The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : YSR asks journalists to be objective

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Sep 23, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

YSR asks journalists to be objective

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, SEPT. 22. The Chief Minister, Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, on Wednesday called upon journalists to write about issues in a dispassionate manner, rising above denominational considerations and always keeping in mind, betterment of the society.

Year-long celebrations

Inaugurating the year-long Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Osmania University Department of Communication and Journalism here, Dr. Reddy narrated the instance of how the media gave "negative publicity" to the former Prime Minister, P. V. Narasimha Rao, for his alleged involvement in the Jharkhand Mukthi Morcha bribery case, till all the charges were proved false by the Court. "The best way would have been to wait till the charges are proved".

Citing another example, he spoke of a newspaper front-paging a report on employees going on strike and pushing the news of its resolution to page six. "You have to give equal importance." No doubt, media played an important role in a democracy but it should not forget its responsibility to the people.

Adequate coverage

The Chief Minister wanted media to give adequate coverage to issues like environment. "We tinkered too much with environment.

We have overexploited groundwater and felled trees so much that whenever I go by helicopter, I cannot see a single large tree in a forest. It speaks of man's selfishness."

He complimented the department for turning out journalists who made it big during the last 50 years and some of whom have risen to become Bureau Chiefs.

First in the country

The Osmania University Vice- Chancellor, J. Anantaswamy, recalled that the department was the first one to be set up in the country and it continued to produce top journalists. P. L. Visveswara Rao of the department said it was started at a time when there was this perception that journalists are born and not made.

From a mere diploma course, the well-equipped department now offered research programmes.

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