Industry Engagement: PRS Legislative Research at XIC
17-October-2024
How to cover The Parliament: Streamlining Parliamentary Reporting
By Diksha Rajput, JR 2024-25
Xavier Institute of Communications conducted a specialised lecture on ‘Understanding Legislature’ and parliamentary reporting as part of the Industry Engagement Module for Journalism & Media Convergence students. Manas Gubbi, Head of Legislative Engagements at PRS India, led the session. He streamlined technicalities associated with parliamentary devices by breaking the session into two parts: understanding legislative processes and budgetary analysis.
Understanding the fundamentals that dictate our day-to-day lives is essential for journalists to disseminate information better to the public. The session primarily underlined the importance of a comprehensive understanding of parliamentary procedures, especially for journalists. It covered everything from parliamentary sittings and passing of bills to parliamentary committees and the budget procedure. Group activities related to the reportage of parliamentary meetings and annual budget allocations were conducted, which helped the students understand these concepts.
Throughout the session, the role of Members of Parliament (MPs) in holding the executive accountable was discussed, referring to their responsibility to represent the people. Students were acquainted with multiple resources that would bolster their research and story regarding parliamentary reporting.
These sessions equipped students with insights and tools for effective parliamentary reporting, supporting the importance of informed journalism in a democratic society.