Shillong, 16 November 2020: The National Press Day was celebrated here with a meeting jointly organised by the Journalists Union of Meghalaya and the Shillong Press on “Role of Media During Covid-19 Pandemic and its impact on media.” The information and Public Relations James Sangma addressed the meeting, chaired by JUM President Deimaia Lang Siangshai.
In his address President of Shillong Press club and senior member of JUM, David O Laitphlang recalled renowned journalist and diplomat Henry Grunwald’s words: ‘Journalism can never be silent: that is its greatest virtue and its greatest fault. It must speak, and speak immediately, while the echoes of wonder, the claims of triumph and the signs of horror are still in the air.’
He said the media is in the constant fray to achieve better freedom. However, the arrest of several journalists in the last few months raises the question…. Is Media freedom an illusion?
Expressing solidarity with the journalists whose freedom is being curtailed, Laitphlang said, “My solidarity to all our friends who are either incrassated or in the lockup, unjustly being arrested and accused of false allegation, etc. and a lot of oppression by various Governments against the cardinal duty of a journalist, freedom of speech. God bless you all we stand with you in solidarity.”
It may be mentioned that some of the journalists like, Siddique Kappan, Kishorechandra Wangkhem, Prashant Kanojia, Rajib Sarma, Dhaval Patel, Dhaval Patel, Naresh Khohal, Rahul Kulkarni, Rajeev Sharma, and Tsewang Rigzin were arrested in the last few months on various charges.
Talking about the struggling of the media fraternity during COVID 19 pandemic, Laitphlang said, “The Covid 19 pandemic has deeply impacted the media world, especially the working journalists who are in the field because he or she has to unnecessarily expose themselves to a lot of risks.”
“The working journalist especially those at the field have to risk their lives, risk their wellbeing to cover stories and to do their job amidst all constrain. Some have even lost their job because media houses felt that they didn’t have the money, some have not received salaries, many things if you look at it from the health point of view that was the risk, if you look at the job security, people losing their jobs not getting paid, a lot of things that impacted negatively,” he added while mentioning about the plight of the journalists who are determined to delivery despite adversities.
