International debating fest puts media under scanner

Senior journalists from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Britain and the US will debate on issues ranging from credibility, objectivity of media and social media at a three-day debating festival here beginning Dec 13.

Dubbed as "Kolkata's festival of the Spoken Word", the fest will be centred on the theme "Media Under the Scanner", where the spotlight will be on the role of media and how it was interpreted by the common man today.

"Panel discussions and debates will be very dynamic in format. The focus will be on issues like media ownership, whether paid news is a reality, sensationalism versus substance etc.," said Kunal Sarkar, cardiac surgeon and president of the Calcutta Debating Circle, the organiser of the debating fest.

"The larger goal is to promote debating and expose people to talented speakers," he said.

Some of the key speakers from India include journalists Rajdeep Sardesai, Indrajit Kundu, Kishore Bhimani, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar, entrepreneur Swati Gautam, actor Victor Banerjee and BJP Rajya Sabha member Chandan Mitra.

Brendan Miller and Jil Robinson from Britain, Javed Umair and Mehmal Sarfraz from Pakistan and Samuel Ward Packard from the US will be the international participants.

To be held at various locations across the city in collaboration with the Calcutta Club, Kolkata Sukriti Foundation, the British Deputy High Commission and the US Consulate General, Victoria Memorial Hall and various educational institutes, the event will witness a jury of youngsters from India judging the veteran scribes.

"Audiences and the jury of youngsters will judge the debaters," said Sarkar.

Sessions on "Television is long dead, long live social media" and "Justice has been hijacked by media" will be interactive ones with students.