Anurag Thakur, Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting, stressed that providing accurate information is the media’s top priority and that facts should be thoroughly checked before being made available to the general public.
“While the speed with which the information is transmitted is important, accuracy is even more important, and should be primary in the minds of communicators,” the minister said while speaking at the opening ceremony of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) General Assembly-2022. “With the spread of social media, fake news has also proliferated,” the minister added.
He claimed that in order to refute unfounded assertions and inform the public of the truth, the government had established a “Fact Check” unit under the Press Information Bureau of the Government of India.
The Minister emphasised that the ultimate guiding principle for responsible media organisations should be upholding public trust. He also emphasised how important the media’s role is in times of crisis since it directly affects saving lives, and he added that the media plays a crucial role in national disaster management plans.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Minister Anurag Thakur also praised the media for helping those who were stranded at home and connecting them to the outside world.
“Indian media in general ensured that COVID-19 awareness messages, important government guidelines, and free online consultations with doctors reached everyone in every nook and corner of the country,” he said.
Thakur also invited the media to become a partner in governance and used the podium to reiterate the words of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that “Media should act as a link between government and people and provide continuous feedback, at both the national and regional level”.
“India has bilateral agreements in the areas of content exchange, co-production, capacity building, etc. with about 40 countries, a number of them are fellow ABU countries such as Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Fiji, the Maldives, Nepal, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam,” he said.
“We have also partnered with Australia in the field of broadcasting in March 2022 for programme sharing. The broadcasters of the two countries are also exploring opportunities in co-production and joint broadcasting of programmes spanning multiple genres,” he added.