Due diligence in news reportage vital for preserving media freedom: Justice J S Verma at FICCI FRAMES 2012
Due diligence in news reportage vital for preserving media freedom: Justice J S Verma at FICCI FRAMES 2012 MUMBAI, March 15, 2012. Justice J. S. Verma, former Chief Justice of India, today advised the media to exercise due diligence in news reportage by questioning whether a news item is true, fair, necessary and in public interest. The answer to these questions were necessary in order to inform and enlighten the people accurately and obviate any possibility of regulation by the government as that would tantamount to curbing the freedom of the media. Addressing the session on “Freedom of Media: Significance of Self-regulation’ on Day II of FICCI FRAMES 2012 here, Justice Verma said “I often hear people say why is the media not responsible? This might just be a pretext for the authorities to step in, and if they do step in, the dangers to free expression and the right to report freely will be immeasurably curbed.” The practice of ‘breaking news’, of being the first with the news...