Expressing concern over growing corruption, nepotism and failure in fulfilling promises given to people in public life, Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya asked journalists to expose such tendencies. Participating as Chief Guest at the National Conference of National Union of Journalists (NUJ-I) held in Hyderabad on Sunday, he deplored that corruption is equal to cancer.
He also said that degrading values, promoting caste, religious, regional and communal bias in public life, he said that the journalists should create awareness among people against such tendencies. Moreover, he said that the media should point out if the government failed in fulfilling its promises and also successfully implementing programs benefiting people. The programs intended to the benefit of the poor, marginalized and underprivileged should observe how far they are reaching targeted groups, he added.
He asserted that news should be news, but not be opinions and the media should maintain transparency and impartiality in its news reporting. He said that the credibility of the media depends upon the truthfulness of its news reporting. Dattatreya said that the media is a powerful weapon for the success of democracy and protection should be ensured to the media people.
He advised that the government of the day should ensure dignified living standards of media persons in terms of their salaries, housing and medical requirements.
NUJ(I) National President Shivaji Sarkar demanded that the Press Council of India should be revived and strengthened as a Media Commission. In view of the growth of alternative media platforms, he said that journalists working for online portals, YouTube channels and other forms should be brought under the preview of working journalists.
Expressing concern over growing threats to the media persons, he said effective mechanisms should be made available for their protection. He called for journalists all over the country to be alerted to the changing circumstances in which they are working, where basic values of the media are being pushed away.
NUJ(I) Secretary General Ravi Meenakshisundaram stressed the need for a new wage board for the journalists, bringing all forms of journalists into the mainstream. Former NUJ(I) President Uppala Lakshman, vice presidents Sanjay Rai, Smt Savita Kulakarni and others spoke.
The two-day conference focused on critical issues facing journalism today — from the impact of digital media on grassroots reporting to the growing need to protect regional and vernacular journalism. Delegates from across India, including senior journalists, editors, and correspondents, shared ground-level experiences and explored the challenges of maintaining ethical journalism in today’s rapidly evolving media landscape.