ITV

Tag: social issues

  • News18 HSM network steps up to address key issues through special initiatives

    News18 HSM network steps up to address key issues through special initiatives

    Mumbai: News18 Network as India’s largest news network has always believed in raising and addressing issues that are affecting the people of the country and are often been overlooked. Staying true to its ethos, the network’s channels – News18 Bihar/Jharkhand and News18 Urdu announced two new campaigns on the birth anniversary of a great leader and a freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi.

    ‘Saaf Safai Zaroori Hai Bhai,’ a month-long campaign by News18 Bihar/Jharkhand aims to achieve the vision of a clean Bihar, which is an integral part to fulfil Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of a clean and hygienic India, with its capital being the dirtiest city. The campaign will find areas suffering from lack of sanitation and cleanliness and will adopt various means to improve the quality of life of citizens by enhancing excess to basic sanitation facilities and evoke a sense of responsibility by asking people to join hands and actively participate in cleanliness activities to achieve the aim of making Bihar a ‘swachh’ state. 

    The campaign will have three elements:

    Mr Clean, a dedicated reporter who will travel across the length & breadth of the state to bring updates on hygiene status in every corner.

    Swachchta Helpline, a special number, which will enable viewers to share images of areas lacking proper sanitation and cleanliness.

    Appreciating ‘Swachata Ke Hero,’ who are doing stellar work in maintaining cleanliness and hygiene.

    ‘Aurton Ka Haq: Koi Shak?’ by News18 Urdu is another three-four week-long campaign with the goal to combat discrimination against women and ensure equal rights, safety, and overall respect for all. The campaign will look at stories and case studies from across the country including belts where the minority community is dominant. Debates and other special shows will also be included to highlight key women-related issues and finding means to address them. Eminent personalities like Janab Imran Hussain Sahab, Delhi cabinet minister- food & supply, election and environment & forest, social activist Tahira Hasan, singer Pragnya Wakhlu are coming out in support of the campaign.

  • BJP leads political ad spends on Facebook

    BJP leads political ad spends on Facebook

    NEW DELHI: Social media has emerged as one of the most powerful tools in elections. All the political parties are making the utmost use of social media platforms during the elections to tilt the opinion in their favour.

    From February 2019 till August 24 this year, BJP spent Rs 4.61 crore on Facebook advertisements and Congress Rs 1.84 crore, according to the data available on the social media giant’s spending tracker. Keeping an eye on Maharashtra elections, the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party spent most on this money tp push social issues, elections, and politics. 

    Four other advertisers, linked to the BJP, also made it to the top 10 list including three that share the same address in Delhi as the ruling party’s national headquarters, according to the tracker.

    These four include two community pages, ‘My First Vote for Modi’ (Rs 1.39 crore) and ‘Bharat Ke Mann Ki Baat’ (Rs 2.24 crore); Nation With Namo, which is categorised as a news and media website (Rs 1.28 crore); and, a page (Rs 0.65 crore) affiliated to BJP leader and former MP R K Sinha, who owns Security and Intelligence Services (SIS).

    According to Facebook, an ad is categorised under “social issues, elections, and politics” if it is made by or on behalf of a candidate, political party, or advocates an outcome; is about a particular election or referendum; is regulated by political advertising, or is about a local social issue.

    In total, these accounts and BJP spent Rs 10.17 crore on advertising, which accounts for 64 per cent of the total amount spent by the top ten rank holders, that is Rs 15.81 crore. The period covered includes the general elections in April-May 2019, which saw the BJP return to power with an overwhelming majority.

    Earlier, a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), claimed that BJP is by far the richest political party in India. The ADR analysed the audited accounts of the BJP, and six other national parties, including the Congress, for 2016-17. In 2019, BJP earned Rs 2,410 crore.

  • ‘Feel Yourself’ for Breast Cancer awareness by Ufaan.org

    ‘Feel Yourself’ for Breast Cancer awareness by Ufaan.org

    MUMBAI: “There are various subjects in our society that needs to be talked about to normalize them” says Ufaan.org founder Vikram Tyagi. The digital production house and YouTube channel Ufaan.org has been in news for a while with prominent online portals sharing their content for social change videos. Recently, it has rolled out a short film for breast cancer awareness, called Feel Yourself. The film promotes awareness about regular self checkups for breast cancer, as these could be the first alarm call to save from a potential health hazard.

    ​public://ufaan.png​

    The film has garnered many eyeballs within a short span of release and has been shared by ,many prominent portals. “My mother has been through the disease and she first got to know about the disease through self-checkup. Through this video, we are attempting to convey a message simply that, it is better to be aware than regret later.” added Tyagi

    Ufaan.org is entirely dedicated to social causes videos. It has produced content around various serious issues like Nikah halala, according to which a divorced Muslim woman is forced to marry another man and have sex with him, before she can remarry her first husband. Male equality with a campaign called #screwequality. One of Uffan’s pioneer work was every mother’s worst nightmare, the film that spoke about child molestation and touched many hearts. The channel has focused on several similar matters.

    ​public://ufaan 2.png​

    Brands like UrbanClap has joined hands with ufaan. Recently, UrbanClap offered free photoshoots for LGBT couples, ufaan produced a beautiful LGBT campaign around the offer, which was well received. Ufaan has also produced many videos for digital platforms like ScoopWhoop among others. Also, ufaan has been associated with Oxfan to conduct a social experiment on male-female equality.

    The channel claims that awareness videos play a vital role in awakening youth towards things that should be changed and online content is the best medium to get people talking about such issues. “By creating such content on media, we want people to open up to taboos that society has created. Such videos are liberating the society” claims Tyagi.

    ​public://ufaan 3.png​

    According to the sources, the in house production of short films can cost between Rs. 40,000 to Rs. 70,000. The actual cost could however vary and depends mainly upon production requirements. The channel’s promotion strategy is that its prime focus is content. “We try to make simple content that people can relate to and it can get viral.” said Tyagi. ufaan also asserted that it does not involve in paid online promotion as that does not help videos reach the right audience. It focuses on viral elements and enhance the potential of the video.

    The major revenue model  is brand collaborations and production hiring. The channel claims that it is not focused on monetary gains at the moment but is emphasizing on brand building. “Our aim is to be referred for our genre of content” said Tyagi.

    public://ufaan4.png

    Feel Yourself is an in-house production for ufaan. The film is produced by Vikram Tyagi, directed by Surya and shot by Arjun Kukreti. It has been shot in Delhi. The channel plans to come up with some big brands tie-ups in a couple of months. However names could not revealed due to contract closure.

  • ‘Feel Yourself’ for Breast Cancer awareness by Ufaan.org

    ‘Feel Yourself’ for Breast Cancer awareness by Ufaan.org

    MUMBAI: “There are various subjects in our society that needs to be talked about to normalize them” says Ufaan.org founder Vikram Tyagi. The digital production house and YouTube channel Ufaan.org has been in news for a while with prominent online portals sharing their content for social change videos. Recently, it has rolled out a short film for breast cancer awareness, called Feel Yourself. The film promotes awareness about regular self checkups for breast cancer, as these could be the first alarm call to save from a potential health hazard.

    ​public://ufaan.png​

    The film has garnered many eyeballs within a short span of release and has been shared by ,many prominent portals. “My mother has been through the disease and she first got to know about the disease through self-checkup. Through this video, we are attempting to convey a message simply that, it is better to be aware than regret later.” added Tyagi

    Ufaan.org is entirely dedicated to social causes videos. It has produced content around various serious issues like Nikah halala, according to which a divorced Muslim woman is forced to marry another man and have sex with him, before she can remarry her first husband. Male equality with a campaign called #screwequality. One of Uffan’s pioneer work was every mother’s worst nightmare, the film that spoke about child molestation and touched many hearts. The channel has focused on several similar matters.

    ​public://ufaan 2.png​

    Brands like UrbanClap has joined hands with ufaan. Recently, UrbanClap offered free photoshoots for LGBT couples, ufaan produced a beautiful LGBT campaign around the offer, which was well received. Ufaan has also produced many videos for digital platforms like ScoopWhoop among others. Also, ufaan has been associated with Oxfan to conduct a social experiment on male-female equality.

    The channel claims that awareness videos play a vital role in awakening youth towards things that should be changed and online content is the best medium to get people talking about such issues. “By creating such content on media, we want people to open up to taboos that society has created. Such videos are liberating the society” claims Tyagi.

    ​public://ufaan 3.png​

    According to the sources, the in house production of short films can cost between Rs. 40,000 to Rs. 70,000. The actual cost could however vary and depends mainly upon production requirements. The channel’s promotion strategy is that its prime focus is content. “We try to make simple content that people can relate to and it can get viral.” said Tyagi. ufaan also asserted that it does not involve in paid online promotion as that does not help videos reach the right audience. It focuses on viral elements and enhance the potential of the video.

    The major revenue model  is brand collaborations and production hiring. The channel claims that it is not focused on monetary gains at the moment but is emphasizing on brand building. “Our aim is to be referred for our genre of content” said Tyagi.

    public://ufaan4.png

    Feel Yourself is an in-house production for ufaan. The film is produced by Vikram Tyagi, directed by Surya and shot by Arjun Kukreti. It has been shot in Delhi. The channel plans to come up with some big brands tie-ups in a couple of months. However names could not revealed due to contract closure.

  • Star Plus’ Satyamev Jayate to see a few changes, this season

    Star Plus’ Satyamev Jayate to see a few changes, this season

    MUMBAI: It was in 2012 when TV audiences woke up to Sunday morning slot once again. Star Plus with Satyamev Jayate at 11 am, tried to bring about a change in our society by bringing the ills gripping our society to the forefront.

    The promos of the upcoming season have already gone live and each tells a story of a person who after watching a heart-wrenching episode has gone out to make a change in whatever manner he/she could. One of the promo tells a story of Nazia, who found a sexually-abused girl and went on to help her through Childline – a NGO working for kids. “Nazia is like one of us but through her one action she proved that it is we who can bring about a change,” says the host of the show Aamir Khan while highlighting that this time the focus on promos was not him but on heroes who made a difference. “It is all about possibilities.”

    He highlights that the research team never went out to hunt for people like Nazia but while doing their study they met or were told about people who after watching SMJ went out of their way to help others.

    In its third installment now, the show, which will go live on 21 September and consists of six episodes, will see a few new elements. The biggest change will be letting the common man talk to Khan. After the one and a half hour show, people can talk ‘live’ to Khan through social media – Facebook and Twitter -, phone or the show’s official website to share their issues on the topic discussed earlier.

    “SMJ is about people and we want people to tell their views and issues so that together as a society we can bring about a change,” says Khan who will be travelling across various cities to connect with the people.

    He believes that the show has changed him a lot. “I have become more patient and less judgmental,” he says while recalling that years ago when Star India CEO Uday Shankar had approached him for a game show he had made a correct decision by denying that and suggesting a show on social issues.

    This time around, for the first time, other actors too will be seen on the show. “It is not for publicity. But only the actors who have done something for a particular issue or feel for it will be on the talk show,” clarifies Khan.

    Believing that the change needs to be brought about from the grassroot level to revolutionise people’s mindset, Khan wants people, administrations and governments to make a note of the things. Stating the example of how after the female foeticide episode was aired, the sex ratio between girls and boys has risen, Khan says, “Earlier there were 890 girls per 1000 boys, but today it is 940 which is remarkable. A small step can make a huge difference.”

    On a personal level, Khan wants four basic fundamental benefits given to each and every citizen of the country, namely, public health services, education, a quick and fair justice system and security through a strict law and order.

    Click here to watch the video

     

  • High hopes for ‘Satyamev Jayate 2’

    High hopes for ‘Satyamev Jayate 2’

    MUMBAI: Aired two years ago, this television show hosted by Aamir Khan took the country by storm with its focus on social ills such as female foeticide, dowry, domestic violence, child abuse, rape, domestic violence and honour killings among others.

     

    Buoyed by the overwhelming response, the makers decided to take the franchise further. And so, starting 2 March, viewers can once again tune into Satyamev Jayate on Sundays at 11 am on Star Plus.

     

    With a tagline that reads: ‘Jinhe Desh Ki Fikar Hai’, season two promises hard-hitting content like before but the format will be different. Unlike the last time when all 13 episodes ran at a stretch, this time, the series has been broken up into three quarters with five episodes in March and the remaining eight episodes split into groups of four each.

     

    Airtel has been roped in as title sponsor while Axis Bank is the powered by sponsor this season. According to industry sources, the sticker price of the show is anywhere between Rs 3 crore and Rs 3.5 crore.

     

     

    Graphene Media CEO Sanjoy Chakrabarty

    Marketing and promotion

     

    Host Aamir Khan and Star Plus have come out with six different promos that are already doing the rounds on the network.

     

    One of them begins with Khan asking the question, ‘Pata hai apna show kaun dekhega?’ later shifting his gaze to the cars and autos on the road below. He sees some of them breaking the traffic rules and shakes his head: ‘Yeh nahin dekhega’. Moments later, he breaks into a smile on seeing one of the cars paying heed to the red signal. ‘Yeh dekhega,’ he signs off…

     

    The promo, which urges people to be responsible citizens, went on air on 25 January and has since garnered 552,000 views.

     

    Apart from the promo, the show itself has set social media aflutter. From 1.6 million likes last season on Facebook, season two has garnered nearly 2.7 million likes. From close to 93,000 followers on Twitter last season, this time, there are around 143,000 followers.

     

    While initial conversations around SMJ were triggered by Khan’s popularity, later conversations are more around the causes espoused by the actor on the show. Plus, the channel shares and tweets these conversations and uploads videos on a daily basis to keep up the buzz.

     

    Havas Media managing director Mohit Joshi

    Industry Speaks

     

    Ahead of the launch of season two, indiantelevision.com spoke to a cross-section of industry about the return of SMJ and how it would fare in their opinion…

     

    “For me, a show like SMJ doesn’t need any promotions. The fact that it is coming back says a lot about it and the impact it has had on people. In one of the promos where Aamir is talking about who will watch SMJ and who won’t speaks of responsible behavior. SMJ is beyond television, it is meaningful TV!” said Havas Media managing director Mohit Joshi.

     

    “The promos this time are a little tongue in cheek. They’re quite subtle. Even the timings are correct, with elections coming near and what is happening in Delhi, these things are tying in very relevantly. It’s really bang on to start conversations around it especially Aamir Khan in this style,” said Lodestar UM vice-president Deepak Netram.

     

    However, about the change in format, he said: “A show always works if you have continuity; appointment viewing builds up after a certain period of time certainly for GECs. Having gaps is not going to help, but I guess in the grain of what the show is I am sure it is possibly going to be an objective which will have people looking forward to the show.  The challenge will be to maintain the momentum and keep the excitement going, because there will be so much happening in between.”

     

     

    Lodestar UM vice-president Deepak Netram

    “The promos are more interesting than the previous season. If someone is watching it for the first time, they will be inquisitive about it. But for people who have already watched the previous season, they know the format of the show. This season the promos are much more focused, straight to the point and more subjective,” believes Graphene Media CEO Sanjoy Chakrabarty.

     

    Commenting on the break pattern Chakrabarty asserts: “Since the topics are relevant and very engaging, people will consume the content in dozes so break won’t affect the viewership.”

  • Sundance Institute receives $5 million grant from Open Society Foundations

    Sundance Institute receives $5 million grant from Open Society Foundations

    Park City, Utah: Innovative documentary films addressing some of the most important issues facing the world today received a boost with a $5 million grant to the Sundance Institute. Christopher Stone, president of the Open Society Foundations, announced the dollar-for-dollar matching grant at the Sundance Film Festival.

     

    “My foundations have long supported arts and culture-especially film-as a means to build and strengthen open societies around the world,” said George Soros, Founder and Chairman of the Open Society Foundations. “This support will help bring open society issues to a wider audience.”

     

    The Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program advances nonfiction storytelling on a broad range of contemporary social issues and provides leading support for independent documentary filmmakers worldwide. 

     

    The Open Society Foundations in 1996 launched the Documentary Film Program, which was made part of Sundance Institute in 2002.

     

    “Documentary films profoundly impact our culture; they challenge the traditional role of journalism by illuminating stories that inform, inspire and connect us as members of a global community, said Robert Redford, Founder and President of Sundance Institute. “The continued support from George Soros and the Open Society Foundations speaks to our shared belief in the value and power of documentary film.” 

     

    Through a suite of year-round programs including direct grants to filmmakers, Labs, creative and tactical resources, and a variety of partnerships and international initiatives, the program provides a unique, global resource for contemporary independent documentary film. 

     

     “The Open Society Foundations have long been one of the world’s leading supporters of those defending and promoting human rights,” said Chris Stone, President of the Open Society Foundations. “We believe that film can intensify conversations on rights, justice, and social ills.”

     

    For nearly three decades, Sundance Institute has promoted independent storytelling to inform and inspire audiences across political, social, religious and cultural differences. Through labs, funding, special projects with key partners and the Sundance Film Festival, the Institute serves as the leading advocate for independent artists worldwide. 

     

     “As the landscape of non-fiction storytelling continues to evolve, independent documentary filmmakers are increasingly exploring new forms and formats.” said Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute. “With the support of Open Society Foundations, Sundance Institute will continue to seek out and support inventive artists whose work pushes the boundaries of non-fiction story telling and whose stories redefine existing notions of human rights.” 

      

    Putnam added “Sundance is also committed to providing access to platforms for artists to creatively distribute their films and inspire and engage audiences around the world.” 

     

    The Open Society Foundations, founded by George Soros, works in more than 100 countries to promote vibrant and tolerant democracies. The original Documentary Film Program paved the way for numerous contributions to storytelling and impact around human rights issues, seeding films that appeared globally in festivals, conferences, on public broadcasting and on cable and other outlets internationally, reaching millions of viewers and mainstreaming the importance of human rights considerations into prevailing social discourse. Its very existence helped establish the emerging primacy of documentary film in galvanizing and consolidating interest and action around key human rights issues, proving to be a model for other funds and initiatives. 

  • Star News launches ‘Ye Bharat Desh Hai Mera’

    Star News launches ‘Ye Bharat Desh Hai Mera’

    MUMBAI: Star News has launched a reality news show Ye Bharat Desh Hai Mera, starting today. The weekly programme, airing at 6:30 pm, reflects upon social issues, real life incidents and general human-interest stories.

    “The programme will involve itself in the real-time resolution of these issues, often involving an intense debate from conflicting points of views amongst the chief protagonists involved.

    Resolutions in these often-emotional play-outs may or may not always be possible; however there will eventually be a conclusion. The conclusion itself will provide a real-time broad commentary on the ‘state of the nation,” informs an official release.

    Exploring a range of stories from victims of atrocities to drawbacks of the system, Ye Bharat Desh Hai Mera aims to pack in a high voltage of human emotions and fervour. The programme format is structured in a flexible manner to accommodate, whenever required, live audience interactions and suggestions.
    .