The website is managed by the Press Institute of India (PII), an
independent, non-profit private trust that was established to create
and sustain the high and responsible standards of journalism required
by a developing country committed to democratic functioning.
Mr. Arun Chacko is the Director of the institute from April 1, 2004.
Earlier he worked with the WWF International as Director, Media
Services and Communication. Also worked as a media consultant at
ILO, Geneva.
Mr. Ajit Bhattacharjea, a seasoned journalist who has been the editor
of national dailies like The Times of India, The Hindustan Times
and The Indian Express, was the previous director of the institute.
He is also the chairman of the Editors Guild of India.
Launched as a media advocacy project of the UNFPA and the Health
Ministry, the website, called reportingpeople.org, is put together
and updated by Ms Usha Rai, Deputy Director of the PII and Mr. Dibyajyoti
Chatterjee, a correspondent.
Ms. Usha Rai is a noted developmental journalist who has worked
in leading national dailies.
While the PII focus is on human development, the UNFPA supported
project looks closely at population, development and gender issues.
It brings out a 16-page quarterly newsletter called People in English
and Hum Log in Hindi. The website carries articles published in
all PII publications -- People, Vidura, Grassroots and provides
links to other related portals. Though journalists, researchers
and policy makers across the country contribute for the PII publications,
they are sharply focused on grassroots issues.
Press Institute of India
Founded in 1963, the Press Institute of India receives no funding
from the government. Leading newspapers support it. Mr. Aveek Sarkar,
Ananda Bazar Patrika, Mr. Philip Mathew, Malayala Manorama, Mr.
N Murali, The Hindu, Mr. Shanth Kumar, Deccan Herald. Mr. M P Veerendra
Kumar, Mathrubhumi and Mr. Jacob Mathew, M.M. Publications Limited
are other members.
For many years the PII was the nodal agency for sending journalists
-- reporters, sub- editors and even photographers -- for training
to the Thomson Foundation, UK. The training schedule included attachment
to different national and regional newspapers in Britain. Now PII's
training workshops for journalists are conducted in-house or in
cities and rural areas of India. There is a strong focus on rural
reporting, development writing and writing on women's empowerment
through the panchayats.
PII publications: Grassroots is a monthly, tabloid-size journal
in English that carries selected field reports, its own as well
as the best selected from newspapers, that depict the human conditions.
To encourage journalists to report on grassroots' issues, a prize
of Rs 5,000, supported by the Council for Advancement of People's
Action and Rural Technology (CAPART), is awarded to the best story
published in Grassroots every month. Vidura is a professional quarterly
magazine in English, with a section in Hindi, that reports and comments
on trends and developments in the media: The quarterlies, People
and Hum Log , were started last year as part of the media advocacy
project.
The PII has established useful links with international organisations
dealing with mass media such as the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA),
the Press Foundation of Asia, the Ford Foundation, Reuters, the
Friedrich Ebert Foundation and DANIDA. All of them have aided and
assisted the PII. Over the years the PII has trained over 4,000
professionals – editorial and management – from India,
Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and other parts of Asia.
Media Awareness Project
Backed by the United Nations Population Fund and the Health Ministry,
the project, which began in May 2000, focuses on increasing media
coverage of population, development, reproductive health and gender
issues. With a population of over a billion people, India's population
is expected to surpass that of China in the next two decades. The
impact of this spiraling population is already being felt on the
country's natural resources and economy. Thirty-three per cent of
the population lives below the poverty line and is unable to get
two square meals a day.
However, the mainstream media coverage of population issues has
been peripheral. In fact after the post-emergency backlash to the
family welfare programme, even the government had given short shrift
to population issues. The country's population policy was announced
only last year. So there was an urgent need to focus media attention
on population/development issues and the Press Institute of India
was selected for sensitising the media.
Under the project, training workshops are held for journalists on
population/development issues with a sharp focus on gender. In addition,
PII funds field trips of journalists to different parts of India
to report on state population policies, new contraceptives, falling
sex ratio of females and NGO efforts in population stabilisation.
A newsletter is brought out in English and Hindi and disseminated
to policy makers, journalists and others. In addition, a directory
of development writers has been brought out and this web site set
up.
An eminent team of professionals govern the media advocacy project.
They are Ms Geeta Narayan, Programme Associate, Media and Advocacy,
UNFPA, Mr. A. R. Nanda, Executive Director & Dr Almas Ali, Senior
Adviser (Advocacy), Population Foundation of India, Mr Manmohan
Sharma, Executive Secretary, Indian Association of Parliamentarians
on Population & Development, Ms Madhubala Nath, Regional Director,
South Asia, International Planned Parenthood Federation, Dr Ashish
Bose, a well known demographer, Dr Mira Shiva, Director, Women's
Health and Development (VHAI) & Rationale Drug Policy, Mr. Rajendra
Mishra, Director I.C. and Administration, Department of Family Welfare
and Mr. Chaitanya Prasad, Deputy Secretary, IEC Department of Family
Welfare under Ministry of Health. Ms Usha Rai, Deputy Director of
PII is the project coordinator.
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