Manohar Parrikar accuses media of biased reporting

Panaji, Feb 24:

Chief Minister

criticised media for biased news coverage and alleged that many

were doing opposition-sponsored paid news reporting.

Questioning the journalists' education, at a public function here Sunday, he said: "What is a reporter's salary...How much does a news reader earn? Maybe 25,000 (rupees). They are mostly graduates. They are not great thinkers...intellectuals. They write news how they understand it."

Parrikar also said that there was prevalence of paid news in Goa, where "people take money to write".

Taking a jibe apparently at Congress, the chief minister said: "We all know which political party runs the paper. We also know which paper has what political inclination."

Commenting on adverse coverage against his government, he said a section of the media in Goa was affiliated to the opposition and was therefore criticising him and his government unnecessarily.

Parrikar also asked reporters and correspondents to have their wits about them while reporting on news developments.

"You all should have sense. You should know how powerful the person is before reporting his comments," he said.

Earlier at a public rally Sunday in Haryana's Rohtak district, Aam Aadmi Party leader and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had criticised media.

He said that media was paid to criticise him and praise Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

IANS