Bengaluru: The Karnataka high court has said that the press and media should know that their job is to report news and not ‘create news’.
In a recent verdict wherein a criminal contempt petition initiated by the high court in relation to a dispute arising between Iskcon units of Mumbai and Bengaluru came to be rejected , a division bench of Karnataka HC headed by Justice N Kumar has opined that “as in other fields, the professional standards are coming down in the field of press and media also and the same is a matter of great concern.
“Press/Media is a very powerful instrument in democracy”.
“It is through press and media, today, in our country, injustice, illegalities and frauds at the highest level are fought. People adore the press and media. They have respect. But at the same time, the press should not become an instrument of oppression also”.
“Paid news, yellow journalism are some of the new features which are bringing down the reputation of the press and media. Similarly, half baked, incorrect, false and inaccurate information also affects the credibility of the media. Sometimes, publication of such news completely destroys an individual. Spicy news, few sentences quoted out of context would make reading of the news very attractive. Initially, the public will be carried away by it. But once they come to know the truth, then such news is not taken seriously. At the most, it may give some cheap entertainment to the public”.
“Press and media should know that their job is to report news and not ‘create news’, ” the Karnataka HC bench has said.
Dwelling on the ‘breaking news’ concept, the Karnataka HC bench has added that the competition in giving ‘Breaking news’ amongst representatives of electronic media appears to have resulted in inaccurate and sensationalism of reporting of arguments made in open Court proceedings.
“It will bring a bad name to the media when it is later found out that the information given is incorrect and inaccurate” the bench has noted.
