BENGALURU: The Style of functioning of the media, especially electronic media came under fire in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday forcing Speaker K B Koliwad to announce the formation of a House Committee to suggest measures to monitor and regulate their functioning.
The committee would be constituted in one or two days and asked to submit its report within 15 days. The Speaker assured that the move would conform to the Constitutional limits and not impinge on the freedom of expression and freedom of press.
The four-hour-long debate on the issue saw members cutting across party lines lines expressing their anguish at the “arbitrary, brash and undemocratic” style of functioning of TV news channels.
Congress member N A Haris suggested formation of Press Council of Karnataka on the lines of Press Council of India, where affected parties could fight for redressal of their grievances. “There is no system at present to make the electronic media accountable for its omissions and commissions,” he said.
Narayanaswamy of JD(S), S T Somashekar, and B A Moinuddin Bava of Congress accused the media of tarnishing the image of politicians to improve their TRP ratings.
MLC demands censor board for TV serials too BJP MLC Tara Anuradha who raised the issue said these days TV channels are full of crime stories, programmes that propagate astrology, portray children in ghost characters and many more. These are having negative impact on families, she said.
BJP MLC Ramachandre Gowda demanded a censor board for TV serials. Congress MLC Ugrappa said, “Anchors act like judges in discussions aired by TV channels,” he said.
JDS Floor leader Basavaraj Horatti said his niece’s life was shattered after watching an astrology related programme.