"The media has an important role in dealing with anti-India forces. It is the responsibility of all of us, including the media persons, to ensure that our media is not misused by the anti-India forces against our own country." said Minister of State for DefenceShripadNaik at the valedictory function of media communication course organized by the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) for defence personnel on Thursday. On this occasion, the Director-General of IIMC Prof. Sanjay Dwivedi, Additional Director General (Administration) Shri K. Satish Namboodiripad and Additional Director General (Training) Smt. Mamta Varma were also present.

Speaking as the chief guest of the program, Mr. Naik said that today, when the trend of fake news and hate news is increasing, media literacy is needed by everyone. In this era of new media, media literacy is not only important for communicators, but for every section of society. He said that today, when almost everyone has a smartphone in their hands, the possibility of misuse of media has increased manifold and it can be controlled only through media literacy.

According to the Minister of State for Defence, Media literacy also helps us to counter the psychological warfare that we see today globally. We have to be alert from this psychological warfare being adopted as a tool by the anti-India forces. Rather, we have to learn how to use the media strength for the betterment of the country and the countrymen.

Shri Naik said that the courage, valor, commitment and dedication of the Indian defence forces are unparalleled. Even then there are elements in the country that are active round the clock to tarnish their image. We can counter all vicious campaigns against our defence forces by adopting the right media approach and utilising different media platforms in an organised manner.

On this occasion, the Director General of IIMC Prof. Sanjay Dwivedi said that today the whole world is facing corona epidemic. In this era of Corona, a word has become very popular and many of its results and consequences have also been seen. This word is 'Infodemic'. The term refers to the explosion of excessive information or colloquial information. He said that when it becomes difficult to choose from this excessive information, which information to believe and what not, such a situation gives rise to a discussion. And the name of this discussion is media and information literacy.

Prof. Dwivedi said that today fake news has become a big business in itself and digital media has also influenced it. In such a situation, the need for media literacy increases. The program was conducted by Mrs. Vishnupriya Pandey, who is handling these Media Communication Courses at IIMC as Course Coordinator.

IIMC organizes short term training courses related to media and communication for defence personnel every year. Officers from the Captain's level to Brigadier level take part in these courses. Due to Corona, this training program has been conducted online for the first time this year. This year information from folk media to new media and modern communication techniques has been provided to military officers. Apart from this, in the new media era, how the relations between army and media can be improved, its training has also been given to the officers.

Saurabh Singh