CHENNAI: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami’s hardened stance on the news media, much along the lines of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, has more to do with the party’s attempt to work out the balance of power after the recent change in dynamics than an internal policy, said Tamil Development Minister and party spokesperson ‘Ma Foi’ K Pandiarajan.
He was in a group of veteran journalists, politicians and other public figures who came together to discuss the role of the political class in the relevance of media and the threat to journalism at an event organised by the Foundation for Media Professionals at the Asian College of Journalism on Sunday.
Pandiarajan said that Jayalalithaa was not a ‘media-hater’ as she was made out to be, often watching Pandiarajan’s interviews to the media and offering him immediate feedback. He added that there was a point in the late Chief Minister’s life where she decided she would not be one of those politicians who are ‘made by the media’.
Now, since the party was in a ‘state of flux’, out-of-context statements by some ministers has become a ‘problem’, he added. He went on to say that not all media houses were free from corruption and that a self-regulatory body was the need of the hour.
Hailing from a party whose chief is known for his more amicable relationship with the media, DMK’s PTRP Thiagarajan, Madurai Central MLA, said, “The functional style of Jayalalithaa, where she tightly controlled the party led to a more efficient organisation. Whereas in DMK’s loosely-controlled structure, everybody speaks what they want. We are trying to bring in some quality control,” he added.
Speaking on the threats to journalism, N Ram, Chairman, Kasturi & Sons Ltd said, “In the 1980s, as someone who led the Bofors case investigation, we didn’t have any problems at all when compared to today.”
Journalists from Tamil Nadu were unified in the view that while some journalists in the north India may find the iron curtain on access to information and the threat to the freedom of press new, journalists of Tamil Nadu have been working under such conditions for at least a decade.
Speaking of a similar disconnect in Andhra Pradesh, secretary-general of the Indian Journalists Union (IJU) Amar Devulapalli said ministers often resorted to WhatsApp groups to disseminate information and did not do direct briefings.
On the relevance of media today, veteran journalist BRP Bhaskar said, “I don’t think the political class has the power to make the media irrelevant. But the media’s link with the community has weakened.”
Arun Ram, Resident Editor, Times of India, Chennai said, “We live in dangerous times where this feeling of brethren is important. The threats should work as an adhesive and we should face it as a single entity.”
Mukund Padmanabhan, editor-in-chief of The Hindu, Ravish Kumar, senior executive editor of NDTV India, S Karthigaichelvan, MD of Puthiya Thalaimurai, Sandhya Ravishankar, independent journalist, Ramachandra Murthy, editorial director of Sakshi group, Faye D’ Souza, editor of Mirror Now, Revati Laul, senior journalist, actor-activist Gautami and Vidyashree Dharmaraj, editor, Covai Post were also part of the discussion.
The forum also submitted petitions to Chief Ministers of five southern States, demanding, among other things, transparency, accessibility of information and security of journalists.