Fake news puts country’s credibility at stake: SACM

LAHORE:Special Assistant to Chief Minister for Information Hasaan Khawar has said that sometimes the publication of fabricated news puts the credibility of the state at stake.

Fake news is an international phenomenon and fifth generation war, he said while speaking as chief guest at a seminar on “Journalism for State” organised by the Department of Mass Communication of Minhaj University, Lahore Thursday.

He said conveying the true news and leading the masses to the right diction was the responsibility of journalists. It is an age of media being led by electronic and social media though print media is sustaining its importance.

He said media had to play an important role in accountability and stability of democracy. He said political parties have the right to present their points of view but the media has to decide which stance is pro-state and which is just for politicking.

Khawar lamented that journalistic values were being crushed in the race for rating to become number one. He said it was necessary for the youth, particularly those getting education in mass communication, to understand the difference between fake and fact-based news reports. He congratulated the administration of the university’s Mass Communication Department.

Khawar said that impartial investigation was a basic right of each and every citizen and the federal and provincial governments of PTI were siding with the heirs of Model Town tragedy victims on all legal forums to win justice for them.

University Registrar Dr Khurram Shahzad said that the Mass Communication Department is preparing responsible, patriot and skilled journalists and hoped those graduating from the department would become trend-setters in the field.

Dean Social Sciences Dr Khwaja Alqama, Mass Communication Department head Dr Rubina Saeed, Seeker’s Club secretary Ammara Maqsood Qadri, and Abdul Hafeez Chaudhry and Haji Muhammad Ishaq from the Minhaj-ul-Quran Public Relations Department as well as teachers and a large number of Mass-Com students attended the seminar.