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Front Page >> Editorials > Story

Step 2: In the <body>, place the 
   
In The Information Age
It will not be overstating the fact if we say that there is still a lot of room for improvement in the functioning of the State Directorate of Information and Public Relations. This is the information age and the importance of the Directorate can be gauged from the fact that it is the body which acts as the connecting line between the Government and the media operating in the State. And when we say the connecting line between the Government and the media we do not merely mean issuing press hand outs and covering State sponsored programs to be released to the State media. 

Far from this, we think the duty and function of the Directorate entails a close touch with the media operating here and of course it also goes without saying that it would help much if the media too extend all their possible co-operation. The recent boycott of the National Information Day organized by the Directorate is but just one of the manifestations of the lack of touch and rapport between the Directorate and the media here. The day was to be jointly organized by the All Manipur Working Journalists' Union and the Directorate of Information and Public Relations. However at the last minute the scribes' body called the boycott to protest the attitude of the Directorate. 

Thankfully everything has been worked out and it is our fervent wish and hope that such ugly incident does not occur in the future. With the media, particularly the print media having undergone a revolutionary change in the last few years, it is only right to expect that the DIPR would change too to a certain extent. The letter press days are over and along with the change in the printing technology there also has been a change in the marketing strategy. The most powerful impact has been felt on the professional front. 

We admit that it would be unrealistic to expect the DIPR to change as fast as the print media for we are talking about two completely different entities. The DIPR is a Government Department while the print media is a private sector where there is no room for complacency and only the fittest will survive. However we do expect the authority to at least try to swim along with the tide. The hold that the DIPR had on the print media a few years ago is now history for quite a handful of newspapers operating here do not depend on the advertisements issued by the DIPR. The advertisement rate fixed by the DIPR too has been stagnant for more than ten years. The office infrastructure is for all practical purposes now outdated and if some radical changes are not ushered in the DIPR may soon outlive its utility. 

We do not know if the DIPR still subscribes to any news agency but while it did, a few years back, the teleprinter was almost always out of order. Those were the days when newspaper houses had not yet subscribed to the news agency and depended on the hand outs of National and international news by the DIPR. We also wonder whether all the sections of the Directorate are effectively functioning. As its name suggest it is not only a question of disseminating information to the public that is the duty of the Directorate but also involves public relations. 

We really do not know what public relations entail but we are definite that it involves portraying the function of the Government to the public and help the Government of the day to cultivate a positive image. And to achieve this, a toned up functioning of the Directorate is called for. We would also like to ask whether the other district information offices are functioning at their optimal level. 

(Courtesy: The Sangai Express)

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