ID :
203580
Thu, 08/25/2011 - 21:53
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/203580
The shortlink copeid
Soni asks media to be objective and impartial
New Delhi, Aug 25 (PTI) Against the backdrop of Anna
Hazare getting wide media coverage on the Lokpal issue, Indian
I&B Minister Ambika Soni Thursday made a strong pitch for
objective and impartial reporting of events while asking the
press to ensure that one-sided views are not propagated.
"I appeal to the media to try and realise its strength.
If this strength is misused or utilised in propagating only
one-sided views, then the nation may suffer," Soni told
reporters outside Indian Parliament.
She said, "The media is free and it should act
responsibly to convey and create a level-playing field. It is
the duty of the media to be objective and impartial."
Asserting that she was a liberal person, the Minister
said, "I am accused of being too liberal. But, I am following
the Constitution. And I expect my colleagues of the media
... your editors and owners of media houses, that the level
playing field is also written in the Constitution of India."
"The UPA government and Dr Manmohan Singh are the
liberal face of Indian democracy. None of us wants to go
against any provision of the Constitution. Media enjoys full
rights, but that should not mean that you don't remain
objective. It should definitely not mean that you associate
with one point of view and ignore another point of view. And
it should definitely not mean that you should not lay a
level-playing field," she said.
Soni said, "When it seems that the media is attached to
one point of view, then others who do not subscribe to one
side also have the right not to agree to this. When media
takes sides, every MP has anger towards it."
The I&B Minister said, "MPs feel that the opinion which
media is propagating is not the public opinion all over the
country. After all, every MP represents 10 to 12 lakh voters
in Parliament. They feel that people don't feel the same what
the media is projecting all the time."
She further stated, "To propagate that MPs should be
gheraoed is not justified."
Soni said she was no less than anyone wanting to end
corruption in the country. "There may be different voices, but
the objective is the same -- to free the nation from
corruption."
On Hazare, she said that all MPs have sincerely appealed
to him to end his fast.
Hazare getting wide media coverage on the Lokpal issue, Indian
I&B Minister Ambika Soni Thursday made a strong pitch for
objective and impartial reporting of events while asking the
press to ensure that one-sided views are not propagated.
"I appeal to the media to try and realise its strength.
If this strength is misused or utilised in propagating only
one-sided views, then the nation may suffer," Soni told
reporters outside Indian Parliament.
She said, "The media is free and it should act
responsibly to convey and create a level-playing field. It is
the duty of the media to be objective and impartial."
Asserting that she was a liberal person, the Minister
said, "I am accused of being too liberal. But, I am following
the Constitution. And I expect my colleagues of the media
... your editors and owners of media houses, that the level
playing field is also written in the Constitution of India."
"The UPA government and Dr Manmohan Singh are the
liberal face of Indian democracy. None of us wants to go
against any provision of the Constitution. Media enjoys full
rights, but that should not mean that you don't remain
objective. It should definitely not mean that you associate
with one point of view and ignore another point of view. And
it should definitely not mean that you should not lay a
level-playing field," she said.
Soni said, "When it seems that the media is attached to
one point of view, then others who do not subscribe to one
side also have the right not to agree to this. When media
takes sides, every MP has anger towards it."
The I&B Minister said, "MPs feel that the opinion which
media is propagating is not the public opinion all over the
country. After all, every MP represents 10 to 12 lakh voters
in Parliament. They feel that people don't feel the same what
the media is projecting all the time."
She further stated, "To propagate that MPs should be
gheraoed is not justified."
Soni said she was no less than anyone wanting to end
corruption in the country. "There may be different voices, but
the objective is the same -- to free the nation from
corruption."
On Hazare, she said that all MPs have sincerely appealed
to him to end his fast.
