Guwahati:Underlying that media had the power to mould a society’s thought process, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday urged journalists to emulate bees in their profession – secreting the best news for benefit of masses and at the same time, having the power to sting the corrupt.
Speaking at the platinum jubilee celebration of ‘The Assam Tribune’ here, Mr Modi said, ‘A journalist can be like a fly or a bee. A fly sits on dirt and leaves behind dirt/germs wherever it sits. But a bee sits on the best flowers, while at the same time it has the power to sting.’
‘A journalist should be like a bee, concentrating only on the best of news that benefit the general masses and also hold the power to expose the corrupt and wrong in the society,’ he added.
Commenting on the present media scenario, the PM said promotion of newspapers and channels as being the most accurate or fast one implied that there was ‘something wrong somewhere’.
‘The reader has to learn to read between the lines now. Most news are attributed to ‘reliable sources’, with the reporter safely abjuring of any liability. I believe in those newspapers mostly where the reporters and paper themselves claim authe-nticity of their news and do not lean on ‘reliable sources’ alone,’ Mr Modi added.
Pointing that the power of the media has grown with time, Mr Modi said media had the power to mould the thought process of an entire society and change the way people perceive things.
Referring to the Emergency days under then-PM late Indira Gandhi, the incumbent PM said it was the first time in post-Independence days that India had faced censorship and was made aware of the value of freedom of expression.
It was the time when the power of the media was also brought to fore, he added.
While lauding ‘The Assam Tribune’ for main-taining high standards of journalism, Mr Modi expressed hope that true journalism will be practiced by the press for the benefit of the society. (UNI)