Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan today said that reporting of parliamentary proceedings is not given much importance even as she maintained that space should be devoted to the coverage of constructive and important debates in the House.
Hailing the role of the media, Mahajan said that as the reach of the media increases, if news on environment, health, education and rural areas, too, gets into print along side entertainment and people-centric stories, it would keep the nation on the path of progress.
"Parliamentary proceedings are not given priority in the major newspapers and TV channels. Whatever happens in the House is shown in a twisted form.
"I welcome media's role in unearthing corruption and other social evils, but I also feel it should give space to constructive and important debates. If enough space is not given to parliamentary proceedings, then the whole purpose of the democratic process will become unproductive," Mahajan told the audience at the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards function here.
Mahajan said that independence of the judiciary was important and also underlined the need for serious and investigative reporting.
She added that in the age of the 24/7 news channels, one must ensure that the competition is clean.
"The challenge for the media has increased multi-fold due to the 24-hour news channels and websites, but the tactics to stay in the competition should be clean," Mahajan said.
