Div Com highlights role of media in presenting true picture before society

Divisional Commissioner Jammu Ramesh Kumar addressing a workshop in Press Club Jammu on Saturday.
Divisional Commissioner Jammu Ramesh Kumar addressing a workshop in Press Club Jammu on Saturday.

IDP, Press Club organize workshop on “using open data”

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, May 28: Divisional Commissioner Jammu Ramesh Kumar today highlighted the importance of media in presenting the true picture before society. He said that the media should be a mirror of truth and avoid “sensationalism”
Terming media as an influencer in creating public opinion, he stressed that the fourth estate has greater responsibility to spread awareness and educate people about various welfare schemes.
Addressing the concluding session of the one-day workshop organized by India Data Portal (IDP), from the Bharti Institute of Public Policy (BIPP) at the Indian School of Business (ISB) in collaboration with the Jammu Press Club, Jammu, the Divisional Commissioner said that media persons should properly utilize data in disseminating authentic information.
Ramesh Kumar appreciated the Jammu Press Club for organizing such an informative workshop which is beneficial for media persons of Jammu. He also appreciated IDP for organizing such event in Jammu.
The topic of the one-day workshop was ‘Using Open Data & Visualisations For Creating And Presenting News Stories”.
Over 150 journalists from all media platforms attended the workshop.
Inaugurating the workshop eminent columnist and former HoD of the Department of the Political Science University of Jammu, Prof Rekha Chowdhary emphasized the need of utilizing data in the present era of journalism.
The workshop focussed on using data in journalism, and how to present data through attractive visualizations using www.indiadataportal.com. The session covered familiarisation with the IDP, which hosts a wide range of processed and documented datasets from Central and state public agencies and government departments. It also covered high-frequency indicators launched during COVID19 to track the health of the Indian economy under the IndiaPulse@ISB initiative.
Delivering the introductory remarks, Deepti Soni, Senior Consultant, India Data Portal, ISB said, “Data-driven news can provide a different angle to a storyline, add new dimensions to journalism and enhance the credibility of the news and India Data Portal not only provides data but suitable visualizations as well which can make it more attractive for the readers and at the same time it can be helpful in significantly reducing chances of misinformation and fake news.”
Veteran journalist Arun Joshi, in his address, hoped that today’s workshop will help journalists of Jammu to properly utilize data in their stories.
President of Press Club of Jammu Sanjeev Pargal welcomed all guests and the team of the IDP. He expressed his gratitude to IDP for organizing such an informative event in the Press Club of Jammu.