DHARAMSHALA: Khenpo Sonam Tenphel, Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, today launched the new bilingual app and revamped website of Tibet Express (Bod ki Bangchen) at Hotel Tibet, McLeod Ganj. The launch was held at a function to mark the 15th anniversary of Tibet Express newspaper circulated by Khawa Karpo Culture Center.
In his address at the function, Speaker spoke about media as an important component of society that informs and educate the public about current affairs, official policies and individual stories of interest.
Describing free press as the fourth pillar of democracy, he said that media should perform its role with an impartial and non-partisan approach to elevate the intellectual capacity of the public, and raise awareness about the issue of Tibet worldwide to garner international support towards the movement.
He particularly urged the Tibetan media to focus more on the political and human rights situation inside Tibet under China.
He expressed concern at the viral nature of unverified stories that are posted on social media sites that has the potential to disrupt social harmony and security. In such era of viral social media, he said that the traditional press such as newspapers and websites has an even greater role to fulfill by reporting analytically, rigorously with thorough investigation to counter unverified news reports.
He also spoke about the richness of the Tibetan lexicon and lauded the depth of knowledge available in the Tibetan language such as the five major and minor sciences. However, he noted that with the global technological advancement, the Tibetan language sometimes falls short of terminologies in areas of science and technology. In that regard, he called for more discussions and deliberations to formulate appropriate terms in the Tibetan language to stay in tune with modern technological developments and innovations.
Tibetan Parliamentarian Serta Tsultrim who is the editor-in-chief and executive director of Tibet Express delivered the introductory remarks of the function. In his remarks, he gave a brief account of Tibet Express as a newspaper since its founding in the year 2003.
He also spoke about the state of Tibetan media in exile and how Tibetan media can contribute to the larger Tibetan cause through preservation of Tibetan culture and language, and by sharing information about the situation inside Tibet and China. He further described the challenges that a newspaper or website has to endure to stay afloat and relevant to the public.
Tibetan Parliamentarian Ngawang Tharpa, the administrator of Tibet Express, delivered the vote of thanks.
