SUVA: Fiji's Assistant Information Minister Lekh Ram Vayeshnoi yesterday said that failure on the part of the Media Council would leave the government with little option but to introduce legislation to address the problem of bias towards the media by the council, reports the Fiji Sun.

Vayeshnoi hit out at the Media Council for compromising its impartiality on a statement on the "removal" of Thakur Ranjit Singh as a co-host of a programme on Radio Fiji 2 and from his position as Daily Post general manager.

Vayeshnoi said that it was deplorable that the council had quickly jumped into the fray of criticising the government.

"Without allowing the government to present its case, the council by its statement has adjudicated on the matter, compromising the credibility of the chairman and its members of the Complaints Committee," said Vayeshnoi.

"The council is a self-appointed media body and should, therefore, show greater diligence in dealing with issues before it."

Vayeshnoi challenged the Media Council to define what it meant by government's directive to the [state-run] Fiji Broadcasting Corporation (FBC) being "absurd" as reported in one of the dailies.

He questioned what was so absurd about the complaints from people concerning the "derogatory and insulting" remarks levelled by Singh at the women of Labasa, targeting the South Indian community in particular.

Vayeshnoi said that the Media Council should note that there was a Public Service Broadcast Agreement between the FBC and government and Schedule 3 of the Act stated:

"The supplier must ensure that public service broadcasting programmes fully satisfy professional broadcasting standards and as far as plausible conform to audience standards."

On March 26, the Sunday Sun reported that the Media Council had accused Assistant Information Minister Lekh Ram Vayeshnoi of not responding to requests for a meeting with the council.

Media Council chairman Daryl Tarte also asked Vayeshnoi to apologise for the comments he made about the credibility of the Complaints Committee.

"Mr Vayeshnoi should know that the committee plays no part in the deliberations of the council. The Complaints Committee members are respected, independent persons who deal only with complaints."

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