– Zaina Aman
New Delhi, Jan. 3: Radiance organized a special informative talk on “Challenges before Journalists: Technological, Linguistic, Social and Political” on Tuesday.
Mr. Rishikesh Bahadur Desai, Special Correspondent at The Hindu was the Guest Speaker of the program, which was held online via Google Meet, and was a successful event.
The program started with the welcome address by Mohd. Naushad Khan, Sub-Editor of Radiance.
Sikandar Azam, Editor Radiance, introduced Mr. Desai, adding that Mr. Desai has been covering various fields for about two decades.
Mr. Desai spoke about the challenges faced by journalists in media today. He said, “We are citizens of a developing nation and anything which is not completely developed goes through a lot of changes and challenges and to cope with these changes is a big challenge for journalists today.”
Talking about the technological challenges, he said technology is all about change. It includes Artificial Intelligence (AI) which presents both opportunities and challenges. He said as media is a dynamic field that requires constant learning and adaptation, one must stay updated with evolving technologies, industry trends, and changing audience preferences by honing their digital skills and social media engagement.
There are also some linguistic challenges in journalism, about which he said, “Journalism and language are closely intertwined, the debate about whether journalism is better or worse written today than in the past is subjective and depends on the period and the individual writer.” Also, he said as the language plays a vital role in building a perspective: if we use the words like “killed” and “attacked” for the same news, it draws a completely opposite narrative which in turn shapes our perspective.
He also talked about social, cultural and political challenges which included rising inequality and falling trust in media, fake news and misinformation, threat of censorship and repression, intimidation, political advocacy, job insecurity, economic and political pressure.
He concluded his speech, saying, “Journalism is not a risky profession,” as security is mostly a superstition.
Mr. Desai also replied to the questions put up by some of the participants on neutrality, risk factor, etc. While replying to a question, Mr. Desai also talked about revenue-related challenges.
In his presidential remarks, Mr. Ejaz Ahmed Aslam, Editor-in-Chief of Radiance, summed up the talk, and said that journalists here in India have to bear the greater burden as our country is still developing and happens to be the most populated country.
Mr. Syed Tanveer Ahmed, Secretary of The Board of Islamic Publications, which publishes Radiance, extended a vote of thanks.
Journalists from many States of India, including Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, West Bengal, and Delhi participated in the program. One journalist from Andamans was also among the audience.
Mrs. Rahmathunnissa A., Chief Editor of e-magazine Aura, and Mrs. Nilofer Iqbal, Media Secretary Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Maharashtra also attended the program.
