Saturday, October 18, 2014

IPR Minister meets media organisations

GANGTOK, 17 Oct [IPR]: A coordination-cum-familiarization meeting of the Information & Public Relations Department and representatives of Press Club of Sikkim and its sister organizations was held today at the conference hall of Soochna Bhawan here. The meeting was chaired by IPR Minister AK Ghatani and was also attended by Secretary IPR Department CC Wangdi, senior officers of the department, and representatives of various press organizations. The organizations represented in the meeting were Press Club of Sikkim, Sikkim Press Association, Mahila Patrakar Sangh and Weekly Editors’ Forum.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister acknowledged the contribution of the press in the collective process of spearheading development of the State. He hailed organizations like the Press Club of Sikkim for providing leadership to journalists from across the State.
Addressing the journalists as ‘first class citizens of the country’, the Minister called for the need to shift the focus of journalistic writing from regular run-of-the-mill stories to factual issue-based reporting. He urged all the four organizations to identify journalists from among them and assign them specific departments or issues. He added that a feedback mechanism be created where content is thoroughly checked and verified before it went for publishing. This process would ensure quality and address issues like adverse reporting or mis-information.
The Minister urged the journalists to focus on the key initiatives of the Government. Elaborate work needed to be done by journalists to highlight the Organic Mission of the Government, he said. He urged the organizations to form specialized teams focusing exclusively on the Organic Mission. The Minister called on the journalists to focus more on real stories that have occurred in the society and urged them to verify the contents before publishing them. The minister categorically stated that journalists should avoid any kind of mistakes in their writing. The Minister touched upon all the issues raised by the journalists and assured timely redressal.
Secretary Ms Wangdi in her address appreciated the positive role played by the press in Sikkim in disseminating information about the programmes and policies of the Government. She appealed to the press to take the occasional adversities in their stride and work towards an amicable environment between the press and the department to serve the larger interest of the people of Sikkim. She urged the press to verify the facts and figures from multiple sources inorder to ensure balanced reporting in their publications, notwithstanding the freedom of speech and expression which the fourth pillar always enjoys. She maintained that there should be cordial relation between IPR department and the press fraternity and both should work as a cohesive unit to collaborate for the development of the State.

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