Shillong / New Delhi, Sep 20 (Bureau) Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Friday said that there is a critical need to draw boundaries between information, opinion, and news, even as he noted that positive criticism is a healthy practice in a democracy. “Today an opinion or information is looked upon as news, and it is important to have a line of differentiation,” Sangma said and also highlighted the importance of trust in the media sector. Addressing journalists at a Meghalaya Media Meet 2024 on the theme “Redefining Journalism in the Digital Age,” the Chief Minister said, “We can sensationalise things for a short while, but maintaining trust is what we should all strive for as we move along, and I believe that trust is the most important aspect of journalism.”
“As we move forward, we look forward to your constructive criticism and working together in the larger interest of society,” he told journalists. The Chief Minister said that much needed to be done to recognise the contributions made by the journalists. “ “We as a government felt the need to have programs like this to recognise and felicitate the hard work by the journalists and meet and discuss the way forward in the larger interest of the media fraternity to ensure that the sector thrives and prospers following ethical codes and also adapting itself to the technological changes,” he said. Information and Public Relations Minister Dr. Mazel Ampareen Lyngdoh said that topics like ethical responsibility, mobile-citizen journalism, and artificial intelligence need discussion and deliberation.
“Ethical responsibility is something beyond any constitutional provision, and we have to ensure that the young journalists conform to ethical consideration so that we may have a media that is acceptable, palatable, and non-judgemental,” she said. Eight senior journalists were felicitated by the Chief Minister and the Information Minister for their dedicated service in the field of journalism for over three decades. They were Linda Chhakchhuak, Manas Chaudhuri, Philip Marwein, Subroto Bhattacharjee, R.M. Shabong, M.M. Thaiang, Sanat Kumar Chakraborty, and Sanjib Bhattacharjee. The Chief Minister also announced an amount of Rs 1 lakh for each of them.