A webinar on “Importance of Radio in Pandemic”

A webinar on “Importance of Radio in Pandemic” was organised by the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication. Mrs. Reshma Khan, Senior Programme Executive of All India Radio, Jaipur (AIR) was the guest speaker. She talked about the significance of radio and the contribution of AIR during COVID - 19.

Mrs. Khan commenced the session by saying, “When a crisis like corona strikes, radio becomes important.” She shared that when everything came to a standstill, markets were shut down and print media had to stop the coverage and production of newspapers, AIR initiated a programme ‘Hum honge kamyaab’. Absurd rumors about Corona started to make rounds and threw people in confusion, AIR connected prominent people from the medical field like doctors from SMS Hospital for interviews to be broadcasted on the radio.

All India Radio merged information and entertainment to make the programme an engaging module. Jaipur station also invited Members of Parliament, nurses and traffic police for interviews to make people more aware about the pandemic and the measures to cope up with it. Further, the channel drew attention to various medical facilities such as medicines, injections, oxygen cylinders, etc available in the market for the patients suffering from COVID - 19.

Mrs. Reshma also discussed how radio highlighted the condition in Jaipur and disseminated the information about how citizens can get the passes and commute interstate and intra - state. Many private organisations shared helpline numbers with AIR to help people reach out. The Government officials and health sector appreciated AIR for their efforts and overall remarkable work.

During the second Wave of COVID also, AIR again called experts from the medical field or health sector and motivational speakers and played songs which helped people stay calm and healthy.

The webinar concluded with a beautiful shayari recited by the guest speaker.