The News Minute | December 16, 2014 | 11.12 am IST
The Times of India report that Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas across the country would likely remain open on Christmas on account of a circular asking the schools to organize competitions, created much noise.
Human Resource Development minister Smriti Irani took the country’s largest English daily head on, telling The Times of India that its reporter had deliberately created mischief and that the contents of the report were wrong.
The Times of India however stuck to its stand and by evening the newspaper published another story not just defending its story and its reporter, but went on the offensive instead, calling out the minister for her “misleading” remarks in her tweets.
In a report headlined “No school in Christmas? TOI not doing the ‘misleading’”, the reporter Abhishek Choudhari countered the allegations made by Irani and attempted to set the record straight. The reporter finished with: “The TOI report, as can be seen, was factual. TOI is not doing the "misleading".”
The last few years have been tumultuous for the media, both in terms of changes within the profession and industry and outside influences. As things stand, the Indian media are at a crossroads: never has its credibility been so low and never possibly have journalists attempted to take on the odds as they are now doing in a multitude of ways.
Moreover, the impression that the media has been silenced, or worse, practices self-censorship has been heightened since the elections were announced and since the new government assumed office.
In times such as these, it is indeed heartening that a newspaper has stuck to its stand and defended it work.