State Media and Photography Awards distributed

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said that the media should concentrate on utilising the freedom of the media in a righteous manner.

He was speaking after distributing the State Media and Photography Awards at the SPCS Auditorium here on Saturday.

“The media can boost the people’s faith in the existing system. It is inappropriate to invoke restrictions and clauses for the media considering these factors. Self-regulation will be more honest than external ones. The media should decide the rights and wrongs. Preference should be given to the interests of the country while taking decisions,” the said.

The Minister for Information and Public Relations K C Joseph, who presided over the function, said that the media should follow a perspective that centred on development. Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, the chief guest of the function, said that it is essential for the existence of democracy that the media should present facts honestly to the people.

The Chief Minister gave away awards to K Sreekumar (Mathrubhumi - general reporting), Reji Joseph (Deepika - development reporting), Manu Viswanath (Deshabhimani - news photography), T K Sujith (Kerala Kaumudi - cartoon), P R Praveena (Manorama News - television reporting), N K Raveendran (Asianet News - TV reporting, special jury mention), P N Unnikrishnan (Asianet News - TV camera), A Nandakumar (Manorama News - TV camera, special jury mention), K R Abhilash (Asianet - TV camera, special jury mention), Shiju Mohan (Indiavision - video-editing) and R K Jaya Prakash (Kairali People - video-editing, special jury mention). Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan gave away photography awards to N Harilal (Alappuzha), Jijo G Paravoor (Kollam) and Kumar Yavanika (Kollam), who won first, second and third places, respectively.