Be agile to face challenges of fake news: I&B Minister Anurag Thakur

New Delhi: Union Information & Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday urged government's communicators to be agile and adaptable to take up challenges such as fake news.

Addressing a two-day conference of Indian Information Service (IIS) officers here, Thakur exhorted them to recognize the importance of their role as communicators to 130 crore people.

He outlined the five key features that need to define Government Communication, which include – Citizen-Centric and Compassionate, Co-creating with Target Audience, Collaboration, Contemplation, and Continuous Capacity Enhancement.  All communication needs to be relevant and easy to understand, keeping the citizens in mind, Thakur said and stressed on the importance of collaborating with all stakeholders including government bodies, institutions and the private sector.

Thakur lauded initiatives such as expansion of Fact Check Unit to counter fake news and accessibility initiatives for physically challenged.

He also highlighted the importance of new media technologies, institution building and coordinating with state governments to further improve the efficacy of government communication.

The Union Minister also underlined the importance of synchronized communication and art of storytelling to enhance the public outreach.  Besides Thakur, the conference was attended by Apurva Chandra, Secretary, Information and Broadcasting Jaideep Bhatnagar, Principal Director General Press Information Bureau, and senior officers Satyendra Prakash, Venudhar Reddy and Mayank Kumar Aggarwal.