Mangaluru: The Karnataka Journalist Union organized “Journalist’s Convention” at Besant Women’s College, M G Road here, on July 4.
The programme began with an invocation. KJU District President, Sudesh Kumar welcomed the gathering. The programme was inaugurated by MP Nalin Kumar Kateel by lighting the traditional lamp along with other dignitaries on the dais.
Congratulating the District KJU members, Nalin Kumar Kateel said, “The district KJU members have organized a meaningful programme for journalists which will send a positive message to the state as well as the nation. The media has played a vital role in exposing corruption and various scams. The media has contributed a lot to bring changes in the entire system. In olden days, journalists did not have the opportunity to gather news easily. But now, the news spreads very fast. Times have changed and values have eroded. There is even a strong competition which leads to the loss of ethics in journalism. Also, media has been commercialized due to certain reasons.”
“In olden days, journalists were struggling to publish news because the printing press was far from their offices. Now, journalism is losing its ethics. In olden days, photographs of accident were not allowed to be published but now if the photographs will not be published, there is no value for the news. Nowadays, the influence of media has grown significantly with advanced technology and the internet. News also spreads fast through the web and social media, whereas print media will give the news the next day.”
“When politicians make mistakes, the media always highlights their mistakes and corrects them. But who will correct the media, when they are wrong?” he questioned. “Journalists should concentrate more on transparency, without hurting the sentiments of the people and work for the development of the society. Journalists have been respected well in the society.”
Deputy Commissioner A B Ibrahim said that Dakshina Kannada is a fast developing district in Karnataka. He further said that media faces a very tough time today. “In the past, there were very few newspapers and we were happy with that. There was no TV, no online media but now, there are a number of online media giving the news very fast. I read 10 newspapers a day, in Kerala most of the people buy newspapers. But in Mangaluru, only few people buy newspapers. Sometimes certain issues are not published by the media thinking that they may lose advertisements. A incident had occurred last week, and only one news media reported it. Why is it like this?”
Sometimes, stories by reporters are refused or edited beyond recognition. Journalists and their reports may be directly sponsored by corporates who are the subject of their reports, leading to reports which actually favor the sponsor, he added.
“Consequently, if the companies dominating a media market choose to suppress stories that do not serve their interests, the public suffers since they are not adequately informed of some crucial issues that may affect them. Nowadays, the print media is facing problems because people depend more on online media since they give news immediately.” He also said that budding journalists should do proper reporting which would help to compete with online media.
S Jayaram (Doordarshan), Ahmed Anwar (Photo Journalist), Gangadhar Matty (journalist), S Taranath Shetty (Distributor) and Ananthraya Bhat (Distributor) were felicitated on the occasion. State KJU president Kishan Bal Pandith, President DKWJU Jagannath Shetty Bala and Information officer B A Khader Shah were also present.