US Consul General, Telangana DGP express concern about proliferation of ‘disinformation’

Hyderabad: Expressing concern about the amplification of disinformation on social media, Jenifer Larson, Consul General, US Consulate General and Anjani Kumar, Telangana DGP emphasised the need for a network of trained professional journalists for countering the trend. They also urged the journalists to act more responsibly, when they deal with any unverified information.

While delivering the keynote address at the valedictory session of the training project on “Countering Disinformation for Urdu TV journalists” held at the auditorium of Salarjung Museum on Thursday, Larson felt that both the democracies (India and US) were being targeted to disrupt their peace and as well growth. “These are not just spontaneous and are well-planned. Elements working behind such practices do not want democracy to evolve,” she emphasised.

She urged the journalists to be more cautious while handling unverified information. “If they pass on the unverified information to the public, then it becomes a real problem. The objective of this programme is to provide with enough tools and techniques so that journalists verify the authenticity of information. This training will create a network of well-informed responsible journalists,” she hoped.

Anjani Kumar who was the guest of honour at the event emphasised on ‘self-control’ of everyone before forwarding a message. “Self-control is important when you get a message. People should think a thousand times before forwarding. Even if it is true one should not forward at the wrong time, as it may have a negative impact. Internal vigilance at individual level is important and later comes the responsibility of fact-checkers,” he felt.

The Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at Osmania University, in association with the US Consulate General Hyderabad, organized the 8-month long training in which 37 Urdu journalists were trained.

Prof. Stevenson Kohir, Head, Department of Journalism, Osmania University said it was envisioned to empower Urdu journalists with fact-checking skills, tools and techniques to prevent misinformation from creeping into the mainstream media.

Around thirty per cent of the trainees were women journalists, and eight were students from the Maulana Azad National Urdu University.

Allam Narayana, chairman Telangana Press Academy and MA Majid, member, Press Council of India were also present.