The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Need to amend Press Council Act, says SHRC chief

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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Need to amend Press Council Act, says SHRC chief

Staff Reporter

Workshop on ‘Media, Conflict Reporting and International Humanitarian Law’

HYDERABAD: Emphasising on the right of a journalist to report, Justice Subhasan Reddy, Chairman, State Human Rights Commission, said that this right came only second to people’s right.

Addressing journalists at a one-day workshop on ‘Media, Conflict Reporting and International Humanitarian Law’, he said that it was high time that the Press Council Act, the only enactment for regulating journalistic practice is reworked.

The workshop organised by the Press Institute of India (PII) and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in collaboration with Department of Communication and Journalism, Osmania University, recently was attended by over 60 journalists across the country.

In his keynote address, Manoj Joshi, Comment Editor, Mail Today, opined that the media has been used as an instrument of warfare.

Benchmark

Talking of the evolution of conflict reporting in the country, Kargil was referred as a benchmark in Indian journalism and at the same time said that it had also exposed the media’s role as a myth maker and propagandist. K. Vikram Rao , president, Indian Federation of Working Journalists, felt that media has been stopped from reporting the truth in different parts of the world apart from being a target of intolerance.

Drawing a parallel between ICRC and journalists, Philippe Stoll, Communication Coordinator, ICRC, said that both were comrades without weapons with a common end but different means in conflict situations.

V. Murali, Director, PII welcomed the participants and elaborated on the PII’s mission of sensitising journalists apart from helping them in maintaining high standards of professionalism.

P.L. Vishweshwar Rao, Professor, Department of Communication and Journalism, recounted the long association of the department with PII and its role in the field of journalism education in the country.

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