National Press Day: Nagaland editors call for self-reflection, transformation in modern media landscape

DIMAPUR — On the occasion of National Press Day, journalists in Dimapur were reminded that despite changes in the nature of the Press wrought by digital revolution, its principal purpose and foundations remain the same.

The celebration was organised by Dimapur Press Club at DBDIL Hall in Don Bosco School.

While speaking on the theme ‘Changing Nature of Press,’ the editor of Tir Yimyim, K Temjen Jamir, said that electronic and social media have transformed the Press today, bringing the world to their fingertips.

He, however, advised them to be mindful of the potential dangers of the New Media and to ensure that the evolving nature of the Press does not compromise the integrity they dearly hold and work fearlessly.

“The nature of Press has changed, but not the purpose of Press,” he said.

According to Jamir, with the advent of the era of Artificial Intelligent (AI), if newsrooms or news reporting fail to integrate AI into their system, they will be left behind automatically.

“It depends on us, the users, whether we use these media platforms to our benefit or we let New Media and AI use us and make our life artificial, counterfeit, and unproductive,” he said.

The editor reminded that the Press can be used as a medium of peace-making and ‘can safely be described as the intellectual backbone of any nation, as history bears witness to the fact that a robust means of mass communication can change the face of any nation.’

Akum Longchari, the editor of The Morung Express, also shared that the evolving Press is more about its changing form than its essence and stated that the principles and foundation of a Free Press remain unchanged.

“No doubt, the media forms have evolved, but the real challenge lies in how these principles are applied within these new formats,” he said.

Longchari identified an emerging trend in the media landscape: the growing gap between facts and feelings—between what actually happened on the ground and what the people feel.

While reminding that media persons, as journalists and as field reporters, are writing the first drafts of history, he wondered whether their drafts will be based on feelings or facts.

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In his observation, the mainstream media is moving more towards feelings, ‘as feelings are what sells, attracts viewers, and even readers sometimes feel that fact is very boring and mundane.’

“However, it is so important as journalists or as field reporters not to focus on the feelings but to focus primarily on the fact,” he said.

Longchari underlined the ramifications of journalists being guided by feelings rather than facts. “When society is built based on feelings, not on facts and truth, then their policies, analysis, and understanding are driven by emotion,” he said.

He therefore urged the journalists, as the first documenters of history, to reflect deeply on “this critical challenge of our time.”

Further, he pointed out that today the spectrum of news has come to include in-depth stories, investigative pieces, and even stories from colonies and some social groupings for a picnic. “That is how vast the idea of news has become in the modern context,” he suggested, adding that the actual news tends to get lost somewhere along the line.

The editor further called for some honest self-criticism on the occasion. According to him, the concept of breaking news no longer applies to newspapers, as this responsibility has shifted to digital media.

Therefore, he said, newspapers must reinvent themselves by focusing on what digital media cannot achieve.

Also, Longchari said that media persons as well as the image they present to the world around them need to undergo some radical transformation if they want the public of Nagaland to invest in the media as an institution of public service.

He pointed out the growing issue of people paying to be on the news and the need to address this aspect as everyone operates within the same media ecosystem.

He added that it is difficult to voice out against a culture of corruption if the media is also taking resources to cover events, and there cannot be a contradiction between the values and ideals that they stand for.

Also read: Journalism in Nagaland: Navigating progress, challenges and integrity