Saket Lal
Port Blair, Apr 16: The Lt. Governor, A & N Islands, Lt. Gen (Retd) AK Singh interacted with media persons over tea on Wednesday and heard problems faced by media in Andaman.
During the meeting the Lt. Governor lauded the efforts of media persons and said that vigilant and alert local media is playing an outstanding role in strengthening the society by informing and educating the masses on various issues. “A vibrant media in a small place like these islands is very significant. They are my eyes and ears.”
Mentioning local media as “Eyes and Ears”, the Lt. Governor said that he treats every media house equally and due attention is given to every newspaper report and diligent efforts are made to resolve concerns in the society.
He, however, appealed to the local media to refrain from personalised campaigns against individuals/officials stating “such campaigns are against good media ethos.” It is the responsibility of the media to communicate a message of hope to the masses rather than create an atmosphere of total despair, he said.
He also asked the IP Directorate to be more positive, proactive and dynamic. He also directed the IP Directorate to act as Nodal Agency to look into the issues of the local media, the Lt. Governor instructed the agency to prepare a proposal for issuance of Accreditation Cards to senior journalists viz. Editors, Sub Editors etc within 60 days. He also assured to nominate a senior level officer as Spokesperson for the UT Administration within a specific time period.
Welcoming the gathering, the Secretary to LG, Mr SN Misra informed that a number of decisions has been taken to redress some long pending concerns in the local media. Prominent among them include regular briefings by Secretary level offices on developmental activities, 3 months deadline to government department to clear advertisement bills, issuance of Public Information Advertisements, action against bogus newspapers in these islands, resumption of exposure trips for local media groups to mainland, training programmes for scribes.
