Particularly disturbing were the moves to use mediapersons for help to influence decisions by the government and leadership of the ruling dispensation on crucial issues such as the composition of the Union Cabinet, the SAMC said.
“The episode dealt a severe blow to the credibility of the media as a whole and strengthened negative perception of its role. Had that not been the case, the revelation of the tapped conversations of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia with senior journalists would not have rocked the media community on a scale not known in the past,” K.K. Katyal, president of SAMC, India, said in a press statement after a meeting of the India Chapter.
The members of the Commission felt there was an “ethical vacuum” in the profession. They attributed it to the dilution of the role of the Editor in the Indian media. The Commission recommended that newspapers and other media organisations make known their ownership pattern and balance-sheets, mediapersons be required to disclose their assets annually, and proposed more powers for the Press Council of India.