Journalists should rise above prejudices: Jung

Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung on Thursday urged journalists to rise above prejudices that plague humankind while discharging their responsibilities.

"Journalists have no religion, no caste, no country and ethnicity. They should simply see themselves as human beings, as their role is critical in awakening the conscience of human kind," Jung said during a meet to discuss trends and challenges of media and humanitarian action.

Stressing on the role of the media, Jung said: "The reports filed by journalists from the field often become resources which are used to write history, and as a result, journalists are actually contemporary historians who must, therefore, ensure that they rise above primordial sentiments in discharging their obligations," he added.

The meet was organised by the Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution of the Jamia Millia Islamia and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in New Delhi.

Reporters from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indonesia, Thailand, Nepal, India, Afghanistan, Japan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar attended the meet.

More than 15 senior reporters from 10 Asian countries are attending the meeting in New Delhi to discuss trends and challenges of media and humanitarian action.

Some of the topics that are being discussed in the meeting, which ends on Friday, include reporting on humanitarian needs of populations in remote areas in times of natural disasters, refocusing on forgotten conflicts, post-traumatic stress disorders, and reporting the impact of emergencies on vulnerable populations.