By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 1 Sept: There is ongoing consideration for relaxing the standards for granting accreditation to journalists. The state government has already agreed to the proposal for granting accreditation at the tehsil level. This information was shared by Banshidhar Tiwari, Director General of the Information and Public Relations Department, while addressing the annual conference of the Uttarakhand Journalists Union, Dehradun District Unit.
On Sunday, the conference began with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp by senior journalist and Vice Chairman of the State Higher Education Improvement Committee, Dr. Devendra Bhasin, along with UPU State President Bhupendra Kandari, District President Anil Chandola, State General Secretary Harish Joshi, Senior Vice President Ashish Dhyani, Organization Secretary Tilak Raj, and Publicity Secretary Shoorveer Bhandari.
During the workshop on the challenges and opportunities of social media, Dr Devendra Bhasin discussed the significant changes in journalism over the past few years. He noted that technological advancements have accelerated the pace of journalism, with information now spreading globally in the blink of an eye due to social media. He elaborated on content creation, reach, engagement, legal aspects of news, media law, and ethics. Dr. Bhasin highlighted that while social media has granted freedom, it has also accelerated the spread of misleading news.
Director General Tiwari commented that in today’s mobile and tech-driven era, many individuals consider themselves journalists. However, true journalism involves responsible news selection. He emphasized the importance of fact-checking before publishing or broadcasting any news, noting that social media lacks the multi-layered screening systems found in print and electronic media, leading to an abundance of misleading and incorrect information.
State President Bhupendra Kandari pointed out the significant differences in thinking between older and newer journalists, but affirmed that the core elements and requirements of news remain unchanged. District President Anil Chandola mentioned that in a state with challenging geographical conditions like Uttarakhand, social media plays a crucial role in rapid exchange of information.
The event was also attended by BJP’s Siddharth Agarwal, Assistant Media In-Charge Akshat Jain, senior journalists Darshan Singh Rawat, Sushil Rawat, Sanjay Kimothi, District General Secretary Yogesh Raturi, Treasurer Rajesh Barthwal, Indradev Raturi, KS Bisht, Darban Singh, Kishore Rawat, Raju Pushola, amongst others.
