Governor P. Sathasivam has said that he is ready to intervene again in solving the ongoing stand-off between lawyers and journalists while reminding that they have a significant role to play in democracy.
In his inaugural address at the golden jubilee celebrations of the laying of the foundation stone of the Ernakulam Press Club here on Friday, the Governor said that it was sad that the issue continued even after he had appealed for a peaceful agreement between the lawyers and journalists.
He said that pendency of case before the Supreme Court seeking safe and free access to journalists in the courts was not a block in solving the issue. The former Chief Justice of Supreme Court said that restricting media persons from reporting the verdicts pronounced by the judges in the court rooms was not good for democracy.
However, the Governor reminded journalists to refrain from giving sensational and provocative headlines as flash and breaking news without verifying facts. He reminded that journalism’s obligation was to truth and its loyalty should be to the citizens of the country.
Advising media persons to maintain dignity and decorum and not to quarrel with lawyer friends, Mr. Sathasivam said they should not allow market forces to dominate news in this age of 24x7 news channels and Internet.
The Governor presented the P.S. John Endowment award to P.V. Maneesh, NSG commando, who was injured in the commando operation against the 26/11 terrorist attack in Mumbai.
K.V. Thomas, MP; Hibi Eden, MLA; A. Madhavan, president of Senior Journalists Forum; and P.A. Abdul Gafoor, president of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists, spoke.
