The Editors Guild of India (EGI) on Wednesday said it was disturbed by the irresponsible conduct of some national news channels in deliberately creating circumstances that target vulnerable communities by spewing hatred towards them and their beliefs.
The EGI demanded that these channels “pause and take a critical look at what they have done by giving legitimacy to divisive and toxic voices that has made the national discourse coarse and the gap between communities unbridgeable”.
Stricter vigilance
It also demanded stricter vigilance by broadcaster and journalist bodies to prevent a recurrence of such conduct. “The media is in place to strengthen the Constitution and the law and not break it through sheer irresponsibility and absence of accountability,” said its statement.
The Guild said: “Expectedly, there was a riot in Kanpur accompanied by an unprecedented trenchant reaction from many countries that were offended by the remarks of the ruling party spokespersons. In their angry statements they wondered about India’s commitment to human rights and freedom of religion.”
Could have been avoided
Stating that the incident caused an unnecessary embarrassment to the country, the EGI said it could have been avoided if some of the TV outlets had been mindful of the nation’s constitutional commitment to secularism as well as the journalistic ethics and guidelines that the Press Council of India had issued to handle a volatile communal situation.
“Instead, some of these channels — prompted by the desire to increase viewership and profit — were seemingly inspired by the values of Radio Rwanda whose incendiary broadcast caused a genocide in the African nation,” it said.
