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Call to set up Media Commission

Special Correspondent

KOCHI: The former member of the Law Commission N.R. Madhava Menon has called for the setting up of a Media Commission to promote a `responsible media' in the country.

"The civil society should demand a Media Commission to encourage responsible journalism and to check irresponsible behaviours on the part of the media," he said. However, it should not be a Government-controlled body, Mr. Menon said in his keynote speech at a seminar on ``Responsible media and the responsibility of mediapersons'' organised by the Kerala Union of Working Journalists here on Thursday.

He said the Press Council or the Prasar Bharati were teeth-less to check the negative trends in the media. Industrial houses were manipulating media institutions and the media barons were promoting their business and economic interests using the media houses they owned.

Mr. Menon also suggested setting up of a Media Ombudsman exclusively for Kerala. Professional bodies like the KUWJ could do this.

He said the Constitution accorded the media a near-equal status to the judiciary. The Constitution-makers wanted that journalists should have the same freedom and independence as judges.

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