News must be based on hard facts & not on whims and fancies, said KG Suresh on National Press Day

November 17: It was like listening to a melodious song sung in perfect harmony. The houseful audience was spell bound by his words. Every sentence he spoke were as if soaked in his real life experience. There was no need of anybody to tell the audience to clap, but after almost every sentence he spoke, sound of claps echoed in the auditorium. Yes, the speaker was none other than noted journalist KG Suresh and the occasion was the state programme on National Press Day at Silchar Banga Bhavan on Saturday.

Delivering the keynote address ‘ Reporting – interpretation – a journey’, noted journalist, KG Suresh said journalists must rely on facts and must keep an ear to the ground to get things in proper perspectives. “Factivism must be the solo mantra and not activism and journalists must go to ground zero to unravel the truth, ” said the senior journalist and former Director General of Indian Institute of Mass Communication. He appreciated the pivotal role of media in strengthening the edifice of democracy and said that it has exposed corruption at high places.

His oratory kept all glued to their seats for almost an hour. Mixing both Hindi and English, Suresh spoke in a manner which was soluble for all. The senior journalist with almost four decades of experience in the field of journalism, including electronic and digital media, said news and views must not be mixed up and news must be based on hard facts and not on whims and fancies. “The disturbing trend is giving interpretations in different ways leaving the hard facts behind, ” He underscored the need to delve deep while reporting and not to be tempted to interpret events.

He emphasized on objective rather than subjective reporting.and urged the journalists to go back to reporting at ground zero. The noted journalist advised the media fraternity not to be in a hurry to file reports as ‘factual errors might crop up while doing so’. He also spoke words of caution as against the proliferation of social media in the present world and said that one has to be very careful in gathering information ‘as there are some elements who are up to some mischief in spreading canards or misinformation to create rift in society.’

The State level National Press Day was organised by the Information and Public Relations Department, Government of Assam in association with the Cachar district administration at Banga Bhavan, Silchar on 17 November, 2019.