Renowned veteran journalist Sampad Mahapatra delivered an inspiring talk on his rich experiences of three decades to students of School of Mass Communication and School of Film & Media Sciences in Campus 18, today.
Mr. Mahapatra, a versatile personality in contemporary journalism from Odisha, spoke on “Journeys in Journalism, Experience of Three Decades”. He said, “MLAs and MPs have their own constituencies, but our constituency is the entire universe including wild life”.
Recollecting his journey as a journalist, he termed journalism is as common sense. He talked about his journey from a teacher to a layout designer to illustrator to a print reporter and a television journalist. He told the students about the complexity and restrictions of Editorial policy. He explained about the need of hard work and dedication for the job. He even recollected how he was walked for 17 kms in the hilly region of Daringbadi in Kandhamal district of Odisha for the coverage and rescue of Italian tourists from the captivity of Maoists.
Pointing to the huge variety of choices available, he advised the budding journalists to choose the stream of journalism they wanted to follow early in life. He also advised them to read a lot, work on their language skills, be humble and work for the benefit common man.
At the beginning, Ms. Simran Chanda fourth semester student of Integrated Master of Communication and Journalism, introduced Mr. Mahapatra and Ms. Sargam Saxena, second semester Integrated Master of Communication and Journalism, presented flower bouquet and offered the vote of thanks.
Mr. Dipak Ray, a development expert, Md. MA Ahmad, a film critic, Mr. Ganeshwar Mohapatra, Asst Professor, School of Film and Media Sciences, Mr. Sushant Bahinipati, Lecturer, School of Film and Media Sciences, Mr. Ajay Mishra, Course Coordinator, School of Film and Media Sciences, Dr. B. B. Dash, Assistant Professor and Course Coordinator, School of Mass Communication, Ms. Ruby Nanda and Sudarsan Sahoo, Faculty Associates, School of Mass Communication were also present during the talk among others.