The Meghalaya Media Meet 2024 on the theme “Redefining Journalism in the Digital Age,” which was the first of its kind meet in the state was held today at Taj Vivanta, Shillong, which was attended by Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma and Minister, Information & Public Relations, Dr Mazel Ampareen Lyngdoh. Also present were Commissioner & Secretary, Information & Public Relations, Vijay Mantri and Director, I&PR, Malthus Sangma.
In his inaugural speech, Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma, said that much needs to be done to recognize the contributions made by the journalists and added, “This was when we as a government felt the need to have programs like this to recognize and felicitate the hard work by the journalists, meet and discuss the way forward in the larger interest of the media fraternity to ensure that the sector thrives and prospers following ethical codes and also adapting itself to the technological changes.”
Stating that Journalism is not only confined to writing, the Chief Minister said that there is a constant need to adapt to changing technology and the need to update on different aspects of journalism, regular trainings and exposure trips of media personnel.
The Chief Minister also stressed on the importance of positive criticism that is a healthy practice in a democracy. He added that in the modern times because of technology there is a critical need to draw boundaries between information and opinion and news. “Today an opinion or an information is looked upon as news and it is important to have a line of differentiation,” he said.
Further, the Chief Minister also highlighted the importance of trust in the media sector. “We can sensationalize things for a short while but maintaining trust is what we should all strive for as we move along and I believe that trust is the most important aspect of Journalism,” he added.
“As we move forward, we look forward to your constructive criticism and work together in the larger interest of society,” he said. He also assured the media fraternity that the government will look into some of the welfare concerns that have been flagged by the press fraternity of the state.
Minister, Information & Public Relations, Dr Ampareen Lyngdoh said, “The media fraternity looks up to the government for a lot of things and we start today to handhold the media and to look at the ways in which we can better the lives and working conditions of the media fraternity and recognize the hard work the journalists are engaged in.”
Expressing happiness that one of the topics for the panel discussion is on handling fake news and information the Minister said, “I hope that the discussions today will deliberate on the best ways of addressing this problem when in in the present times the impacts of social media are profound and is also a concern.”
The Minister also said that topics like Ethical Responsibility, Mobile-Citizen Journalism and Artificial Intelligence are all matters that need discussion and deliberation. “Ethical responsibility is something beyond any constitutional provision and we have to ensure that the young journalists conform to ethical consideration so that we may have a media which is acceptable, palatable and non-judgmental,” she said. She also added that media houses are slowly disappearing in today’s generation because of the inability to support themselves and the government’s role in playing the balancing act are some areas that can be discussed during the media meet.
Earlier, the dignitaries felicitated eight senior journalists for their dedicated service in the field of Journalism. The journalists who were felicitated were P Marwein, Editor, Youth Today, Subroto Bhattacharjee, Bureau Chief, UNI, R M Shabong, Editor, U Rupang, M M Thaiang, Editor, Yutip, Manas Choudhury, Former Editor, The Shillong Times, Sanat Chakraborty, Independent Journalist, Linda Chhakchhuak, Independent Journalist and Sanjib Bhattacharjee, Photographer, The Shillong Times. The Chief Minister also announced an amount of one lakh from CMSG for the eight journalists.
Navigating the Evolving Media Landscape: Challenges, advantages & Future, Press Laws & Ethics, Welfare Schemes for Journalists under Government of India and Visual Content Verification were topics that were discussed during the panel discussion.
The meeting was attended by print and electronic journalists and officials of Department of Information & Public Relations from across the state.
