World Press Freedom Salute to OpenPR from Pilani Rajasthan India today

Press freedom is considered to be a cornerstone of human rights and a guarantee of other freedoms. No one may be able to change the latitude and longitude of a place but media can definitely change the altitude of the place.

World Press Freedom Day was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1991 as a day "to celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom; to evaluate press freedom around the world, to defend the media from attacks on their independence and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession."

This day is celebrated each year on 3rd May and the focus this year is on the way the media influences thought and action and its capacity to foster dialogue, understanding and reconciliation.

With potential to make fact as fiction and fiction as fact, media is the most powerful entity on earth as they control the minds of the masses. The media fancies in the news if it makes a good story, without much regard for the factual accuracy and ensures that truth is lost in semantics and theatrics.

Much of today’s jaundiced traditional journalism finds fertile ground in would-be journalists whose motives have little to do with social conscience, disclosure of injustice, uncovering wrongdoing or giving voice to the voiceless.

For its doom, the current state of traditional news media must take the blame for public’s general lack of information which is vital for responsible citizenship in a democracy. Traditional media has always focused much on urban news coverage. Any news coverage of suburban and rural events by traditional media has worked on by and large pre-arranged procedures only.

Today in journalism, there has always been a tension between getting it first and getting it right. In this age where old news is cold news, priority is to get it first rather than get it right. Online journalism is rapidly becoming a cornerstone in the media industry taking news from anywhere to everywhere and from anyone to everyone.

Online journalism, or e-journalism, or cyber news, is journalism practiced online. While traditional media is linear, online journalism takes a non-linear approach to news. The Internet, web logs, search engines, and RSS feeds are the new tools of computer assisted reporting (CAR). Free press releases distribution services built on the principles of search engine optimization have added an exciting dimension to online journalism and press freedom.

Pilani, 28.22N, 75.33E. is a small town in Rajasthan India where Birla Institute of Technology and Science - BITS Pilani which is one among the top ranking universities in India today is located. Recently the National Assessment and Accreditation Council NAAC reaccredited BITS with 3.71 CGPA out of 4 and awarded “A” grade “Very Good” status.

BITS which has the reputation of pioneering the online examinations for admissions through the path breaking BITSAT and setting a benchmark in industry university collaborations offers degrees in various disciplines presently at Pilani, Dubai, Goa and Hyderabad campuses apart from an array of work integrated learning programmes for HRD of a vast spectrum of Indian corporates.

The odd occasions when traditional media blows hot and cold about Pilani is limited to Pilani recording the highest temperature in summer and lowest temperature in winter etc.

Today, the happenings at BITS Pilani reach everywhere across the globe from Australia to America as well as Arctic to the Antarctic in no time thanks to the Free Press Release Services offered by agencies such as OpenPR.com and the celebrations of World Press Freedom Day will not be complete without acknowledging the stellar role played by http://www.openpr.com

About the author: Dr BR Natarajan is a freelancing Cyber journalist from Pilani Rajasthan India

DR BR Natarajan
Professor & Vice President BITSAA
BITS Pilani Rajasthan 333031
Phone 91-1596-242210
Fax 91-1596-244183
Email: brnt@bits-pilani.ac.in
Website: http://www.bits-pilani.ac.in

This release was published on openPR.