Don't invade people's privacy: Sadananda Gowda tells journalists

Regulate yourself or be open to regulation by an external body, said chief minister DV Sadananda Gowda at the awards ceremony of the Karnataka Madhyama Academy. "Competition has lost its meaning. It is not healthy today. Do not create news that would provoke or give room for suspicion. Do not invade people's privacy. Breaking news can break people. That is the extent we have reached. The media should remain within its boundaries for its own and the society's good," he advised journalists, after giving away 44 awards.

Gowda made the most of the occasion to give "constructive criticism"; he had reserved his advice for just such a platform, he said, hinting at the same time that he agreed with Thomas Jefferson's statement, 'If I had to choose between government without newspapers and newspapers without government, I would not hesitate to choose the latter.'

The awards ceremony proved to be a family affair. Newsmen doled out advice to their colleagues.

"The principles of journalism have been thrown out. Maintaining an edge in the market is all that matters, news is sensationalised. There is no line between broadsheet and tabloids," rued senior journalist GN Ranganath Rao.