Do Journalists Mortgage their Freedom to the Politician?

Journalists are awarded Padma awards for their outstanding contribution to the profession of journalism. Unfortunately, these awards have gone to people of high visibility and low credibility whose nominations have been not based on rigorous and objective investigation, but rather on one sided, and largely false tips from self-interested politicians who have used their columns and programmes to their political advantage.

These journalists have refused to investigate and/or publish highly credible information that undercut the simplistic and largely false narrative fed to them by their biased sources. The Awards Committee has often rewarded such biased and result oriented "reporting" by giving them the Padma Awards.

Most of these decorated journalists have deliberately and mendaciously misled their readers and viewers by choosing to selectively omit from their narrative, reports, documents, testimonies and other evidence that would raise questions about the credibility of their narratives.

This is not journalism. It is certainly not Padma Award-worthy journalism. It is advocacy, and it is advocacy that would get a lawyer disciplined for wilfully withholding exculpatory evidence. It is also advocacy that hurts the truth by encouraging false reports that damage the credibility of important movements and events.

So shame on these journalists and shame on their broadcasting channels and print channels. And shame on the Padma-Awards Committees who have all been overlooking such reporting and encouraging such fake news and shoddy journalism by rewarding it.

Mistakes must be acknowledged and corrections be made in public life. There is no harm in withdrawing such awards conferred upon the non-deserving, not with any intent of humiliating the recipients but only, for protecting the honour of the deserving recipients of the future.

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