Businessmen controlling media: Dinesh Amin Mattu
Bengaluru, July 07: Senior journalist Dinesh Amin Mattu has said that businessmen and advertisements are managing the media in recent times.
Speaking at Press Day function organized by the city's press club, he said, advertisements are being given more importance than the news in present days. For newspapers, advertising consumers have become more important than news readers. “Today the newspapers are being sold for less than the cost of production,” he added.
Dinesh further asked “how many reports regarding the irregularities of businessmen have been investigated and published by media so far? When politicians de-notify even one acre of land, whole day, it gets discussed in the media houses. That means today’s media is standing on entrepreneurs’ advertisements. Moreover, entrepreneurs have recently begun to control politicians as well. This is a dangerous development.”
“The way doctors, engineers, writers, and others are getting corrupted; in the same manner, journalists are becoming corrupt. Thus, if the media is not diagnosed, it is impossible to eradicate the disease from society,” he added.
We have imagined media as the fourth pillar of the Constitution. But there is no mention of it anywhere in the Constitution. Also, Dr. BR Ambedkar had rejected this. Instead, how much responsibility the general public has under the right to expression, the same duty is there on Journalists. In spite of that, it has been projected as the fourth organ of the constitution.
Those who work in the legislature, executive and judiciary are paid from ordinary people's taxes. But, those who work in the media are depending on the advertisers’ money. In such a case, how is it possible to stand the fourth pillar amid three pillars, he asked.
Journalists will be watching a scene even if they close their eyes. A subject is also heard if ears are closed. But it is not possible for them to independently express what they saw, heard, and felt. Everything is in the hands of the owner. Understand this hardship and find out a way, Dinesh Amin Mattu said.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
