Naidu Highlights Risks of Fake News in Indian Media
On the occasion of National Press Day, the Vice President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu honored the winners of ‘National Awards for Excellence in Journalism 2019′ in New Delhi on Saturday (November 16).
The journalists in different areas were awarded for their work in journalism at an event organized by Press Council of India. In his address, Naidu said, “The cardinal principle of journalism is to present fair, objective, accurate, and balanced information to the reader and viewer without journalists assuming the role of the gatekeepers.”
He also spoke about the evils of fake news and urged media to maintain objectivity, fairness, and accuracy. “With the electronic and social media providing news by the minute with alerts and flashes on smart phones, journalists will have to exercise greater caution and guard against ‘fake news’, disinformation, and misinformation,” Naidu suggested.
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He also appealed to media to provide greater space to development news and important sectors such as agriculture while releasing the “Norms of Journalistic Conduct Edition-2019,” the Directory of Press Council of India and a souvenir at the award function.
Addressing the gathering, Union Minister of Information & Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar addressed the key issues that the media fraternity faced. “Today there is a crisis of fake news more than paid news. Media must understand the important responsibility they have to shoulder and cater to delivering the right news to end-users,” Javadekar stated.
