New Delhi : Terming it as the “desire of the media to be an actor” while reporting from scenes of security operations, Union I&B Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday said the country’s security and defence establishments were of the view that this cannot be allowed and that the matter was under “serious and very advanced consideration” of the government.
“How do you report instances where insurgent action is on… where a security operation is in full swing? Should the media go into the midst of the scene and therefore report from the spot as to what is happening. Or, should the media have some constraints?” Jaitley asked. He was delivering the first Justice J S Verma memorial lecture on ‘Freedom & Responsibility of Media’ here.
“We’ve have intelligence information to say that because Indian television had decided to bring the 26/11 reporting almost in real-time as to what action was being taken, the terrorists inside the hotels were being informed on their satellite phones by their handlers as to what the Indian security forces were doing,” Jaitley said.
“Our security agencies and the Ministry of Defence are clearly of the view that this cannot be allowed. And, therefore, during the limited duration when the security operation is on, a very strict discipline on the kind of reporting which is to take place from the place of the incident will have to be maintained. This issue is under serious and very advanced consideration of the government,” he added.
He also stated that the media today has a responsibility “to be credible, to be fair, to be an educator on sensitive issues and to maintain the highest standards of integrity”
