In a world where stories and reels travel faster than the legacy media, communication has risen above just technical skill. It begs one to become responsible bearer of truth amidst the prevailing hatred and misinformation all around. With times, the Society of Jesus has always evolved in its thinking, and so has it found media formation to be an effective means to foster faith, justice and dialogue, to shape culture and education, and to make our apostolic life contemporary to the youth of today.
Against this backdrop, the Jesuit conference of South Asia in collaboration with the Karnataka Jesuit Province organized a 7-day Media & communication Workshop for Jesuit scholastics at St. Joseph’s University, Bangalore on 01-07 May 2026. The deeply enriching and transformation experience was given a vision by Fr. Vernard SJ, JCSA Communications Coordinator, and was meticulously organized and carried out by Frs. Pradeep Antony SJ and Arul Antony SJ of Karnataka Province Media Forum. Organized under the theme: “Media for Mission: Critical and creative use of Media,” the workshop united 11 Jesuit scholastics from 7 different provinces of our Conference, storming us with an immersive experience into the contemporary media world.
“Intense! Ecstatic! Fantastic! The day was inspiring, expanding, and truly outstanding. It helped me explore my writing abilities and appreciate the vital role journalists play in contributing to the welfare of society,” recalls Sch. Sangam Lakra SJ (DEL) about the workshop.
The first day, guided by Dr. Parinitha Shinde steered us towards becoming responsible communicators. This session on media literacy and Journalism, though exposed us to various facets of a journalist, for sure awakened the critique dormant in each one of us. From writing reports and enticing headlines to analyzing how the print media works, the session was an eye-opener resonating the Jesuit commitments of justice and truth as Promulgated in the GC32.
The power of storytelling is much stronger when the visuals are strong, raw and unfiltered. If the day-1 taught us to question the existing narratives, the day-2 taught us how to see them. We toured the world of visuals and storytelling, starting from the streets of Bangalore. Cameras became to us an instrument of observation, empathy and interpretation to seize the frames that speak volumes. Framing, composition, perspectives, light, and photography were indeed part of it, but what was deeply beckoning were the queries- “Do you have the ingenuity to bring to the world what matters the most?” “In the prevalent world of misinformation and fake news, do you have the audacity to capture what the mass media fail to?” Thanks to Mr. Jenil George for the insightful session.
The exposure visits to Bannerghatta National Park on the third day was icing the cake. We were ‘Men-with-Camera vs the Wild’. While the mass amazed at the animals in the park, these Jesuits with Canons shot even the tiniest details in plants, animals, butterflies, spiders and what not. Thanks to Fr. Anthony Arul for guiding us through!
While Visuals can speak million voices, a good audio can take it to another level of experience. Mr. Shabin and Ms. Shubha Das walked us through sound crafting & Image designing with A/v edits. It was a wholesome experience to do cinematic shoots, dubbing, editing and sound designing. The hands-on experience created some light-hearted experiences that we will, forever, cherish.
To start off film-making without a script is like galloping in vacuum. Dr. Marudhu Pandian expanded our understanding of writing scripts. The overview exposure to some classic movie scripts such as Jurassic Park, Interstellar, etc. widened our horizon of script writing.
While Films and television have its own place in the industry, what is enticing is the power of social media. Thanks to Mr. Suhas Srinivas for the session on Mobile film making & social media engagement. The scholastics left no stones unturned in creating some amazing reels, some of which, owning to its sensitive and light hearted nature, had to remain in private circulation!
AI no more remains a futuristic abstraction. As Jesuit who always act as per the signs of the times, it’s imperative that we be equipped with the appropriate use of AI and understand its potential in shaping education, outreach, content creation a digital apostolate. “The undisputed highlight of the program was the session on AI, which offered me profound insights into how artificial intelligence tools can be ethically and efficiently integrated into modern reporting. It ultimately equipping me with practical, forward-looking skills to navigate an evolving digital landscape,” said Sch. Redison SJ of Pune province.
At the end of this enhancing session, we, scholastics were not merely left with new skills alone, but enabled with new ways of seeing. We learnt that frames tell stories, sounds carry emotions, narratives shape consciousness and digital interactions carry ethical consequences. Most importantly, we realized that in today’s world, media is a compelling ministry. As Sch. Hansel SJ of Chennai province observes, “Responding to the urgent call at digital frontiers, every Jesuit must be digitally active and positively engaged. This media course proved to be a powerful catalyst for digital mission providing an invaluable kickstart in efficient digital communication”
I sincerely hope that more scholastics will be empowered in media literacy, even at the grassroots province level. May such Conference Level initiatives continue for both beginners and intermediate learners, because they shape storytellers, communicators, and missionaries for today’s digital world.
By Sch. Romero Rezin SJ (DEL)
