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Tag: workshops

  • BBC launches ‘Disinformation Unit’ in India to combat misinformation

    BBC launches ‘Disinformation Unit’ in India to combat misinformation

    Mumbai: BBC News has launched a new ‘Disinformation Unit’ in India to uncover, analyse and report on the spread of fake news. According to a statement, a team of dedicated journalists will focus on highlighting false information, debunking viral social media content and investigating how and why it spreads. The team will provide audiences with useful tips and information on how to spot ‘fake news’ and prevent it from spreading further.

    Audiences will also be able to report on any fake news they think should be investigated by messaging the BBC’s Disinformation Unit.

    This newly launched unit in India is an extension of the BBC’s continued commitment to combat misinformation and is a part of the BBC Global Disinformation unit, which includes experienced journalists based in Africa and the UK.  

    “Disinformation is a global issue that disregards boundaries of languages, platforms, cultures, and age-groups. Unchecked news can affect health, society and democracy,” said BBC Disinformation editor Rebecca Skippage. “This new team of dedicated journalists will allow us to shine a light on misleading information and help people decide for themselves what to believe and what to mistrust.”

    Simultaneously, a scheme called BBC Young Reporter India has rolled out ‘media awareness workshops’ in schools across India to help young people think critically about the media they consume, recognise facts from fake and pause before sharing potentially misleading and harmful information. The workshops are being delivered in partnership with Internews and DataLeads teams.  

    This initiative will deliver training to seven thousand students across hundred schools in India by the end of the year. Over five thousand have already attended the workshops in more than forty-five Indian cities, said the statement.

    “The pandemic has shown the appalling damage that misinformation can cause. Fake cures, anti-vax messaging and conspiracy theories have been widely shared, often by people thinking they are doing the right thing as neighbours and friends,” stated  BBC Beyond Fake News head Marie Helly. “It is imperative that the next generation become responsible citizens who understand the difference between fact and fake and can think critically about the media they consume.”  

    “Trust, accuracy and impartiality are at the heart of the BBC.  I am delighted by the quality of the students and trainers who are working together with the BBC to counter the dangers of misinformation here in India,” Helly further said.

    The workshops are building a network of young people who can spot disinformation using a BBC fact-checking technique called ‘Real’ and educating the students to think analytically like journalists.

    “The workshop actually helped the students to navigate and take the right direction in the digital world. It has been a relevant training session to learn the skill of identifying the authenticity of the news which are at the fingertips of the students in the changed scenario,” commented SRS English Medium School (Brahmavar) Karnataka principal Abhilasha S.

    “The BBC Young Reporter workshop has been immensely enlightening and enriching for the students. The webinar was impactful enough to generate awareness amongst the students to be discerning users of social media,” said Delhi Public School (Nazira) Assam headmistress Meenakshi Duarah. “The students were exposed to a lot of significant things to be kept in mind while using social media. Apart from the students, the teachers who attended the webinar also found it beneficial for the students.”

  • Nikon School helps sales, stickiness

    Nikon School helps sales, stickiness

    BENGALURU: Camera and camera accessories major Nikon Corporation Tokyo is one of the major players in the world. Nikon School, an initiative by its 100 per cent Indian subsidiary, Nikon India, helps take better photographs with D-SLR or Nikon 1 camera, whatever be the level of experience of the shutterbug.

    Nikon School conducts basic and advanced D-SLR workshops and photo-walks in different cities, which have proved to be big hits with camera owners and photography enthusiasts. Generally within a day or two of an online announcement from Nikon India about an event, all the seats are booked. Usually the size of each workshop is limited to about 25 participants and two teachers.

    Not only does the company impart knowledge and help improve skill sets, the teachers also carry with them a variety of accessories, spare cameras and lenses which they lend to the participants to try out free of cost, to touch feel and experience a product.

    On the same day, last month, Nikon School organised photo-walks at Garden of Five Senses in Delhi, Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Borivali E in Mumbai, The Alipore Zoo in Kolkata and at Nandi Hills in Bangalore. The event welcomed photography enthusiasts from all walks of life irrespective of their professional excellence in photography. These were not just workshops for mere transfer of information but a broader platform to exchange the ideas, gauge the customer insight and carve out an offering in line with the expectation from the brand.

    ‘Many of the participants of our workshops are first time camera owners who have probably bought a basic D-SLR with a basic VR Lens kit, who are unsure about the kind of photography they want to pursue. Once they attend our events, they find their niche, and then based on our suggestions buy the kind of lenses and accessories that suit their tastes,’ revealed one of the teachers to indiantelevision.com during the photo-walk at Nandi Hills near the Garden City of Bengaluru.

    Quite a number of the shutterbugs attend more than one workshop, and consult Nikon teachers for camera upgrades, for better accessories, information about procurement sources, etc.

    ‘I have attended five workshops by Nikon Bangalore, and this is my second photo-walk,’ revealed an amateur photographer.’Each time I learn something new, there is a lot of fine-tuning of my skills. Photography is a hobby, I don’t earn anything from it, but I want to be good at whatever I do,’ she added.

    ‘I have seen friends’ waste money buying accessories, lenses and cameras that they don’t really need. These people at Nikon School have been advising me about what I need, and I have found their guidance very useful,’ said another Nandi Hills photo-walk participant.

    ‘We don’t suggest any particular store or shop from which to buy Nikon cameras and accessories from, we just guide them to our website and ask them to buy whatever they want from the stores of their choice,’ further revealed the teacher. ‘Very often, we find that people have followed our advice and purchased the product that we have suggested,’ he added. Nikon School is planning to gradually expand into many cities and towns in the country.

    In a highly competitive business that is growing with the growth of the young Indian middle class, BTL activities such as Nikon’s workshops and photo-walks have been ensuring a small steady stream of sales and stickiness of consumers, which have seen a small, but steadily increasing number of female photographers.