ON NATIONAL PRESS DAY
It takes just a Google search to know that National Press Day is celebrated on 16 November, every year, in order to commemorate the establishment of the Press Council of India. It was formed way back in 1966, on 16 November, though one would wonder why it took so long for it to happen, even after Independence. Of course, it comes as a relief to note that the Indian Press had its own mind and mode of presenting the facts and truths, even prior to the official formation of the Indian Press Council. Press Day is the symbolic representation of a free and responsible press in India. The crux of that ‘free and responsible’ press lies with the journalists and editors, cartoonists and letter-writers responding to the day to day happenings.
The Press Day is a way to ensure that journalistic objectivity is always honoured and not compromised due to ‘influence or threats of any extraneous factors.’Well, as The Salesian Times is coming out with its latest issue, our own goals and objectives, along the above lines are more towards the empowering of a new generation of budding reporters and editors. When the college serves as a platform to showcase your talent and explore your capabilities, it acts as a start-up venue. One could be visualizing a future where these reporters and editors, connect with a new world of emerging opportunities, in a fully digitized format. In fact, it is already there, even as the collecting and editing, designing and layouts happen in multi-locations and with appreciable speed. Let me congratulate the team that has put together this issue of the TST, and especially, the newcomers into the team, along with the animators, ever ready to accompany and show the way. May the fruit of your labour make every citizen of this country proud, one day, even as you celebrate National Press Day 2020.
Fr. (Dr.) George Thadathil
Principal & Rector
Salesian College
