Media panel tones down comment on coverage

The chairperson said while there were concerns about the chauvinistic and even jingoistic elements in initial coverage by Indian news channels,they had since then recognised their failings and framed voluntary guidelines for coverage of similar events to be subjected to peer monitoring in future.

Ram said though the initial television coverage seemed to be guided by commercial considerations,the truth-telling and democratic strengths of serious journalism came through in both countries in the detailed news coverage.

The SAMC report had said news channels had acted irresponsibly by advocating a war between India and Pakistan. However,Ram said after the initial excesses,no one in the mainstream media advocated mad-bomber ideas or resorted to irresponsible sensationalism. The news media seem to have contributed substantially to raising public awareness in South Asia and internationally about what happened in Mumbai,who was behind the attacks,and what needs to be done to bring those responsible to justice and to prevent future terrorist attacks, a statement by the SAMC chairperson said.