Is Kejriwal right in calling sections of media corrupt?

GN Bureau | March 15, 2014



Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal has stirred a fresh controversy for his reported remarks that sections of the Indian media have been “bought” over, as part of a political conspiracy to create a wave in favor of BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

At a party fundraiser in Nagpur on Thursday, where he allegedly made the remark, Kejriwal also reportedly warned that given a chance to come to power, AAP will send such corrupt “media-wallahs” to jail.

While Kejriwal has now distanced himself from the remarks, it is not the first time he has hit out at the media. Of late, at his public rallies and press conferences, he has been accusing the media bosses of deliberately indulging in negative portrayal of AAP.

No doubt, in the last few years, a section of the Indian media has been under the scanner for their alleged “paid news” or “advertorials” (advertisement wrapped in editorial pieces).

Many, however, point out that Kejriwal was making a speech at election time and pandering to a perception, which should not be whitewashed. The media, this section contends, which claims a high moral pedestal and questions the rest of the institutions and individuals, cannot proclaim itself a holy cow that is over and above questioning.

How do you perceive the situation? Do you feel the media, or a section of it, is corrupt, as alleged by Kejriwal? Or is it an overstatement, and “vague and sweeping” generalisation, as the Broadcast Editors’ Association.

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