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A section of journalists druing the celebration of National Press Day in Kohima on Friday.[/caption]
Our Correspondent
Kohima, Nov. 16 (EMN): Challenges on journalistic ethics and increasing questions on issues of copyright, source credibility and authenticity in an era where the rising digital revolution has paved way for easy creation and distribution of information were the crux of the discussions at this year’s National Press Day event held at Kohima on Friday.
The Press Council of India (PCI) prescribed the theme ‘Journalistic Ethics and Challenges in Digital Age’ for the day, taking into account that fast evolving technology was also changing the contours of journalism; and the fourth estate is faced with challenges which could be grouped under three heads: concept of news, authenticity of news, and business of media.
“Earlier, journalists used to define and mark what the news is in the digital era. With social media becoming the major platform to access news, that is gradually changing. In the absence of a gatekeeper, anything and everything is going by the name of news. To maintain credibility and accountability, the two hallmark of journalism are major challenges,” the concept note from PCI stated.
“The technological possibilities developed in the 'information society', together with the social and cultural trend for more participation, opened this field of new actors, which caused professional journalists to lose their traditional monopoly of searching, gathering, editing and dissemination news in the public sphere. These new possibilities of communication are increasingly forcing the old actors to play new roles in the media.
“’Citizen journalism', 'participatory journalism', 'user-generated content', 'crowdsourcing', 'weblogs','Twitter', 'Facebook', etc., are words and expressions rather common these days, all of them somehow calling the attention to the fact that journalism-as-a-professional-activity seems to coexist more and more with various forms of journalism as-a-civic-activity, performed by very different people, under very different conditions and with very different levels of involvement and expertise,” the note further stated.
Deviating from the conventional Press Day programmes, this year the three Press Clubs of Kohima, Dimapur and Mokokchung and the department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) invited individuals from different fraternities to take part in the panel discussion, including those from the legal services, cyber crime, social media groups.
Give authentic news, not views
Michael Yhome, the officer-in-charge of Cyber Cell at the Nagaland Police Headquarters (PHQ), expressed concern that the accessibility of digital services and the internet have made everyone take on the role of a reporter in one way or the other. Stating that most cases which come to his office were of fake news and rumours that are usually defamatory in nature, he underscored the need for the public and journalists alike to have the responsibility to give news and not views while using social media platforms.
Yhome also spoke about the need for a social media regulatory Act in Nagaland which would put regulative measures and an accountability mechanism in place without infringing upon the right of expression of the citizens.
Dr. Moalemba, editor of The Morung Express, was of the view that challenges to journalism have increased drastically with exponential advancement of technology. He mentioned that social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter etc. were becoming more sought-after medium of generating information. This, in turn, is killing social responsibility and advocacy journalism.
“Traditionally, we know that the fourth estate is supposed to be a watchdog of the society, unfortunately, iT is becoming increasingly a ‘lapdog’,” he lamented. The first duty of journalists is to communicate news in an objective, representative, balanced and ethical manner, he reminded.
Nagaland Legal Services Authority (NSLSA) project coordinator Tongpang L Jamir talked of the role of the news media as the watchdog and guardian of democracy, and reminded the fraternity that its credibility depends on its ethics. He remarked that media houses often come out with their own observations on matters which are subjudice and expressed the need for the media fraternity to know the basic laws and also called upon them to be independent and free from political interference.
Founder of the popular Facebook group ‘The Naga Blog’, Yanpvuo Kikon shared that most of the social media platform users were ‘rebellious’ in the sense that they are very spontaneous and expressive of their opinions. He said The Naga Blog group was created with the intent to give platform to the people to voice their views on governance and the state of the society. “To understand the intent and the outcome of what we pursue is very important,” he stated, while admitting that young Naga participants in the platforms were ‘very raw at the moment.’ He also pointed out the need for all to understand the fundamentals of social media and news media.
The group discussion summarised the need to check the accuracy and authenticity of news, learning to differentiate between important news and trivial news, interactive accessibility and making that interaction credible, knowing the difference between social media and news media, and the need for regulating usage of social media. Besides these, it was reaffirmed by the ‘non-media participants’ that people have and would continue to fall back to the news organisations for authentic news.
“What will stand in the end is your integrity and what will sustain it is your credibility,” concluded Dr. Hovithal Sothu, deputy director of the state Administrative Institute (ATI) who was the moderator of the discussion.
Governor PB Acharya and Chief Minister greeted the media fraternity on the occasion of National Press Day on Friday. “On the occasion of National Press Day, I extend my warm greetings to the press fraternity in Nagaland and wish them success in their endeavours,” Acharya stated in his message.
He acknowledged that among the four pillars of democracy, the media has a greater potential and power to create better world. “Media, both print and electronic, plays a major role in shaping our society and has become a bridge between the government and the citizens. Be it television, newspapers, website or radio, the consistent coverage by media on each and every issue of the society creates bigger impacts, making it one of the most important professions of these days,” he stated.
Stating that social media today was used as a powerful tool to disseminate news because of its ability to reach huge number of people in any parts of the globe, Acharya emphasised the need for a mechanism in place to check spread of fake news which could be a threat to democracy.
Rio took to Twitter to convey his greeting. “Greetings to the media fraternity on National Press Day; A day which symbolises free & responsible press. It not only reminds us of the freedom & strength of the media but also of its dedication towards fairness & high ethical standards as the Fourth Pillar of Democracy,” he tweeted.
