REPORTERS’ DIARY : Home truths for journalists

A journalist worth his salt will leave no stone unturned to highlight public issues in the most objective manner. So, normally their interactions with netas and public representatives give room for breaking news or plain vanilla follow-ups. However, the assurances given by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to journalists’ housing societies have of late brought certain ‘home truths’ to the journalists’ fraternity. These days, unlike in the past, most journalists seem to be obsessed with the promised land/flats. Not a day passes without scribes asking netas to spell out plans regarding houses for journalists. Right from stringers at the mandal level to special correspondents in towns and cities, most of them invariably raise searching queries relating to their own housing needs. Some are even submitting memorandums. When confronted with such self-seeking queries, the Chief Minister or his cabinet colleagues field them with delectable delicacy. Now that the Model Code of Conduct is in vogue, they need to be extra careful. At a recent get-together, in the presence of Telangana Media Academy chairman K Srinivas Reddy, when journos asked Revenue and I&PR Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy about their house sites, the Minister gave a stock reply: “Talk to Srinanna (K Srinivas Reddy)” and added that the government would definitely do it after the Lok Sabha elections”.