First give freedom to your own reporters: Dasmunsi

New Delhi, July 15: Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, under fire over the alleged draconian measures in the proposed broadcasting Bill, today hit back at media owners telling them to set their own house in order by allowing freedom of expression to their journalists.

''Do media companies give freedom to their reporters? Journalists work hard to find and then write a story but what happens at the end of the day is that key point of their write-up is edited out if it does not suit the owner's interest,'' the Minister said.

''A good story filed by a reporter often loses out to a big advertisement. We should think how this problem should be solved,'' the Minister added.

He was addressing the Annual Meeting of the India Languages Newspapers Association(ILNA).

''Do you trust your reporters and give them opportunity to expose the wrong,'' asked Mr Dasmunsi.

He, however, said he did not mean that journalists should be given untramelled freedom to write whatever fancies them.

''Setting their stories right is the job of the editor not of the owner,'' he added.

Expressing the UPA government's commitment to safeguarding the freedom of the press, the Minister, hitting out at the previous NDA Government, said what happened to the whole Tehelka news-portal set up after its expose was known to all.

''But the UPA government is not like that. Had it been so we would not have brought in the Right to Information Act which is basically meant to be a tool in the hands of the common-man to keep a tab on the working of the government,'' said the Minister.

In this context, he sought to assure the media that the proposed Broadcasting Services Bill was not aimed at muzzling their freedom.

''It was premature to talk about the shape of a child yet to be born. When the Bill comes to Parliament, it will be the most media-friendly legislation,'' he added.

Mr Dasmunsi said that Indian language newspapers by virtue of their reach to the masses were in a better position to help them use the Right to Information Act in a more fruitful way. He said his government's policy is to strengthen small and medium newspapers, and it was for this reason that the share of government advertisement to them has been increased to 45 per cent and it was intending to raise that further to 50 per cent from next year.

The Minister said he would like that a norm should prevail that if four advertisements were given to English newspapers, at least two should be given to language newspapers.

''I can bring in law to give effect to this norm but I am trying to make a public opinion in favour of it.

The Minister asked the newspapers to act like watchdog of democracy and not become just another wing of the government. He said that he did not want them to flatter the government, but did expect them to highlight its plus points.

UNI

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