Media could act as countervailing power in democracy: Aveek

China's iconic leader Mao Zedong's famous quote of "let a hundred flowers bloom" could also be applied to the media in a democracy where it could act as a countervailing power, Vice Chairman and Editor Emeritus of the ABP Group Aveek Sarkar said today.

"Nobody explained about fake news better than former Chairman Mao Zedong of China, who said 'let a hundred flowers bloom'. The idea of media in a democracy is that hundred ideas bloom," Sarkar said speaking at the BRICS Media Forum being hosted by China's state-run Xinhua news agency.

About fake news, he said, "It is possible to make a professional mistake but fake news is something somebody consciously does for ulterior purposes."

"What does Mao's message mean. In India, as elsewhere, the media belongs to the civil society. By civil society we mean something which has nothing to do with the government," said Sarkar, who is also the Director of

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)