Vishü Rita Krocha
Kohima | November 15
“As part of builders of democracy, we are equally responsible as other policy makers to share our ideas.” K Temjen Jamir, Editor of Tir Yimyim maintained that “unless we share our ideas, even for them, they may find it difficult to adopt true and relevant policies.”
Speaking to The Morung Express on the eve of National Press Day that falls on November 16, he advocated that the Media should proactively reach out to people and policymakers alike and share the idea of nation building, be it economic development, social activity, healthcare situation in the state or even in the matter of formulating relevant education policy.
This year, the National Press Day—a symbolic date for a free and responsible press in India, is being held under the theme ‘The Media’s Role in Nation Building.’ As one of the pillars of democracy, Jamir also asserted that the media is definitely a very important pillar in building the nation.
“Once we know that responsibility, that will keep us busy in discharging our responsibility of reaching out to people, knowing their situation and reporting about the situation and condition of our people”, he explicitly stated. Highlighting that for him, nation building is all about working for the people, he explained that, “when we work for the people, I think we must, as much as we can, reach out to the people.”
He, however expressed regret that we are not reaching out enough while stating that, “on our part, we are failing to give the real situation of the people.” “By sitting in newsrooms, we never know what is happening in the villages, even in the place where we work, there are a lot of areas…we have to contribute in improving the situation by investigating the situation, collecting information, discussing and sharing ideas with policy makers,” he said.
Maintaining that “for us, it is limitless to contribute”, he reiterated that “the more we realise our responsibilities, the more we make ourselves responsible, and for people like us, it becomes a source of happiness and pleasure to work.”
He further advocated that media, as a team can also work collectively in so many areas and in this regard, emphasized that “we should give that collective effort in building the nation.” “The media’s role for nation building is not a new theme, but it is a matter of reminding us of our responsibilities”, he added.
“How transparent are media now?”
In the light of several news outlets mushrooming especially with the advent of social media, Moa Jamir of The Morung Express felt that the role of media in nation building is also “to question the powers that be, we ourselves have to know where we stand.”
“Does Nagaland Media also know where we stand? How transparent are media now?” he posed.
Putting across that this is a big issue for him; he cited the instance of local dailies wherein at least the public know who the editor/owner is. But nowadays, he pointed out that, “many new media are popping up including news channels and apart from a couple of them, most of them do not have a website.” A concerning feature for him, he stated is the lack of “about us” section even in news websites, where a little bit of information is given about the editor/owner.
If it is a visual medium, he went on to say, “at least we see the concerned reporter and we have an idea. There’s a visibility but many other social media groups that have come up are lacking any information about who they are.” In this regard, he also asserted that with the upcoming general state elections, “transparency is very important because during this time, various news outlets are used by political parties obviously with some objectives and we have to guard against those.”
Opining that the media has to manoeuvre different societal concerns and have to exercise responsible journalism, he said, “at times, such situations stop us from utilising the power of media to the fullest.”
Media vital in promoting good governance
Despite limiting the effective performance of media in the country due to various factors, Senior Journalist & President of Nagaland Press Association (NPA) H Chishi felt that “it has remained a vital tool in promoting good governance and sustainable development.”
Since the time of India's independence movement, he recalled that “our political leaders had used media as a major force to mould the opinion of the masses and bring the nation at one platform.” He also pointed out that Media played a significant role in establishing vibrant democracy throughout the world, wherein India is one of them.
Further maintaining that Media is also instrumental in reaching the people about their democratic rights and fight the other three institutions of democracy-legislature, executive and judiciary, he put across that, “independent and free media is a must in a democratic country like India-to act as a chain between the government and the people.”
In the last couple of years, he also observed that Nagaland too is witnessing mushrooming of media houses and enthusiasm of citizen journalism through new age media technology. Terming this as a “good sign”, he articulated that “people are becoming more aware of the importance of media, which is a tool to curb corruption, bad governance and authoritarian style of functioning in the system.”
