Shillong, Nov 16: The Shillong Press Club (SPC) in collaboration with the Directorate of Information & Public Relations (DIPR) on Tuesday celebrated the National Press Day on the theme “Who’s not afraid of the Media” at a programme held at the Shillong Club.Information & Public Relations (I&PR) Minister, James P K Sangma, attended the programme as Chief Guest and Chief Executive Member of KHADC, Titosstar W. Chyne, as Guest of Honour and Secretary, IPR Department, M. War Nongbri, as the Special Guest.

I had the opportunity to interact with journalists of Shillong Press Club today, as part of the #NationalPressDay celebration. I would like to commend their proactiveness towards the people of our State,constantly motivating them to work towards creating a just & equal society. pic.twitter.com/8QGWDAegGr

— James K Sangma (@JamesSangma1) November 16, 2021

Speaking on the occasion, the I&PR Minister shared that he started his career as a journalist, thus, he feels a strong connection and finds it very meaningful to be part of the National Press Day celebration.

He also emphasised that journalism is an art of story-telling and in the post-truth era all of us are trying to grapple with this new concept.

“The responsibility of the press is to give factual reports and this 4th Pillar of Democracy must uphold this responsibility and abstain from Yellow Journalism,” he said.

Sangma also informed that the Advertisement Policy of the state is in the final stage of completion and it will be rolled out soon. As for various demands from the press fraternity of the state which includes Journalists Pension Plan and Journalists Welfare Fund, he said the Government is committed to fulfil all the needs.

Is media truly free: Panel discussion

During the day a Panel Discussion was held that was participated by MLA Dr M Ampareen Lyngdoh, MDC Paul Lyngdoh, Former Meghalaya DGP W R Marbaniang, Senior Advocate of Meghalaya High Court V G K Kynta, MD of Centre Point Group of Enterprises Larsing M Sawyan, and Policy Lead for North Eastern Network Joy Syiem.

Former DGP WR Marbaniang said that the question that needs to be asked is if media is independent or not.

“That is something we have not addressed… media houses that belongs to corporate… so the question is not about being afraid of the media or not it’s about is media independent and are they allowed to write what they want to write,” pointed Marbaniang.

Dr Ampareen Lyngdoh also argued that they need to get to the bottom of it but, on the other hand, media should engage in activities like taking initiative to bring sustainable change which is important. She also lauded how the media in Meghalaya is still very different from mainland India, since the journalists don’t write to threaten its readers.

Policy Lead North Eastern Network, Joy Syiem, said the people whom she knows are not afraid of the media are the marginalised section of society – the voiceless. “They crave for the media because they want to share their story,” she said.