Antony asks media to be responsible while reporting

The Defence Minister A K Antony has asked the media to be cautious in its approach while reporting on the matters dealing with the armed forces as well as covering events such as the recent terror strikes on Mumbai.

He was speaking here on Friday at the centenary celebrations of the Sainik Samachar—a fortnight journal of the Indian armed forces.

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Calling upon the editorial team of the Sainik Samachar to bring out the magazine in both print and online form in all possible Indian languages, Antony asked them not to use the magazine only as a chronicler of prominent events and incidents taking place in the armed forces but also reflect the hopes and aspirants of our jawans and boost their morale.

He further asked to tone up the distribution mechanism of Sainik Samachar so that it reaches out to our jawans in the remotest corners of the country and even to those engaged in UN peacekeeping missions.

Suggesting the Sainik Samachar team to strike a delicate balance while reporting, the defence minister said them to provide quality information and entertainment in adequate proportion to its readers, and be careful not to be sounding like official propaganda machinery. ‘Sainik Samachar must endeavour to build upon its credibility and reliability in the eyes of its target audience — the armed forces,’ he added.

Antony commended the armed forces for displaying exemplary determination both in times of war and peace but lamented that at times they don’t get their rightful space in the media.

Modern technology has paced up the transmission of news across the world but speed must not compromise with the accuracy of reporting, the defence minister asserted.

Commemorating the centenary of the Sainik Samachar, Antony released a coffee table book ‘Soldering On’ on this occasion, which is a compilation of articles, rare photographs and rare documents pertaining to the Indian armed forces.

Sitanshu Kar, additional DG (Media and Communications) said the book that provides a rare glimpse into the 100 years of India’s extraordinary history would be translated in all the 12 other language editions of Sainik Samachar, including Hindi.

The function was also attended among others by the Air Chief Marshal F H Major, the Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor, the Defence Secretary Vijay Singh, the Vice Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral RP Suthan and Deputy NSA Shekhar Dutt.