Eight senior journalists were felicitated during the first Meghalaya Media Meet organised by the State government here today.
The veteran journalists are Editor of Youth Today, Phillip Marwein, former Chief of Bureau United News of India (UNI), Subroto Bhattacharjee, Rupang Editor RM Shabong, Yutip Editor MM Thaiang, former Shillong Times Editor Manas Choudhury, Shillong Times photographer Sanjb Bhattacharjee and independent journalists, Sanat Chakraborty and Linda Chhakchhuak.
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma who attended the event announced an amount of Rs 1 lakh each from the Chief Minister Grants.
In his inaugural speech, the Chief Minister said that much needs to be done to recognize the contributions made by the journalists and added, “This was when we as a government felt the need to have programs like this to recognize and felicitate the hard work by the journalists, meet and discuss the way forward in the larger interest of the media fraternity to ensure that the sector thrives and prospers following ethical codes and also adapting itself to the technological changes.”
Stating that journalism is not only confined to writing, the Chief Minister said that there is a constant need to adapt to changing technology and the need to update on different aspects of journalism, regular training and exposure trips of media personnel.
The Chief Minister also stressed on the importance of positive criticism that is a healthy practice in a democracy. He added that in the modern times because of technology there is a critical need to draw boundaries between information, opinion and news. “Today an opinion or information is looked upon as news and it is important to have a line of differentiation,” he said.
Further, the Chief Minister also highlighted the importance of trust in the media sector. “We can sensationalize things for a short while but maintaining trust is what we should all strive for as we move along and I believe that trust is the most important aspect of journalism,” he added.
“As we move forward, we look forward to your constructive criticism and work together in the larger interest of society,” he said. He also assured the media fraternity that the government will look into some of the welfare concerns that have been flagged by the press fraternity of the state.
Information & Public Relations Minister, Ampareen Lyngdoh said the government will look for ways to better the lives and working conditions of the media fraternity and recognize the hard work of the journalists.
She stressed on the need to discuss ethical responsibility, mobile-citizen journalism and artificial intelligence. “Ethical responsibility is something beyond any constitutional provision and we have to ensure that the young journalists conform to ethical consideration so that we may have a media which is acceptable, palatable and non-judgmental,” she said.
Lyngdoh added that media houses are slowly disappearing in today’s generation because of the inability to support themselves and the government’s role in playing the balancing act are some areas that can be discussed during the media meet.
The Meghalaya Media Meet was on the theme “Redefining Journalism in the Digital Age,” had a panel discussion on Navigating the Evolving Media Landscape: Challenges, advantages & Future, a talk on Press Laws and Ethics by National Law University Vice Chancellor, Professor Indrajit Dube, a presentation on journalist welfare scheme, Visual Content Verification by Dr Manash P Goswami of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, NEHU.
IPR Commissioner & Secretary Vijay Kumar Mantri, IPR Director Malthus Sangma, officials of the department and journalists from across the state attended the event held at the Taj Vivanta.
