Media should report responsibly & needs to provide answers: Prasad
Holding that within the space of the single Constitutional provision, both freedom & regulations are enunciated, Press Council of India (PCI) Chairman Justice C.K. Prasad said on Friday that freedom of expression of the media wasn't absolute.
The media had to report responsibly, he said. Inaugurating a 2-day media conclave on responsible journalism organised at M.O.P. Vaishnav College for Women, Chennai, Mr. Prasad said: “No matter how liberal one is, he has to face the truth that some news is best not reported.”
While the Constitution guarantees freedom of expression & speech, it doesn't confer an absolute right to speak or disseminate without responsibility & is subject to restriction by law, he said.
While he said that he was committed to the freedom of the media, he went on to quote an American journalist’s disclosure before the U.S. Congress wherein he said the function of a newspaper was to “suppress” as well as to “publish”. “This candid & eloquent expression drives home the point that the freedom of the media cann't be absolute but comes with responsibility. Media needs to provide answers. Questioning is the easiest part of it,” he said.
Mr. Prasad emphasised that journalists could n't live on the glory of their profession alone & need wages to lead a decent life. “Journalists need to be financially & socially secure. So long, they aren't financially & socially secure to expect independence from them.” Unless & until journalists’ services are protected & provided job security one cann't expect journalists to be independent & responsible, he said.
“The day the media becomes the cheerleaders of the ruling party, that is the end of democracy,” Mr. Prasad said & went on to exhort that the primary duty of the media was to be the voice of the voiceless.
Recalling a recent Lok Sabha elections, Mr. Prasad said: “Every newspaper assessed the prospects of a political party but none of them were near to the truth, no newspapers in the country, no news channel in the country, projected that one party will get more than 300 seats.”
He mooted the idea of legislation for providing support to journalists. “I appeal to the leaders of the industry to see that the journalists are provided with sufficient funds to maintain themselves & maintain their families. There has to be a legislation, according to me, I'm talking about that. A law to protect the services of journalists, the working conditions of journalists, their salary & perks.”
Lalitha Balakrishnan, Principal, M.O.P. Vaishnav College for Women, & Sandhya Rajasekhar, Head of the Department of Journalism, participated.
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