The Hindu : Kerala News : Press told to keep public well informed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 25, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Press told to keep public well informed

By Our Special Correspondent

The Lok Sabha Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, with the Mathrubhumi Managing Director, M.P. Veerendrakumar, at a function organised to felicitate the latter in Kozhikode on Wednesday. Photo: S. Ramesh Kurup

KOZHIKODE, NOV. 24. The Lok Sabha Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, has called upon the press to keep the public well informed about the functioning of Parliament.

Inaugurating a function organised by Mathrubhumi employees and directors here today to felicitate M.P. Veerendrakumar on his completing 25 years of service as Managing Director of the Mathrubhumi group of publications, Mr. Chatterjee said it was Mr. Veerendrakumar's outstanding leadership qualities coupled with his unique creative talents and vision that had enabled him to steer Mathrubhumi out of the red into a commercially viable and highly rated newspaper group.

The Speaker found it remarkable that Mr. Veerendrakumar who is also an MP had not imposed his political philosophy on his newspaper's editorials even though he had been at the helm of its affairs for 25 years.

Informative reporting

The Speaker said he had been an admirer of Mr. Veerendrakumar's `scholarship, eminence and humility,' adding that these are qualities needed to build a well-informed society.

Calling for informative reporting on parliamentary proceedings, he said that though the press had been behaving in a responsible way while reporting parliamentary proceedings it was also a fact that ``sometimes only [the] trouble attracts the press.'' He pointed out that at a meeting of leaders of political parties held on Tuesday a consensus was reached to enable the smooth functioning of the winter session of Parliament beginning December 1. He hoped that the press would respond positively so that the public would be kept informed about the functioning of Parliament.

Stating that the press was vital for the survival of democracy, the Speaker said it was ``a weaponless army in the fight to safeguard democratic rights'' and the ``last line of defence whenever democracy is under threat.''

Among those who felicitated Mr. Veerendrakumar were the Jnanpith winner U.R. Ananthamurthy; the critic Sukumar Azhikode; the Mathrubhumi Managing Editor, P.V. Chandran; the Directors P.V. Gangadharan and M.J. Vijayapadman; the Mayor, Thottathil Ravindran; and P.K. Warrier, Managing Trustee of Kottakkal P.S. Varier Aryavaidyasala. Mr. Veerendrakumar also spoke.

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