Union Minister Anurag Thakur addresses meeting of Asia Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development-AIBD in New Delhi

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur has said that the COVID-19 crisis has thrown up challenges as well as provided an opportunity not just to re-invent journalism, but to redefine the media as a trusted source of news and information. He said, real journalism is about facing the facts, presenting the truth and letting all sides the platform to present their views.

Addressing a meeting of the Asia Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development-AIBD in New Delhi, the Union Minister said, in his personal opinion the biggest threat to mainstream media is not from new age digital platforms, but rather the mainstream media channel itself.

He pointed out that if any channel decided to invite guests who are polarising, who spread false narratives and who shout at the top of their lungs – the credibility of that channel goes down.

Mr Thakur said, the country’s mainstream media organisations have a great challenge to provide truthful accurate and reliable news faster, while preserving media ethics and values.

The Minister added that Instead of compromising our values in this fierce competition, we must work hard to preserve professionalism. He added that journalists are duty bound to report news without fabrication, despite temptations to compete with those who propagate false news.

He mentioned that the AIBD as a regional inter-governmental organization must continue to train and equip media practitioners with the best professional skills to gain broader freedom for our media.

India stands ready to support your efforts. He informed that the Prasar Bharati has been sharing DD India channel in the OTT platform of South Korea on reciprocal basis including exchange of several coproduction programmes.

Prasar Bharati is also uplinking Bangladesh TV on its Freedish platform. He added that the Ministry has  also partnered with Australia in the field of broadcasting in March 2022 through programme sharing.

He said, AIBD has played a very important role in creating a vibrant and cohesive environment for media in the Asia Pacific region, which is one of the world fastest growing regions.

On the occasion, Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Dr. L. Murugan, Secretary I&B Apurva Chandra and President AIBD and CEO  Prasar Bharati  Mayank Agrawal were also present on the occasion.

Three awards were presented on the occasion and one of them, the lifetime achievement award for 2022 was conferred on CEO Prasar Bharati Mayank  Agrawal.