Silent protests with a rose and a copy of the Constitution were held before the offices of Kannada TV channels
Bangalore citizens gathered outside several Kannada media houses on Wednesday morning to protest against the authenticity and the quality of the news being circulated and telecast.
Vivekananda KH, a Bangalore resident who is a member of a social media group protesting against the quality of news media houses broadcast said, “The media is diverting news. They are creating news instead of reporting the facts or telecasting the ongoing incidents. At present due to time limitations, we are protesting in front of selected media houses, most of which are Kannada. But it is applicable to all the media houses and TV channels.”
The group which came together through social media groups said that they have sent a notice a month back to the media houses about the kind of news they are circulating, asking them to come back on track. They have yet to receive a response from the media houses.
Yuvraj M, a member of the protest group said, “We are giving them a rose and the constitution book as a peace offering so that they improvise and start giving the citizens the news they can trust. We want a better society in the future and we also respect freedom of the press. We are demanding unfiltered news which can be trusted by citizens.”
Dr. Rakesh, another member of a social media group said, “Media is nothing but the blood of the nation and if the blood is not circulating in a way it should, it will affect the whole nation and its citizens. From four years I have stopped watching Kannada news and I have switched to Malayalam news channels.”
Public TV declined to comment on the ongoing silent protest because they wanted to speak with a legal correspondent first.
Vishweshwar Bhat, a senior Kannada Journalist, said that, no media house deliberately publishes fake news or fabricates news because credibility is important for them and they are under constant public eye. However, sometimes they do put out unverified news because there is competition between media houses.
