‘No media house in country is independent’

The 2019 edition of ‘Article-19’, the annual media event of the School of Communication (SOC) - Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), was inaugurated at SOC Auditorium here, on Thursday.

The event was flagged off by Dr Anand Ranganathan, Consulting Editor of Swarajya and Bobby Wahengbam, Manipuri filmmaker and recipient of National Film Award.

Ranganathan, who spoke on the topic ‘Science, Selectivity and Public Discourse’, explained how there was not a single independent media house in the country and almost all being prisoners of their self-constructed ideology. "What is the right to freedom of speech if it doesn’t give you the right to offend?” he said.

“There are two things that young journalists exhort: firstly, that journalism should be independent, and secondly, that there is no such journalism which is not subjective”, he added.

Eminent Manipuri Director Bobby Wahengbam, screened a short-film “Joseph Ki Macha” (Joseph’s Son). “Even though the cinematic landscape in Manipur is marred by financial constraints, the gap between films and audience is decreasing,” he said.