M’laya media fraternity celebrates National Press Day
SHILLONG: Information and Public Relations Minister A.L. Hek has urged journalists to refrain from publishing one-sided reports.
Addressing a gathering of journalist on the occasion of the National Press Day, Hek lamented that people tend to lose faith in the media due to wrong reporting.
“Journalists should balance their story by getting views from all the subjects they report about,” he said.
Earlier, Principal Secretary, Labour Department, M.S. Rao, spoke at length about the implementation of the Majithia Wage Board saying that the Supreme Court has given a ruling on the issue and the State Government is bound to implement the directives of the apex court.
“The only recourse that can be taken is that people can go back to the court on the matter,” he said.
He also said that the media fraternity in Meghalaya has evolved over the years and it has reached a certain standard even as he said that quality of editorials in local newspapers is of national standard and reporting most of the time is excellent.
Director of Information and Public Relations, H.M. Shangpliang, also said that the department would issue advertisements equally to all the newspapers.
Later in the day, a panel discussion was organized on the theme “Transparency in Public Affairs: Role of the Press. The panelists included Dr. A.K. Nongkynrih, Dept, of Sociology, NEHU, Dr, S. Umdor, Dept. of Economics, NEHU, Samuel Jyrwa, president, North East Students’ Organisation (NESO) and Editor, The Shillong Times, Patricia Mukhim.
Deliberating on the topic, Dr. Umdor defined the media in Meghalaya as dynamic and critical but said that what it lacked was analysis of news for the benefit of the readers so that they are kept informed and can engage with the information. He said transparency implies free flow of information that is reliable, timely, comprehensive and relevant for economic and social evaluation and urged media persons to try and acquire competencies in the areas they lacked.
Dr. Nongkynrih chided the media for being too Shillong centric. “Shillong is just a cosmetic representation of the State. Meghalaya lives in its villages and rural reporting is extremely important,” he said, adding that the problems of people in villages are left unattended because the media fails to report them.
He felt that media persons should be exposed to training so that they build their capacities and said that they can draw upon the resources available in NEHU and other Universities. He also pointed at some vernacular newspapers which he said promoted too much religion through their op-ed pages.
Jyrwa pointed at the lack of transparency in Government institutions like the Meghalaya Public Service Commission in whom the job-seeking youth of the State have lost confidence. He felt that these institutions should be held accountable by the media.
He however felt that media persons need to be reminded of certain issues that are of public importance so that such issues are not forgotten.
Jyrwa said that border areas of the State are reported only when there are border disputes and clashes and then forgotten.
Pointing out that the media tries to do its best under the circumstances, Patricia Mukhim said that media in Meghalaya works under great constraints because information from public institutions and the Government is not free flowing. Even replies to RTI queries are technical and difficult to interpret.
Speaking about news analysis, Mukhim said analysing news is the work of the intelligentsia and academicians.
She rued the fact that Government officials are often reticent about providing information on key issues, especially on monies spent and outcomes achieved.