Introspect on toxic TV debates: Congress

Congress on Thursday called for introspection on the “toxic” television debates, a day after the death of its spokesperson Rajiv Tyagi within minutes of finishing a television show.

“It is high time TV channel owners, editors and anchors introspect on how some in the industry have reduced news debates into a meaningless, poisonous and potentially fatal activity. At times words can have the same impact as bullets,” AICC Treasurer Ahmed Patel said.

“These debates are no longer structured discussions, but resemble WWFs,” former union minister Manish Tewari said.

He demanded that the government cancel the licenses of television channels that violate the rules and allow panelists to throw expletives at each other.

Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill shot off a letter to Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar urging him to issue an advisory to the media to enforce a code of conduct to “curb slanderous, sensationalist and toxic television debates.”

Tyagi, 54, suffered a massive cardiac arrest on Wednesday, minutes after he had concluded a television debate on the Bengaluru riots on a private television channel.

“It is imperative to restore civility through a code of conduct, in order to tame the slanderous beast that television debates have become,” Shergill said in a letter to Javadekar.

“I share the concerns expressed by Jaiveer Shergill over the damage done by competitive sensationalism in the media. The brazen violation of NBA guidelines and code need honest reflection and course correction,” senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said.