National Press Day Celebrated at Assam Information Centre in New Delhi

The National Press Day was celebrated in a befitting manner at the Assam Information Centre in New Delhi on Saturday.

The event jointly organized by the Assam Information Centre and North East Media Forum at the Press Lounge was attended by media persons from the print and electronic media.

In his welcome address, Sabir Nishat, Deputy Director of the Assam Information Centre, said that the nature of journalism has changed with people used to reading news published in the newspapers gradually started seeing the happenings through their eyes in news channels which resulted in a proliferation of TV channels.

Nishat said the nature of journalism again changed with the coming of the Digital Age. “As people were not able to watch the events coming on TV 24 hours a day, it resulted in the booming of social media. People started sending news from different places in their own way. This is what we call citizen journalist,” he said.

He also highlighted that the nature of journalism changed further when people started getting news on their mobile phones. “Today there exists thousands of social sites and portals flooded with news. Now people are getting news on their mobile handsets in no time,” he said.

The government official further commented that with Artificial Intelligence (AI) entering the journalism realm, journalism has transformed in many ways including streamlining tasks, personalizing content, generating content, creating immersive simulations and investigative journalism.

Sabir Nishat was quick to point out that though AI has transformed the journalism landscape, it cannot be a replacement for human journalists. “AI can help in assisting research and data analysis, automate routine reporting, enhance content personalization and improve fact-checking. However, AI lacks critical thinking and context understanding, emotional storytelling and empathy, original investigation and interviewing skills and last but not least ethical judgment and nuance. This is what the human brain is capable of: human journalists are capable of.”

Nishat said instead of viewing AI as a competitor, journalists must adapt to the fast changing scenario by developing skills in data analysis and interpretation, using AI tool usage and integration, digital storytelling and multimedia and critical thinking and media literacy.

"I feel that while AI can enhance efficiency and enrich the audience experience, the core of journalism, such as investigation and storytelling, remains a human endeavour. AI complements journalists, expanding their capabilities without replacing creativity. The future of journalism lies in human-AI collaboration, augmenting each other's strengths."

The Government official urged the members of the Press fraternity to stick to 'truth", "accuracy", and "objectivity" in their reporting, as they constituted the cornerstones of journalism ethics.

Delivering the keynote address on 'Changing nature of journalism", senior journalist and President of North East Media Forum, Sanjib Kumar Baruah said the media landscape in India has never changed so fast as it is now. "Online and digital journalism is now almost main-stream. Traditional media houses have ramped up their digital verticals. YouTube, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram are the new newspapers and television," he said.

Baruah said times are changing and the challenges to journalism and to be able to report facts and nothing but facts is compelling.

Speaking on the same vein, the senior journalist said, "And the changes are continuing to pick up speed even as they set in. Yet, depending on how one looks at them, it may be the winter of despair but it is also the summer of hope."

Attributing the changes both in the traditional and the non-traditional media forms due to the evolving eco-system, Baruah said, "With the challenges there are vast opportunities too, for the media to be more efficient, effective, and ever more watchful."

The senior journalist said with the ongoing challenge of technology, the latest in the line being the use of AI, Chat GPTs and what not, the journalists' role indeed has come under threat. "With the proliferation of fake news, so skillfully and adroitly constructed, there's so much difficulty in distinguishing the true from the false. Credibility, the sole factor that a journalist is known for is under serious threat.

Baruah said that there is a growing abiding belief that the space for free and fair reporting is shrinking and also an Indian precedent for journalists to 'kneel and cower when asked to bow'. "Let us not fall prey to that. Let us not be instruments and tools to vital interests trying to espouse their own narratives. Of course, it is very much easier said than done. Yet the fight has to go on. To win that fight is vital for journalism to survive," he asserted.

Underlining the need for more professionalism and neutrality on part of journalists, Baruah said, "With every man or woman with a pen, a mobile phone, a computer or a camera aspiring to be a newsperson, the need for professional journalists was never so much acute as it is now."

The senior journalist said while the National Press Day is an occasion for celebration for the achievements made by the Press, it is also a time for introspection. "The event calls for celebration for the achievements by the Press but also a reminder not to rest on our laurels. Let us work together so that journalism remains strong and in robust health. So that we face the challenges and win."

Senior journalist and former General Secretary of the Northeast Media Forum, Kallol Bhowmik offered the vote of thanks.