BANGALORE: Veteran journalist and Chairman of Prasar Bharati M.V. Kamath on Friday said the corporation preferred to remain conservative than being flashy, as it did not wish to lose its credibility and seriousness.

"Yes, people tell us we are doing no work, we are conservative," he told students of journalism at a seminar on `Electronic Media' organised by the Department of Electronic Media, Bangalore University, here. "There would have been fewer killings during the Gujarat riots had the private electronic media exercised restraint," he said.

Being a journalist for five decades, Mr. Kamath regretted that the basics of journalism, requiring a journalist not to disclose the riot-affected locality or a person or the community so as to prevent any aftermath, has been given a go by.

Prasar Bharati has been mandated to educate, inform and protect constitutional values, and it has been doing the job faithfully, he said.

However, the private electronic media preferred entertainment to information and education, he regretted.

Recalling his encounter with C.V. Raman where the Nobel laureate explained the basics of physics, he said: "Don't pretend to say `you know' when `you don't know.'" Personal contact with people was more important than the information on the website.

Mr. Kamath was critical of the present newsroom environment. There used to be lots of discussions and the newsroom resembled a market place.

These days, reporters were glued to news channels, write whatever was beamed there and the same was published, he regretted.

Bharatayana

Mr. Kamath said Doordarshan had an ambitious plan of airing Bharatayana, on the lines of Ramayana, featuring the struggle for Independence since 1857 and the country's achievements.

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