Journalists don’t need brains, media tells Press Council chief Katju

There was considerable debate between Press Council of India chairman Markandey Katju and media persons on Monday over Katju's remark a few months back that most journalists have a "very poor intellectual level".

Katju, a retired Supreme Court judge, had said in late October, "The general rut [of journalists] is very low. Frankly, I don't think they have much knowledge of economic theory or political science or literature or philosophy. I don't think they have studied all this." (See: Press Council chief calls journalists dumb; seeks more powers)

The panellists at the award conference in Mumbai, comprising well-known editors and columnists, asked Katju if one needed to have read Thomas Paine and Voltaire to be a good reporter.

They panelists broadly agreed that the ability to quote Ghalib, Emile Zola or Dickens - or even Dizzy Gillespie - is not a prerequisite for good journalism. More important is a nose for breaking news.

Tavleen Singh, a columnist for The Indian Express, reversed the guns on Katju: pointing to judicial delays she said the judge should first look at ails in the judicial system, of which he was part of until recently.

"It's important for the Press Council to play a proper role. You have to make norms for the media, not tell us whether Dev Anand's death is front page [news] or not," she added.