At KUWJ State meet, Kerala CM urges media to ‘introspect’ on breaking news culture

Pinarayi Vijayan says irrespective of changes in the media, the basic tenets of journalism remain unchanged

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has urged the media to “self-introspect” as to whether it has descended to a state where it is “so caught up in the breaking news culture” that it is left with no time to correct even spelling and grammatical errors.

Mr. Vijayan was delivering the inaugural speech at the 60th State meet of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) here on Saturday (October 19, 2024).

During the course of the speech, he raised a plethora of issues related to the functioning of the media, while asking mediapersons to introspect.

“Whether reporting first has taken precedence over accurate reporting? Is information getting ditched in the chase after controversies and emotional issues? Is the functioning of the media being reduced to dictation rather than accurate and detailed reporting?” Mr. Vijayan said.

He wondered whether in the “urge to criticise everyone and everything”, the media was deliberately pulling a veil over acceptable things. “An analysis should be done whether mediapersons have turned increasingly intolerant to criticism. Are they open to creatively accepting when their faults are pointed out? The media should examine” Mr. Vijayan said.

“Fair criticism should not be dubbed as a witch-hunt, while the media should examine whether they have turned blind to real witch-hunting. The media should not be reduced to a narrow outlook where mediapersons are comfortable as long as they are not the ones criticised, hunted and on the receiving end,” he said.

Social responsibility

“That everyone enjoys freedom of speech should be accepted. The media should ensure that in the name of freedom of speech, they do not encroach on privacy, which is at the heart of fair journalism. Simply because controversies will sell, the media industry should not relegate itself to a point where the pursuit of controversies is turned into an industry. Mediapersons have that responsibility towards society,” he added.

Mr. Vijayan said that irrespective of the changes in the media, where artificial intelligence, virtual reality and augmented reality are being used, the basic tenets of journalism – honesty, facts-driven work, authenticity, accuracy and social commitment – remain unchanged.

He reminded how Gandhiji had in 1936 written in Young India that he would never use his pen to destroy or out of anger or enmity.

Mr. Vijayan also observed that the Malayalam media “gave little coverage” to news related to development and welfare unlike the national media.

KUWJ State president M.V. Vineetha presided. Benny Behanan, MP, was the chief guest. MLAs Uma Thomas and T. J. Vinod were among those present.

Published - October 19, 2024 12:15 pm IST