Press Council censure for flouting journalistic norms

New Delhi, Oct 23 (UNI) The Press Council of India has censured four newspapers and magazines, including Bangalore-based 'Lankesh Patrike', for breach of norms of journalistic conduct.

The Council, headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice G N Ray, in its last week's meeting, also censured Hindi weekly 'Ghati Ka Bharat', published from Dehradun, 'Naveena Netrikan', Chennai and Kannada weekly 'Hai Bangalore', the PCI said in a statement today.

'Lankesh Patrike' and its editor, the Council said, offended the standards of journalistic ethics by printing an article under the headlines 'Bufoon King's Homo Team'.

The ''most offending'' article threw all norms of journalistic caution to wind, the Council noted.

'Ghati Ka Bharat' published ''recklessly'' without verification of facts, a report, 'Big scandal of crores of rupees over the distribution of advertisements by Madhusudan, employee of Power Corporation', the Council said terming the article ''defamatory''.

'Naveena Netrikan' and its editor were censured for publishing ''reckless allegations'' against a senior police official without proper verification while 'Hai Bangalore' indulged in yellow journalism, the Council said.

The Council adjudicated 61 cases of complaints against the media and 9 cases by the media against authorities in its October 16 meeting.

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