Vijaypura: Scribes should be part of entire Karnataka, not specific region – Bommai

Vijayapura, Feb 4: Journalists should not confine themselves to any particular region but must extend their reach and are of coverage to entire Karnataka, chief minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Saturday, February 4.
Inaugurating the 37th State Journalists Conference held under the joint auspices of Karnataka Working Journalists Association and the Vijayapura district Journalists Association, he felicitated senior journalists B N Mallesh, Sukanya and chief minister’s media coordinator Shankar Pagoji. The chief minister said the journalists and politicians have a close relationship as both need each other. At the same time, journalists perform adverserial role and must always maintain objectivity in expressing their views.
Journalists, however, need to be objective and honest and must function in their role of analyzing developments in a critical manner. At the same time, a healthy and respectful relationship between journalists and politicians is good for democracy, he said.The chief minister said the state government was fully aware of the problems of the media, especially in rural areas. Steps will be taken to ensure that all rural journalists were also provided with bus passes and promised to provide necessary grants in the budget. The chief minister said the state government would consider the demands for giving representation to media persons in the legislative council. Steps will also be taken to provide house sites and also to revise the media advertisement rates besides including journalists within the purview of Yashashwini health insurance scheme, he said. Ministers C C Patil, Govind M Karjol and Murugesh Nirani and KUWJ president Shivananda Thagaduru were present.