Be mindful of not disrupting social harmony: Venkaiah

NEW DELHI: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday said that “journalism's task is to mirror the society and journalists must be mindful not to disrupt social harmony.”

Addressing the faculty, students and other attendees at the inauguration of the Delhi School of Journalism (DSJ) at Delhi University, Naidu said journalism has its peculiarities and as a vocation it's not like any other.

“Journalism has to mirror the society. It is a unique vocation. It is a vocation to serve the society. It is the fourth pillar of our Constitution and the watchdog of democracy,” said Naidu, who is also the Chancellor of Delhi University.

He, however, stressed that freedom of expression was “not absolute” and comes with reasonable restrictions which a journalist must respect. He also marked as a duty of a journalist to do what “is in the national interest” and “creates social harmony”.

Advising young students against the vices of sensationalism and paid news evident in the profession, he said: “Sensationalism rules the roost now. It should never prevail over truth.

“What is advertisement, advertorial, an editortial, it is hard to tell now... One should never compromise on the core values of journalism of objectivity, of being unbiased, artistic, rational and strong,” he said.

DU Vice-chancellor Yogesh Tyagi, Pro Vice Chancellor JM Khurana, and member of DSJ Advisory Council and former editor of Hindi daily Jansatta Ram Bahadur Rai were present at the event.

A session is already underway at DSJ, which was formed in August to offer the university's first ever five-year integrated Masters course in journalism.

Meanwhile, Congressaffiliated student body National Students' Union of India (NSUI) opposed the operation of DSJ in a “self-financing mode.”

The student body alleged that the fees for the newly opened School is a mindboggling Rs 4 lakh, and socially and economically weaker students like SCS, STS and OBCS, would be adversely affected due to the high fee.

Despite the steep fees being charged, there is no permanent faculty yet, NSUI added.