Goa’s Chief Minister expressed regret for comments he made against the media fraternity following a protest by members of the fraternity, who had demanded a public apology from the CM.
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar came under attack from the Goa Union of Journalists for his statements which the GUJ said were “loose, belittling utterances against journalists” that sought to devalue the work. “I did not mean to demean anybody nor was it my intention to cast aspersions on any person leave alone a mediaperson. However I express my regret if the incident has hurt anyone’s feelings,” Parrikar further said in his communication to the GUJ.
Parrikar earlier maintained that he had said nothing wrong and that the statements were not taken within the context of his speech. After defending his attack on journalists’ educational pedigree and financial worth for more than a week, Parrikar Tuesday expressed regret for his comments. Parrikar made sure that when he made the comments, he was actually speaking about the need to disseminate information correctly and had said that “reports published in newspapers are of the reporter — who is usually a graduate and a common man — has understood the issue”.
In a letter addressed to the local union of journalists president Kishor Naik Gaonkar, On February 23, at a public function Parrikar had said, “What is a reporter’s salary...How much does a news reader earnIJ Maybe Rs 25,000. They are mostly graduates. They are not great thinkers, intellectuals. They write news how they understand it.” Parrikar also said that there was prevalence of paid news in the Goa, media where “people take money to write”. The GUJ had demanded that instead of the CM making loose statements that he go ahead and name and shame and prosecute those he suspects are involved in the menace.
The GUJ had also objected and protested to the comments, with its members wearing a black ribbon during the first day of the State Assembly’s Budget Session. “In light of the expression of regret by the Chief Minister, we will stop our protest now,” Gaonkar said. His comments caused the opposition to hit at the chief minister with even a a Congress leader complaining to the Press Council of India accusing the Chief Minister of badgering the media.