Public Works and Tourism Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas has said that journalists have a tendency to follow the political interests of their employers.
He told this when reporters raised questions about a Kochi-based mining company’s alleged backhanders to the IT firm run by the Chief Minister’s daughter.
“Media persons cannot conscientiously report. They are forced to speak against their own conscience. It is a fact that journalists tend to follow the political interests of their employers,” he said.
Mr. Riyas was speaking after hoisting the national flag during the Independence Day celebrations in Kannur on Tuesday.
“From 2016 to 2021, we had seen the media hounding the LDF government. Had people gone to the polling booth believing media speculations, the LDF would not have won the elections,” he said.
