Clearing the air that his family has been maintaining a cordial relationship with the press for the past four decades, Suriya said on Monday that his utterances at a protest meet organised by the ‘Nadigar Sangam’ has been twisted out of contest.

“I respect the media a lot. I in fact told at the protest venue itself that media job is a noble profession. However, like in any other field, there are good and bad elements in the media too. Even me too is a victim of that,” he said.

Stating that his remarks were only against such bad elements, the actor said it did not apply to the entire press community. “The journalists are well aware of the respect we have been showing at them for the past 40 years,” he said.

Meanwhile, a senior journalist on Monday moved the Madras High Court demanding action against Tamil actors for their alleged derogatory and defamatory statements against journalists and their families.

He said action has been sought against actors Vivek, Sripriya, Vijayakumar, Sathyaraj, Arun Kumar and Suriya, for their ‘inflammatory remarks’ against the media at the protest meeting, organised to condemn a Tamil daily for publishing a report about actresses allegedly involved in prostitution.

“The news editor of the daily was arrested two days after a complaint by the actors. But no action has been taken against complaints filed against actors by journalists. A CD containing the speeches made by the six actors will be played to the judge when the case comes up for hearing,” said V Anbazhagan, president of the Chennai Union of Journalists (CUJ).