Ambika Soni asks media to be impartial

Against the backdrop of Anna Hazare getting wide media coverage on the Lokpal issue, information and broadcasting minister Ambika Soni on Thursday made a strong pitch for objective and impartial reporting of events.

Against the backdrop of Anna Hazare getting wide media coverage on the Lokpal issue, information and broadcasting minister Ambika Soni on Thursday made a strong pitch for objective and impartial reporting of events.

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She asked journalists to ensure that one-sided views are not propagated.

"I appeal to the media to try and realise its strength. If this strength is misused or utilised in propagating only one-sided views, then the nation may suffer," Soni told reporters outside Parliament.

"The media is free and it should act responsibly to convey and create a level-playing field. It is the duty of the media to be objective and impartial," she added.

Asserting that she was a liberal person, she remarked: "I am accused of being too liberal. But I am following the Constitution. And I also expect my colleagues in the media… The editors and owners of media organisations, to know that a level-playing field is written in the Constitution of India."

She said the UPA government and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are the liberal faces of Indian democracy.

"None of us wants to go against any provision of the Constitution. The media enjoys full rights. But that should not mean that one doesn't remain objective. It should definitely not mean that you associate with one point of view and ignore another point of view," she said.

"When it seems that the media is attached to a single point of view, then others who disagree also have a right to be heard," Soni said.