ALFA - BOOK LAUNCH OF THE INSIGHTS OF DIGITAL MEDIA

🖊️Arpita Roy

On the auspicious occasion of Saraswati Puja which coincided with being the first Sunday at the International Kolkata Book Fair, the crowd showed up in numbers uncountable. Within all the events and book surfing, an event which brought immense joy and pride to Sister Nivedita University was the book launch of the respected Dean of School of Media Communication, Fine Arts and Design, SNU, Dr. Minal Pareek. 

The book titled ALFA - Alfa Generation’s Book For Comprehensive Digital Media received a lot of love and appreciation from the esteemed guests. The event commenced with inviting dignitaries including Prof. (Dr.) Dhrubajyoti Chattopadhyay, VC, SNU, Prof. Suranjan Das, Registrar SNU Prof. Suman Chatterjee, Group CEO TIG Dr Sanku Bose, Press Club President Dr. Snehasis Sur, TIG Chief Media Advisor Jayanta Ghosal, Secretary IKBF Sudhansu Sekhar De, Joint-Secretary Mr. Raju Barman and others. Last but not the least present was Dr Minal Pareek who edited this extremely important compendium.

Talking about the book Dr Pareek said, “During Covid-19 I noticed how rapidly the world is getting inside the grasp of digital media and how the old digital media is changing. While working with my students and faculty at SNU intrigued me to learn in depth about the digital media. It is dynamic, useful and successful tool in today’s world. Students and teachers should learn and be updated with all the advancements in digital media to make teaching and education interesting and up to date. This book addresses various topics of digital media and I am sure it will be beneficial for the students.”
 
At this point moderator for the evening, Prof. Arindam Basu threw a question to the panel, “Will digital media truly transform our world? Or will analog media or human intelligence still have a place 5 years from now?”. 

The panellist expressed strongly about their opinions on how the digital media dominates the lives of people, be it professional or personal. They stated how the circulation of newspaper has decreased in today’s world where people can read and watch news on their mobile phones. But they also said with assurance in their voices that print media will never lose its respect and place in people’s lives. It is just that people have to accept the modernisation of the society. Mr. Snehasis Sur stated that Internet and Mobile Association of India (IMAI) has published statistics which showed how the differences between the urban and rural population in India has decreased due to the emergence of digital media. 

He ended his speech saying, “Convergence of print media and digital media is a way of life. Which content will go for which medium is the main thing”. Other guests spoke about how digital media having an easier algorithm than print media makes it easier for the market to understand and choose. “Digital media is a challenge that we have to accept. We have to tackle the bad sides and embrace the good sides”, said Prof, (Dr) Dhrubajyoti Chattopadhyay. 

Veteran Journalist Samik Bandopadhyay said, “Digital is a medium like analog medium. And will just be a medium to connect human minds. The long queues in front of book stalls was proof of the human mind surviving the digital onslaught.”