Karnataka - Mangalore   

`Visual media has forced press to be on its toes'

By Our Staff Correspondent

MANGALORE, JULY 1. Suppression of information pertaining to crime-related news often leads to speculation and ultimately its distortion by the media, which is under pressure to disseminate news at the earliest, the Additional Superintendent of Police, B.S. Lokesh Kumar has said.

Speaking after inaugurating World Press Day celebrations organised by the Karnataka Madhyama Academy and the Dakshina Kannada Working Journalists' Union here on Thursday, Mr. Kumar said that the department had decided to depute an officer as its spokesperson, who would provide information on crime to the media. This would help put an end to speculation about crime, he added.

Noting that crime stories had become an inalienable part of the print and the visual media, he said that often, presspersons got wind of an incident even before the police.

The advent of the visual media had forced the press to be on its toes, he said. Such healthy rivalry between the two forms ultimately benefited the society.

Delivering the Lakshmidevamma B.V. Pandit Endowment Lecture on "Professional challenges before journalists in the present circumstances," Vishweshwar Bhat, executive managing editor of Vijaya Karnataka, said credibility in the profession was something that should be addressed.

One also had to address the issue of providing more information to readers within the available space as there was intense competition, he said.

Noting that it was hard to define news, he said the definition of news had changed with the advent of the visual media.

News was no longer confined to one geographical area but available to a wider audience.

Print media should recognise this, especially in an age when there was an information glut, he said.

Munjane Sathya, chief news editor of Udaya TV, who delivered the Chappalli Suryanarayana Shastry Endowment Lecture on "How far is electronic media credible?" said the visual media had expanded its horizons. However, refusing to accept that there was an onslaught of the visual media on the print, he said both the medias strived to ensure credibility at all times.

Noting that it was possible for the visual media to strive for 100 per cent accuracy, he said internal pressure often gave a slant to presentation of news.

Earlier, H.B. Dinesh, secretary of the academy, spelt out the various initiatives taken by the academy to help journalists, especially those working in rural areas. There was good demand for books published by the academy and 1.2 lakh copies had been sold the previous year, he said. The academy would conduct a training camp for photojournalists in Hubli shortly.

G.N. Bhat, Head of the Department of Sanskrit, Canara College, presided over the function.

Tharanath Kapikad, general secretary of the union, welcomed the gathering. K. Ananda Shetty, president of the union, delivered the introductory remarks. S. Nandagopal, vice-president of the union, proposed a vote of thanks.

H.P. Ramalinge Gowda, district information officer, was present.

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