Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy on Sunday surprisingly lashed out at the electronic media. Speaking at a book launch, organised by the Mysuru Zilla Kannada Sahitya Parishat, Kumaraswamy said that he had stopped speaking to media for the last month because of “irresponsible reporting”.

Kumaraswamy alleged that the electronic media treats the politicians like jokers. Kumaraswamy said, “I have always had cordial relations with the media, but now, because of irresponsible reporting, especially about politicians who they treat like jokers, I don’t bother to address the media as much as I used to.”

He also said that the Karnataka Government is planning to bring a law to restrain the electronic media. “Do you think the government will keep quiet? The government is mulling over a law so that there is some control on irresponsible reporting,” he said.

Referring to the programmes based on political developments over the last three months, Kumaraswamy asked the television channels: “Are we here for free? What do you know about politics? Just to keep your TRP ratings high, why are you hounding us with unfounded facts and news ?” “Media also has a role to play in the development of society and focus on farmers and agrarian crises,” he added.

He went on to say, “If the chief of a television channel does not have a good enough story, let him close the channel and go home instead of airing false reports and having discussions according to their whims and fancies. This sort of thing is of no use to society or the public. Electronic media earlier had ethics, but now, not many adhere to ethics. They should realise that I have not survived because of favourable reporting, but because of the faith of 6.6 crore people of this state.”

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