Chennai, Nov 6 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday asked the media to make an extra effort to maintain credibility and do introspection to bring forth reforms within.
Participating in the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of the mass circulated Tamil daily ‘Dina Thanthi’, he also urged the media to shift its focus from politics and devote space for stories on people.
“Just as education now focuses a lot more on learning outcomes, our attitude towards consumption of content has changed. Today, every citizen analyses, discusses and attempts to cross-check and verify the news that comes to him, through multiple sources. Media, therefore, must make an extra effort to maintain credibility. Healthy competition among credible media platforms is also good for the health of our democracy.
“Renewed emphasis on credibility brings us to the subject of introspection. I firmly believe that reform in the media, whenever required, can only come from within, through introspection.
“Indeed, we have seen this process of introspection happen on some occasions, such as the analysis of the reportage of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. Perhaps, it should happen more often,” Modi said.
The function was attended by Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit, Chief Minister E. Palaniswamy, Deputy Chief Minister O. Pannerselvam, Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Pon Radhakrishnan, film personalities including Rajnikanth and industrialists.
Modi recalled a statement by late President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on why success stories of people have not been acknowledged, Modi said, adding a lot of media discourse today revolved around politics.
“It is only fair that politics be discussed at length in a democracy. However, India is more than just us politicians. It is the 125 crore Indians, which make India what it is. I would be happy to see media focus a lot more, on their stories and their achievements.