In his welcome address, the Dean of School of Information Sciences and the Head of Dept. of Mass Communication, Prof. Gyan Prakash Pandey described media as ‘the watchdog of society’ and the strength of any democracy depends on the use of media. He pointed out that nowadays media has turned highly commercial and profit-oriented in their approach. Hunger for power, lack of professional journalists and absence of controlling agents have led to what is called yellow journalism. Finally, he urged that the role of media should be to spread peace, love and harmony in society.

Vice Chancellor Professor Tapodhir Bhattacharjee in his presidential address appreciated the efforts of the department of Mass Communication and Public Relations and Publication Cell in organising this workshop. His speech centered on love for democracy and freedom including individual and collective freedom. According to him, yellow journalism is the worst of its kind and the University itself was a victim of the same in the recent past. He further referred to the development of the society and asked the academicians to suggest fruitful solutions to the problems that the society is facing.

Mr. Amitabh Dutta, President of The Telegraph, felt humbled to share space with other distinguished personalities. He, in his speech said that the first thing that is absolutely sacrosanct

when it comes to a newspaper is its ‘credibility’. He also said that media no doubt is being looked at as a highly competitive business, but the hallmark of any newspaper organisation is its credibility. To drive this point home he gave the example of various means that the different media employ to push their brand name to newer heights. But it is important to understand that it takes ages to build an image and takes no time to ruin it. Newspapers don’t have to resort to cheap means such as yellow journalism to stay alive in the cut-throat competitive market. All it needs is a basic self-regulation system within the organisation itself. He further mentioned that it is possible to retain the intrinsic value system of an organisation without any compromise.

The Chief-Editor of Eastern Panoroma, Shillong, Dr. K.K. Jhunjhunwala stated that ‘accountability’ is the most important thing about journalism followed by truth and added that a journalist’s job is not to advocate but to present the facts. He strongly spoke against the growing ‘arrogance’ in journalism today and said that by being arrogant the organisation is being unfair to the expectations of the people from the fourth estate. The golden rule in avoiding the clutches of yellow journalism is for the organisation to act independently, without any fear or favour.

Prof. V.K. Kuthiala, Director, Faculty of Media Studies, Kurukshetra University, in his speech said that it is important to have a holistic approach to mass communication. In his opinion, mass communication can not be seen in isolation. In his enlightening speech, he termed ‘media’ as “the extension of our sense of expression.” “It is our desire to know what is happening around us that makes us come back to media. At the start, our world-view was narrow but with the advent of media, it became broader. No doubt, journalists are supposed to tell the truth but should avoid the truth that harms the society,” he said. To save oneself from the menace of yellow journalism, a lot depends on the news values, the traditional values of the organisation itself. It is true that truth has got one face but it has got different versions. This is what pluralism of expression is all about. He also spoke about the evolution of new media and how it has succeeded in diminishing distance in all sense of the term. In his words ‘media is a system which should sustain in the society and the society too has to be serious in selecting what kind of media they desire and what kind of content they want.’

It is true that truth has got one face but it has got different versions. This is what pluralism of expression is all about.

Dr. Sanjeev Bhanawat, the Head of the Department of Media Studies, University of Rajasthan, in his paper on the same issue had this to say: “Today, the authority of city/state is being directly harassed. Editorial bodies are losing their influence, which in turn has resulted in the end of thought-process and the notion of contemplation. In the blind race of commercialisation, media is deviating from its socio-political standards and responsibilities.” He further says, “The values like objectivity, truth and honesty have just reduced to demonstrate the vocabulary power. Subject or issue based reporting has been overtaken by emotional and event-based reporting. The tendency of investigation of facts is decreasing and the language is taking a more and more aggressive form.” “In the name of investigative journalism reputed people and posts are being defamed and insulted ruthlessly.”

As a solution to this ever-increasing problem, Dr. Bhanawat suggests that journalists should try to maintain the indivisibility of freedom and responsibility. The freedom without responsibility invites distortion and other abuses but in the absence of freedom, there can be no exercise of responsibility.

Following the speech, the interaction session began where students and renowned persons from the press as well as the faculty of the Department of Mass Communication raised many important questions. The programme concluded by customary vote of thanks by Sri S.M. Alfarid Hussain, Lecturer, Department of Mass Communication, Assam University.