President Droupadi Murmu said news gathering, which is the soul of journalism, must be strengthened. Presenting the 19th Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards in New Delhi, the President said that these awards have contributed to the process of raising the bar of excellence in Indian journalism, and thus enriching the roots of our democracy.
The President further stressed the need to devote more resources to encouraging the culture of reporting from the ground. She said that the importance of free and fair journalism for democracy cannot be overestimated. She underlined that if the citizens are not well-informed, the democratic processes lose their very meaning. The President said that the news media is called the Fourth Estate, because it plays a vital role in a modern State.
