Maintaining credibility biggest challenge in journalism: Pratap Somvanshi

New Delhi, Aug 6 (Bureau) In the era of rapid journalism driven by social media, maintaining the credibility of the content being served is a significant challenge, said a senior journalist while addressing mass communication students of Indraprastha University. Pratap Somvanshi, managing editor of Dainik Hindustan, said social media has posed a challenge for other media verticals to quickly serve content. “Due to a lack of time, people often do not make the effort to verify the content, which makes maintaining the credibility of the content a big challenge,” said Somvanshi.

He was addressing the second-day session of the orientation programme organized for first-year students of the School of Mass Communication (USMC) at the university’s East Campus. He advised the students aspiring to become successful journalists to develop the habit of reading and writing. A journalist should have a basic knowledge of every subject and should develop the habit of reading newspapers daily. He emphasized the importance of maintaining curiosity to learn new things for the development of knowledge. He also elaborated on the increasing role of technology in the journalism sector. He explained that in the era of multitasking, the role of a journalist has changed.

Therefore, we need to prepare ourselves to work in line with the changing times. Sushil Singh, a senior official of the Delhi government and a trained journalist from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, said there are now numerous and diverse opportunities in the field of mass communication. The opportunities behind the scenes in journalism are many times greater than those in on-screen journalism. In this programme, students of the MA (MC) and BA (JMC) courses were introduced to the faculty, curriculum, laboratories, and the new East Campus of the university. Prof. A.K. Saini, Dean of USMC, informed the students about the university and its high rankings at the national and international levels. He urged the students to learn diligently during this golden period of their lives. Other senior faculty members and officials of USMC were present on this occasion.