Star India hosts workshop on 'Media and New Technology – New Technologies, New Challenges: India Media Issues in Global Perspective' in Delhi, December 19th - 20th

Mumbai, 20^th December 2011 – India's largest Media Conglomerate, Star, hosts the second annual symposium on ‘Media and New Technology – New Technologies, New Challenges: Indian Media Issues in Global Perspective’ on December 19^th and 20^th at the India International Centre, New Delhi.In continuation with last year’s tradition, the symposium explores international and comparative perspectives on media regulation as it affects current debates and the future role of information in society.

The symposium, an initiative of Oxford University’s Programme in Comparative Media Law & Policy, in cooperation with its academic partners – the National Law University-Delhi, the National University of Juridical Sciences-Kolkata, and the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, will bring together the diverse views of academics, bureaucrats, policymakers, industry leaders, civil society and legal experts to discuss such issues as law and responsibilities of self-regulation of media entities, regulation of the Internet, and emerging technologies in the context of freedom of information, privacy, and freedom of expression.

Key speakers who addressed the audience at this Symposium include Uday Kumar Varma, Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Mark Stephens, Former Legal Advisor for Wikileaks, Osama Abu-Dehays, Head of Legal Affairs, Al Jazeera, Arvind Rajagopal, Professor of Media, Culture and Communication, NYU Blair Levin, Communications & Society Fellow, Aspen Institute, Siddharth Varadarajan, Editor at The Hindu, Siddharth Narrain, Alternative Law Forum- Bangalore, Manoj Mitta, Senior Editor at The Times of India, Sevanti Ninan, Founder of TheHoot.com, and Monroe Price, Director Center for Global Communication Studies, University of Pennsylvania.

Deepak Jacob, EVP & General Counsel – Legal & Regulatory Affairs, Star India said:"Star India is extremely proud to host the Second Annual Symposium on Media and Technology in association with The Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy, University of Oxford, National Law University, Annenberg School for Communication, National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata. The opening address by Uday Varma, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting set the tone for the two day session in which he announced the Government's roadmap both for digitization and content regulation. The other panel discussions involving media experts from both from India and abroad shed lot of light on the evolution of media in India and the need for a broader approach rather than a narrow-heavy handed approach. We look forward to the PCMLP's report after the completion of the event which will be circulated to all the stakeholders in the Indian media sector as it is an extremely useful document on the study of media and new technology."

This Symposium follows the 2011 Price Media Law Moot Court Competition – South Asia Rounds that took place on December 15-18 at the National Law University – Delhi.

The full agenda and further details can be found online: http://pcmlp.socleg.ox.ac.uk/indiaworkshop2011/home

About the Programme in Comparative Media Law & Policy

The Programme in Comparative Media Law & Policy (PCMLP) at the University of Oxford'sCentre for Socio-Legal Studies is a research and policy programme that brings together scholars, policymakers and practitioners to study contemporary issues in global media law and policy. PCMLP has a particular interest in understanding media and governance in various environments through a comparative perspective emphasizing the importance of the culture and values of all the actors, both local and international.

PCMLP was founded in 1996 by Professor Monroe E. Price and Stefaan Verhulst with a grant from the Markle Foundation and the cooperation of the Howard M. Squadron Program in Law, Media, and Society at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York.

About Star:-

STAR India is a leading media and entertainment company, broadcasting 33 channels in eight languages to more than 400 million people every week across India and more than 100 countries across the globe. Its channel portfolio includes household brands Star Plus, Star One, Star Gold, Channel [V], Star Jalsha, Star Pravah, Star World, Star Movies, Star Utsav and joint venture channels Asianet, Asianet Plus, Star Vijay, Suvarna, Star News, ESPN and Star Sports. STAR India also manages a portfolio of business ventures including DTH operator Tata Sky, Cable system Hathway, channel distributor Media Pro Enterprise, news channel operator MCCS, south Indian broadcast business of Asianet channels and STAR Vijay, film producer and distributor Fox STAR Studios India and STAR CJ Home Shopping.  It business has greater breadth and depth than any other broadcaster in the country.

Star India is a fully owned subsidiary of News Corporationwww.newscorp.com

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