Officials urge focus on development journalism

CH NEWS, BENGALURU The Central Government has significantly streamlined and completely digitized the media sector by replacing a nearly 150-year-old Act with the updated Registration of Press and Periodicals Act, 2023. Speaking at a major workshop held at the Mahatma Gandhi Media Centre in Vartha Soudha, Yogesh Kumar Baweja, Principal Director General of the Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI), officially announced that the entire registration process has now gone fully online. Previously, launching a new publication required submitting physical applications through local deputy commissioner offices all the way to Delhi, which often caused frustrating delays spanning several months or even years. Now, all administrative procedures must be conducted digitally via the newly introduced Press Sewa Portal. Under these updated guidelines, physical documentation is no longer permitted, effectively eliminating paper loss and unnecessary paperwork hassles. The official registration timeframe has drastically dropped, allowing a new newspaper to launch within just three months of submitting an application. Once the title is successfully granted, publishers must begin publication within 12 months. Furthermore, the portal digitally handles ownership changes, revisions, address modifications, newsprint imports, and cancellations. During the event, jointly organized by the Press Information Bureau and the Department of Information and Public Relations, officials addressed broader industry concerns. J. Manjunath, Secretary of the Information Department, urged media outlets to focus on positive, development-oriented journalism rather than negative content. Meanwhile, M. N. Anucheth, Commissioner of the Department of Information and Public Relations, highlighted rising government advertising expenditures—projected to reach ₹82 crore—and emphasized the urgent need to ensure that state promotional funds genuinely support true professional journalism in the modern digital age.