Expressing concern over the ‘’sagging levels of tolerance’’ among public servants and politicians, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Friday said that those who were intolerant to criticism should keep away from politics.
Inaugurating a workshop on ‘People’s representative and the freedom of the Media,’ organised under the aegis of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) and the Institute of Parliamentary Affairs here, Chandy said public servants and politicians should respond to the media criticism with tolerance as the media was acting as a corrective force.
However, he said, the media, which was playing the role of the watchdog in a democracy, should also be self-critical in its approach and check the temptations to yield to sensationalism.
Chandy said that it was the duty of the media to question the wrongs in a democracy. ‘’If the wrongs are exposed, it will lead to a change,’’ he said. However, Chandy said, quite often the media freedom is being abused. In a democracy, nobody is unaccountable. But there is a certain limit to every freedom and that has to be honoured, he said.
The Chief Minister also emphasised the need to maintain the people’s trust. The real power is left with the people and it is important to retain the people’s trust, Chandy said.
Delivering the key-note address, former Vice-Chancellor of National University of Advanced Legal Studies N K Jayakumar said that the Constitution had not provided any special privileges to the media other than that of an ordinary citizen of the country. However, a good media person may be forced to break the law to expose the wrongs, he said. He said that journalists, while reporting, should give more stress to media ethics than the laws. KUWJ state president K C Rajagopal presided. Institute of Parliamentary Affairs director T Varghese, KUWJ district president Siby Kattampally and secretary Suresh Vellimangalam spoke.
