Editors Guild Slams National News Channels Over Prophet Row

The Editors Guild of India (EGI) on Wednesday strongly criticized national news channels for spewing hatred and bringing shame upon the country over the inflammatory comments made on Prophet Mohammad which followed by international condemnation.

EGI, which overlooks the protection of press freedom and raises the standards of editorial leadership of media, expressed its displeasure at the conduct of some national media outlets.

In a statement released today, it noted, “The Editors Guild of India is disturbed by the inesponsible conduct of some national news channels for deliberately creating circumstances that target vulnerable communities by spewing hatred towards them and their beliefs.”

“Expectedly, there was a not m Kanpur accompanied by an unprecedented trenchant reaction from many countries that were offended by the remarks of the miling party spokespersons. In their angry statements they wondered about India's commitment to human rights and freedom of religion,” the statement added.

Calling out these news channels for bringing “avoidable embarrassment” upon India, the EGI noted, “The incident that caused unnecessary embarrassment to the country could have been avoided if some of the TV outlets had been mindful of the nation's constitutional commitment to secularism, as well as the journalistic ethics and guidelines that the Press Council of India has issued to handle a volatile communal situation.”

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“Instead, some of these channels prompted by the desire to increase viewership and profit were seemingly inspired by the values of Radio Rwanda whose incendiary broadcast caused a genocide in the African nation,” EGI mentioned.

The watchdog body demanded that such channels introspect into their content and strive towards creating a better environment.

The EGI’s statement further read, “EGI demands that these channels pause and take a critical look at what they have done by giving legitimacy to divisive and toxic voices that has made the national discourse coarse and the gap between communities unbridgeable.”

In conclusion, the statement also mentioned, “The Editors Guild of India also demands stricter vigilance by broadcaster and journalist bodies to prevent a recurrence of this from taking place. The media is in place to strengthen the Constitution and the law and not break it through sheer irresponsibility and absence of accountability.”

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