With the Opposition criticising the media on Thursday for not reporting “constructive debates”, the Rajya Sabha urged the media to refrain from “exaggeration and dishonest reporting”. Giving this advise, Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien, however, said there was no point in blaming the media, pointing out that when MPs misbehave, it naturally became news.
Making this observation when some Opposition MPs said if the Chair has the right to pull up MPs, he should also direct the media to highlight positives of Parliamentary proceedings, Kurien referred to a Malayalam saying that “When a dog bites man it is not news. But when a man bites a dog, it becomes news.”
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Naresh Agrawal (Samajwadi Party) said the country expects that what transpires in the House is reported truthfully. The media choose to report din and disruptions while a constructive debate like the one on electoral reforms in the Upper House on Wednesday did not get adequate coverage, he said.
Agrawal then urged the Chair to direct the media to report positive issues also and referred to Sharad Yadav(JD-U) speech on Wednesday wherein he said big newspapers did not publish a word on the suggestions on electoral reforms.
Yadav said on Thursday the debate on the issues got “buried within the four walls of the House” and went on to State that the media freedom has now become the freedom of individual owners and not journalists. He also called for a law to bar cross ownership by not allowing media barons to venture into other businesses.
Backing him, Anand Sharma (Congress) said the media played an important role in democracy in sensitising public opinion and ensuring balance of narrative on important public issues. Moreover, the views of the Opposition, must get adequate space in the media for a healthy democracy, he said.
However, Swapan Dasgupta (Nominated) said that it will be “dangerous” for the Government or the Parliament to start giving instructions to the media.
Reacting to the Opposition's contention, Kurien said media is the fourth pillar of democracy and should be responsible and undertake honest reporting. If any news is exaggerated or blacked out it is dishonest reporting, he said adding "for the sake of democracy, truthful reporting has to be adhered to by the media."