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NEW DELHI: The Editors Guild of India on Tuesday condemned Union minister Smriti Irani and the Left Front government in Kerala for recent, separate instances of intimidation and harassment of journalists while they were doing their job.
Pointing to an exchange between Union minister Smriti Irani and a stringer in Amethi, her parliamentary constituency, and an FIR filed by the Left government against an Asianet journalist in Kerala, the Guild said such “trigger-happy approach to browbeat and harass reporters and camera persons undermine the freedom of the press.”
“The Guild is deeply disturbed by the intimidatory conduct of the Union minister and would like to remind Ms Irani that threats to journalists impinge directly on press freedom. The Guild also reiterates that it is important for media houses not to succumb to political pressure and urges Dainik Bhaskar to reinstate the journalist,” it said in a statement.
Last week, a journalist with Dainik Bhaskar asked the Union minister for a comment while she was in Amethi. Irani responded by saying that the reporter “trying to force her to speak” amounted to insulting the people of her constituency. She also threatened to take up the matter with the paper’s management.
In Kerala, on the other hand, an FIR was lodged against a senior woman journalist following a complaint by the student wing of the CPM after she reported on allegations levelled against SFI leader P M Arsho. The SFI leader accused her of being part of a ‘conspiracy’ to defame him and filed a case against her and a few others.
The EGI statement said that it is a “matter of deep concern that mere reportage on political leaders can invite an FIR and questioning by the police, while urging the Kerala government to withdraw the case immediately.
“EGI once again underlines its repeated requests to all political parties to desist from harassing and intimidating working journalists and media houses. The reporters are on the ground to ask questions and threats of action by political leaders and state law enforcement agencies is against democratic principles. Further, media houses have the fundamental duty of protecting the journalists working with them, reporters and stringers alike, and should not cow down to any kind of political browbeating,” the EGI statement added.
Earlier, DIGIPUB, a platform that represents digital news media organisations, also condemned Irani’s “castigation of a reporter” in Amethi.
“Not only was Irani’s attitude to the reporter indefensible, her words, ‘I will call your newspaper’, are proof of the government’s contempt for journalistic freedom, demonstrably mitigated in the past few years,” DIGIPUB said.
Pointing to an exchange between Union minister Smriti Irani and a stringer in Amethi, her parliamentary constituency, and an FIR filed by the Left government against an Asianet journalist in Kerala, the Guild said such “trigger-happy approach to browbeat and harass reporters and camera persons undermine the freedom of the press.”
“The Guild is deeply disturbed by the intimidatory conduct of the Union minister and would like to remind Ms Irani that threats to journalists impinge directly on press freedom. The Guild also reiterates that it is important for media houses not to succumb to political pressure and urges Dainik Bhaskar to reinstate the journalist,” it said in a statement.
Last week, a journalist with Dainik Bhaskar asked the Union minister for a comment while she was in Amethi. Irani responded by saying that the reporter “trying to force her to speak” amounted to insulting the people of her constituency. She also threatened to take up the matter with the paper’s management.
In Kerala, on the other hand, an FIR was lodged against a senior woman journalist following a complaint by the student wing of the CPM after she reported on allegations levelled against SFI leader P M Arsho. The SFI leader accused her of being part of a ‘conspiracy’ to defame him and filed a case against her and a few others.
The EGI statement said that it is a “matter of deep concern that mere reportage on political leaders can invite an FIR and questioning by the police, while urging the Kerala government to withdraw the case immediately.
“EGI once again underlines its repeated requests to all political parties to desist from harassing and intimidating working journalists and media houses. The reporters are on the ground to ask questions and threats of action by political leaders and state law enforcement agencies is against democratic principles. Further, media houses have the fundamental duty of protecting the journalists working with them, reporters and stringers alike, and should not cow down to any kind of political browbeating,” the EGI statement added.
Earlier, DIGIPUB, a platform that represents digital news media organisations, also condemned Irani’s “castigation of a reporter” in Amethi.
“Not only was Irani’s attitude to the reporter indefensible, her words, ‘I will call your newspaper’, are proof of the government’s contempt for journalistic freedom, demonstrably mitigated in the past few years,” DIGIPUB said.
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