AMN / NEW DELHI
Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu today said that media has to avoid sensationalism and maintain its credibility while disseminating news. He was addressing the gathering after presenting the 14th Shailikaar Prabhakar Samman Award in New Delhi.
Mr Naidu said, credibility is the most important thing in journalism. He said any content that offends the sensibilities of people is a matter of concern and self-regulation is the best way to address such problem.
Mr Naidu asserted that he is not advocating any censorship and pointed out that the media because of its reach and impact, has a huge responsibility in ensuring that the people were not swayed or agitated by controversies which are best ignored. He further said that the cinema too must avoid obscenity, vulgarity and violence.
Referring to freedom of expression, the Vice-President said that it is best utilized when the value of such freedom was fully appreciated. He called upon newspapers and channels to refocus on developmental journalism so that different social and economic issues affecting the people and the country get highlighted. Mr Naidu also stressed on the need to accord importance to mother tongue, while pursuing English as the link language.
Describing various Indian languages including Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Assamese, Oriya and Gujarati as national languages, he said proficiency in the mother tongue is vital before learning other languages.