Close X
Sunday, November 10, 2024
ADVT 
India

Section of media defaming me: Tharoor

Darpan News Desk IANS, 15 Jan, 2015 11:41 AM
    Congress MP Shashi Tharoor Thursday slammed a section of the media for "going beyond extremes" in generating sensational and voyeuristic reports and "defaming" him day after day.
     
    Tharoor launched his latest book "India Shastra" in Kolkata which includes an essay on "Our Free and Irresponsible Media".
     
    Commenting on the evolution of India media from the "dull, unimaginative" days while he was growing up to the trend of breaking news on 24x7 news television channels, the Congress leader said the transformation has been for the worse.
     
    "We have carried this beyond extremes and I think the advent of 24x7 news television is to blame because there is no question that, that has transformed the nature of the entire Indian press and print media.
     
    "You see a race to the bottom in terms of most sensationalistic, most voyeuristic , most headline grabbing attention report that will get you temporarily get you a TRP or two so that you can crow how many more eyeballs you attracted than the other channel," said Tharoor here.
     
    Going through troubled times in his personal life, the former union minister blamed a section of the media for "defaming him".
     
    Tharoor observed there are too many TV channels and all are fighting the battle for survival of the fittest, the after-effects of which have trickled down to print media, including respectable publications.
     
    "Partly, there is some economic reason but there are too many channels. Many of them are losing money therefore they have to fight the survival of the fittest.
     
    "In the process they have also infected the print media. The publications which used to have a certain respectability feel obliged to write what their readers have already seen as so-called breaking news on TV. The transformation has happened for the worse, for the health of our democracy," he said.
     
    Delhi Police have said Tharoor may be questioned soon in connection with the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar.
     
    Pushkar, 52, was found dead in a luxury hotel in Delhi Jan 17, 2014. Police have now said she was poisoned.

    MORE India ARTICLES

    Sonia Gandhi Hospitalised After Infection, Stable

    Sonia Gandhi Hospitalised After Infection, Stable
    Congress president Sonia Gandhi was Thursday admitted to the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital here for an infection in the lower respiratory tract. Her condition was stable, a hospital official said.

    Sonia Gandhi Hospitalised After Infection, Stable

    Chandigarh Avian Flu: Culling Of Birds Begins

    Chandigarh Avian Flu: Culling Of Birds Begins
    Authorities in Chandigarh Thursday evening started culling of all birds in and around the city's famous Sukhna lake after a dead goose was confirmed with the H5N1 (avian influenza or bird flu) virus.

    Chandigarh Avian Flu: Culling Of Birds Begins

    Bird Flu Scare In Chandigarh After Duck Sample Tests Positive

    Bird Flu Scare In Chandigarh After Duck Sample Tests Positive
    Chandigarh was Wednesday hit by a bird flu scare after the sample of a duck found dead at the famous Sukhna lake tested positive for the H5N1 (avian flu) virus, an official said.

    Bird Flu Scare In Chandigarh After Duck Sample Tests Positive

    Modi most searched personality on Google

    Modi most searched personality on Google
    Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the most searched personality-cum-politician in the virtual world this year, global search engine Google said Tuesday....

    Modi most searched personality on Google

    Sukhbir Badal wants Modi to stop drugs inflow into Punjab

    Sukhbir Badal wants Modi to stop drugs inflow into Punjab
    Two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned about the acute drug problem in Punjab in his 'Mann ki Baat' programme on radio...

    Sukhbir Badal wants Modi to stop drugs inflow into Punjab

    CBI told to record Manmohan's statement in coal scam case

    A special court hearing the coal block case allegedly involving industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and others here Tuesday asked the CBI to record the statement of former...

    CBI told to record Manmohan's statement in coal scam case