Credibility a concern in journalism: Modi
NEW DELHI: Credibility in journalism has become a major concern because of an explosion of news in social media over the past few years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday.
His remarks came at a function in the Capital in which he presented the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards 2016. “Technology has posed an unprecedented challenge to media. Earlier, even after 24 hours, news looked fresh. Now after 24 seconds, it becomes old.”
But he appreciated the fact that “a lot of news” is available via social media which is empowering the people. At the same time, though, “credibility” has become a major issue.
“Now when people read newspapers in the morning, they seem to verify if it’s the same news which landed in his mobile yesterday,” he said. He welcomed constructive media criticism of the government and requested journalists not to write anything that destroys the country’s social fabric. But, maintained that the government should have no role in running media.
“As Acharya Vinobha Bhabe has said, a-sarkari hi asarkari (non-government is effective).”
Among this year’s awardees is Burhan Kinu of Hindustan Times, who got the award in the photo journalism section. Ashwaq Masoodi of HT’s sister publication, Mint, and Sarada Lahangir of Kalinga TV were awarded under the “Uncovering India Invisible” category.
The feature writing award went to Mint’s Shamik Bag and Sreedevi TV of the Malayala Manorama group. For commentary and interpretative writing, Anna MM Vetticad of BLink and Pramit Bhattacharya of Mint were awarded.