Thakur to TV channels: Work professionally, don’t try to grab eyeballs

NEW DELHI:  Union information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur on Monday urged media houses to ‘work hard’ to preserve professionalism and ethics instead of compromising with values due to fear of competition.

Referring to debates on news channels, which turn into fierce verbal spate on occasions, Thakur said that media organisations have a great challenge to provide truthful accurate and reliable news faster while preserving media ethics and values.

“Real journalism is about facing the facts, presenting the truth and letting all sides the platform to present their views. If you decide to invite guests who are polarising, who spread false narratives and who shout at the top of their lungs - the credibility of your channel goes down. Your decisions regarding the guest, the tone and visuals - define your credibility in the eyes of the audience,” said the minister.

He was speaking at the 20th meeting of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development in the national capital. AIBD was established in 1977 under the auspices of the UNESCO. It is a regional inter-governmental organisation servicing countries of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) in the field of electronic media development.

Thakur further added that the viewer may stop for a minute to watch your show but will never trust your anchor, your channel or brand as a trusted and transparent source of news. “Instead of compromising our values in this fierce competition, we must work hard to preserve professionalism. I strongly believe that journalists are duty bound to report news without fabrication, despite temptations to compete with those who propagate false news,” Thakur said.