Amid controversy over his “presstitutes” remark, Union Minister VK Singh on Thursday urged the media to introspect and put in place an “effective watchdog” to curb malice, as he has himself been a victim of “malicious campaigns” by certain sections of media “under the watch of the UPA Government”.
In a detailed Press release, the former Army chief accused certain “media workers” for attacking him from 2012 in collusion with the erstwhile UPA Government. “Since 2012, I have been repeatedly attacked by certain ‘media workers’ who have published stories that were not only cooked up, but also did enormous harm to the institution that I was heading, the Indian Army.
All this happened under the watch of the UPA Government which had its own agenda to try and defame me, and certain individuals who were willing to be Government’s mouthpiece took full advantage of the situation in the hope of currying favour with the establishment. “Specific stories that had been planted and their immediate sources were identified and a complaint was filed to the Home Ministry in November 2013,” Singh said.
“However, the Government of India, perhaps not wanting to take on these ‘media workers’ who would hide behind the larger umbrella of the ‘National Media’, failed to act. The journalists concerned, emboldened by the fact that they seemed to be unaccountable for their actions, have since not only got away scot free but have been keeping up a steady flow of misinformation,” said VK Singh, a day after he termed his opponents in media as “presstitutes.”
He said the media’s “unwritten code” of protecting the colleagues, even if they did wrong was unethical. He said approaching courts against the media attacks were not practical. Singh blamed justice was not delivered from the Press Council, as it was dominated by “some of the very people who are playing the game of using the media to discredit individuals.”
“It is time that the media itself seriously looked at creating an effective watchdog organisation that has the power to actually nip this malice in the bud. Today the media’s own credibility is at stake and unless there is effective internal policing, this problem threatens to go completely out of hand. Only those who have been targeted by such stories know how vilified and helpless they feel. Even to get a basic rebuttal published in the same newspaper is an ordeal as sanctimonious editors sit in judgement like thanedars asking the victim to prove his innocence before they will put two lines in small print somewhere saying they are sorry,” said Singh.
“I ask the Broadcasters Association and the Press Council and all the hard-working honest to good journalists (who thankfully are still in the majority) to put their heads together and come up with a solution that gives an individual targeted by the media a fair chance. I would be happy to forward the complaint that was filed with the MHA to the Broadcaster’s Association, should it publicly commit itself to forming an impartial body with specific time lines.” Singh added.
Meanwhile, justifying Singh’s remark of presstitutes, former Press Council Chairman Justice Markandeya Katju said: “The vast majority of mediapersons wld certainly fall in d category mentioned by @Gen_VKSingh , as my experience in Press Council taught me.”