Photo caption: Dr. Sachidanand Joshi inaugurating the National Conference
Ghaziabad: The need of the hour today in the Indian media industry is to separate news from views, and a journalist must always be inspired to work for the betterment of the society, said Dr. Sachidanand Joshi, the Member Secretary, Indira Gandhi National Centre of Arts (IGNCA).
In an interesting analogy, Dr Joshi drew parallels saying, “Media was earlier called as a watchdog, then we started calling it barking dog and now we can call it as a biting dog!”
Dr Joshi’s incisive observation came in for good measure while inaugurating a two-day national conference on ‘Freedom of Press and Media Self-Regulation’ held at the National Institute of Social Communications, Research and Training (NISCORT), Vaishali, NCR Delhi, on March 29-30, 2019.
In the current scenario where the credibility and journalistic thrust of Indian media is questioned by people from different walks of life, the conference provided a platform to study, critique and propose ways and means to revitalize the role of media and to be a catalyst of change in society. The conference was held in association with Eureka Publications, Pvt. Ltd, Pune.
The conference included 12 research-paper presentations by media professionals, and academicians across the country; keynote addresses related to the main theme; a workshop on “devise mechanism for alternate methods of content evaluation,” and a panel discussion on the “impact of TRP and media self-regulation in India” by eminent panelists.
Dr. K.G. Suresh, the director general of Indian Institute of Mass Communications (IIMC), New Delhi, presided over the valedictory function of the conference, which awarded certificates and mementos to the paper presenters, panelists and participants.
While addressing the gathering, Dr. Suresh was convinced in saying, that Indian media is engulfed with the problem of reporters not getting to the grassroots where stories happen. Many media houses today operate from newsrooms to cut the expenditure on productions. This reduces the scope and relevance of real journalism. Ideally, political parties should not own media houses, as there is a risk of distorting news based on their ideologies, preferences and choices. These affect the freedom of press in India, observed Dr Suresh.
The conference also conferred life time achievement awards to Dr. Sachidanand Joshi and Dr. K G Suresh for their outstanding contributions in the field of mass communication and journalism in India. Dr. Jose Murickan, the Director of NISCORT along with Mr. Abhishek Shukla, the Managing Director & Chief Editor of Eureka Publications gave away the awards. “Though I receive different awards every year, NISCORT Award is something special and I will ever cherish it,” added Dr. Suresh after receiving the award.
NISCORT is a media college of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), situated in NCR-Delhi, and offers BA, MA and diploma courses in media and communications.