CHENNAI, February 28: Press Council of India Chairman P B Sawant on Friday suggested a three pronged approach by the media, both print and electronic, to ensure that human rights, encompassing civil, political and economic aspects, reached the ``have-nots'' in the country.Delivering the inaugural address at a seminar on `Justice, Human Rights and Press', organised by the Society for Community Organisation (SOC) trust, Madurai, and the Press Council of India, New Delhi, he said it was mandatory for the media to help realise an egalitarian society foreseen in the Constitution.In the absence of civil, political, economic and cultural rights to the so called ``backward classes'', the have-nots in the country, he said that human dignity could not be safeguarded. The press should focus on institutions and individuals who are upholding human rights, he said. The media should discuss human rights violations with experts and the ways by which they can be prevented, he suggested. He called upon the press toadvocate strongly for a better social and economic order which reduces disparities.Sawant went on to say teditors were often under a compulsion to satisfy the business aspects of their publications. Stating that the fourth estate was not really accountable to the people, unlike the judiciary and the legislature, the PCI chairman said that newspapers should have a structure of ownership where journalists had a greater say.Newspapers should be run by companies where at least 70 to 80 per cent of shareholders are journalists. Another solution to have an entirely free press from the point of ownership pressure was to have cooperative societies comprising journalists themselves.He said that it was only in the Indian Press Council that the mediamen ``sat over the omissions and commissions of their brethren.'' In Finland and Switzerland, a Press Council could punish ``erring journalists'', he added.Sawant said that the denial of basic human rights like nutritious food, clothing and shelter to people wasmostly because of the conflict between the administrative, executive and politician. The bureaucrat, who represents the elite, was only too happy to block the implementation of the policies of the political executive, the Press Council chairman added.
