The new Chairman of the Press Council of India, Markandey Katju, wants to make it an instrument of mediation in addition to adjudication.   THE appointment of Justice Markandey Katju, a former judge of the Supreme Court, as Chairman of the Press Council of India is about the best thing that has happened to that body in a long while. It is no exaggeration to say that the PCI commands little prestige...

—PTI Dismissive of the news broadcast industry's self-regulatory mechanism, Press Council of India Chairman Justice Markandey Katju has said if TV channels do not want to come under the PCI they should choose another body like the Lokpal. “Self-regulation is no regulation and news organisations are private bodies whose activities have a large influence on the public and they also must be answerable to the public,” he said. On Sunday, Justice Katju wrote...

-The Hindu   J.S. Verma fires latest salvo in the war against Markandey Katju's comments The former Chief Justice of India and current head of the television news media's self-regulatory mechanism, J.S. Verma, has fired the latest salvo in the war of words following the recent controversial comments of Markandey Katju, the former Supreme Court judge and new head of the Press Council of India (PCI). “Everyone knows the Press Council has failed in...

-PTI   The Indian Journalists' Association Wednesday criticised Press Council chairman Markandey Katju for his comments on the intellectual capacity of journalists and urged the Centre to ignore such "ill-conceived" views. In a statement in Kolkata, IJA general secretary Mrinal Biswas and former Press Council member Mihir Ganguly said that Katju's recent observations on the scribes "had crossed the limit of the jurisdiction set in the Act". Demanding that Katju express regret for "casting...

Armed with recordings, transcripts, emails and cuttings, Mayabhushan Nagvenkar has taken the matter of what he calls “an open and shut case” of ‘paid news' against OHeraldO of Goa to the Press Council of India. The Press Council defines ‘paid news' as “any news or analysis appearing in any media [print or electronic] for a price in cash or kind as consideration.” Mr. Nagvenkar backs his complaint with audios and transcripts...