Engage with Social Media

To be a good communicator, it is essential to engage well with your stakeholders. Engagement in PR and media is about constantly keeping your clients updated about what being done in terms of promotional activities. It essentially involves having a clear and coherent dialogue to understand the aspirations and needs of the clients.

 In PR it is also imperative to have an important relationship with the press. Engagement with the press is important to let people know about the upcoming events, internal management changes and to disclose other news worthy stories that might be relevant to some sections of the media.

In recent years, the avenues for putting a story in the media has widened due to the emergence of social media. While the traditional media is still the preferred choice for announcing important press releases, it has to however, be  complemented with the a strategic use of social media.

Social media ensures a strong online presence. It allows instant engagement with people who are in the ambit of the digital circle. For the event industry in particular, the use of social media is a two step process. At one level, it is used for promotion and for broadcasting interesting bit and pieces of news on a daily basis. At another level, it is used for following up news once it has been released in the main stream media. In fact, the use social of social media revolves around people, objective, stories and technology. We need to understand who the type of people we are targeting at, what is the objective- is it engagement or marketing or both, what strategies we want to adopt, and finally what technology we are going to use: it is a blog, tweet or any other relevant social media tool.

The Power of Dialogue

As the United States solemnly commemorated ten years of the horrific attacks on 9/11, the rest of the world stood by its side showing solidarity and reflecting how the events on that fateful day had an impact on our daily lives.  Much has changed since then: the airport security all over the world got tighter, going for any big public events anywhere came with a tag of having to go through security checks; psychologically, the symbols of defence and security represented by armed police man in London’s Piccadilly Circus or almost fortified airport in New Delhi constantly remind us of the threat and the vulnerability from terror strikes.

On geo-political front, new allies were formed, old allies went to war. As I write this, reports of a major gun battle around the US embassy is pouring in from Kabul.  The war against terror has run into trillions of dollars; during the process some controversial strategic mistakes may have been made particularly with Iraq, the US succeeded in eliminating Osama bin Laden but the actual threat to global peace and security hasn’t subsided.

One of the major unfortunate fall out of the war on terror has been is the stereotyping and prejudiced shown against an identifiable religious community. This has not only created divisions within multicultural societies but lead to the rise of radical and right wing groups that tend to undermine the very ideals of freedom and democracy.

What is the solution to all these problems? On September 11 this year, I had a privilege to take part in a global peace meeting at a very local level. The meeting was organised in a picturesque village near Gloucester in south west England. As we deliberated about the cost of the war and the number of British and other lives lost, we discussed at length how individually we can contribute to the global peace.

Global peace can sound a lofty term but it begins with us at the very local level by forging strong relationship with people of races and religions in our neighbourhood. It is about shaping a public opinion first at the local level and then at national level for peace and dialogue. Together by forming a strong public opinion, we can put pressure on our governments to adopt policies which are based on dialogue and peace rather than war and devastation. This includes forcing governments across the world to come to consensus to get rid of nuclear arms by 2015. I am not saying that we should disband the military; they should exist for our defence and for operations that can alleviate humanity from oppression and undue suffering.

In the meeting titled Humanity at a Crossroads the following was read out:

More than half a century ago, Gandhi spoke out against the unremitting violence that wracked him times. What distinguishes us from brute beasts, he said, is our continuous striving for moral improvement. He declared that humanity was at crossroads and had to choose between violence, the law of jungle, or non violence, the law of humanity. The world in fact now has an unprecedented opportunity. We have a change to open a new page in the human history.

Dr Daisku Ideka , the president of SGI, a global  Buddhist peace organisation said this after the attacks on 09/11:

“We regard the recent terrorist attacks in the United States as a challenge to the law of humanity. As a result, we refuse to follow the law of the jungle upon which the attacks were based . We declare our determination to find a solution not by military means but through initiation of extensive dialogue with the Arab world. Instead of pouring oil on the flames of hatred, we choose to douse those flames with a great flood of dialogue that will enrich and benefit all humanity.

This terrible tragedy took place in the first year of the 21st century; we will mark that event by making 2001 the first year of a new era of dialogue with the Arab world. This is the best and only choice to assure that the horrors are never repeated , and we believe it is the most fitting way to honour the memory of all those who lost their lives in the attacks.”

Such a declaration, put into action, would certainly be met with the unstinting praise of future historians. When great evil occurs, great good follows. But great good doesn’t come about on its own. Courage is always required to accomplish to great good. Now it is the time for us to demonstrate the courage of non-violence, the courage to engage in dialogue, the courage to listen to what we don’t want to hear, the courage to control our desire for revenge and follow reason.

(The above excerpt is from the essay by Dr Daisaku Ikeda on his encounter with Mrs Veena Sikri, former director general of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations)   

      

 

Reflection: 28 August - a day where I have always been a winner

St. Augustine' School, Kalimpong, India

Good days always comes unannounced, but while in school there was one day that I always knew was going to be a great day for me and my friends. The day, 28^th August, was my school day: the feast of St. Augustine. The week leading up to the day was full of celebrations, concerts and other activities. It meant fewer classes and more time to engage in a range of extra –curricular activities. The school building and the hostels got freshly painted; the gardens and the lawns were immaculately mowed and tendered, the school chapel  was relentlessly polished and decorated by the sisters(nuns), there were surprises in every meal ( which was always better than the food served during  the rest of the year).

Many students got an opportunity to show their talent in music, drama, dance and singing during the week. It was a culmination of weeks of rehearsals where teachers, staff and students worked very hard to put up the best show. It was also on this day our much loved and celebrated girls from our neighbouring sister institution St. Joseph’s convent marched eloquently in pair to our grand auditorium to watch the annual concert. It was a major anticipated moment for most boys!

school concert

Personally for me, it was day of glory. The inter- house swimming competition was held on this day. I was a good swimmer and every year on this day I filled my kitty with gold and silver medals. It felt great to be cheered by friends and receive those medals in front of the entire school. Weeks later the inter-school swimming tournament, the Burn’s Shield took place, but it was not always in front of your school crowd.

Winning the medals was a joy: it made you popular, your friends and teachers congratulated you. You wanted to write everything to your parents and wished they were there to see it. But above all what was great was that the spirit of camaraderie that existed. It made you feel that everyone is a winner. I celebrated my victory with the very friends I competed against. No one envied you; and you stood by your friends when they took part in something.

Later in life, the day continued to be great for me. I got my first job in London on this day last year. I certainly miss those great school days, but that day was just not about convent girls and celebrations alone. It taught us some great values of healthy competition, love, team work and loyalty that helps me in my day to day life. Possibly I might have forgotten about this day, but thanks to Facebook, boys of St. Augustine’s or Sasonians as they are called, have been pouring wishes from Kathmandu to the US. I wish all my friends good luck wherever they are.

The British phone-hacking scandal shows that social media is here to stay

The phone hacking scandal involving the News of the World that rocked Britain couldn’t have been at a more interesting time. It happened at a time when the future of newspaper industry in the UK already looked shaky due to factors ranging from declining readership, loss of advertisement revenue and of course the availability of alternate and more engaging platforms offered by the internet.   

The scandal not only highlighted the reeking state of journalism, but alarmingly exposed the nexus between the press, politicians and the police. The dramatic events that followed after the exposure is well known:  Rupert Murdoch not only announced the closure of the News of the World and withdrew his bid for complete takeover of BSkyB ; the politicians acted swiftly to save their skin and ordered a full judicial enquiry to clean up British journalism.

The press reforms that looms large following the scandal needed attention long time back- not so much for the need to have a tighter control over media, but to ensure that adequate checks and balances are in place to uphold the credibility of journalism. But, what the fall out of the scandal might trigger is a serious consideration by the media bosses to review the business model of  newspapers which has been mercilessly threatened by the internet. 

There is no doubt that the public confidence in the media is seriously undermined, but what has been apparent over the years is people’s preference to consume news over social media and multimedia websites. The death of the News of the World pops up the reality that transformation of the media landscape might be sooner than expected. This, however, does not mean that journalism as a career is coming to end, but what is shows is that media is going through an exciting phase where the engagement with newsmakers, providers and consumers will be intense both at a local and global level.

The recent events in the Middle East have powerfully demonstrated the role of social media in the modern day journalism. It was quite evident how social media or citizen journalism worked together to draw attention to the Arab Spring. It played a pivotal role in gathering, filtering and distributing news by conveniently circumventing the repressive press censorship in countries where protestors took to the street. In many ways, social media acted as an additional tool for journalists. Clearly, news organisations have been swift to embrace social media more seriously. Recently staff at Al Jajeera had to go through intense social media training. CNN iReport, which brings together citizens and reporters on one platform played a great role during the Japanese earthquake .

In terms of business models newspapers have to find a clear balance between old and new, professional and amateur journalism as illustrated by The Huffington Post. The newspaper industry is growing steadily in Asia, particularly in India, where the readership has soared in the last few years with the increased level of literacy.  Many Western newspapers will do well to enter the growing markets to ensure steady stream of revenues.

Opinion:let the internet be free

How to regulate the media in the rapidly changing digital environment is a big concern among the media regulators and governments across the world. There are growing worries about the impact of internet and social media on copyright, privacy and piracy issues. In the recent e- G8 summit in France, the leaders of the world’s wealthy nations discussed internet for the first time. It was also attended by Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, and Google's Eric Schmidt. During the opening speech France’s president Nichloas Sarkozy claimed that countries could not remain neutral and allow completely unchecked internet use. While the French President called for tougher laws, the participants such as John Perry Barlow, Yochai Benkler, Zuckerberg, and Schmidt spoke out during the event against tight regulatory control of the Internet.

There is a huge difference between developed and developing nations in terms of accessibility and usage of the internet.  While the penetration level of the internet is quite high in the developed world, in the developing countries the access is limited to the affluent and the middle classes.  On a global scale, the internet is still in the evolutionary phase. There should be a wider focus by the governments to optimise the potential of the internet to improve the living standards of people. Emphasis should be more on e-education, e- commerce,and e- health. In this regard, any attempt to regulate the internet could only be self defeating as it would inevitably lead to unintended consequences that could only hamper creativity, innovation and press freedom.

While concerns on piracy, copyright and privacy are genuine, solutions to such problems lay on new technologies (iTunes of example).  There is also a need to review the relationship between the mainstream media and social networking sites. We need to ask can social media be a source of news or should it be a catalyst in driving the news. National press and media laws should be reviewed to reflect the changes in their respective media environment. In overall scheme of things, internet should be kept free form any sort of regulation

India has never been and will never be an existential threat to Pakistan

In his interview with BBC’s Andrew Marr before his European tour, President Obama categorically pronounced that Pakistani army’s obsession with India arising from its belief that India poses an existential threat to Pakistan is a ‘mistake’ and that attitude needs to change. He referred to the enormous economic and trade benefits that Pakistan can reap by normalising ties with India.

It is a little secret that the rivalry between nuclear- armed India and Pakistan is potentially the most dangerous in the world. The fall out of a war between the two nations can not only have catastrophic consequences in the sub-continent, but will gravely endanger global security and economy.

It is, however, worth looking at things from the Indian perspective to explain why the Pakistani army’s claim of an existential threat from India is highly exaggerated. 

The conflict with Pakistan is centred on the Kashmir issue. It has had a serious impact on ordinary Kashmirs, but for the vast majority of Indians the issue has become a thorn in the path of their rapid economic development. For India, the conflict is about defending the borders from potential invasion from Pakistan and its strategic partner China. It has never been an aggressor in the three wars that it fought with Pakistan and one with China. Other than the Indian states, that share their borders with Pakistan, the rest of the country has little historical or cultural connection with Pakistan; so unless the national sentiments are provoked with acts of terror like the Mumbai attack in 2008, the thought of going to war doesn’t even cross public imagination.

India also has a massive and a chaotic democracy to manage with a host of internal security problems to tackle. Unlike the Pakistani intelligence and military, that often tries to give a jihadist angle to the issue; India on the other hand, with its secular credentials and a Muslim population bigger than that of Pakistan, sees the problem as a territorial issue. It has nothing to achieve by invading a neighbouring country that in economical and conventional military terms is no match to India.

It is also true that moderate Pakistanis harbour no antagonism against India. But in a country that is deeply rooted in an orthodox religious conservatism, it serves the Pakistani army well by projecting India as an enemy of Islam; or by poisoning the minds of the population by blaming India for their woes. The jihadist groups aided by the Pakistani army have systematically carried out a propaganda that blames India for the shortage of water in Pakistan. This is a dangerous trend. It is no wonder that when Pakistani cricketer Mohammad Asif found himself embroiled in spot fixing scandal in England in 2010, many in his village suspected an Indian hand in it!

The problem with Pakistan is that it is the army that calls the shots in regard to its strategic foreign policy. The Pakistani army is not just a military organisation but it also controls many lucrative businesses in Pakistan. The survival and dominance of the army largely depends in its ability to sustain its rivalry with India.  The Economist in an article ‘A rivalry that threatens the world’ quoted  M.J. Akbar, an eloquent Indian journalist and author of a new book on Pakistan. He blames the army, mostly, for ever more desperate decisions to preserve its dominance. “Pakistan is slipping into a set of contradictions that increasingly make rational behaviour hostage to the need for institutions to survive,” he says. ( http://www.economist.com/node/18712274)

Lessons on peace and democracy from Ireland and West Bengal

There have been three historic developments last week, which are distinctly unrelated, but provide strong lessons on democracy and peace.

The three events: the election result in India’s state of West Bengal- where the communists were ousted from power after 34 years of rule, the British Queen’s visit to Ireland, and a cautiously received speech by President Obama on Arab spring and Palestine –Israel issue; indicate how the societies in the world have evolved to become tolerant, politically conscious with growing desire for lasting peace and reconciliation. In fact, the first two events can provide valuable lessons to President Obama on how he intends to go about supporting and steering reforms in the Middle East.

The first lesson to be learnt is about democracy. President Obama in his speech yesterday acknowledged that the Iraq misadventure has showed that democracy cannot be imposed from outside. He is right. Democracy by very definition is a people’s movement. However, its long term sustainability and success as a form of governance depend on a number of factors. It is a gradual evolution of a system that is subjected to the maturity of the institutions that serve as the key pillars in upholding the values and ideals of the system. Fundamentally, it is also a system of trial and error. It thrives on political consciousness of the population that elects its leaders. The wisdom to exercise the franchise responsibly comes from the empowerment of masses through education and a change of outlook.

This is where West Bengal serves as a classic example. The defeat of the communists indicate that no matter how institutionally deeply rooted a party might be, in a democracy it can never conquer the minds of people, especially, if it is tainted by poor performance and has consistently failed to deliver on the basic needs of the population. Political enlightenment of masses comes with time. So when we preach democracy to the world, we need to be patient. President Obama’s pledge that America will promote and support movements for reform is commendable, but that support must be carried forward by successive American presidents. The idea should be to help these states build the institutions that will ensure a prosperous future for them, and allow them do it in their own cultural context.

The second is peace. This is where Israeli Prime Minister and Palestinians can take a leaf out of the British Queen’s visit to Ireland. The Queen’s visit to Ireland has a symbolic relevance to peace and more importantly a desire of the majority of the great Irish people to reconcile and put the history behind them.  Irish President Mary McAleese should be highly applauded for showing an exceptional courage by inviting the British monarch to Ireland. This shows that people are longer willing to be defined by the problems and issues of the 20^th century or before that. We cannot be living in history, and the great people’s movement across the Middle East reinforce the same theme. People want change, freedom and peace. For the first time there is great opportunity for bringing around peace in one of the most disturbed areas in the world. This opportunity must not be squandered. The above events show that peace in this century will depend on the decisions we make today. Good luck to President Obama.