President deprecates media`s focus on negative news

Hyderabad, Dec 1 (PTI) Top newspaper publishers and
editors from across the world began a conference here Tuesday
with Indian President Pratibha Patil deprecating media's
excessive focus on the negative.
Meeting for the first time in India, which has just
overtaken China as the world's biggest media market with a
newspaper circulation of 99 million, some 900 participants
from 87 countries will debate over the next three days issues
and challenges facing the media.
Patil, who flew in from Delhi to inaugurate the 62nd
meeting of the World Newspaper Congress and the 16 World
Editors Forum (WEF), told the delegates, "There is a tendency
in some sections to focus excessively on news which is
negative".
"There is, of course, a lesson to be learnt from events
that are negative, but equally important is to convey positive
messages and to inspire people.
Media, therefore, must search for and find a balance
between the portrayal of the negative and positive happenings
in society," she said.
A highlight of the inaugural function was the
presentation of the "Golden Pen of Freedom" award to eminent
Pakistani journalist Najam Sethi for his fearless writings,
which has landed him in jail under three different regimes in
Pakistan and got him onto the hit-list of Taliban. (more) PTI