ITANAGAR, Nov 17: The state’s press fraternity on Thursday celebrated the National Press Day organised by the Arunachal Press Club (APC) in collaboration with the Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) here at the APC office.
The celebration was attended by deputy chief minister Chowna Mein accompanied by IPR minister Bamang Felex, advisor to IPR minister Laisam Simai and advisor to agriculture Gabriel D Wangsu as chief guest, guest of honour and special invitees respectively.
Extending his heartfelt gratitude towards the media fraternity for their contribution towards the state and society, Mein assured to provide assistance for the infrastructure and extension of the APC building.
It is the media who constantly bring out important news from all walks of life and disseminate the same for the general public and state government for awareness, he added.
Stating that the media has come a long way in the state to shape its existence, he appealed to the press fraternity to keep an archival gallery in the APC building, so that the contribution of pioneers (journalists) could be remembered.
“It was in 1988, when the first newspaper of the state ‘Echo of Arunachal’ began but today existence of media houses has grown, thus responsibility of journalists has also increased,” said Mein, while suggesting journalists to adhere to the ethics of journalism to shape a better Arunachal with Pan-Arunachal ideology.
Asserting, it is the journalists, who open the government’s eyes with their critical and analytical report as well as terming them the mirror of society, he also advised journalists to follow the path paved by pioneers such as late Taro Chatung and late R Ravindran, who has helped in nurturing journalism in the state immensely.
As the state government led by chief minister Pema Khandu has been always concerned about the welfare of the media fraternity, he also assured to implement the Journalist Pension Scheme, Advertisement Policy for Newspaper & Electronic media houses.
In his address to the journalists, Felix advocated for free and unbiased reporting and to disseminate accurate information.
Freedom of press begins with the responsibilities, thus the onus is with you to report on truth and facts instead of instigated and malicious reporting, he added.
As a memorandum was submitted by the Arunachal Electronic & Digital Media Association (AEDMA), he also appealed to the DCM to look into the matter of allocation of a separate advertisement fund for AEDMA, so that it can be addressed by the end of December.
Laisam Simai also spoke on the occasion.
On the occasion senior journalist Pradeep Kumar Behera (Chief editor of Arunachal Observer) was awarded the 'Lifetime achievement' for his contribution towards the growth of press in the state, followed by award for the winner of Late Taro Chatung  and V Ravindran excellence in journalism.
In the category of investigative, Politics & Governance and Human interest journalism Sange Droma of Arunachal Today, Nanman Jugli of Arunachal Today and Topi Ete of Newsfy were awarded.
Since, there were only two submissions from the print media for the V Ravindran Award in the category of investigative and human interest, the same was cancelled on the advice of jury members.  

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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