Mangalore: Media Told to be Bold, Fair and Ethical on Press Day Celebrations
Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (PS)
Mangalore, Jul 2: Mediapersons including reporters and photojournalists took time of their busy schedules on Monday July 2 to celebrate Press Day.
'Suddi Bimba', an exhibition of photographs by photojournalists including Dayanand Kukkaje of Daijiworld, Satish Ira, Anwar Ahmed, Venu Vinod and others was organized on the occasion.
Well-known columnist in Kannada Girish Rao, popularly known as Jogi, delivered a lecture on 'Journalism and Literature' and said that said that the domination of advertisements in newspapers shows the sorry state of journalism in the present times. "The editor should be bold enough to face pressure from all corners. However, in recent days proprietors are turning out to be editors and they have failed to build a healthy society," he said.
He further said that there has been a decline in the space occupied by literature in newspapers. "It is a wrong notion that literature does not serve any purpose in newspapers. A good newspaper is one which balances every kind of writing," he said.
"Media should be a catalyst and take the people's problems to the political leaders, and not vice-versa where they take the problems of politicians to the people. A true journalist need not have any 'connection' with politicians, he or she should be the voice of the deprived people in the society," he stressed.
Earlier, delivering his inaugural address Vasanth Kumar Perla, programme executive, AIR, Mangalore said that ‘Patrika Dinacharane’ (Press Day) is the day for journalists to introspect, as credibility of the media hangs in the balance. "A journalist should not be prejudiced against any person or group; he should understand the pulse of the people. When media goes wrong, it does irreparable damage to the society," he said, adding that visual media are engaged in intense competition and working at a breakneck speed. "Even the print media is affected by this ‘hasty’ style of electronic media," he pointed out.
"Hyping negative news, inserting one's own opinion in a report and other such practices were not in vogue during the nation's freedom struggle. A journalist should not be governed by emotions while writing a report," he said.
Journalist P B Harish Rai, president of the union presided. Shreenivas Indaje, Ramakrishna were present.