BENGALURU: The Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly K B Koliwad announced formation of a Joint House Committee headed by Health and Family Welfare Minister K R Ramesh Kumar to regulate the media.
Announcing the decision, Koliwad said, “The committee is being formed to study the quality of the content of print and electronic media, the adverse impact being caused by them and to regulate them.”
The 13-member committee will have 10 members from the Assembly —Ramesh Kumar, Ashok Pattan, B R Yavagal, N A Haris, Shivaraj Tangadagi, S T Somashekar, Bharama Gouda Kage, Suresh Gowda, Sa Ra Mahesh and Narayana Gowda— and three members from the Legislative Council to be nominated by Chairman of the Council.
However, leader of the Opposition in the Council K S Eshwarappa announced in the Council that no MLC from the BJP would join the panel as they had made it clear they wanted to have talks with the media representatives and not form a committee. The specific terms of reference for the committee would be finalised in consultation with members of the committee, the notification on constituting the committee said.
The move comes as a follow-up action for the recent discussion in the House on the style of functioning of the media, especially electronic media.
The four-hour-long debate on the issue had witnessed members cutting across party lines expressing their anguish at the “arbitrary, brash and undemocratic” style of functioning of the media, particularly the TV news channels. “Elected representatives like us are being vilified and we are being projected as villains without credible evidence. They make baseless allegations and pass judgements against politicians,” the members had said demanding measures to regulate the media.
Congress member Haris suggested formation of Press Council of Karnataka on the lines of PCI 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.