The Mokokchung Press Club (MPC) has formally submitted a petition to the Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) Nagaland, led by its Advisor and Director, during their rare visit to Mokokchung today. The petition called for urgent attention to the “increasing public confusion between professional journalism and unregulated media content” in Nagaland’s fast evolving digital media environment.
In the petition addressed to the DIPR Director, the MPC expressed “deep concern over a growing trend in Nagaland” whereby “the increasing public confusion between professional journalism and unregulated media content” has blurred critical lines. This includes “material circulated by social media users, YouTubers, content creators, informal WhatsApp and Facebook groups, and even well-meaning collectives that associate with the term ‘media.’”
The petition highlighted that “in today’s digital environment, a wide range of actors now produce news-like content, often without attribution, editorial standards, or accountability.” While recognizing the role these voices play in public discourse, the MPC warned that “the tendency to equate all content with credible journalism undermines the profession’s integrity and misleads or misinforms the public.”
According to the petition, there is a “collapse of public distinction between journalism that upholds fact-checking, accountability, and editorial standards, and content aimed solely at engagement, reaction, or virality, often with little regard for truth or ethics.” If left unaddressed, the MPC warned that “we may soon find ourselves in a situation where nobody knows who to trust, and everyone with a smartphone becomes a ‘journalist’, regardless of ethics, accuracy, or accountability.”
The petition noted that while “digital platforms have democratized access to information, they have also blurred the lines” and that “in Nagaland, many struggle to differentiate between the work of professional journalists and unverified or informal reports circulating on social media.”
To address these challenges, the Mokokchung Press Club urged the DIPR Nagaland to consider launching “a state-wide media literacy campaign in collaboration with schools, colleges, churches, and civil society organizations to help the public distinguish between factual reporting and opinion, propaganda, or misinformation.”
Additionally, the MPC called for the DIPR to “support training, fellowships, and workshops for district-level journalists and local media workers, with a focus on digital verification, ethics, and public trust in journalism.”
The MPC clarified that their petition is “not a call for censorship, but a call for clarity, education, and the protection of the integrity of the press.” It went on to stress that “journalism must evolve with the times but not at the cost of its principles.”
The Mokokchung Press Club stated it “stands ready to collaborate on any initiative that promotes truth, credibility, and ethical journalism,” and looked forward to the DIPR’s “consideration and support.”
