Media houses should be responsible in their presentation of facts, says CJI N V Ramana

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• Jul 26, 2022 | Poonam Nath

CJI said media houses with other business interests are more susceptible to outside pressures.

Digital Desk: On Tuesday, Chief Justice of India N V Ramana emphasised the value of independent journalism in democratic states and urged the media to "confine itself to responsible journalism without using it as a tool to expand its influence and business interests."

According to the CJI, "media houses with other business interests are more susceptible to outside pressures." As a result, business interests frequently precede the ideals of independent journalism. Therefore, democracy is undermined. 

He was addressing the audience at the publication event for the book "The Gita Vijnana Upanishad," written by Gulab Kothari, the head of the Rajasthan Patrika Group.

The backbone of democracy, according to CJI Ramana, is unbiased journalism. The people's eyes and ears are journalists. Media organisations must present facts. People continue to believe that whatever is printed is true, especially in the social context of India. "All I want to say is that the media needs to stick to doing fair reporting and not use it to further their own power or business agendas", added CJI Ramana.

He said, "the true nature of media houses will certainly be assessed from time to time, and appropriate conclusions will be drawn from their conduct during testing times," recalling "that only media houses without business baggage were able to fight for democracy during the dark days of emergency."

"There was healthy competition among journalists to do great public interest stories," the CJI recalled of his brief career as a journalist.

"I'm sure there are journalists who are equally enthusiastic about today's media, too," he continued. But after taking chances and exerting a lot of effort, a journalist's brilliant story is killed at the desk. 

For a true journalist, it is utterly demoralising. You cannot hold them responsible if they run into these situations time and time again and lose faith in their profession.

There is "still a huge gap when it comes to systemic support for journalists in India," according to the CJI.

He urged "stakeholders to reflect on why our standards are not considered good enough for international recognition and laurels," noting that India "still does not have an award which is comparable to the Pulitzer" and "does not produce many Pulitzer-winning journalists."