The text of Mahadev Desai’s acceptance
speech:
Namaste and Good evening to you all.
I am really touched by this token of appreciation and recognition by
you. I am deeply grateful, feel humbled and thankful to you all,
including my media colleagues, editors, photographers, and all those who
help me with useful information and most of all, the readers. I also
thank my son-in-law Harshadbhai (who is sitting right there), my
daughter, granddaughter, and wife for their support and encouragement.
I have always enjoyed coming to the Hindu Temple where I have always
received warm hospitality and respect. Hindu Temple has a vast pool of
talent and resources and is a throbbing Temple with many activities
designed to keep alive the Hindu religion, values, our rich culture and
traditions in our adopted land. Coming to this Temple, attending many
events, and giving media coverage has been a rewarding learning
experience for me. I take this opportunity to wish the very best to the
Temple. I also congratulate all the other Award and Scholarship winners.
Having said that, I will digress a bit.
In my long career as a journalist, I have seen quite a few changes.
Before the internet and digital gadgets, I had to type my report, fax it
to the Chicago office of India Tribune, load a film in my camera, take
pics, get those developed in a studio, run to Fedex, and mail them. Now
it is using Word, email, and a few digital camera pics. Digital
technology is fast impacting the traditional media landscape. TV,
internet, social media, WhatsApp, Skype, digital cameras, camcorders,
etc., are providing and transmitting news at amazing speed.
Readers’ preferences are also changing. Instead of long reports, the
current generation prefers texting, tweets, comments, blogs, etc., and
quick soundbites. Speed is the name of the game. Very few have the
patience to wait for three or four weeks to read a report. Even while
the event is going on, pics, videoclips, and comments start appearing on
Facebook, etc.
Many newspapers are closing down as a result of this. To survive, print
and other media content is increasingly being commercially driven. You
find advertisements embedded within a report or in a movie or a serial
story.
The journalist must learn to adapt to the changing scene. It takes time,
toil, tenacity, honesty, passion, and being impartial, fair, objective,
informative, and engaging to win the trust of the readers. He should
always try and avoid fake news and remember never to underestmate the
readers.
I thank you all for attending today and listening to my remarks. Enjoy
the evening. |