Media, Community Service and The Role of Professionals”: Mr Shahid Latif addresses professionals convention
As the sun slipped into the horizon last Saturday evening, the Scholars High School Auditorium at Jogeshwari came alive with scores of professionals from various parts of the financial capital attending the PSF bi-monthly convention along with their families to listen to the Veteran Journalist and Chief Editor of The Inquilab , Mr Shahid Latif, on the topic ” Media, Community Service and The Role of Professionals”.
The session commenced with the recitation of the Qur’an, after which the convener of PSF Mumbai, Mr. Aijaz Ahmad welcomed and felicitated the chief guest. Event host Mirza Kamran gave a brief introduction and highlighted various achievements of the learned speaker to the audience.
The convention was then graced by the Chief Guest,Mr Shahid Latif, the erudite speaker enlightened the audience about the media landscape. During his talk he briefly touched upon how the media has evolved over time, the compulsions created by the corporate model, TRP business and populist sentiments. He said that Social media has created a lot of pressure on the newspapers as they are now forced to cover much of the content which could be easily ignored otherwise.
He then discussed at length about even bigger problem of having Social Media wherein news and content is created without any Editor in between and the lack of strong check and balance mechanisms. Hence there is no accountability on the content that is generated and it is having a largely negative influence on the society.
He encouraged professionals to strive in their circle of influence for changing the perception created by the rampant stereotypes against the community. The professionals need to consciously create situations and grab any opportunity wherein they can prove their true credentials. He stressed the need to become a source for positive influence and dawah in their respective work spaces.
He also highlighted the importance of writing up letters/emails to the news editor in case of a biased and hate-spreading coverage of marginalized communities. He lamented upon the lethargic approach towards such initiatives .
After the session a very engaging Q&A ensued, the house dissented over the idea of discouraging the social media , to which the learned speaker responded that the widespread use of the social media should probably be discouraged unless there are mechanisms in place to regulate it and the truly educated and efficient ones should use it for constructive purpose.
Some of the key points discussed can be summarized below
- Importance of Media in this highly expressive Era
- How Media changes mindset within the community
- How media useful in changing the perception outside the community.
- Hurdles to establish/Infiltrate in Mainstream Media
- What are the alternate ways of communication and expression
- Responsibilities When Freedom of Expression being suppressed
- How a common educated professional may contribute for this cause.
After the session a brief networking and casual interaction continued over sumptuous dinner. Also many professionals came forward to volunteer for PSF upcoming projects
Brief Profile of Mr Shahihd Latif:
Employment: With Inquilab for 28 years (16 years as Editor of the paper)
Designation: Editor INQUILAB, published from Mumbai, Delhi, Lucknow, Patna and 12 other cities of India.
Writings:
Humorous column Namak Paare 1992 to 1997, Weekly article Min-o-Un 2001 to 2005 NOW Nuqta e Nazar, (khaas Mazmoon) every Saturday from Oct 2015. This weekly article is usually on Muslim Issues/Educational and Social Awareness and Responsibilities as Ummah.
Honorary:
- Part of the Editorial team of “Urdu Loak Rajya”, Monthly magazine published by Govt of Maharashtra
- Ex Member National Integration Council, Govt of India
- Ex Member of “Utkrusht Patrakarita Puruskar Samitit”, Govt of Maharashtra 2012, 2013
- Ex Member of “Anandi bai Puruskar Samiti”, Govt of Maharashra
- Ex Member of PM’s 15 point programme implementation committee, Govt of Maharashtra
Foreign Tours:
1. To USA:On a 24 day’s visit under ‘International visitors’ programme’ by State Dept, Govt of USA in 2001
2. To UK: Under British High Commission’s 7 days’ programme “Engaging British Muslim” in February 2007.
3. To Oman and Qatar:In November 2008, as part of Prime Minister’s High Level Delegation.
4. To Russia:In December 2009, as part of Prime Minister’s High Level Delegation.
5. To Saudi Arabia:In Feb 2010, as part of Prime Minister’s High-level delegation.
6. Vietnam, 7. Malaysia and 8. Japan: In Feb 2011-12, as part of Prime Minister’s High-level delegation.
Books:
Poetry book “Jehaat” (Dimensions) published in 1999 and released at a function at Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan, Mumbai, by Poet and Lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri. The book was awarded the Best New Talent Award by Urdu Academy, Govt of Maharashtra in 2000.
