Shillong, Sep 10: The Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR), in collaboration with the Centre for Policy, today hosted the 2nd Meghalaya Media Meet 2025 here. The event was held under the theme “From Print to Pixel: Navigating Trust, Technology, Consumption & Accountability.”
Delivering the inaugural address, Batlang Sohliya, Director of Information and Public Relations set the tone for the day-long deliberations. The meet brought together media professionals, academics, students, and experts to discuss the evolving landscape of journalism in an era shaped by technology and misinformation.
The morning sessions began with the participation of students from the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, NEHU; English and Foreign Languages University; and the Department of Mass Media, St. Anthony’s College.
The first session, “The Basics of Creative Writing”, was led by Bianca Tara Faith Nongkynrih, linguist, writer, and PhD candidate. She highlighted the power of storytelling in bridging cultures and preserving identity.
This was followed by a session on “Spot the AI: A Fact-Checker’s Guide to Deepfakes & AI-Generated Images”, conducted by Divya Chandra, Senior Producer and Fact-Checker at Boom. She shared insights on identifying manipulated content and addressed the growing challenges of combating disinformation.
A panel discussion on “Multimedia Storytelling” was moderated by Ahmer Khan and featured Antariksh Jain, Asmita Nandy, and Princess Giri Rashir. The panel explored how video journalism has transformed news consumption in recent years.
Additionally, Satdeep Gill, Senior Program Officer at the Wikimedia Foundation, conducted a workshop on “Wikimedia for Media: Building Reliable and Inclusive Knowledge”, emphasizing collaborative platforms for strengthening public access to authentic information.
The afternoon sessions catered to practicing journalists, beginning with a panel discussion on “Amplifying Equity: Pathways and Challenges for Women Journalists in India”, featuring Sangeeta B Pisharoty, Patricia Mukhim, Jacky Martens, Tongam Rina and Cherry Kharshiing.
Another session on “The Role of the Press in a Democracy and Citizen Accountability” featured Kishorechandra Wangkhem, Patricia Mukhim, Sangeeta B Pisharoty, and Raman Jit Singh Chima (joining virtually).
Discussions on “The Impact of Fake News and Disinformation” were led by Oishani Bhattacharya, Shruti Menon, Indrajeet Ghorapade and Ahmer Khan.
The day concluded with a panel session on “Telling Change, Not Just Stories – Building Media Capacities for Human-Centric Reporting”, with Sampath Kumar, Zafrin Chowdhury, Ramnath Ballala, Shweta Raj Kanwar, Fulgida Dkhar, and Madhulika Jonathan as panelists.
