By IANS,
New Delhi: Janata Dal-United (JD-U) president Sharad Yadav Monday took a swipe at the media, accusing it of giving importance to entertainment news, like the marriage of cricket captain M.S. Dhoni, at the cost of issues concerning the common man.
“I have been asked (by journalists) if prices will come down by stopping a train. I want to ask if prices will come down by showing the marriage of Dhoni (Mahendra Singh Dhoni) and (suicide of model) Viveka Babajee,” Yadav said at a a press conference with BJP president Nitin Gadkari.
Yadav, who is convenor of the National Democratic Alliance, also accused the media of not giving enough coverage to the shutdown, called by the NDA and the Left parties separately against the fuel price hike.
The shutdown call has support of all opposition parties, he said.
“You call yourself mass media and not allow (our) word to reach the masses,” he said, adding that the news channels were showing dances of Rakhi Sawant.
He said decisions on content were taken by higher-ups in the private news channels and he had got calls saying that certain news items were not carried despite having been filed.
He said news concerning prominent leaders was often sacrificed by channels to make way for entertainment news. “Crores of people are behind leaders like Jayalalithaa, Karat and Gadkari… People are the rulers. Will you not show their problem and pain,” he said.
Yadav said that entertainment cannot be masqueraded as news.
“Run entertainment channels. Who is refusing,” the JD-U leader said.