRCI we have initiated Knowledge Forums. We would like to further this by holding seminars and discussions on current issues that confront the media and communication industry. Along with the Press Club-Mumbai and BARC, we did couple of media seminars on Radiation and Urban Garbage Management.

Yes, I must tell you about our unique e-mag. It’s neither weekly, nor monthly or quarterly. It’s online and gets updated on a 24×7 basis. PRapport  or prrapport.blogspot.in has quickly caught the imagination of communication professionals in India and abroad. Here, we report not only on PRCI activities, but discuss issues related to our profession.

We have  a youth wing called YCC  or Young Communicators Club which provides a platform for journalism and PR students to strengthen their knowledge. Our target is to spread YCC activities to all BMM and other mass communication colleges.

2. As the adage goes, ‘PR has a PR problem’, how do you think PRCI can help to build the reputation and value of PR among C level executives?

Rapport is the solution. As you said, we also suffer from communication problems. Most of us do not communicate. We cannot afford to function in isolation. This is where the top management participation in our programmes significance. We will continue to communicate with the C level executives through Corporate Communications and HR professionals who are our members. Simultaneously, we will focus on corporate memberships and their participation. We have couple of other initiatives. You will soon see action. Please keep a watch on http://prrapport.blogspot.in/

3. What are the initiatives that PRCI will take to connect with the youth community and get them more involved?

We already discussed the YCC initiative.  We would like partner other forums like Mediaforum. We also have advanced skill training programmes for the upcoming professionals. This generation is blessed with technology. We would like to use it to the hilt. We also have awards for young professionals to encourage their talent. In a first of its kind initiative, we would like to support the BMM and other PR and journalism colleges with internships at our member companies.

4. Largely PR industry bodies are often seen as populated with members of PSUs, what will be your strategy to get members from across the board?

We firmly believe in going with both public and private sector companies. You can see from the response that we get for the various programmes and awards – both PSUs and private companies respond well. If you look at PRCI’s signature Chanakya Award winners in various categories, you will realize that PRCI is for all sectors – PSU, private, SME and even startups.

5. Could you share details about the advanced skill development modules that PRCI is planning to launch for private and public sector companies?

Good question. We will draw resources from across and help companies make their new and young PR professionals industry ready. Everyone knows about media and nobody knows media enough. With this in mind, we can run media familiarization programmes on what makes news and what doesn’t, what to expect from media, how to write press releases, the importance of online media and so on. We are developing PRraport into a web site which will also serve as a knowledge forum.

6. What do you think are the challenges faced by the PR industry today and how can it be overcome?

Challenges are quite a few. There is no fun in working without any challenge. On a serious note, I think the biggest challenge is the credibility. We are at cross roads of credibility in view of the recent developments which I need not name. Corporate governance, transparency and ethical practices are among the issues that confront us as communication practitioners. Designing media acceptable communication is another challenge.

Every company wants its news in Times of India and The Economic Times. Even I would like this interview to appear in top papers. Is it possible? Everybody wants to be a Thought Leader. They need to realize that it doesn’t happen overnight. Many companies and their Corporate Communications departments lay so much of stress on English media that the overkill proves counterproductive. Many often neglect the regional media. We do business in rural India but when it comes to media, all of us want the news only on English media. Also, we need to impress upon the corporates that PR should be used as an interface and not as an interference tool.

In these days when scams are the flavour of the season, getting a negative story stopped from getting into print or breaking news is just impossible. As we say in our media training sessions, ‘Asking a journalist to kill a story is like asking him not to do his job’. Managements need to be educated on this. Close rapport between Corporate Communication professionals and journalists is a must. To give you an example, we had Prasar Bharati Chairman, General Secretary of the Editors’ Guild of India and Director General of Cellular Operators’ Association of India addressing the PRCI’s 9th Global Communication Conclave at Delhi. Our rapport with the media can be exemplified from the fact that late Vinod Mehta inaugurated PRCI ten years ago at Bengaluru. And, year on year, we have been having senior journalists like Arnab Goswami, Rajdeep Sardesai, Chandan Mitra, later M V Kamath, Kumar Ketkar, Barkha Dutt, Prakash Akolkar and Ayaz Memon participating in our programmes.

7. Your advice for the youngsters in the industry?

Many of our young professionals do not read. Though they are blessed with Google, they try short cuts. Many even do not know how to write mails and whom to address their communication. For instance, what is the point in sending the press release about an obscure award to the Managing Editor of Business India? And the, these young kids call him up and ask: “Sir which beat do you cover?” As late Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh told us during the inauguration of the Press Club building, young media persons, particularly from TV channels do not how to ask questions. Don’t we remember the infamous case of a TV journalist asking the Union Home Minister, after taking his byte: Sir what is your name and designation?! The same is applicable to PR professionals too. How many of our young PR professionals know that Eenadu is published from Mumbai and Delhi as well? How many of us realize that even the less circulated newspapers are read by the editors of large papers? I may be sounding harsh but the hard reality is we don’t like to do any hard work and we always try for shortcuts.

 8. Finally, as a veteran of close to four decades of experience, what do you think is the future of PR industry?

Man is a social animal. We cannot live without communicating. PR industry is evolving by the day and I firmly believe that this industry has a great scope. And we at PRCI would like to play the role of a catalyst in making the industry play a meaningful role in the country’s socio-economic change. If India has to emerge as the Numero Uno nation by 2025, PR has to play its role across the board – industry, governments, urban areas and villages.

- See more at: http://www.vikypedia.in/2015/04/masterstroke-interview-with-b-n-kumarnational-presidentpublic-relations-council-of-india-prci/#sthash.rU7aA3sK.5u5c7jGs.dpuf