Gag the media in a democracy?

During the siege in Mumbai, the NSG operations were progressing with the tv cameras following every move and experts(without any credibility) explaining the moves to millions of viewers. As a result, the controllers of these terrorists were watching the live coverage and guiding the operations. In the end, common sense prevailed and TV channels started showing delayed footage!

Now, on retrospective, the government is trying to gag the media in case of natural or manmade calamities. PM has been assuring decision on gagging will be done after consulting all the stakeholders. Any gag order against the media will be in direct violation of one of our fundamental right, Right to freedom, defined in our constitution. In addition, the government becomes the big daddy who is rationing the news. This is a lot of power without any checks.

The media should be responsible to decide what can be shown on live TV. They should restrain themselves from showing damaging visuals without fearing the competition. Finally, we(viewers) should not patronize these channels that act irresponsibly.

TagsMusings,Democracy,Siege in Mumbai,Gag,Media

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