Sanchar Daily celebrates 2nd Anniversary on April 14
The ‘Sanchar Daily’ founded by seasoned politician Dr. Damodar Rout and edited by eminent journalist Prasanta Patnaik, celebrated its second birth anniversary as the Daily newspaper at IDCOL Auditorium in Bhubaneswar yesterday on the auspicious occasion of Maha Vishuba Sankranti. A.L. Naidu , Retired Justice of Orissa High Court, was the Chief Guest at the occasion.
Justice Naidu hailed the efforts made by ‘Sanchar’ to become the credible source of information for the people of the state without any bias although Dr. Rout remains the senior most member of Naveen Patnaik Cabinet. It is a known fact that neither the Founder nor the Editor showed any leaning towards a single party and always aired their opinion without fear. Justice Naidu pointed out that Sanchar has been very much critical of the functioning of the Government at times although Dr. Rout is a Cabinet Minister.
Eminent Educationist and Linguist Dr. Debiprasanna Pattanayak, who was the Chief Speaker at the function, highlighted the role played by print media in developing the regional language and literature.
Mr. Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, Editor of largest circulated Odia Daily, ‘The Sambad’, however, chose to tell the bitter truth. He highlighted the hardship being faced by small and medium newspapers to sustain in the digital era when people mostly turn towards Internet to get news at their mouse-tip or through smartphones. “Printing has become very expensive and it’s not easy for the newspapers to survive for long. I don’t see very good future for print media in the years to come. Web is the future and all newspapers must work on that direction”, he said. At the same time, he praised Sanchar’s efforts in the last two years.
Dr. Damodar Rout, founder of Sanchar, talked about his long-standing love for media during his long political stint. “Media has been instrumental in protecting the interests of the state and its people. That’s why I preferred to keep this newspaper free from any political influence. Even though it’s very expensive, Sanchar never relied on anyone for funding and always published news without any fear or bias. I would publish my personal as well as political experience on Sanchar when I take retirement from politics,” he said.
Editor Prasanta Patnaik, who took over only a few months ago, has revealed that he has been associated with Sanchar for long as a Columnist and now he is happy to take things forward as the Editor. “Sanchar is proud to be the voice of the poor, deprived and exploited masses of the society and never allowed itself to become the mouthpiece of any political party or individual. He lauded Dr. Damodar Rout for granting complete editorial freedom to the newspaper and not interfering in content.
Sambit Routray, Publisher of Sanchar, gave the Vote of Thanks. He said that print media continues to play a very important role and should not be compared with the electronic or web media. “Print media leaves a great impression on the readers and can be preserved forever,” he said.