HT Correspondent
BISWANATH CHARIALI, Nov 16: The district information and public relation department with support
from the Biswanath district administration on Thursdayorganized a programme on the occasion of the
‘National Press Day’ at the conference hall of district commissioner’s office in Biswanath Chariali.
The theme of this year’s National Press Day was ‘Media in the Era of Artificial Intelligence’. The
programme began with illumination of a ceremonial lamp followed by a welcome address offered by
Neha Jadav, district commissioner of Biswanath.
Dilip Kumar Bhattacharjya, eminent writer spoke on the topic ‘Media in the Era of Artificial intelligence’.
Five journalists from Biswanath district, Dip Kumar Sarma, Rohini Koudinya Chetry, Jagtar Singh, Durga
Powdel and Amir Khan were felicitated with citation and gamocha by the district administration.
The event was attended by additional district commissioner Dhrubajyoti Das, Puspankar Patir, DIPRO (in-
charge) cum assistant commissioner, Girish Hazarika along with other journalists from Biswanath. Ranjit
Saikia conducted the proceedings on behalf of DIPRO. The meeting was also addressed by Dhrubajyoti
Das, Dip Kurmar Sarma and Basanta Bora.
Our Gossaigaon correspondent adds
The 57th ‘National Press Day’ was observed at the premises of Gossaigaon Press Club in Gossaigaon on
Thursday.
The program commenced with the hoisting of the flag by Utpal Dey, president of the Gossaigaon Press
Club assisted by Sayed Ali correspondent of The Hills Times. Mir Jiaur Rahman, general secretary of the
Gossaigaon Press Club also paid floral tributes to journalists, who had laid down their lives while
reporting.
An open session was also held keeping on the occasion with Utpal Dey in the chair, where senior
journalist cum social worker Sankar Choudhury elaborated on the significance of the day.
Choudhury said, “The government should be committed to protecting journalists and they too should
abide by the ethics and exercise caution while reporting news. They should not publish biased news.”
Senior Journalist Swapan Kumar Ish, who was awarded by the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR)
government in a media workshop organized by the information and public relation department of the
Bodoland Territorial Council recently for his contributionin the field of journalism, asserted that
nowadays the mainstream media has been facing a crucial time due to the increasing number of so-
called web portal reporter.
“Youths having no basic knowledge of media ethics create Facebook pages are seen roaming here and
there for news. This is a matter of serious concern as they do not adhere to the ethics of journalism. This
gain poses challenges for the mainstream media persons,” said Swapan Kumar Ish.
Kamakhya Sarkar, president of the Srirampur Press Club regretted the increasing number of web portal
reporters, who do not engage in ethical reporting.
“The mainstream media should stand united to uphold the spirit of true journalism for the sake of a
better society and initiate necessary steps to control the web portal reporting. Otherwise, there is no
doubt that unethical journalistic practices will shake the very foundation of the fourth pillar of
democracy,” Kamakhya Sarkar said.
Rubul Pathak, assistant general secretary of the Gossaigaon Press Club also highlighted the current
scenario of web portal reporters in the context of journalism.
Meanwhile, members of the Srirampur Press Club, the Bodo Press Club, and the Gossaigaon Press Club
took a pledge to organize a media workshop jointly which will impart valuable suggestions to the
reporters of web portal and digital media.
Our Hojai correspondent adds
The Hojai district administration celebrated the ‘National Press Day’at the district commissioner’s
conference hall at the district headquarter at Sankardevnagar in Hojai on Thursday.
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Krishan Jyoti Deka, officer-in-charge of Hojai DIPRO, briefly described the objective of the programme
and welcomed everyone.
Speaking on the occasion, Hojai district commissioner, Lachit Kumar Das said, “The media is the fourth
pillar of democracy. The service of journalists to the society is pious and exemplary. They work
relentlessly to provide unbiased and true information to the society. The main stream media has to play
a vital and strong role while disseminating any information.”
He further highlighted in detail on the role of media.
Senior journalist, Tosheswar Tamuli was the resource person in the programme. He shared his life long
experience while covering stories for print media. He further emphasized on how the profession of
journalism has evolved overtime.
Tosheswar Tamuli said, “A journalist should have certain qualities. He should be courageous, unbiased,
confident and transparent while covering any story. He should also touch all the angles of the story.”
Senior journalist, Niranjan Sarawagi also explained the significance of artificial intelligence in media and
how it can help reporters. During the programme Jayanta Bora, additional deputy commissioner Achyut
Nandan Bhuyan, assistant commissioner and all the government recognised journalist within the district
were present. The Hojai district administration also felicitated all media persons with assamese phulam
ghumcha and gifts.
Our Jorhat correspondent adds
Sachin Gogoi, editorial lead of the British Broadcasting Corporation, Asia Pacific, Delhi Bureau delivered
a talk on the ‘Significance of National Press Day: Present day trends in Journalism and challenges faced
by journalists in India’ on the occasion of ‘National Press Day’ at the Jorhat Press Club on Thursday.
Gogoi stressed that reporters should not seek power and pelf and play an impartial role while reporting
news.
Speaking about the aspects of news reporting in the state, he said that the reporters were committed to
the causes like the environmental issues like the Baghjan explosion and decrease of water in the state.
Regarding the negatives he said that there was unnecessary trivialisation of news. He said that this was
seen more in the electronic media, where they had to speak more. He also touched upon the political
ownership of news.
Gogoi raised concerns about the youth no longer reading newspapers or even watching TV channels, but
deriving all their news from social media.
“If this is the scene now what would it be in five years from now? The competition for a reporter was
now no longer from another newspaper or TV channel, but from YouTubers and social media
influencers.”
Earlier Soumitra Puzari, head of the department of history of the Jorhat College ( Amalgamated)
delivered an interesting and informative lecture on the history of newspapers in Assam.
Ashok Baruah, president of the Jorhat Press Club anchored the meet while Paramananda Bora delivered
the welcome address.
