Mysuru:  Observing that newspaper columnists too should be considered for awards of various Akademies, senior writer Dr. Krishnamurthy Hanur said that columnists generally aim to correct the wrongs in society though their writings.

He was speaking at a programme jointly organised by Arivu Trust,  Kala Suruchi and Mysuru District Journalists Association (MDJA) during the release of the book titled ‘Bhavadolagina Bimba’, a collection of 51 columns of Dr. Sundar Kenaje in Kannada here on Sunday.

Observing that there should be more number of column articles in newspapers, he said that though the articles may or may not change the attitude of politicians, they certainly are targeted at correcting the society, whenever it goes wrong.

Senior Journalist Padmaraja Dandavathi, in his address, said that being a columnist, one should be critical to the core in order to highlight the lapses of those in the ruling dispensation without any second thought.

Sharing his experiences, Dandavathi, who was a columnist for a vernacular daily for close to a decade, said that it is also important to be a reader first before becoming a writer, so that one can effectively use alliterations relating to the famous works of the past. It is left to the audience to decipher the quantity of research undertaken before writing a column.

Well-known writer and columnist Subraya Chokkadi, in his address, bemoaned the riders being issued to columnists nowadays. Stating that writing a column was a demanding job, he said that with limitation of words in an article, the day is not far off when columnists may take to literature.

MDJA President C.K. Mahendra presided. Art critic Dr. Rama V. Bennur, Social activist Santosh Koulagi, UoM faculty Dr. Niranjan Vanalli, Columnist Kusuma Ayarahalli, Publisher U.S. Mahesh, MDJA General Secretary K.J. Lokesh Babu, Journalist Mullur Raju and others were present on the occasion.