The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Stick to objectivity, Governor tells media

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Oct 22, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Stick to objectivity, Governor tells media

Special Correspondent

Dedication witnessed during freedom struggle missing, says Tiwari

— PHOTO: K. RAMESH BABU

Keeping updated: Governor N. D. Tiwari going through the ‘Surya’ newspaper in Hyderabad on Sunday while Chief Editor Suryaprakash Rao looks on.

HYDERABAD: Governor N.D.Tiwari said that there is need for journalists who do not allow their emotions to rule over objectivity and respect the truth.

“The dedication witnessed during the freedom struggle is getting diluted,” Mr. Tiwari said after launching a new Telugu daily ‘Surya’, published simultaneously from 16 centres, including Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and New Delhi, here on Sunday.

Key elements

“Circulation figures and advertisement revenue have been the key elements driving the Indian press,” Mr. Tiwari said. Newspapers needed circulation and advertisement revenue for survival but they should not get precedence over ethics. Mr. Tiwari noted that the news values also appeared to be undergoing drastic changes. “Sometimes, one feels whether yellow journalism has become the order of the day,” he said.

There were still some newspapers that devoted considerable space to developmental stories. He referred to the contribution of P. Sainath, Rural Affairs Editor of The Hindu, who was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for his reports on the agrarian crisis.

Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy lamented how the media was intruding into the private lives of public figures. BJP State unit president Bandaru Dattatreya wanted the media to distinguish between news and views. TRS president K. Chandrasekhara Rao was critical of the trivialisation of news by a section of the media at the cost of key issues concerning the common man. CPI (M) secretary B. V. Raghavulu, CPI Secretary K. Narayana, and Lok Satta Party national coordinator N. Jayaprakash Narayan also addressed the gathering. Publisher of Surya, N. Suryaprakash Rao, also spoke.

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