Supreme Court Criticises Partisan Media, Says Era of Objective Reporting Is Gone

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has sharply criticised the current state of both print and visual media, observing that the era of accurate and objective reporting has come to an end. The remarks were made while hearing a petition filed against the ban imposed by the Chandrababu Naidu–led Andhra Pradesh government on Sakshi TV, a channel owned by YSR Congress leader Jagan Mohan Reddy.

The case was considered by a bench comprising Justices P.S. Narasimha and Atul Chandurkar.

“It is unfortunate that the time when newspapers and news channels reported facts correctly is long gone. Hardly anyone reports facts now. What we see today is partisan reporting. If you read one newspaper you get one perspective, and reading another gives you a completely different one. Objective facts have been completely abandoned. That is a nation’s most valuable asset,” the Court observed.

The bench further noted: “Earlier, whichever newspaper one read, the facts remained the same. The sad reality today is that you cannot find common facts anywhere. We have now developed the capability to filter news and understand under what circumstances and through which media outlet the news is being presented. This is a true reflection of our current state.”

The Supreme Court then directed the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) to expedite the hearing in Sakshi TV’s case.