Media has a responsibility to help society be clean and achieve transparency, Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University G.S.N. Raju has said.
Addressing mediapersons and students of Department of Journalism and Mass Communication here on Saturday at a talk on ‘Role of Media in Development’ organised by the department in association with Uttarandhra Journalists Front (UJF) to mark National Media Day at TLN Sabha Hall, he said it was imperative journalists should be truthful, objective, accurate, accountable, impartial, and honest while discharging their duties. “The journalists play a crucial role in educating and informing people,” he added.
Noting that corruption had become a bottleneck in nation’s development, he urged the media to work as a watchdog.
“Today, media has succumbed to populism and there is hardly any space devoted to development news,” Head of Department of Journalism D.V.R. Murthy pointed out. Media should cut down on coverage of politics and entertainment news and allow a greater space to development news, he urged.
The university should help the profession by offering short-term courses for working media professionals, UJF president M.R.N. Varma said.
Chairman of Board of Studies P. Bobby Vardhan, Associate Director, Press and Media Relations, Challa Ramakrishna, and UJF secretary N. Nageswara Rao participated.
Earlier, GVMC Commissioner M.V. Satyanarayana, along with AU Vice-Chancellor, unveiled a sand sculpture created to mark the day on the Ramakrishna Beach. The sculpture was done by Gadela Harikrishna of Srikakulam and was commissioned by the UJF.