Manipur Information and Public Relations Minister Thongam Biswajit on Sunday called on media persons for balanced reporting while publishing news.
Speaking as chief guest in the 45th foundation day celebration of All Manipur Working Journalists Union (AMWJU), held at Manipur Press Club in Imphal on Sunday, the Minister stated that as media plays the role of a mediator, they should balance their news report before publishing the same.
He lauded the contribution of the media fraternity despite facing numerous challenges.
He also highlighted the challenges faced by the media fraternity like fake news going viral in social media.
He also said that media should play an important role abiding to its ethics in a democratic state, adding that ‘as the essence of democracy lies in the effectiveness of media’.
The Minister further disclosed that keeping in mind the welfare of the journalists, the present government has already created a corpus fund of Rs 10 crore.
Notably, the government has recently handed over first ever financial assistance to three journalists under Manipur State Journalists Welfare Scheme of Department of Information and Public Relations.
Attending the celebration, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Minister Karam Shyam stated that in today’s highly globalized world, information related works of any local or national paper have become a part of education imparting knowledge to the public.
As a part of the celebration, veteran journalists , members of Editors Guild Manipur, former presidents and general secretaries of the union were also felicitated .