Mathew Rongmei
[dropcap]N[/dropcap]ational Press Day falls on November 16, the day when Press Council of India started functioning as a moral watchdog in 1966. But over the years, the Council proved ineffective when it comes to dealing with the burgeoning electronic media. The impact is being felt even in the Northeast India.
Precisely for this reason, the Journalists’ Forum Assam, in a statement on November 14, urged the Centre to empower the Council to monitor both print and electronic media to ensure press freedom and quality of journalism.However, in the context of Nagaland, it is the print media which has an edge over eletronic media in the dessimination of information and controlling the news markets. The National Press Day is an occasion for media houses and journalists to give a thought on where we stand professionally today and in which trend are we leading our Naga society. There are also issues concerning the ethics of journalism and myriad of problems faced by working journalists. Tomorrow, journalists from Dimapur are observing the Press Day at Press Point, Naga Shopping Arcade. It is expected that such ocassion should not be a mere ritual but more new ideas and initiatives come up for the good of all and sundry.
If readers read newspaper, it is because of its credibility, accuracy, comprehensive coverage and efforts of professionals who burn the midnight lamp while others are sleeping.
On the roles of print media particularly in remote areas of Nagaland, there are two pertinent questions- what media does to people? And what people do with media? There is no denying the fact that with the growth of print media, illiteracy rates in the areas have also dropped drastically.
And with the growing circulation and readership, varied topics that print media offer have provided the readers with a world of knowledge and shaped their opinions on politics, economy, culture, sports, insurgency problem etc. It is definitely leading the diverse multi-lingual societies to a destination to next century.
Unlike big print media in metropolitan cities, northeastern states have smaller print media which are mostly controlled by local proprietors in terms of contents and management policy. And it is always possible when a newspaper/magazine is run by a single media tycoon at his/her whims and fancies, freedom of information, which is a fundamental human right, may get hijacked and dampen even professionalism. In case if a proprietor is overtly inclined to yellow journalism or favours particular individual, party or community, it is seriously dangerous. In a democratic country like ours, print media having social responsibility, needs to be guided by its journalistic ethics.
