Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday said the media was losing its credibility.
Addressing the valedictory of the golden jubilee celebrations of the Press Council of India on National Press Day, Mr. Naidu said, “Credibility is becoming a rare commodity. One does not know what to believe. Reporting on the same event one newspaper declares there was massive gathering while another carries pictures of empty chairs.” For a democracy to thrive, Mr. Naidu said, free flow of information was essential. “Democracy needs information and dissent but it does not mean disintegration.”
Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani, in her address, said upholding press freedom was the responsibility of every government. “Voices of media shouldn’t be suppressed... even if politically I may not agree with these voices,” she said.
