Deputy Commissioner Dr Vishal R said that news should engage the administration with the ideas for the betterment of the society.

He was speaking after inaugurating the workshop ‘News which Matters’ in town on Wednesday. He said news should aid rational thinking and also help to take better decision catering to the needs of larger section in the society. News should not have negative impact on society, he advised.

SP Annamalai said media should reflect society. “It should lead the society through balancing the facts. It should be a fine blend of facts without prejudices,” he added.

Veteran journalist Nagesh Hegde said media and governance have both failed to improve awareness on projects like Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL), Padur, and the coal-based Udupi Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) thermal plant. He said projects which are initiated in the larger interest of the nation should be accepted.

“The media plays a role in convincing the mass. There is a glut and traffic jam in petroleum production. There is a massive mismatch of information,” he said. He said Udupi district administration should concentrate on setting up of Energy Park, bio-degenerative unit, wind mill, solar plants for sustainable development.

Veteran scribe B S Sathish Kumar said, “In our eagerness to give the breaking, we break the lives of others. Going away from ethics is disastrous. There is lack of sensitivity in the media and the journalists have no interest to fight against such a condition. When rights are infringed, people with integrity should not remain inactive. Mahatma Gandhi used the media to bring people together. Media do played a role in green revolution.”

Asserting that news media is getting commercialised, the veteran journalist said constructive news is the sort of news which matters. “The perspectives of news are changing. The taste and preferences are also widely changing and we should be geared to face it,” he warned. Media should become the vehicles of change, he said.

Journalist Jyoti Irvatthur said that these days journalism is becoming city-centric. “Scribes are moving away from field journalism, while studio journalism is given importance,” she rued.

She also added that government officials should link with media. “Amidst attempts to break the society in terms religion and politics, the media should opt for the right path,” she advised.