Hyderabad: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu cautioned media against breaching the standards of ethical and independent journalism and urged the Fourth Estate to serve as a beacon of uprightness and objectivity.

Paying tributes to veteran editor and writer late Gora Sastri at his centenary celebrations here on Saturday, the Vice President emphasised the need to draw a line between news and views.

Recalling the fierce independent journalism pursued by Gora Sastri and the powerful editorials written by him, the Vice President said he was revisiting those instances to underscore the importance of independence and fearless journalism, which is seen more in its absence today.

"All around us in the present scenario, we find news fused with opinion, thus making it challenging for us to glean news from views and arrive at a considered opinion or conclusion. The real picture gets blurred behind a smokescreen of half-truths and obfuscations," he added.

The Vice President expressed his concern over the degeneration of values in various fields, including journalism and emphasised that news should not be mixed with views. He advised journalists to leave the final judgment to readers and not to give judgments themselves.

Earlier, the Vice President released the book ‘Vinayakudi Veena’, a collection of articles penned by Gora Sastri.

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