Editors Guild raps new Press Council chief

The Editors Guild of India has issued a strong condemnation of the new chairman of the Press Council of India, Justice Markandey Katju. The government had appointed him to chair the PCI, the statutory body meant to oversee the conduct of the print media, on his retirement from the Supreme Court.

The Guild says the PCI chairman has “been making negative statements on the media ever since he assumed office”, but the trigger for its strong statement are Katju’s remarks — described by the Guild as “ill-considered, sweeping and uninformed comments on the media and on media professionals” — in an interview to Karan Thapar on the CNN-IBN news channel, broadcast over the weekend. It says these comments “touched a new low”.

The statement goes: “The Guild notes Mr Katju thinks the media divides people on religious lines and is anti-people. He objects to TV channels that focus on cricket and other subjects, that he disapproves of.

He believes that journalists have not studied economics, politics, literature or philosophy, and he has a poor opinion of the media and media people...after expressing such sweeping negative sentiments, (he) has asked the government for draconian powers to impose fines on the media, to withdraw advertisements and to suspend the licence to publish or broadcast. The Guild strongly opposes such powers being given to the Council, especially a Council led by someone who it would seem wants to invoke ‘fear’ in the media.”

“The Guild’s attempt to engage in dialogue with Mr Katju has been rendered futile, as he continues to express his tendentious and offensive views. The Guild wishes to remind (him) that the Indian media is as diverse as it is vigorous, and while it has drawbacks, on the whole it contributes to the strength of the Indian system.”, the statement added.

Descrining press freedom as “a bulwark for the Indian people against the onslaught of people in authority”, the Guild said it would “firmly oppose the assumption of any draconian powers by a Press Council created with an altogether different purpose”. It also noted that only the print media comes within the Council’s ambit and it firmly believes the Press Council should have its brief “limited to the print media, as it is at the present”.