The Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) held its orientation programme virtually, welcoming new students under its fold. The programme was held between October 25 and 29.
The opening session of the programme’s concluding day was addressed by Rajya Sabha deputy chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh, who said that India will be the centre of a knowledge-based economy for which a digitally empowered society is very important.
The event was attended online by IIMC director general Sanjay Dwivedi, additional director general Ashish Goel, programme coordinator and dean (academic) Govind Singh, faculty members and students from all the centres of the institute.
Harivansh Narayan Singh’s advice for journalism students:
- A journalist should have knowledge regarding every subject related to society. If your skills are not good, you cannot do better journalism.
- The beauty of words, the breadth of ideas and the dignity of expression are visible in the pages of newspapers. In this age of technology, new media will emerge, but the dignity of the written words will always remain intact.
- The reader is your consumer. Along with information and entertainment, it is also the duty of journalists to educate the public.
- Artificial Intelligence has brought a big change in the world of journalism.
The Rajya Sabha deputy chairman stressed on the dignity of language and the importance of truthfulness, saying journalists should have no difficulty in stating facts publicly. We are harming the credibility of journalism by giving false or wrong news, he added.
Dwivedi said the soul of journalism dies when human consciousness ends. That’s why, a human sensibility should be there in every journalist. It is this compassion that saves us from walking on the wrong path. Journalism holds a lot of faith for the public and, if this belief is to be nurtured, we need to live up to the concerns of the people, he added.
Expressing his views on ‘Challenges to National Security’ in the second session of the programme, Central University of Kashmir chancellor Lt. Gen. (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain said that every country has a vision for its citizens and all journalists of tomorrow must know about defence journalism.
Eminent journalists addressed the last session, speaking to students on the ‘Future of Indian Language Press’. IIMC chairman Apoorva Chandra, who is also the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting secretary, also interacted with the new students, along with the other dignitaries.