New media poses challenge of credibility, says I&B Secretary Apurva Chandra

New Delhi: The shift towards new media for consuming information from traditional sources such as newspapers has presented a challenge of credibility to the government, Information and Broadcasting Secretary Apurva Chandra said on Wednesday. Addressing the first World Media Congress in Abu Dhabi, Chandra said India has over 1.2 billion mobile phone users and 600 million smartphone users who are consuming a high amount of information and entertainment via mobile devices. He said the traditional media sources in India comprised 897 television channels and over 80,000 newspapers in various languages. However, he added, that recently there has been a shift from the traditional media as youngsters were consuming information from new media sources. This has presented a challenge of credibility and that presented a challenge to the government, Chandra said. He said social media has caused faster and deeper percolation of information in India, to the effect that it has even reduced the loss of lives in natural calamities. Chandra said the government has come out with a self-regulatory mechanism, which ensures that the first level of complaint can be resolved at the level of the social media organisation. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.