• Media Students Participated in the Webinar on 'Asian Elephants and their Lifestyle'

In order to impart the knowledge on nature and create understanding of environmental journalism among the students of Media Studies the department made arrangements for the participation of the students with 'Podhigai Charal', an environmental movement from Tamil Nadu, India through a webinar on 16th of December 2020.

The presentation and sharing made by Mr. 'Aatral' Praveen Kumar, Environmental Activist and Educator on 'Asian Elephants and their Lifestyle' and 100 number of students and staff of Media Studies benefitted.

• Ms. Luxana, Third Year Student Won Two National Level Prizes in Photography Competition Conducted by Asia Foundation

Ms. Luxana Pakirathan, a third year Media Studies student won two national level prizes in the photography competition conducted by the Asia Foundation in partnership with the Photographic Society of Sri Lanka.

The competition conducted on theme of 'Pic Your Values' on six categories: peace, respect, tolerance, compassion, honesty / sincerity, cooperation / solidarity or year 2020 and Ms. Luxana Pakirathan won first place in the category of 'Cooperation' and third place in the category of 'Honesty'.

Ms. Luxana has already won the 'Best Photography' award in the competition titled 'Kan Vazhiye 2019' (Through the Eyes 2019) conducted by Tamil Literary Association of Uva Wellassa University for their annual festival 'Malaiththendral'.

Meantime, the Department of Media Studies secured the third national level prize in photography competition in this year 2020 along with Ms. Sriviththiya Piranatharthikarasarma, Second Year Media Studies student already won the second place in island wide photo competition 'Olichchuvadu 2020' which was conducted by Tamil Literary Association, University of Moratuwa.

• 'I am a Responsible Media Citizen' - InSPIRE Project Orientation Programme for the Media Studies Students

Due to the outbreak of the second wave of the Covid-19 Virus, the InSPIRE Project (Incubator Spaces for Promoting Information Rights and Freedom of Expression), which was signed between HELVETAS and University of Jaffna with funds from the European Commission (EC), could no longer execute the filed activities as planned and decided to continue the project activities online without having physical gatherings as a contingency programme.

In order to introduce and make an awareness about the InSPIRE project, future activities and its benefits amongst the students and encourage them to enroll in the project, and start a dialogue on the issues related to Covid-19 second wave and freedom of expression in Sri Lanka such as: fake news, misinformation, hate speech, un-ethical behaviour of media and discrimination against people affected by the Covid-19 and influence the participants to become responsible media users, the project orientation programme was conducted under the title of 'I am a Responsible Media Citizen'.

The programme was focused on the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd year students, who are the potential future beneficiaries to be trained as ethical and socially responsible journalists and media professionals during the InSPIRE project.

The competition, a main part of the programme was held for 3 days. The students were given the opportunity to express their creative ideas through cartoons, memes, videos, photos and captions on the thematic areas such as (i) Gender equality (ii) Digital Citizenship (iii) Right to Information (iv) Fake news (v) Freedom of expression & (vi) Responsible use of social media. An immense interest and enthusiasm was displayed by the participants during this competition.

Ms. Ratnajothy Gowry won the individual champion award and the 'Duck Out' Team won the group competition.

The award ceremony was virtually organized on 5^th December, 2020 with the participation of the officials from HELVETAS and Sri Lanka Development Journalist Forum (SDJF), and Head and staff of Department of Media Studies.

The organizers specially appreciated the students of Media Studies for their highest number of participation in the orientation programme compare with other stakeholders of the InSPIRE Project University of Sri Jayewardenepura and University of Peradeniya.

For more details : https://ldjf.org/news/63/responsible_media_expressions

• Deliver the Guidance Lecture on 'Right to Information' to the UoJ Students through Career Guidance Unit

Dr.S.Raguram, Head, Department of Media Studies delivered the guidance lecture on 'Right to Information' for the university students who are prepare them for the competitive examinations.

The lecture was organized by the Career Guidance Unit, University of Jaffna on 18th of November, 2020 via Zoom and more than 220 students benefitted.

Books Donated to Media Studies in Memory of Late 'Perumal Iyya' - Former Editor of ‘Eezhanadu’ Daily

In memory of the first year remembrance of Late S. Perumal, Former Editor of 'Eezhanadu' Tamil Daily, his family donated valuable books related to journalism, media and communication to the Department of Media Studies.

The donations handed over to Dr. K. Suthakar, Dean, Faculty of Arts in presence of the Head and Staff of Media Studies on 12.11.2020 at the Dean's Office, Faculty of Arts.

Late S. Perumal always extended his services to the students and young journalists of North and tirelessly shared his 60 years of rich journalistic experiences from national and regional dailies, whenever space arises.

• Workshop on 'Editing Documentary Films'

In order to provide practical exposure and training to the third year Special Degree students of Media Studies to enhance their professional knowledge in ‘Editing Documentary Films’ in relation to the subject of ‘ACMC 32033: Introduction to Production Technologies (TV & Radio)’, the Department conducted a two days workshop on ‘Editing’ on 19^th October and 20^th October, 2020 at the Media Lab of Media Studies.

Mr. Shakthivel Sriram, Audio Visual Technical Officer, Trincomalee Campus, Eastern University, Sri Lanka who is a guide in video editing and sound editing for 600 Documentary films and 250 Short films produced by the Communication Studies students participated as a resource person, under the supervision of Dr.S.Raguram, Course Lecturer and the assistance of Ms. M.Thulaparani, Temporary Assistant Lecturer and Ms. P. Sivatharsiny, Temporary Demonstrator of the department.

• Learning 'Printing Photographs' in Professional Lab

Second year Media Studies students gathered field exposure in printing photographs at the Konica Lab, Jaffna on 16.10.2020 as part of their learning 'Photo Journalism' course unit in second semester of studies.

The students visited in small groups in order to maintain the self protection and learnt the techniques in digital printing from the well experienced professionals in the field.

• Class Exhibition on 'Theories and Models of Communication'

The first year students who are following the course unit 'Theories and Models of Communication' demonstrated their knowledge through the class exhibition on 5th, 7th and 9th of October 2020.

The 23 groups of students consisting 103 numbers explained their assigned theories and models innovatively and shows their teamwork and exposure gathered through the subject.

FIRST DAY - 05.10.2020

SECOND DAY - 07.10.2020

THIRD DAY - 09.10.2020

'' On behalf of Sri Lanka Development Journalist Forum (SDJF), I wish to express our appreciation to the Department of Media Studies for supporting this initiative starting from the selection of students, the 5-day residential training until the awarding ceremony (Reunion). Your students were highly efficient in engaging, interacting and inspiring the fellows throughout. We believe that the participation in MediaCorps fellowship will be highly useful to Media Studies students, who are expecting to be future journalists.''

Geethma Weerasooriya, Project Officer, Sri Lanka Development Journalist Forum (SDJF)

• Sharing Session on 'Street and Landscape Photography'

Mr. Kanagalingam Surenthirakumar, Professional Photographer conducted a ‘Sharing Session’ on ‘Street and Landscape Photography’ on 5^th of October from 9 a.m. to 12 noon at the Media Lab of Media Studies for the second year students who are following a course unit on 'Photo Journalism'.

Mr. Surenthirakumar won 1^st Prize in World Journalism Day Photography Contest organized by Uthayan Publications Pvt. Ltd. in 2016, 1^st Prize in the Photography Contest organized by Moratuwa University in 2017 and achieved merit awards from UN and UNHCR for excellence in photo stories.

• Media Studies Academics took part in Workshop for School Students

The Department of Government Information conducted a workshop for the school students who are following 'Communication and Media Studies' in Jaffna, aligned with the visit of Hon. Keheliya Rambukwella, Minister of Mass Media on 3rd of October 2020 at District Secretariat, Jaffna.

Mr. Dinesh Koduthor and Ms. L. Anutharsi, Lecturers of Media Studies delivered the lectures on 'New Trends in Media and the Role of Students in Utilized Media Efficiently'.

• Workshop on 'Advanced Photographic Techniques'

As a part of 'Photo Journalism' course unit, Mr. K. Kamalathasan, Visual Effects (VFX) Supervisor and Cinematographer from Raymax Institute of Visual Arts conducted a workshop on ‘Advanced Photographic Techniques’ on 30^th of September (Wednesday) from 9 a.m. to 12 noon at the Media Lab of Media Studies.

The session included the exposure on maintaining white balance in different colour temperatures, setting aperture and shutter speed in indoor and outdoor shooting, using lighting creatively, enhancing snaps by using filters and commercialize the photographs via new media platforms.

Among the participants, six students were selected from second and third year of Media Studies for further professional training under the future projects of Raymax Institute of Visual Arts.

• Media Outlet Visit to Gather the Knowledge in Printing Techniques

Second year Media Studies students who are following 'Printing Techniques' as one of their core course at the second semester studies visited 'Yarl Thinakkural' Tamil daily paper on 25th of September 2020 in order to gather first hand experiences in web based offset printing.

The study visit was guided by the Course Lecturer Ms. L. Anutharsi with the assistance of Ms. M. Dhulaparani, Temporary Assistant Lecturer and Ms. P. Sivatharsiny, Temporary Demonstrator.

The students learnt the printing process from the initial point of page designing, printing in transparent sheets, plate making and final printing in web newsprints.

• Media Studies Students Gathered Notable Film Appreciation through 30 Days 'Paddarai' Webinar

'Paddarai' Online Webinar provides the opportunity to the Media Studies students to access the well-known film personalities, film directors, cinematographers, film critics, and the film academics from May 16th to August 29th, 2020.

Altogether 30 lectures were conducted on every Saturdays and Sundays from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. by the organization of 'Paddarai', which works under the guidance of Mr. Subas, A Cinema Activist and Short Film Director from Norway.

'Paddarai' is a independent film movement which aims to promote the young film makers and the students who are living in Sri Lanka to acquire worldwide exposure in filmmaking and enhance the knowledge by update the developments in film relevant sectors.

Mr. Prasanna Vithanage (Film Director), Mr. Gnanadas Kasinathar (Short Film Director, Cinema Activist and Script Writer), Ms. Bavaneedha Loganathan (Short Film Director and Television Presenter), Mr. Pratheepan Selvarasa (Cinematographer and Short Film Director), Mr. Lenin M Sivam (Film Producer and Director), Mr. Gunaa Kaviyazhahan (Writer), Mr. Balaji Sakthivel (Film Director), Mr. Vijay Milton (Cinematographer), Mr. Nalan Kumarasamy (Film Director), Mr. Nazar (Actor), Mr. Mathi Sutha (Film Director, Production Designer and Cinema Activist), Dr. Swarnavel Eswaran (Associate Professor in Film Studies, Michigan State University, USA), Dr. S. Raguram (Head / Senior Lecturer, Department of Media Studies, University of Jaffna), Kalki Subramaniam (Writer, Actor and Gender Activist), Mr. Arun Karthik (Freelance Film Director), Mr. Somitharan (Documentary Filmmaker), Mr. Vijay Sethupathi (Actor), Mr. Kanal Kannan (Stunt Master) and Mr. Tamiliam Subas (Short Film Director and Cinema Activist) were some of the resource persons participated in the Webinar.

Students of Media Studies were actively participated in the series of lectures and discussions and played vital roles in organizing Webinar as In - Charge of Activities - Ms. Kunthavi Sivabalan, Programme Officer - Ms. Pirainila Krishnarajah (Media Studies Alumnae) and, Film Analysts - Ms. Dhulaparani, Ms. Kamjini, Ms. Suvanya and Ms. Luxana throughout the 30 days.

• Chrysalis' Cultural Fluency Training workshop

Third year Media Studies students participated in a workshop on 'Cultural Fluency' which aims to help participants as young emerging filmmakers to write innovative and meaningful film stories that would be thought provoking and insightful.

'Chrysalis' conducted this workshop for 25 young emerging filmmakers including 10 students of Media Studies in Anuradhapura for two days on 21-23 August 2020. The workshop has a strong focus on internal transformation of individuals and it is an effort to clear the ground and establish culture as a site of struggle for social justice and provide an orientation to practitioners, 'Chrysalis' announced.

Mr. Anantharamanan, Filmmaker, S. Pratheepan from 'Chrysalis' and Thillina S. Senarathna participated as resource persons in the workshop.

• Photo Journalism Practical Sessions in Students' Own Districts

Department of Media Studies arranged the practical sessions on 'Photo Journalism' course unit for the second year students in their own districts in safer environments and maintain the regulations of individual protections during the 'back to routine' period of Covid 19 at June later part and early July.

The aim to provide the practical exposure organized in order to strengthen the Multimodal Online Teaching and the students are enjoyed the learning and acquired the firsthand experiences on handling cameras at their own districts.

The facilitation to conduct the practical sessions gathered from the Alumni of Media Studies and the senior students and Professional Photo Journalists with the guidance of the Course Lecturer Dr.S.Raguram and the assistance of department staff members.

The practical sessions conducted in Jaffna, Mullaithivu, Mannar, Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Batticaloa for the students of North and East Provinces and a session conducted in Kandy for the students of Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Ratnapura and Matara.

• Media Studies Conducted Workshop for the Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce, UoJ on 'Recording using Smart Phones'

The COVID – 19 pandemic situations forced the universities to do the teaching and learning activities towards online. On par with that a training session was organized by Professor T. Velnampy, Dean of the Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce for the faculty staff to update their knowledge on video recording using zoom and Smart Phone with the assistance of Department of Media Studies.

Dr. S. Raguram participated as a resource person and the training session was conducted on 28th of May 2020 at E-Lab, Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce. Audio Visual Recording in Zoom, Convert the files to required formats by using Format Factory, Using Mobile Phone as Audio Visual Recording Device and Simple Editing of Mobile Recordings by Kine Master are the topics covered.

"The workshop was very productive, all the participants interactively involved in the session. Dr. S. Raguram, Head / Dept. of Media Studies, University of Jaffna explained the zoom recording and how to upload to the LMS. In addition to the zoom recording another topic covered to record and edit videos using mobile phones. The resource person with his few students explained clearly about the procedure to use smart Phone for video recording with suitable software. It was very useful to the participants to update their knowledge related to video recording and editing. This workshop was timely organized and useful."

http://www.maco.jfn.ac.lk/index.php/nggallery/thumbnails/page/2?p=2645

The following links shows some of the students’ productions made during the Covid 19 Pandemic Period :

o https://www.facebook.com/137613369602280/posts/3156353424394911/?app=fbl

(Mr.S. Elilan, 3^rd Year, Media Studies)

o https://www.facebook.com/AMNSriLanka/videos/879552965853618/?vh=e&d=n

(Mr.Ramesh Madhushanka, 3^rd Year, Media Studies and Ms. V Anita, 3^rd Year, Media Studies)

o https://www.facebook.com/MediaCorpsWatch/videos/238723153859256/?vh=e&d=n

(Mr.Ramesh Madhushanka, 3^rd Year, Media Studies)

o https://www.facebook.com/MediaCorpsWatch/videos/2302983793330038/

(Mr.Ramesh Madhushanka, 3^rd Year, Media Studies)

o https://www.facebook.com/AMNSriLanka/videos/556663738583978/?app=fbl

(Mr.Ramesh Madhushanka, 3^rd Year, Media Studies)

o https://www.facebook.com/MediaCorpsWatch/videos/172859934013542/

(Ms.Kunthavi Sivapalan, 3^rd Year, Media Studies)

o https://www.facebook.com/137613369602280/posts/3163748406988746/?app=fbl

(Ms.Kunthavi Sivapalan, 3^rd Year, Media Studies and Mr.S. Elilan, 3^rd Year, Media Studies)

o https://www.facebook.com/133664803784314/posts/846494569167997/?app=fbl

(Ms. Paranitha Punitharasa, 3^rd Year, Media Studies)

o https://www.facebook.com/AMNSriLanka/videos/686825768737633/?app=fbl

(Mr. Mohamed Mumthaz and Ms. Paranitha Punitharasa, 3^rd Year, Media Studies)

o https://www.facebook.com/137613369602280/posts/3158641467499440/?app=fbl

(Mr. Mohamed Mumthaz and Ms. Paranitha Punitharasa, 3^rd Year, Media Studies)

o https://www.facebook.com/137613369602280/posts/3158776490819271/?app=fbl

(Ms. Paranitha Punitharasa, 3^rd Year, Media Studies)

o https://www.facebook.com/MediaCorpsWatch/videos/2302983793330038/

(Mr. Kaneshalingam Mathanraj, 3^rd Year, Media Studies)

o https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=917018358771185&id=133664803784314

(Mr. Mohamed Mumthaz, 3^rd Year, Media Studies)

o https://www.facebook.com/113620710109224/posts/158569458947682/?app=fbl

(Mr. Mohamed Mumthaz, 3^rd Year, Media Studies)

o https://www.facebook.com/137613369602280/posts/3209341495762770/

(Ms. Ravichandran Prashahini, 3^rd Year, Media Studies)

o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGFheh134OA&feature=share

(Mr.Ramesh Madhushanka and Mr. Kanthakumar Ajith, 3^rd Year, Media Studies)

The following links shows the students’ productions made during the Post Covid 19 Pandemic Period :

o https://www.facebook.com/MediaCorpsWatch/videos/263420088220341/?vh=e&d=n

(Mr. Mohamed Mumthaz, 3^rd Year, Media Studies)

o https://www.facebook.com/MediaCorpsWatch/videos/2623071794688143/

(Mr.Ramesh Madhushanka, 3^rd Year, Media Studies)

o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGFheh134OA&feature=share

(Mr.Ramesh Madhushanka, 3^rd Year, Media Studies)

o https://www.facebook.com/MediaCorpsWatch/videos/294894838297596/

(Ms. Paranitha Punitharasa, 3^rd Year, Media Studies and Mr. Mohamed Mumthaz, 3^rd Year, Media Studies)

o https://www.facebook.com/MediaCorpsWatch/videos/1006474619773403/

(Mr. Mohamed Mumthaz, 3^rd Year, Media Studies)

o https://www.facebook.com/MediaCorpsWatch/videos/602448904020472/

(Mr.S. Elilan, Ms. Paulraj Chandramathi, Mr. Mohamed Mumthaz and Ms. V Anita, 3^rd Year, Media Studies)

• Dilakshan Prabhakaran - A Third Year Student made a landmark in '35 Awards - International Photography Competition' on 'Monkeys' 2019 - 2020

Mr. Dilakshan Prabhakaran, Third Year Media Studies student made a landmark in International Photography Competition conducted by '35 Awards', an International Professional Photo Community, Moscow, Russia by got the place in top 10 % of votes and entered top 17 % of best photographers among 1789 participants who sent their 5225 number of photos to the competition.

The thematic contest 'Monkeys' was conducted during the period from 03.12.2019 to 05.02.2020 and the evaluations made by the jury panel consisting Narayanan Iyer (India), Senthi Aathavan Senthilverl (Sri Lanka) and Svetlana Yudina (Spain).

• Documentation of 'International Thirukkural Conference 2020'

The pass out and the students of fourth and third year of Media Studies involved in the documentation of 'Second International Thirukkural Conference 2020' held 21st to 23rd of February at University of Jaffna.

The conference was organized by 'Thamilththaai' Trust, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu , International Institute of Tamil Studies, Tamil Nadu and Madurai Kamaraj University, Tamil Nadu.

• Media Studies Students Selected for ‘MediaCorps Fellowship’

Sri Lanka Development Journalist Forum (SDJF) is a national level organization committed to promote development, human rights, equality and inclusivity as well as peace and reconciliation through development communication organized ‘MediaCorps Fellowship’ which is a unique program that aims at incapacitating young journalists to produce stories that promote national dialogue and reconciliation in Sri Lanka.

It is a part of Media Empowerment for Democratic Sri Lanka (MEND) program implemented by Sri Lanka Development Journalist Forum in partnership with International Research and Exchange Board (IREX) and sponsored by USAID for the Communication, Media Studies and Mass Communication students of Eastern University - Trincomalee Campus, University of Jaffna and Sri Jayawardanepura University at its first phase.

Further, MediaCorps Fellowship Program planned the fellow members to learn and break cultural barriers when reporting while they accommodate them in different communities and cultures.

• Media Studies Student Won the 'Best Photography' Award

Ms. Luxshana Paheerathan, a third year student of Media Studies won the 'Best Photography' award in the competition titled 'Kan Vazhiye 2019' (Through the Eyes 2019) conducted by Tamil Literary Association of Uva Wellassa University for their annual festival 'Malaiththendral'.

• Media Studies Students Learnt 'IT for Journalism' in a Workshop conducted by IMS

International Media Support (IMS), a non-profit organisation working to support local media in countries affected by armed conflict, authoritarian rule and political transition conducted two days workshop on 'IT for Journalism' on 21st and 22nd of December 2019 at Jet Wing Hotel, Jaffna.

Along with the professional journalists of Northern Province, 14 students of Media Studies from third year of study programme participated in the above workshop and acquired knowledge in the effective utilization of Information Technology in the field of Journalism and the Internet Security.

• 'Uthayan' Senior Journalists Invited Media Studies Students to Enter into the Professional Field of Journalism

Mr. T. Prabakaran and Mr. Perinpanayakam, the senior journalists of 'Uthayan' Newspaper Group, the largest circulated newspaper in Jaffna region conducted a sharing session with Media Studies students and staff and invited the students of Media Studies to enter into the professional journalism field while they are doing their undergraduate programme.

The session was held on 13th of December at the Media Lab of Media Studies. The enthusiastic speech given by Mr. T. Prabakaran, the Editor in Chief of 'Uthayan Weekly' regard to the need of young journalists to refresh the regional journalism and he advised the students to get practical professional exposure while they involve in studies.