New Delhi, Apr 28 (TOI): Digital interventions have made consumers change the narrative of news and question journalists and editors about the “efficacy of the information” they put into the public domain, I&B minister Smriti Irani said on Friday.

Delivering the valedictory address to international, mid-career journalists passing out of Indian Institute of Mass Communication's (IIMC) 69th batch of development
journalism, Irani said it was “incumbent” on the journalistic fraternity in India to “collectively strive for credibility”.

In her address, which came close on the heels of the government retracting I&B ministry’s order which sought to cancel accreditations of journalists charged with being purveyors of fake news, Irani said Indian journalism was “full of adventure and spice”, drawing a similarity within Indian food.

“There was a time when we presumed that only the journalist or a news editor would be the last word on a news item. Today, because of digital interventions, we have the consumer also becoming a part of changing the narrative, questioning the news and asking where you got your information from. Never before were journalists or editors challenged about the efficacy, or about the source of the information that they brought into the public domain. That is why, today it is incumbent upon us that credibility is what we all must collectively strive for,” Irani said.

She also sought that scholarship of Rs 25,000 in the name of BJP ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyay be given to Indian students of IIMC who do exemplary work in development journalism. Irani said development journalism, and a course on Indian culture, should be taught to Indian students and stressed on the need to concentrate on developing communications at the grassroots.

Quoting a 2017 survey, Irani said an average Indian spent 200 minutes per day on a mobile app, while 65% of video content on digital platforms was consumed in rural areas. “In this scenario, media and entertainment industry should think about what new things can be offered to consumers. When the growth rate potential is between 10% and 20%, we must consider what there is on offer for the rural population,” she said.