Balurghat: A workshop on media certification, paid news and various other media-related issues was conducted at the district collectorate building in Balurghat on Friday.
Additional district magistrate Pranab Kumar Ghosh, sub-divisional magistrate Isha Mukherjee, district information and cultural officer Santanu Chakraborty and correspondents of various media houses took part in the workshop.
In his address, Ghosh said: "Media plays a crucial role for smooth conduct of Lok Sabha election. It has a special role during polls in the country. The Election Commission of India is alert so that no media coverage impacts the poll results."
Mukherjee said: "Print, electronic, online portals and social media have separate roles. Correspondents and reporters have to follow some rules and regulations while covering poll reports. The ECI has provided a few guidelines for mediapersons. We have discussed these rules on Friday using powerpoint presentations to sensitize the mediapersons about coverage of election stories." District information and cultural officer Santanu Chakraborty took part in a question-answer session with the mediapersons. He said: "ECI issues a press release briefing about the guidelines for mediapersons to be followed during elections."
"The ECI has delivered specific guidelines on how to cover poll-related reports. Violation of these norms is an offence and paid report is strictly prohibited according to ECI norms," Chakraborty said.