New Delhi: Ruling out any outside regulation
of the media, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said the
media in the country can itself take care of the 'ills' like
paid news and urged it to reduce sensationalism in coverage.
"I am very happy that the media of our country is by and
large independent and alive...Ever since we have got
independence, discussions have been going on in the country
about the role of the media and the manner in which it
functions.
"In my opinion, there is a general consensus in our
country that no outside control should be imposed over the
media. But I am also of the view that the representatives of
media should among themselves find a way by which objectivity
and impartiality gets encouragement and sensationalism is
reduced," the Prime Minister said.
He was speaking at a function here in which he released a
book and a postage stamp issued in the memory of late Puran
Chandra Gupta, the founder of Hindi daily Dainik Jagaran.
Gupta had also served as Chairman of Press Trust of India for
two years.
Noting that it is good for the country's democracy that
the reach of both electronic and print media have increased
substantially due to new technology, Singh hoped Indian media
will be successful in checking ills like paid news.
"I am confident that Indian media will itself take steps
to wipe out the ills like paid news and will also be
successful in it. You should also pay attention on how to
increase the coverage of those issues, which are really
important for our country," the Prime Minister said.
Lauding Gupta for encouraging independent and fearless
reporting throughout his life, Singh said such journalism is
quite necessary for any democracy.
PTI
First Published: Monday, January 02, 2012, 12:21