CUHP Media Society Media Workshop: Always cross check facts with other sources before reporting story

Dharamsala, October 17, 2013: A three day media workshop conducted by Media Society at Central University of Himachal Pradesh , was kicked off at the Academic Block (TAB) of the university on Thursday.  
Chief Resource Person Prof K M Shrivastava, Professor of News Agency Journalism at Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi dealt in deep with different aspects of news reporting.
Warning the students about the rampant unethical practices in the media, he reminded them that quitting the job is not the befitting protest to unethical practices. “It is always better to be in the profession and fight unethical practices by sticking to ethical practices”, he said.
Sources providing information to a journalist always have their own agenda and it is the duty of the journalists to identify and avoid such traps. “Always cross check the facts with other sources before reporting a story”, he said.
Sharing his experiences as a political correspondent, he urged the students to try to grab the actual pulse of the public by meeting as many people as possible, than believing often misleading survey results.
Vice Chancellor Prof. Furqan Qamar, who addressed the workshop participants, said that the preferences of present day journalists are very different from the earlier ones. Urging the students not to get trapped in the notion of news value, he said them to always look at the larger impact of the issue. “While covering a story, always try to understand the larger impact of the story on the society,” he said.
Prof. Arvind Agrawal, Dean, School of Social Sciences, Dr. Rabindranath M, Dean, School of Journalism, Mass communication and New Media, Dr. Pradeep Nair, Head, Department of Mass Communication & Electronic Media and other faculty members were also present in the function.
The workshop which will conclude on Saturday, will also deal with editing practices and the use of social media for business and governance. www.cityairnews.com