KOZHIKODE: Vested interests rise up in arms whenever big projects are announced but media should not become the megaphone of the anti-development forces and expose them instead, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Friday. Media had supported big projects like the Bhilai steel plant and even suggested the priorities for the five-year plans in the period soon after Independence, the CM said. He was speaking after inaugurating the golden jubilee celebrations of the Calicut Press Club here.
While implementing projects that are beneficial to society, media should give priority to the country’s future instead of highlighting the problems. They should not play into the hands of the forces that want to sabotage development, he said. Pinarayi said a perceptible change has occurred after globalisation.“Almost all the mainstream media try to satisfy the capital interests of big corporates. Advertisement has become the most important factor,” said Pinarayi, who added that burning issues concerning common people do not become news for many nowadays.
The chief minister said the media does not realise that in a country where the freedom of people is trampled, there will not be freedom for media either. “Far-right forces are continuously spreading lies and hatred. The media should introspect whether spreading such things is good journalism or not,” he said. Gone are the days when people believed whatever was printed or shown in the visuals. “There is a strong social auditing on media and one cannot be blind to this. Else, the media’s credibility will be in danger,” he said.
It should be examined what is more important, reporting first or reporting the truth. “Those in media should ponder whether the ‘breaking news’ culture has created a situation where there is little time to check even spelling and grammatical mistakes,” he said.
Ministers P A Mohamed Riyas, A K Saseendran and Ahmad Devarkovil, MP MK Raghvan, Mayor Beena Philip, MLA Thottathil Raveendran, KUWJ state president K P Reji and others spoke.