Why front page coverage for Dev Anand? Katju

Press Council of India Chairman Justice Markandey Katju on Tuesday criticised the prominent media coverage of actor Dev Anand's death.

Farmers' suicide

He said putting the news of an actor's death on the front page when farmers were committing suicide and there were more pressing social and economic issues to be addressed only showed a “lack of sense of priority.”

“I had also watched his films when I was young and also liked them,” the former Supreme Court judge said.

He noted that 2.5 lakh farmers had committed suicide in the last 50 years, and barring some exceptions and journalists like P. Sainath, who were doing commendable work, most of the media was simply ignoring these issues.

“The country is facing several socio-economic problems; there is poverty, price rise and incidents like farmers' suicides. Isn't all that more important?” It was high time the media woke up to their role and corrected themselves. People had high expectations from the media.