Srinagar: With an aim to sensitise journalists about various Central Government schemes meant for the welfare of common citizens, Press Information Bureau (PIB) Srinagar organised a one-day media workshop at Dak Bungalow Baramulla today.
Titled “Vartalap”, the workshop is part of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s media outreach strategy and is conceptualised to act as a bridge between the masses and the government by empowering journalists and making them aware about their responsibilities towards society.
Deputy Commissioner Baramulla, Dr Syed Sehrish Asghar was the Chief Guest for the programme. Additional Director General (ADG) PIB Srinagar, Shri Rajinder Chaudhry delivered the Keynote Address and interacted with the journalists on various issues concerning Media..
The proceedings of the workshop were conducted by Deputy Director PIB Srinagar, Ghulam Abbas. More than 40 journalists from Baramulla and adjacent areas attended the workshop.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Sehrish expressed happiness that such a programme was being organised in Baramulla district. She said that the media is the fourth pillar of democracy and no progress can be achieved until the message of development reaches the people.
She opined that social media is a reality that cannot be escaped and people consume a lot of information through the medium. She said this increases the burden of responsibility on the journalists that they report correct and unbiased facts as news spreads very fast in the present times and wrong information can do a lot of damage in very little time.
Commenting that the written word is documented proof of things, she said that journalists must understand their responsibilities before they go ahead with their professional assignments. She reiterated upon them to give preference to humanitarian issues and avoid sensationalism.
Dr Sehrish also gave a patient hearing to the grievances of the journalists working in the district and assured them of all possible help from the administration in mitigating them.
In his welcome address, Chaudhry said that the media acts as the eyes and ears of the government and the government comes to know about the effectiveness of the schemes based on the feedback received from the media.

Shri Chaudhry was of the opinion that media needs to maintain checks and balances and that journalists should practice balanced journalism by giving coverage to all aspects of the story.

ADG PIB, Chaudhry also gave a detailed presentation on the occasion about the working of PIB and other allied media units of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

He also highlighted the need to effectively counter fake news and rumours in a quick time.

PIB has created a mechanism to cross check fake news and has created a Twitter Handle to disseminate Information about any such fake news, informed Mr Chaudhry.

In his inaugural address, Shri Abbas highlighted the role that media can play in propagating messages of development and social progress. He said that besides acting as a voice for the voiceless, journalists should cooperate with the government in taking the message of development to the citizens.

KR Desk