Bring TV under Press Council of India: Markandey Katju
The new chairman of the Press Council of India, justice Markandey Katju, has sought a larger mandate for the organisation and suggested bringing the electronic media under its purview.
By ET Bureau | Updated:
NEW DELHI: The new chairman of the Press Council of India, justice Markandey Katju, has sought a larger mandate for the organisation and suggested bringing the electronic media under its purview.
"I have written to the PM that the electronic media should be brought under Press Council and it should be called Media Council and we should be given more teeth. Those teeth would be used in extreme situations," Katju told a private TV channel. Katju said that he had received a letter from the Prime Minister that his letter had been received and "they are considering it".
The former Supreme Court judge said that he had also met Opposition leader Sushma Swaraj and that she had told him probably there could be a consensus on the demand. "I want powers to stop government advertisement, I want to suspend licence of that media for a certain period if it behaves in a very obnoxious manner, impose fines," Katju said while maintaining that all these measures would be used only in extreme situations.
On whether these measures would threaten the freedom of the media, he said, "everybody is accountable in a democracy. No freedom is absolute. Every freedom is subject to reasonable restrictions. I am accountable, you are accountable, we are accountable to the people." Katju said that he thought TV debates were frivolous, and that there was no discipline among panelists. "It is not a shouting contest, he said.
He also spoke about how he thought things could be changed. "There must be some fear in the media," he said, quoting Tulsidas' Ramcharitmanas that 'bin bhay hot na preet'. "I have a poor opinion of the media."
"I have written to the PM that the electronic media should be brought under Press Council and it should be called Media Council and we should be given more teeth. Those teeth would be used in extreme situations," Katju told a private TV channel. Katju said that he had received a letter from the Prime Minister that his letter had been received and "they are considering it".
The former Supreme Court judge said that he had also met Opposition leader Sushma Swaraj and that she had told him probably there could be a consensus on the demand. "I want powers to stop government advertisement, I want to suspend licence of that media for a certain period if it behaves in a very obnoxious manner, impose fines," Katju said while maintaining that all these measures would be used only in extreme situations.
On whether these measures would threaten the freedom of the media, he said, "everybody is accountable in a democracy. No freedom is absolute. Every freedom is subject to reasonable restrictions. I am accountable, you are accountable, we are accountable to the people." Katju said that he thought TV debates were frivolous, and that there was no discipline among panelists. "It is not a shouting contest, he said.
He also spoke about how he thought things could be changed. "There must be some fear in the media," he said, quoting Tulsidas' Ramcharitmanas that 'bin bhay hot na preet'. "I have a poor opinion of the media."
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