Amid growing disinformation, report the truth, says Indian prelate

It is a big challenge to report the truth amid the growing phenomenon of disinformation and misinformation, says an Indian Archbishop. 

"In the media, bad news is given emphasis, but our challenge is to work hard and to tell the truth without fear," said Emeritus Archbishop Albert D’Souza of Agra, former secretary general of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI). 

He was speaking at the closing ceremony of the two-week-long intensive Radio Veritas Asia (RVA) online workshop, which was held in NISCORT, Delhi, India, from September 17 to 30.

Started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station, RVA serves Asian countries in their respective local languages, thus earning the tag "the Voice of Asian Christianity." 

Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.

Archbishop D’Souza urged the participants to tell the truth without fear and instead take it as a special opportunity to spread the Word of God on all media platforms.

The prelate took that occasion to congratulate Father George Plattotham, executive secretary to the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences-Office of Social Communication, on being appointed to the Dicastery (department) for Communication, which was recently announced by Pope Francis.

At the end of his talk, the Archbishop handed over a certificate of participation to all participants, which was the outcome of two weeks of training. 

Speaking on the occasion, Father Robinson Rodrigues, director of NISCORT, urged the participants to use every form of media for the enhancement of God’s kingdom.

The importance of color theory to editing was showcased by Father Biju Alappat, executive secretary to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India-Office of Social Communication. 

The participants benefited from it and applied it in their respective mission work.

They were allowed to present their projects based on what they learned and also to highlight the future course of their projects for RVA under the supervision of Father Zenith Sekar, media production head at NISCORT.

At the end of the program, a special song was performed by William of RVA Zo Service staff, enthralling the trainees and trainers present with his melodious voice.

The online content intensive training took place with 11 participants from five countries: Cambodia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and India. The workshop was a continuation of the training after the Myanmar RVA-based service training.

The closing ceremony was presided over by Father Athanasius Mung, coordinator of RVA Zo Service, with a scripture reading (on John 14:6) and an opening prayer was done by Sister Laily RNDM from Bangladesh after a hymn to the Holy Spirit. - Tungthang Zou