Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Friday said that it was a painful experience to expel some members of the House who were caught on camera accepting bribe for asking questions in the two Houses from undercover reporters.
Delivering the inaugural speech at a national seminar on 'Legislature and Media: Reflection on Role and Relationship' at the Parliament Library complex, Chatterjee appreciated the role of the media in disseminating information to the masses. He, however, also pointed out that the number of people, who got to see what was happening in the two Houses, was still limited.
"Therefore, I decided to launch Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha television channels. I urge the media not to give prominence to the disturbances in the two Houses and give some space to the speeches as well. Some take out their vengeance through their write ups," said the veteran parliamentarian.
Though he admitted that has had problems with the media, the Speaker said that it should continue to expose the goings-on in public affairs at the highest level.
The Hindu chairman N Ram pointed out that despite shortcomings, newspapers and editors, who have been doing their work honestly, have been dragged to the courts for criminal defamation.
"I would like the honourable Speaker to do something in this regard," he said, adding: "The other area that needed a bit of work was contempt of court, as the Judiciary is very touchy about its criticism."
Nationalist Congress Party leader and the former Lok Sabha speaker P A Sangma said that while the media should make parliamentarians accountable, it should also look at what it is doing.
"In August 1997, I called a special session of the House at midnight. Next day, I saw news reports that there were hardly 35 parliamentarians present in the special session. Whereas, the fact is that the number of journalists present in the press galleries was just two -- one each from PTI and UNI," he said, taking a swipe at media persons.
