Union Minister Anurag Thakur has said that “Presenting authentic information is the prime responsibility of media and that facts should be properly checked before they are put in the public domain”. He was addressing the opening Ceremony of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union General Assembly 2022.
Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting while expressing his concerns regarding the fake news and the social media forwards, “while speed with which the information is transmitted is important, accuracy is even more important and should be primary in the minds of communicators”. He also added that, “with the spread of social media, fake news has also proliferated.
The Union Minister for I&B Anurag Thakur informed the audience of broadcasters from the Asia-Pacific region that the Government promptly established the Fact Check Unit in the Press Information Bureau of Government of India to counter unverified claims and present truth to the people. The Union Minister also highlighted that for responsible media organizations maintaining public trust should be the highest guiding principle. He credited public broadcasters Doordarshan and All India Radio for having always stood by the truth and having won people’s trust for their truthful reporting.
Union Minister underlined that media’s role during the time of crisis becomes critical. In those times it is directly concerned with saving lives. “Media is at the core of national disaster management plans”, said the minister.
Anurag Thakur also credited the media for coming to the aid of people stuck at home during the COVID19 pandemic. He applauded media by saying, “it was media which connected people with the outside world.”
The Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) is a non-profit, professional association of the broadcasting organizations of Asia and the pacific region. More than 300 delegates from 40 countries and representing the 50 organizations are participating in Delhi this year.
59th ABU General Assembly 2022 is being hosted by the Prasar Bharti, a public broadcaster of India. “Serving the People: Media’s Role in Times of Crisis” is the theme for this year’s assembly.
Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting Dr. L Murugan, Shri Apurva Chandra, Secretary, I&B, Mr. Masagaki Satoru, President ABU and Mr. Javad Mottaghi, Secretary General, ABU were also present on the occasion.
