By Santosh Digal
New Delhi: Positive journalism will always thrive, said a media professional addressing a group of senior journalists in the Indian national capital.
“There is too much negative journalism these days. In the backdrop of this, we have to promote positive news media reporting,” said Father C.M. Paul, senior journalist and former editor of The Herald and head of the department of Mass Communication at Assam Don Bosco University, Guwahati (Assam).
Fr Paul, now station director of the first college based community radio in Bengal and entire northeast India, was speaking at the opening of a media three-day workshop on November 5 organized by Matters India, a web news portal, at Navjivan Renewal Centre
The Salesian priest, who is currently based at Salesian College Sonada, Darjeeling, said, “Media persons in the present scenario must be committed to report and promote ‘good and healthy journalism’ that will instil hope and inspire people.”
Matters India, established on March 19, 2013, is a socio-economic and religious news portal. It organized the workshop on current news media scenario to take stock of the news portal’s performance and mark its fourth year.
Another speaker, Fr. Adolf Washington, a columnist with Deccan Herald newspaper in Bengaluru, stressed the need for media to highlight people who are ordinary and who may not seem to matter much in the eyes of rich and powerful.
“It is high time we looked at the so called ‘back benchers’ in society and in educational establishments who are often a headache to parents and teachers.”
Fr Washington insisted that every person, including the young, has “a flicker of excellence which when highlighted could help improve discipline and academic performance.”
About 12 journalists associated with the portal and some 12 of its well wishers from across the country and abroad attended the workshop.
“What news media today needs is ‘passionate news reporters’ who have the guts to fish out stories of ordinary human beings who make their livelihoods in spite of disadvantaged situations,” said Matters India editor in chief Jose Kavi.