Rathore for self-regulation by media

Addressing the convocation ceremony of the IIMC, he said that the freedom of press would 'never shrink' in the country

Pitching for "self-regulation", government on Friday told the media that it would not bring in any regulation but the press should recognise the massive responsibility it has.

Minister of State (MoS) for Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore also suggested that media coverage often ends up "supporting" terrorists by "publicising" their "small acts", which spreads fear.

Addressing the convocation ceremony of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) here, he, however, said the freedom of press would "never shrink" in the country.

The media was kept out of the event that took place against the backdrop of a recent controversy over allegations of "casteist" remarks made against some SC/ST students of the Institute by some of their peers.
 
The Minister sought to remind the audience of the amount of responsibility journalists bear.

"The curse of the 21st century is terrorism. And the psyche of a terrorist wants greater impact of a small incident. Kill one person and terrify a population of a lakh. A terrorist is aware of the fact that unfortunately who will publicise his small act.

"The direct cause of panic is fear and there is a portion of us that support the terrorists in spreading that fear into those who don't support terrorism," Rathore said.

Referring to the French media's coverage of the Paris attacks aftermath, Rathore said, "Can you on their television pick up one spot of blood? One spot of bullet mark or more importantly a grieving mother, a grieving wife, a grieving daughter? You will not."

Rathore said that the war between channels is so intense in India that "there's no limit" after a point and that "if one channel talks to mother, the other looks for the wife or the daughter."

Government cannot "correct" the situation by bringing any regulation as this would be possible only through self regulation, he said.

"One thing is for sure that freedom of the press will never shrink in this country ....The amount of power you wield, through print, electronic and social media, which goes beyond boundaries.....Hence there is amazing amount of responsibility you should have," he said.