‘Social media has made it difficult to maintain credibility’
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It is necessary for journalists to train warning at each occasion: political scientist Pratap Bhanu Mehta
Social media has made it extraordinarily difficult for institutional and particular person identities to stay credible now as statements might be quickly decontextualised. It is necessary for journalists to train warning at each occasion to maintain credibility, political scientist Pratap Bhanu Mehta stated on the digital convocation of the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ)’s class of 2020-21 right here on Thursday.
Delivering the Lawrence Dana Pinkham lecture on ‘Who is interested in truth — Reflections on our times’, Mr. Mehta stated social media had blurred skilled and private boundaries and it is tougher to set up credibility now. Aspiring journalists should additionally look at ownerships and constructions that distort manufacturing of reality.
Noting that India was passing by means of an unprecedented part, he stated resistance to reality not solely comes from authoritarian regimes however typically from democratic instances additionally. The thought that personal media would produce free media in pursuit of reality has turned out to be an phantasm now and journalists’ lives are at stake. Social media additionally posed a problem to produce a inhabitants that’s receptive to reality.
Felicitating the scholars, N. Ram, Director, The Puucho Publishing Group and Trustee, Media Development Foundation (MDF), stated they’d be getting into journalism fields with alternatives and challenges. Economics, ecosystem and methods of media have been disrupted within the digital age. Technology and journalism have advanced quickly lately.
However, the intrinsic values and relevance of journalism as a democratic craft stays regardless of the technology-led transformations.
The core duties of journalism — verification, sense making, baring witness and investigation — as an expert pursuit proceed to be related, Mr. Ram stated.
Pointing out that the values of journalism had come beneath strain now, he stated college students should arise for his or her career and shield its independence as a democratic craft.
Remembering the three alumni of ACJ who have been COVID-19 victims, Sashi Kumar, Chairman, MDF and ACJ, stated it was a difficult 12 months owing to the pandemic. But it was a trendsetter as courses have been delivered on-line in the course of the opposed state of affairs.
While Prabhjit Singh and Arshu John have been declared winners of the Asian College of Journalism’s Award for Investigative Journalism for his or her article in The Caravan on the Delhi riots, Sukanya Shantha gained the K.P. Narayana Kumar Memorial Award for Social Impact Journalism for her article on caste discrimination in Indian prisons printed in The Wire. The awards comprise money prizes of ₹2 lakh and ₹1 lakh respectively.
In the Investigative Journalism award class, there have been three particular mentions — Disha Shetty, Tish Sanghera and Pankhuri Kumar for Environment Undone collection in India Spent; Lakshmi Subramanian for Inside Syria – The Naked and the Dead printed in The Week, and Shalini Singh for her collection on girls’s well being submitted to the People’s archive for Rural India.
There have been 4 particular mentions within the social impression journalism class. They have been Divya Gupta for Shooting up: Himachal Pradesh’s spiralling heroin drawback printed in The Caravan; Aparna Ganesan, Vigneshwar K., Vivek Manahoran and Prajeesh K. for Ennore: Living in Ashes in Asiaville; Tanmoy Bhaduri for Buzz of hope: conventional honey gatherers of the Sunderbans get a brand new lease of life in Gaon Connection and Sruthin Lal and Dibyaudh Das for Corona Cyclips in Asiaville.
A complete of 115 college students acquired their post-graduate diplomas in journalism and one other 12 college students acquired their post-graduate diplomas in enterprise and monetary journalism.
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