Broadcast Editors Association slams Katju remarks

It said that in a democracy,criticism is welcome against institutions by individuals and representatives of institutions and gives a fillip to self-corrective process. But the criticism being made by Justice Katju is as demeaning and denigrating as it is a manifestation of his ignorance of media working. Any criticism made in a holier-than-thou fervor defeats the very purpose it is sought to be made for, the statement said.

The BEA said the electronic media has taken a giant step in creating a self-regulatory mechanism under the chairmanship of former Chief Justice of India Justice J S Verma. Justice Katju accuses the media of dividing people on communal lines and hence being anti-people. The sane and balanced coverage of two recent incidents Ayodhya judgment and Gopalgarh riots belies the assertion of the PCI chairman, the statement said.

The apex body of editors of national and regional TV news channels in the country said that by taking recourse to logical fallacy,Justice Katju has accused the media of branding a particular community as terrorists after every bomb blast by showing emails purported to have been sent by some terrorist organisations. Justice Katju,the BEA hopes,is aware of the elementary lesson of logic that says cow is an animal but all animals are not cow, said the BEA statement.

On the issue of inclusion of the electronic media under the ambit of the PCI,the BEA said it exposes more than what it conceals. The BEA would like to remind the new PCI chief of the medias role in ameliorating the plight of the poor by airing news about abject poverty and rank corruption. Had it not been the case,the self-proclaimed intellectuals cozily sitting in the majestic lap of the state would not have even known its magnitude, the statement said.

It said the Indian electronic media in its 16 years of existence outside of government has achieved many milestones in strengthening democratic values and has lived up to expectations.