Discussion on Media Start-Up in Northeast India held

Department of Mass Communication, Assam Don Bosco University embarked upon the second day of the third edition of its Media Fest, IMAGEIND on 26th May 2023, at its Tapesia campus in Sonapur.

The second day of Imageind commenced with a special lecture which was delivered by Brig. Ranjit Borthakur. Besides his spectacular achievement as a Brigadier, he is also a regular contributor to newspapers and magazines on contemporary issues as well as a popular panelist on regional TV channels. In his lecture, he accentuated on the tremendous value that print media still holds, despite the upsurge in digital media. His speech was followed by an interactive session with the students from the department.

The second half of Day 2 witnessed an engaging panel discussion on the topic “Media Start-Up in North East India: Opportunities and Challenges”, with Tinat Atifa Masood, NLP certified IELTS trainer and Business Communication and Soft Skill Trainer, as the moderator.

The panelists included prominent media entrepreneurs; Karma Paljor (Founder, EastMojo), Dipesh Chetry (Founder, The Northeast Journal), Bijoy Ghimire (Founder and Editor, The Mileage) and Subhankar Banerjee (Founder, Seven Sense Communication).

The second day proceeded with the screening of the film “Sorry” by its director Mirza Arif Hazarika. Post the screening, the director had a constructive discussion with the students.

Paljor is his address stated that EastMojo is a digital media startup that aims in bridging the gap between the newsroom, news editor and the common people. He also stressed on the lack of fundings available for digital media startups as there are very few corporate houses in North East and commented on the requirement of government aids.

Banerjee, who dwells in the field of Public Relations (PR) expressed, “It took me time to establish my Start-up. The scenario of PR in the northeast changed post-pandemic.” Further, he expressed that there are still multiple misconceptions regarding PR and people need to start understanding the plethora of opportunities and range it encompasses.”

Bijoy highlighted that digital media startups need to start with local stories and then diversify with time. He also stated that media startups have become easier with the advent of new media.

Chetry shared how his startup “The Northeast Journal” started as a Facebook page in 2018 and it was only after years of dedication and constant social posts that it established itself as a startup. He emphasized on being consistent and patient in order to grow.

The Panel discussion concluded with an interactive session, in which various questions with regard to media, entrepreneurship, journalism, and PR raised by the students were answered by the panelists.

IMAGEIND featured a variety of activities such as photography, logo design and news anchoring competitions as well as panel discussions and special lectures which attracted over 500 guests and participants from various colleges and universities across North East India.