Journalists should work freely, fearlessly: Thakur

Tribune News Service

Shimla, November 16

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Friday said journalists should give more importance to developmental reporting so that the common man could benefit from the welfare policies and programmes of the government.

He was speaking at the state level-function on the occasion of National Press Day here. An interactive session “Journalism Ethics and Challenges in Digital Era” was organised by the Information and Public Relations Department.

He said the media should highlight issues related to the masses on priority so that appropriate action could be taken at the government end. “Journalism is rightly called the fourth pillar of democracy as it is playing a major role in upholding democracy and impacting our day-to-day life,” he said.

Thakur added that there was not even a single field which was devoid of challenges and journalism was also not an exception.

Himachal was fortunate to have highly professional media. “Journalists must ensure that whatever they publish or broadcast is factually correct. They must function freely, fearlessly and without any bias so that they have high credibility,” the Chief Minister said.

“Despite emergence of digital media, the importance and role of newspapers has not gone down as the news is published on certain ethics and responsibility is also fixed for providing misinformation,” Thakur said.

Media adviser to the Chief Minister Rohit Sawal also spoke. Assistant professor, journalism department, HP University, Dr Vikas Dogra threw light on various aspects of journalism. He said responsibility should be fixed while publishing or reporting any news.