TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: A group of journalists under the banner Network of Women in Media, India (NWMI) has protested against the ‘unethical and illegal media coverage’ of the Tehelka sex scandal by two national weekly magazines.
In fact, they have brought to the notice of the Press Council of India and Editors’ Guild of India that the articles are a renewed media campaign into the case which is currently sub-judice. The two English magazines published the readings of the leaked CCTV footage, taken from the crime scene in the hotel, pointed out inconsistencies between the footage and the woman journalist’s accusations against the former editor-in-chief of Tehelka Tarun Tejpal. The two separate articles also questioned what actually happened inside the lift on those two nights.
The NWMI asked how the magazines could comment on the case when the matter is heard in the courts while also pointing out that interpretations of the visuals in the articles are not in accordance with the new Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2013.
“While commenting on a matter that is now in the courts, journalists would do well to acquaint themselves with the new criminal law (Amendment) Bill, 2013. The interpretations of the visuals made in the two articles are not in accordance with the new provision on consent, which specifically states that lack of physical resistance is not enough to prove consent,” the letter .
