Media distorting news: PM

By Amit Baruah

KUALA LUMPUR, MAY 15. The Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee, has said that sensational journalism seemed to be gaining in popularity.

``They (journalists) seem to be pursuing certain angles and distorting news,'' He was quoted as telling The Star newspaper in an interview published here today.

``Journalists should write their reports based on facts and not sensationalise them. This is not good as it blows news out of proportion,'' Mr. Vajpayee said.

According to him Vajpayee this had come about because of stiff competition between newspapers and television broadcasting - a comment which seemed to indicate his opinion about the media scene in India.

The Prime Minister said he had edited a weekly newspaper and magazine for five years adding he did not sensationalise stories during his time as a journalist.

``...We stuck by our facts and wrote the news without going for any angle or distortion of news. We followed the norms of the profession at that time and it was to report the news (as it was).''

``I was a poet in my younger days. Poetry allowed me to speak what I felt from my heart and mind. My poems were a reflection of the people's struggle for independence before 1947.

We were fighting the British and wanted the nation's freedom,'' Mr. Vajpayee said.

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