A day after getting independent charge of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, Rajyavardhan Rathore has indicated that he will be walking a different path from Smriti Irani, who was divested of the portfolio.
Meeting presspersons in his office on Tuesday, Mr. Rathore said: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi is very clear that the media has to self-regulate. It is not us versus them.”
He has been Minister of State of Information and Broadcasting since November 2014.
ADVERTISEMENT
The statement is significant considering the Ministry under Ms. Irani had issued a press release announcing that they would be bringing in new accreditation guidelines. A journalist’s government accreditation could be suspended if his or her news reports were found to be “fake.” There was no clarity on what would be considered “fake news”. The mandate of judging this was on the Press Council of India for print and News Broadcasters Association for television news. She was forced to withdraw the press release after the PMO stepped in.
On social media
Mr. Rathore said the media should be the voice of the people. He clarified that social media did not come under the ambit of his Ministry.
ADVERTISEMENT
“We hope social media users will be careful about what they put out there. Social media is totally independent and does not come under this Ministry”.