The College's department of Multimedia and Mass Communication hosted a Student Paper Presentation on the 25th of September 2021 with the theme "Media Narratives in the Pandemic". The SPP is a great way to cultivate and instil the idea of research and reading among the students, and the event began on this very note, with our professor Dr. Shubdha Chaudary explaining the power of research and reading with reference to the story ‘The Bet’ by Anton Chekhov.

The consecution of presenting started with Kriti(3rd year) who exhibited her research about ‘Media Framing and Threat of CoronaVirus: Separatist Communal Nationalism at play’ in which she elaborated about the exclusionary mainstreamed nationalist approach of media during the ongoing pandemic. The next paper presented by Tripti Shahi and Shranya(3rd year) was on the topic ‘Instagram and the pressure of being productive during the pandemic’. Through this paper they tried to understand the role of social media on keeping people connected and productive during the Corona induced lockdown and how the trends have impacted people into feeling guilty for not being productive and hence increasing their productivity.

The next paper on the topic ‘Propagation of Covid-19 Vaccine hesitancy through misinterpreted narrative of social media ’ was presented by Aeshiti Patel and Mahak Mehra(3rd year). They attempted to study about the vaccine hesitancy spread by the viral myths, rumours and propagandas via the social media platforms. They conducted surveys and interviews to understand this behaviour of people towards vaccines and came up with some  saddening results. The next presentation was done by Chetna Prakash(2nd year) on the topic ‘Health of journalism during Covid crisis’. In her paper she attempted to study the media coverage by various newspapers regarding the issue of the migrant labourers' situation during the pandemic.

Shivani Kokkonda and Soumi Dutta(3rd year) then presented ‘A comparative study of the media influence in combating the influenza pandemic of 1918 between Great Britain and Spain’. In their paper they interestingly highlighted the role of media in the spread of pandemic or as in, the information about the pandemic. This presentation was then followed by a paper by Serchin Chokyi Bhutia(2nd year) on the topic ‘Real or Fake?-Narratives during the pandemic through the lens of a photojournalist’ in which she tried to analyze some viral photos during peak times of the ongoing pandemic and tried to bust the rumours around them.

The next paper presented by Yashasvi Kiriyal and Sunidhi Bhisht(3rd year) focused on ‘The Link between Media indulgence in Voyeurism and media’s responsibility in forming a narrative during pandemic’. In their paper they touched upon the topic of vulture journalism and also tried to understand if collecting news in disaster and distress is an integral part of the work of journalists or is an insensitive profit gaining agenda of them, and is it the media's responsibility to show positivity in news. The next paper on the topic ‘Breaking down the Hallyu wave: soft power in a pandemic world order’ attempted by Debaruna(3rd year) chisels out the vogue of Korean popular culture in the world which is also being beneficial politically and economically to South Korea. She tried to illustrate the interference of the South Korean government in promoting and supporting this.

The final presentation aimed at questioning the ‘Media narratives regarding refugees in the pandemic’ discussed by Mursal Mohammadi(3rd year). In her paper she highlighted the absence of acknowledgement of refugees' issues in the Media Narrative during the Pandemic. She covered the refugees law in India, the educational, health service and employment challenges faced by them in India and the measures taken to address refugees' concerns. She also analysed the media coverage about refugees by India's various top newspapers. The event ended on a positive note with a constructive question, answer and feedback round.

In a nutshell, the Student Paper Presentation proved to be an interesting learning and engaging experience for the students in the current difficult times of this remote mode of learning. It not only helped students in learning and critiquing new ideas in an academic manner, but also enhanced their confidence and familiarity with technology.