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Journalists should introspect whether they should be judgmental and opinionated in their reporting thus exerting pressure on police investigation and the court, said Kerala High Court judge Mohammed Mushtaq.
He was inaugurating a media awareness seminar in the context of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act and other children’s right laws organised by the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KeSCPCR) here on Saturday.
There is nothing wrong in reporting, but the problem is when journalists turn judgmental and opinionated. The media should set guidelines and boundaries in this regard, said Justice Mushtaq.
The media in its eagerness to be the first to report an incident runs the risk of inadvertently revealing the identity of a survivor in cases registered under the Pocso Act. While it may be an occupational hazard, it leaves the media culprit before the law. There is no point in giving a blurred image of the survivor whose identity may yet be leaked through information like location, house, or even similarity of looks. It will strip the media of freedom of press guaranteed under the Constitution.
Justice Mushtaq urged the media to be sensitive and responsible while reporting. Media personnel have been fortunate not to face libel on revealing identity of survivors but remain vulnerable to payment of compensation now that the apex court has recognised privacy as a fundamental right.
Justice Mushtaq asked the media to go beyond mere reporting in Pocso cases but to narrate the trauma and pressure on survivors to backtrack. Media ethics should reflect in such exposition of challenges faced by survivors thus helping society protect them. Only media can do such ground-level investigation to bring the matter to the notice of the agencies concerned, including courts.
The media alone could point out faults in democratic institutions, including the judiciary, remarked Justice Mushtaq.
K.V. Manoj Kumar, Chairperson, KeSCPCR, presided.
In the ensuing session on children’s privacy and international media, the Chief Minister’s press secretary P.M. Manoj observed that children’s rights and privacy had not strayed to legal issues here as in foreign countries. It is high time a curriculum based on global children’s right and privacy-related law initiatives was evolved.
Speaking about on children’s rights and media, R. Sreekantan Nair, managing director, 24 News, urged all news channels to undertake not to air news anathematic to children. In the afternoon session, K. Soman, district judge, the Additional District and Sessions Court for Trial of Atrocities and Sexual Violence against Women and Children, led a session on relevant acts related to the media and children’s protection.
KeSCPCR members N. Sunanda and Jalajamol T.C. moderated the sessions.
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