Journalists must have concern for children and their social, educational and psychological development said Ishwar Daitota, Development Journalist from Bangalore, here on Thursday.
Speaking at the inaugural at the two-day workshop on Child Survival and Development at the Central University of Tamil Nadu, Mr.Daitota said that currently there are 40 crore children in India. And every year about one to three crore children are added to this number. About fifty per cent of the children in the 0 to 5 age group are malnourished and many suffer from water borne diseases. Journalists, particularly those working in rural areas, should highlight these issues, Mr. Daitota said.
Press is the fourth pillar of democracy, and it is the duty of a journalist to inform, educate and entertain. "You should write about issues and leave the solutions to people. Readers in their own wisdom will find out the right solution," he told journalists and students of journalism.
B.P. Sanjay, Vice Chancellor, Central University of Tamil Nadu, said that categorising some people as journalists is a misnomer, as now; every one has the platform including blogs, internet, SMS in cellular phones, and local cable televisions, to write and express their views. Anyone who is good in writing can write an article and put it on the internet, a visual expert can post his photographs, and a person with oratorical skills can upload an audiotape in the net.
With such proliferation and expansion of media and newspapers, which provide space for everyone, it is not hard to highlight issues relating to children . Children are the future citizens and their healthcare, education, employment, and opportunities are interrelated. Educationists work towards evolving children into good human beings by empowering them with the right knowledge.
The workshop has been designed for sharing and capacity building among grassroots journalists and students who aspire to become journalists, Prof. Sanjay said. Resource persons have been selected across a broad spectrum. The workshop will elicit responses and if possible stories and essays by the participants on various aspects of child survival and development.
The workshop has been organised in collaboration with National Foundation of India, UNICEF and The Hindu .
Vasuki Belawadi, Associate Professor of Communication, Sarojini Naidu School of Communication, University of Hyderabad, spoke on ‘best practices in documentation of woman and child issues.'
Kandala Singh from National Foundation of India participated in the workshop. There was an open session on challenges faced in development reporting. S.Nagarathinam, Department of Science and Communication, Madurai Kamaraj University, coordinated the open session.
