‘Time for media to introspect'

Awardees during the Karnataka Madhyama Academy Awards Presentation cememony in Bangalore on Monday. Photo: G.P. Sampath Kumar

It is time for the Indian media to introspect on why it is failing people who repose faith in it, said Chairman of the Press Council of India, Justice G.N. Ray.

Speaking after conferring awards of the Karnataka Madhyama Academy here on Monday, he said the Indian media, with a vibrant history of 230 years, is now at a crossroads. There are “gross aberrations” in the functioning of the media, he said, and added that it has the potential to be a model for the world.

Veteran journalist Patil Puttappa, who presided over the function, spoke of the evolution of journalism from a profession into an industry. It is hard to protect values in any commercial enterprise, he said, though credibility is of paramount importance to any newspaper.

Awards were given away to 36 people for 2008 and 2009. Special awards for the two years went to K.N. Shanthakumar of

Prajavani , Krishna Prasad of Outlook , Vishveshwara Bhat formerly of Vijaya Karnataka and Gauri Lankesh of Gauri Lankesh Patrike .