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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Law Needed To Stop Attack On Media

The Indian Journalists Union has expressed serious concern over persistent attacks on media and the shrinking space for independent media in the country. In a resolution passed at the two-day plenary session at Chennai last week, the union appealed to the democracy-loving people in the country to raise their voices against the unabated attack on media and media persons by both state actors and unlawful vested interests enjoying the state patronage

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The Indian Journalists Union has expressed serious concern over persistent attacks on media and the shrinking space for independent media in the country. In a resolution passed at the two-day plenary session at Chennai last week, the union appealed to the democracy-loving people in the country to raise their voices against the unabated attack on media and media persons by both state actors and unlawful vested interests enjoying the state patronage. The resolution further added that safeguarding the media is critical to sustaining democracy and it is the sacred duty of every citizen to protect and stand by independent media. Over 400 journalists from various parts of the country including from far away Ladakh attended the two-day conference. Earlier in his presidential speech K. Sreenivas Reddy said “For all of us…for working journalists in the country, this is a difficult phase. We are passing through testing times. We are facing various challenges professionally and our job security is in peril. Journalists in India are also facing security issues in their professional work. As far as the wage revisions and welfare measures are concerned the less we speak the better.”

“Though journalists have been hailed as Covid warriors by none other than the Prime Minister and several chief ministers and governors, in reality, the fraternity received scant support in terms of Covid relief. On the front of wages implementation of revised wages recommended by the wage board and duly notified by the government remains a shameful exercise with both management and the governments arrogantly neglecting their responsibility. In electronic media payment of wages for positions at lower and mid-level is very pathetic. It is high time that the Union Government appointed a Media Commission to go into the whole scenario of media in the country,” the IJU president said. The conference was inaugurated by LS Herdenia, one of the founders of the IFWJ and also of the IJU. The Plenary also passed a resolution demanding national law for the protection of journalists and media establishments. The resolution said, “This Plenary regrets that the Union Government has not taken any action so far on IJU’s repeated appeals for the enactment of a national law to ensure the safety and protection of working journalists and media establishments with payment of adequate compensation to their families in case any tragedy befalls them. Even the Maharashtra Government accepted the demand and came out with a special law.”

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The Maharashtra Media Persons and Media Institutions (Prevention of Violence and damage or loss to property) act 2017 which was notified in 2019 for the protection of journalists and media establishments is not covering it adequately. We thank them for bringing the first act to protect journalists in our country and request the present government to improve it. The Plenary/ Delegate session of IJU called upon the Central Government and all other State governments not to wait for the occurrence of the next big tragedy but to take urgent steps to enact a law to ensure the safety and protection of working journalists and media establishment with the payment of adequate compensation to the families of working journalists in case of any abuse on their duty and fundamental rights.

 

 

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The Hills Times
The Hills Timeshttps://www.thehillstimes.in/
The Hills Times, a largely circulated English daily published from Diphu and printed in Guwahati, having vast readership in hills districts of Assam, and neighbouring Nagaland, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur.
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