‘The Credibility Of Journalism Is Under The Scanner’

Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports and Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore tells Ruhail Amin about the controversy over the recent ‘Fake News’ order and how no news can be stopped today.

At Goafest 2018, Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports and Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore shared his views around the controversy over the recent ‘Fake News’ order by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B), and its overruling by the Prime Minister.

When asked about the recent order by the I&B ministry  to  curb the menace of ‘Fake News’, the minister underlined that “in today’s time, no news can be stopped.”

Explaining the rationale behind the order, Rathore said, “It (the order) shatters another myth the media has created that the Prime Minister is the whole and sole in charge and doesn’t let any minister do anything and everything is in his control. The fact is, all ministers are free to make their decisions. In this particular case, when the ministry took a decision, the PM overruled it in less than 24 hours and said the best control is self-censorship. I’m certain that the minister in charge and the ministry had a certain vision. She also tweeted that she was willing to interact with the journalists to arrive at a solution.”

There have been concerns about the way the government approached the issue of ‘Fake News’. Most journalistic bodies have criticised the move and termed it an attempt to control freedom of press.

When asked if the current government was trying to use the debate around Fake News as a tool to control the media, Rathore stated that the credibility of journalism is under the scanner and added that “It’s a fact the journalist cadre is under a whole lot of questions today by the general public. The challenge now is how journalism can become what it was earlier. It’s a challenge for us as well.”