PASIGHAT, May 29: A national conversation on the past, present and future of Hindi journalism opened on Friday, where academics and media professionals from across India converged for the National e-Conference on ‘200 Years of Hindi Journalism: Indian Knowledge Systems, Vernacular Media, and Cultural Renaissance’.
Jointly organized by the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism, University of Ladakh, Kargil Campus, and the Department of Mass Communication, Arunachal Pradesh University (APU), Pasighat, the two-day conference brought together voices from some of India’s leading universities to examine what two centuries of vernacular journalism mean in an age of digital disruption, misinformation, and eroding media credibility.
Speaking at the inauguration, Prof Pramod Kumar, HoD MA Strategic Communication, Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi, struck a note that would resonate through the day’s proceedings. Hindi journalism, he said, was born out of a civilisational necessity — to give a colonised people a language of resistance and self-understanding. That necessity had not disappeared; it had only changed its form. "The challenge today is not the absence of information but the erosion of credibility. Artificial intelligence and algorithmic platforms are reshaping how news is produced and consumed, but technology alone cannot substitute for the journalist's fundamental obligation to truth. The Hindi press must harness these tools without surrendering to them,” he said, calling on scholars and practitioners alike to reclaim the ethical foundations that had made the vernacular press a force of consequence in Indian public life.
The Keynote Address by Prof Sanjeev Bhanawat, Former Head, Centre for Mass Communication, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, and Editor of Communication Today, provided the conference its historical anchor.
Chairing the session, Prof Saket Kushwaha, Vice Chancellor University of Ladakh, offered reflections that lent the occasion its broader significance.
Dr Prem Taba, HoD Mass Communication (APU), framed the conference’s purpose with clarity.