Minister for Information and Infrastructure Development R. Roshan Baig on Friday suggested that editors of newspapers should declare their assets and liabilities before the Lokayukta, as elected representatives do.
He said that would help them uphold ethics of “free and fair press”. He was addressing a workshop on ‘Bhasha Patrikodyama’ (Language Journalism) organised jointly by the Karnataka Madhyama Academy, Kannada Development Authority, Karnataka Union of Working Journalists, Press Club of Bangalore and Bangalore Reporters’ Guild.
Chairperson of the Kannada Development Authority Mukhyamantri Chandru, who inaugurated the workshop, said such programmes would help media professionals hone their communication skills. “Media is playing a major role in protecting and promoting Kannada language, which is facing threat from English language in recent years,” he said. Expressing regret over the recent apex court’s verdict over the medium of instruction, he said, the government was doing its best to protect the interest of Kannada.
Writer and film director Nagathihalli Chandrashekar recalled the contribution of writer P. Lankesh to media through his weekly Lankesh Patrike . “Lankesh considered use of language as creative challenge and created a new trend in journalism,” he observed. Journalist Ramakrishna Upadhyaya expressed regret over fall in standards of journalism in the post-liberal society. “Now it is difficult to find pro-people journalism, which was an ideology in the 70s,” he said.
Subjects including, usage of language in the print media, visual media, and the role of media in promotion of Kannada language were deliberated in the four sessions attended by K.V. Narayana, writer Agrahara Krishnamurthy and a host of senior journalists.
