CM DK Shivakumar says principled approach key to success, lauds fearless journalism

BENGALURU: Citing that fearless journalism was an extremely challenging task in today’s world, Chief Minister DK  Shivakumar said a principled and professional approach was the only way to achieve that.

Speaking after inaugurating the Press Day celebration, organised by the Karnataka Media Academy and the Karnataka Working Journalists’ Association at Gandhi Bhavan on Wednesday, the CM said, “If journalists work in accordance with the principles, ethics, and conscience of the profession, it will benefit society. He said the journalism profession needs to free itself from fake news”.

“I had gone to the hospital in the morning for a routine health check-up. But some TV channels broadcast that I had been admitted to the hospital. This is completely false news”, he said.

“During the Mekedatu padayatra, the media had highlighted an instance of an exhausted me being jostled around by fellow walkers as ‘walking after having consumed alcohol’. That was a deliberate attempt to give people a false message”, he expressed displeasure.

ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಮಾಧ್ಯಮ ಅಕಾಡೆಮಿ, ವಾರ್ತಾ ಮತ್ತು ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ಸಂಪರ್ಕ ಇಲಾಖೆ ಹಾಗೂ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಕಾರ್ಯನಿರತ ಪತ್ರಕರ್ತರ ಸಂಘದ ಸಂಯುಕ್ತ ಆಶ್ರಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಕುಮಾರಕೃಪಾ ರಸ್ತೆಯ ಗಾಂಧಿ ಭವನದಲ್ಲಿ ಆಯೋಜಿಸಿದ್ದ ಪತ್ರಿಕಾ ದಿನಾಚರಣೆ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮದಲ್ಲಿ ಪಾಲ್ಗೊಂಡೆನು.

ಈ ಸಂದರ್ಭದಲ್ಲಿ ತೆಲಂಗಾಣ ಮಾಧ್ಯಮ ಅಕಾಡೆಮಿ ಅಧ್ಯಕ್ಷ ಶ್ರೀನಿವಾಸ ರೆಡ್ಡಿ, ಕನ್ನಡ… pic.twitter.com/uXfKjzbusO

— DK Shivakumar (@DKShivakumar) July 1, 2026

“If I make a mistake, expose it. But don’t publish or broadcast false news. Until a news item is published, it belongs to the journalist. After it is published, it becomes the property of society. Therefore, every news item must contain truth and honesty”, he advised.

He noted that many eminent personalities, including Mahatma Gandhi, had worked as journalists and enhanced the dignity of the profession, and called for that tradition to be carried forward.

Vartha Bharati editor Abusalah Puthige delivered the keynote address at the event. Several dignitaries, including Kannada Development Authority chairman Purushottama Bilimale, Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, Karnataka Women Journalists’ Association president R Purnima, Karnataka Media Academy chairperson Ayisha Khanum, Karnataka Working Journalists’ Association state president Shivananda Tagadur, and Commissioner of the Department of Information and Public Relations M N Anuchet, were also present. (ANI)