Media's conduct should be above board: President

March 16, 2013 19:04

The conduct of the media should be above board and the highest standards of ethics should be professed always, President Pranab Mukherjee said in Kottayam today.

Invoking a verse from Rabindranath Tagore's Gitanjali -- "where the knowledge is free...where words come out from the depth of truth", the President said there should be conducive atmosphere for ensuring freedom of speech.

He stressed that the media had an important responsibility in ensuring freedom of expression for the citizens and it owed accountability to the nation. "In our country, freedom of expression is guaranteed by the Constitution and the influence, credibility and quality of our media is well recognised. But freedom of expression can never be guaranteed only through legal rights and enactments.

"It must be ensured under conducive atmosphere," Mukherjee said in his speech during the 125th anniversary celebrations of the Malayala Manorama group. The President said media has an important role to play in cleansing public life. "However, to undertake this role the conduct of the media should be above board'.

« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES

All you need to know about VVPATs

To enhance transparency and verifiability in the poll process, the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 were amended in 2013 to introduce the use of VVPAT machines. They were first used in the by-election to the Noksen assembly seat in Nagaland.

Cong suspends Surat candidate Kumbhani for 6 years, suspects BJP ties

A statement from the Congress said the party's disciplinary committee decided to suspend Kumbhani after a thorough discussion, adding it had come to the conclusion that the nomination form was rejected due to gross negligence on his part...

Efforts to weaken India's progress must be stopped: Justice Datta on EVM row

Writing his views in a separate verdict while concurring with the opinion of Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who was heading the bench, Justice Datta said the question of reverting to "paper ballot system", on facts and in the circumstances, does...

Surya, Bumrah key to India's prospects in T20 World Cup: Yuvraj

Former India star Yuvraj Singh has identified the swashbuckling Suryakumar Yadav and pace ace Jasprit Bumrah as key to the team's prospects in the upcoming T20 World Cup owing to their ability to "change the complexion of a game" in a...

Maruti Suzuki Q4 net rises 48% to Rs 3,877.8 cr

The country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India on Friday reported a 47.8 per cent rise in net profit for the March quarter of FY24 to Rs 3,877.8 crore, on account of higher sales volume and favourable commodity prices.