JOIN USA day after Aam Adami Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal and former Army Chief Gen V K Singh attacked the media, the Editors Guild of India (EGI) on Monday reacted sharply to their remarks, appealing political leaders not to level “vague and unsubstantiated” charges.
“The Editors Guild of India notes with concern the growing attacks and unsubstantiated charges levelled against the media by political leaders and public figures dissatisfied with the coverage of their activities or with criticism from the media,” it said in a statement here.
It was “disquieting” to find Kejriwal attributing “corrupt motives” to the media and charging it with being pressured into ignoring him without coming up with specific details or material to substantiate such charges.
“It is distressing to find a person like Gen V K Singh using the term ‘presstitutes’ to describe journalists who wrote a story on the movement of army units causing concern to the government, a statement unbecoming of a former chief of the Indian army,” the EGI said.
The EGI underlined that the tendency to attack or abuse the media was not restricted to new players. Leaders of established parties were also party to it.
“Ironically, leaders who built reputation and support by engaging the public through the media are now turning on the very media when they come under critical scrutiny,” it said.
“The problem arises, however, when abuse and vague, unsubstantiated accusations of corrupt motives take the place of reasoned refutation and debate,” it said.