Media regulation should be done by media persons only

Several editors on 3rd February gathered in a conference organised by Media Development Foundation (MDF) and Asian college of Journalism advocated self regulation as the best way to reconcile media free speech rights with its accountability to society.  Justice K. Chandru, former Judge, Madras High Court, said accountability should come from within the media. 

N. Ravi, Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu, advocated both increased freedom through liberal laws and a greater sense of responsibility and accountability on the part of the Indian media by observing professional norms including accuracy, fairness and sensitivity to social concerns.

Shekhar Gupta, Editor-in-Chief of The Indian Express, said there was no need for any regulation as the media in India was hardly doing enough to be regulated and “journalists were largely careful about many things, especially [in reporting] the personal lives of politicians.”

Maalan Narayanan, Editor, Puthiya Thalaimurai, who held media freedom and accountability to be interlinked, said the media was partly responsible for the growing clamour for controlling or monitoring it.

N. Ram, Chairman, Kasturi & Sons Ltd., said evolving of editorial codes by media organisations and the presence of an internal ombudsman would help raise standards and improve public perception of media performance.

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/national-news/item/4213-media-regulation-should-be-done-by-media-persons-only.html