Media must confine itself to honest journalism, not use influence to expand business: CJI Ramana
New Delhi, Jul 26: Media must confine itself to honest journalism and not use it as a tool to expand its influence and business interests, said Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana on Tuesday.
Ramana said a media house with "other business interests" becomes vulnerable to external pressures and often business interests prevail over the spirit of independent journalism which compromises democracy.
Asserting that independent journalism is the "backbone of democracy , the CJI a former journalist-- also urged the stakeholders to introspect why the standards here are not considered good enough for international recognition and laurel in the field of journalism.
He was speaking at the launch of Gulab Chand Kothari's book titled 'The Gita Vijnana Upanishad'. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla presided over the event.
Last week, the CJI had raised similar concerns and said agenda driven debates and kangaroo courts being run by media are detrimental to the health of democracy.
These recent remarks by Ramana assume significance following the backlash to a verdict earlier this month on former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma's comments on Prophet Mohammad, which the Supreme Court said had stoked communal tension across the country.
When a media house has other business interests, it becomes vulnerable to external pressures. Often, the business interests prevail over the spirit of independent journalism. As a result, democracy gets compromised, Ramana said on Tuesday.
Journalists are the eyes and the ears of the people. It is the responsibility of media houses to present facts. Especially in the Indian social scenario, people still believe that whatever is printed is true. All I want to say is that the media must confine itself to honest journalism without using it as a tool to expand its influence and business interests, he said.
While the country's senior-most judge acknowledged the presence of journalists who are equally enthused in today's media , he remarked that when a brilliant story filed by a journalist is killed at the desk, it is thoroughly demoralising.
He said the true nature of a media house would be assessed and appropriate conclusions drawn from their conduct during testing times as he recollected that only media houses without business baggage, were able to fight for democracy during the dark days of Emergency .
CJI Ramana also said there was no systemic support for journalists in the country and neither was there an award which was comparable to the Pulitzer or many Pulitzer winning journalists.
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KKR hammer DC by eight wickets as Allen smashes unbeaten ton
New Delhi (PTI): Finn Allen smashed a 47-ball 100 not out as Kolkata Knight Riders thrashed Delhi Capitals by eight wickets to register their fourth win on the trot in the IPL, here on Friday.
Opting to bowl, KKR spinners led by Sunil Narine strangled Delhi Capitals in the middle overs on a tacky surface to restrict them to 142/8.
Pathum Nissanka struck a quick 50 (29 balls; 5x4, 3x6) but Delhi lost momentum after his dismissal, scoring just 11 runs between the 12th and 16th overs as Anukul Roy (2/31), Kartik Tyagi (2/25) and Sunil Narine (1/17) applied the brakes.
Ashutosh Sharma’s late 28-ball 39 (3x4, 3x6), gave Delhi some respite.
In reply, Allen, who came in as Impact Sub for Varun Chakravarthy, smashed 10 sixes and five fours to make it a lopsided chase as KKR sealed the win in just 14.2 overs.
Brief Scores:
Delhi Capitals 142/8 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 50, Ashutosh Sharma 39; Anukul Roy 2/31, Kartik Tyagi 2/25). Kolkata Knight Riders 147/2 in 14.2 overs (Finn Allen 100 not out).
