Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday said that journalism is a mission and not means for 'commission'.
Earlier, journalism was a mission and now it is turning commercial, he said.
The Vice President was addressing the convocation function of Kushabhau Thakre Journalism and Mass Communication University at the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Auditorium at the Government Science College premises as a chief guest here.
Naidu, on the occasion, gave away Journalism degrees to 408 students.
Chief Minister Raman Singh presided over the function.
The Vice President said that journalism had been commercialised in present times. Innumerable television channels have come up during the past 25 years and their presence is felt everywhere.
Due to the advent of smart phones, Digital Media had reached our hands. The responsibility of citizens had increased manifold to decipher the fake from the real news, he said.
The students of journalism should be more smart and intelligent. The journalists should work for the betterment of the society and the nation. The students should respect mother, motherland, mother tongue and teachers (Gurus). The present era belongs to IT sector, still search engines like Google can never take the place of teachers, he said.
Singh said that journalism had a long and hoary history in Chhattisgarh. The identity of journalism is based on credibility. The main function of journalism is not only feeding news to the public but also give proper direction to the society and the nation.
A total of 406 students had been conferred degrees and 19 students with Gold Medals.
Chhattisgarh Assembly Speaker Gaurishankar Agrawal , Higher Education Minister Prem Prakash Pandey, Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Ajay Chandrakar, Agriculture Minister Brijmohan Agrawal and lok Sabha MP Ramesh Bais were also present.
The Vice President said that journalism is a noble profession.
He revealed that he had learnt a lot during the past 40 years of public life and Hindi also from journalists. Journalism had played a crucial role in liberating the country from foreign rule.
The leaders of the Independence movement used newspapers as a platform to spread messages of freedom movement. After the Electronic channels, the social media is a powerful instrument in the hands of scribes but it should be handled with extreme caution. 'Breaking News' should not break anything but promote social harmony and positivity, Naidu said.
Remembering the legendary Kushabhau Thakre , the Vice President said he had a long association with the legendary figure who was a great leader.
He said that former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had carved out Chhattisgarh and inaugurated the Kushabhau Thakre Journalism University also. The University had made Vajpayee's 'Kadam Milakar Chalna Hoga' as its 'Kulgeet'.
Naidu congratulated the successful students and wished them a bright future. The University awards graduation degrees, post-graduation degrees, M.Phil and PhDs.
He said that there is a need for serving news in proper perspective to crores of depressed sections of the society and women in far-flung regions of the country.
Chief Minister Raman Singh in his address said that for a healthy democracy there is a need for healthy and impartial journalism.
Social responsibility and national interests should be of major concern rather than individual freedom. The news should be cross-checked before publishing, he said.
The moment the State Government had decided to open Journalism and Mass Communication University in Chhattisgarh it was named after late Kushabhau Thakre the great thinker. It is a matter of great pride that the University had been inaugurated by Bharat Ratna former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Singh said.
He said that digital media and social media platforms-Facebook, WhatsApp and other sites are bombarding the users with flood of news from all parts of the globe.
The Vice President later unveiled a special issue 'KTU News'=University souvenir. Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Mansingh Parmar welcomed the gathering. Registrar Dr Atul Kumat Tiwari proposed a vote of thanks.