Participating in the Narad Samman 2016 event that was organised by the Indraprastha Vishwa Samvad Kendra to mark Devrishi Narad Jayanti at Speaker's Hall, Constitution Club, Jaitley and Mr. Gupt felicitated vetran and budding journalists from various fields.
Among them were senior journalist Shyam Khosla, who was honoured with Lifetime Achievement Narad Samman, Manmohan Sharma (Utkrisht Patrkaar Narad Samman {All Over Excellence Narad Samman}) and Dr. Shanker Sharan (Utkrisht Stambhkar Narad Samman{ Best Columnist Narad Samman}).
Khosla was felicitated with a shawl, memento and honorarium of rupees one lakh. Manmohan Sharma was honoured with a shawl, memento and honorarium of Rs.51,000. Other awardees were given a shawl, memento and honorarium of Rs.11,000 each.
The Best photographer honour was bestowed upon Ravi Kanojia (posthumously). Indraprastha Vishwa Samvad Kendra President Ashok Sachdeva also gave a Rs.21,000 honorarium for Ravi.
Others felicitated with awards included Praful Kumar Singh (Digital Media Narad Samman), Ashish Kumar Anshu (Rural Reporting Narad Samman), Syed Suhail (Newsroom Support Narad Samman) and Abhiranjan Kumar (Social Media Narad Samman).
Addressing a gathering of eminent personalities including editors and journalists from various news organisations, Jaitley expressed concern about some state governments using public funds for personal promotion which was affecting the neutrality of journalism.
He said that social media today has democratised media so much that is not possible to control it now. He added that it is now incumbent on journalists and society at large to use it responsibly.
He praised the positive contribution to the field of journalism of all awardees.
On the occasion, Dr. Bajranglal Gupt expressed regret over the way Devrishi Narad has been portrayed in general and said it is time that the real picture of Narad is brought to fore today. He said Narad should become a source of inspiration for journalists today, as he worked consistently to keep all three worlds in a constant state of communication by way of sharing information of one place with another.
He said Devrishi Narad did not share news with any personal agenda or interest. His action was always neutral.
Dr. Gupt also said that it is the duty of a journalist to push people towards purity. He said journalists have an important role to play in success of any democracy and it is imperative that journalists be factual and neutral in safeguarding a democratic society.
He also said that there is urgent need for issue based reporting to take the nation further.
He noted that journalism today is under immense economic pressure and journalist can withstand such pressure by following in the footstep of Devrishi Narad only then will journalism serve its true purpose.
Indraprastha Vishwa Samvad Kendra Secretary Shri Vagish Issar gave a vote of thanks at the end of the programme.
-Source ANI