ITANAGAR, 21 Feb: Senior journalist and chief reporter of The Arunachal Times, Amar Sangno received the state gold medal from Governor KT Parnaik during a function held at the Raj Bhavan here on Tuesday.
Sangno was among the five gold medal awardees who were recognised for their meritorious services.
Born to Tali Sangno and Tatung Sangno on 1 January, 1985, in Weshi village in Pakoti circle of East Kameng district, Sangno is the president of the Arunachal Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ), the apex media body of the state.
He did his schooling from the government primary school in Weshi, from 1995-96, ME education from the government secondary school in Pakoti, and high schooling from the governmeht higher secondary school in Seppa in 2003.
Sangno did his BA (Hons) in English from Dera Natung Govt College, Itanagar, in 2008, and postgraduate diploma in mass communication from Rajiv Gandhi University in 2009-10. He did MA in mass communication from RGU in 2011-2013, with first class.
He has been working as the chief reporter of The Arunachal Times since 2011.
He began his career at The Sentinel Arunachal, Itanagar, as a reporter in 2010. He also worked as a casual/visiting news editor at All India Radio, Itanagar, from 2014 to 2018. He contributes write-ups to The Northeast Today magazine and news portal East Mojo, based in Guwahati, Assam. He also served as an assistant teacher under the SSA from 2007 to 2010.
As a reporter, he has covered current affairs to long investigative pieces. From politics to conflicts, his reporting has been nuanced – a hallmark of fine journalism.
In 2016, a 10-member delegation of the APUWJ, headed by Sangno, called on Chief Minister Pema Khandu at his office in Itanagar and submitted a memorandum seeking implementation of a pension scheme for the journalists. As a result, the state government has introduced a pension scheme for journalists, with Rs 25,000 as the amount – the highest in the country.
In 2020, the state cabinet gave the nod to the Arunachal Pradesh Electronic Media Advertisement Policy, 2020. This was a longstanding demand of the media community of the state. The policy, which was pursued relentlessly under the leadership of Sangno, will go a long way in ensuring financial security for many of the electronic and digital media outlets functioning in the state.
In 2021, under the initiative of Sangno, the state government declared media personnel, including journalists, camerapersons, and backend office staffers registered with the APUWJ and the Arunachal Press Club as frontline workers, given their involvement in containment, surveillance and related awareness activities in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic in the state.
Sangno also played an instrumental role in the construction of the new Arunachal Press Club building in Ganga, Itanagar, which was inaugurated by Chief Minister Pema Khandu in 2022.
During his career, he has been tirelessly defending and striving for freedom of the press in the region and Southeast Asia.
He has been encouraging the working journalists to maintain the highest standards of professional conduct and ethical values of journalism, and helping in facilitating young journalists on strategic and cross-border journalism/reporting from time to time, with his vast experience as a trade union leader.
In 2022, Sangno represented India at the International Visitors Leadership Programme, titled ‘A global movement in time: Photojournalists document challenges and opportunities in the Covid era – A multi-regional project’, hosted by the United States of America’s department of state. Sangno was the lone representative from India among the 77 participants from 58 countries nominated by the US embassy of their respective countries.
In the same year, Sangno represented India at the 31st world congress of the International Federation of Journalists, held in Muscat, Oman. The IFJ is a global federation of journalists’ unions – the largest globally. It represents over 6,00,000 media workers from 187 organisations in 146 countries.
In 2019, he participated in a journalism workshop on ‘Regional security in the era of digital nedia’, jointly organised by the US consulate general, Kolkata, the CUTS International, and thye East West Centre to address cross-border security issues and the role of the media.
In 2018, he represented India at the International Journalists Federation’s Digital Working Group meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, to support media workers in digital economy.
In the same year, Sangno represented India at the ‘IFJ strategy and union strengthening meeting – organising journalists in digital economy’, in Kathmandu, Nepal. (DIPR)
