Minister Jarkiholi advocates for responsible journalism to boost development

Belagavi: Public works minister Satish Jarkiholi urged mediapersons to practice sensible and responsible journalism for the development of Belagavi city. He said that due to the exaggeration of caste, religion, and language-related issues, the development of the city is being affected, as investors from outside hesitate to invest, branding Belagavi as a chaotic city.
He was speaking after inaugurating the Belagavi Zilla Electronic Media Journalists' Association (BZMJA) here on Sunday. MP Jagadish Shettar, MLAs Asif Sait, Babasaheb Patil, Mahantesh Koujalagi, and MLC Channaraj Hattiholi were on the dais.
"Many a times, personal frictions take the shape of communal ones due to the way media portrays them. Criminals hide behind caste, religion, and a particular organisation to safeguard themselves. Journalists should be extra careful while highlighting caste, religion, or language-related sensitive issues. It is better to double-check the issues before highlighting them, which may lead to turmoil in society. This is a responsibility of the fourth estate of the constitution," he said. As far as Belagavi city is concerned, it is a linguistically and communally sensitive area, and journalists are supposed to be more cautious about it.
MP Jagadish Shettar said in Belagavi, Kannada and Marathi speakers live harmoniously. "Some vested interests often raise the language issue for their political benefit. Mediapersons should be aware of it. Highlighting the issues between two persons or two families as the issue between two languages isn't fair. Unfortunately, many times petty issues get highlighted even in the national media, which is detrimental to the growth of Belagavi city," he opined.
DC Mohammad Roshan, SP Bhimashankar Guled, city police commissioner Iada Martin Marbaniang, BCC commissioner Shubha B, deputy director of information of public relations department Gurunath Kadabur, BZMJA president Manjunath Patil, and Belagavi journalists' association president Vilas Joshi were present.