New Delhi, June 1 (PTI) The South Asia Media Commission India today expressed deep concern over the suggestion of a government-appointed committee to “use official advertisements to manage the media”.
“The suggestion is contained in the report of the Sri Krishna Committee formed by the Union government to study the Telangana issue. Part of a secret note, it comes to light in a judgement of the Andhra Pradesh High Court on a petition on issues arising out of the committee”s report,” it said.
The commission, which works under the auspices of South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA), said the suggestion seeks to legitimise a practice, used at times clandestinely by authorities, especially in the states against “sections of the media considered inconvenient by them”. This should be rejected forthwith by the government, it said in a statement.
It noted that the court considered “disturbing” the suggestion that “the print media is hugely dependent on the government for advertisement revenue and if carefully handled can be an effective tool to achieve this goal.”
The commission said it could not agree more with court”s comment, “whatever be the circumstances under which a person in the government may have thought of using the government advertisements as a mechanism to arm-twist the media, such an idea ought not to have occurred to the committee in general or individual members…one would only wish that the members of the committee…were not aware of these contents. However, if these passages have gained entry into the report with their knowledge, the people would have nothing more than to lament.”
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