MEDIA/FREEDOM OF PRESS - 2013 - Indian Social Institute

party has absolute control of China’s media. This basic principle is unshakable,”said a memo reportedlyissued by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party’s Central Committee to Party Chiefs andmedia officials. Referring to Monday’s protests by journalists of the Guangzhou based Chinese languagenewspaper Southern Weekend demanding freedom from interference from local Party officials, the memosaid, “The incident has nothing to do with Guangdong province’s propaganda chief comrade Tuo Zhen.”The journalists blamed Tuo of altering a critical editorial written by the editors in the New Year edition,adding pro-Party and government content. Instead the memo blamed foreign forces behind the incident.(Pioneer 10/1/13)Media should be allowed to do their job: Saugata Roy (1)KOLKATA: While chief minister Mamata Banerjee has been critical of a section of the media over a stringof "negative publicity", senior Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy on Saturday said that the mediashould left to itself. "The media should be left to do their job. Let them write whatever they want to write,let them broadcast whatever they want to broadcast. I should be doing what I think is my job, irrespectiveof what they write or what they broadcast," Roy said at a seminar in Kolkata."Most politicians are verysensitive. When a news is published against them, they ring up the editors or the journalist of the channelconcerned. I don't think it is necessary. I am strongly against any form of censorship on media becausepeople will read what they want to read and people will see what they want to see," Roy said. (Times ofIndia 13/1/13)Constitutionally mandated regulator suggested for media (1)New Delhi: Mediapersons, legal experts and civil society have suggested the setting up of aconstitutionally mandated regulator to check "misuse and abuse" of the media in the country. Somediscussants also suggested establishing a consultative group for norms, conduct and ethics to monitorimplementation by the media and to facilitate greater degree of coordination between government, mediabusiness and civil society. They were speaking at a conference on "Media Regulation: Is Status Quo theAnswer?" organised yesterday by Observer Research Foundation, a policy think-tank, and Hammurabiand Solomon, a leading law firm. With increasing use of social media platforms, traditional mediastructures were facing a challenge to manage change in production, dissemination and reception ofmedia content, they said. Some participants stressed that there cannot be different sets of rules for TV,press and Internet. It was noted that 30,000-odd channels on cable in the country are functioning withoutany oversight mechanism as the National Broadcasting Association (NBA) represents only a fewimportant channels. There was a need to look beyond the metro-centric discussion on regulation and lookat the larger challenge of supporting higher standards of reporting and operations in regional andvernacular media. It was also noted that unlike in many countries, in India the news content was not paidfor, distorting the market of news broadcasting industry. However, there was also a view that currentstructures were sufficient but there was a need to re-examine self-regulation, licencing, ownership andcross-holdings and the advent of the new breed of "owner-editors" and paid news. (Indian Express16/1/13)Is freedom of expression under threat in digital age? (1)NEW DELHI: With social networking site Facebook boasting of 1 billion members globally and microbloggingsite Twitter claiming millions, opinion was divided on whether the freedom of expression wasunder threat in the digital age. "Censorship of content should be the last resort as curbing a particularcontent online actually amplifies its spread over the internet," said Sunil Abraham from Centre for Internetand Society. He was speaking at a panel discussion organised by London based Index on Censorshipand the Editors Guild of India on the issue at the India International Centre Tuesday evening. "Thegovernment has refused to amend Section 66(A) of the IT Act which is used to curb free speech on thenet," said Guild chief TN Ninan who moderated the debate. "The law treats digital media differently than

the print media," he said. Director of Free Speech Debate, Oxford University, Timothy Garton Ash said,"There was no threat to the freedom of speech as internet was actually an opportunity for spreadingfreedom of expression." India with the large number of net users could act as swing state between twoextremes of China which is trying to control the net and the US which champions free speech, he said."The question is what are the legitimate limits of free speech rather than asking for unlimited speech,"said Ash. Ajit Balakrishnan, CEO and founder of online portal rediff.com, said "there was a sense ofpowerlessness among nation states as only local laws applied to any such violations." He said theinternet was not so democratic as it sounded as the actual numbers of users who posted content onFacebook were just 8-9 million while the rest just watched. The same was with Twitter with just 7-8 percent users actually posting messages. Kirsty Hughes, CEO, Index on Censorship, said "freedom ofspeech was universal" while noting a "worrying trend that increasingly governments were moving tocontrol the internet." "The risks of such controls are that we could have a much more controlled, censoredand fragmented internet," she said. Ramanjit Singh Chima of Google India stressed on the need to havelaws to protect internet freedom as such curbs affected livelihood of many users and contributed to localeconomies. He said the internet allowed people to instantly collaborate and publish critical informationduring emergency situations. (Times of India 17/1/13)Scribe attacked for making police complaint (1)NAGPUR: A local journalist was on Monday attacked by a gang of youths about whose illegal activities hehad complained to the police. On Tuesday afternoon, Mukhtar Shaikh, who runs a weekly, was going toGolibar square on his bike when five or six youths stopped him and thrashed him. Shaikh said hesomehow managed to escape and took shelter at nearby office of corporator Ramesh Punekar. "Theysurrounded me and were about to hit with hockey sticks. I drove my bike in the lanes to confuse theattackers and hid at Punekar's office," said Shaikh who suffered minor injuries. He claimed that while atoffice, he kept calling police control room but it was busy for nearly ten minutes. Later, after ensuringsafety, Shaikh rushed to Tehsil police station. He claimed the police response was disappointing. "Initially,they were rude with me. When told that I am a journalist from a small newspaper, they behaved better butstill refused to register my complaint," he said. Shaikh said that on Tuesday, he had informed police abouta gambling den at a religious place and at rented house at Hansapuri. Police raided the spot immediatelyand seized many things but failed to nab anyone as all the culprits had fled. Shaikh, 42, alleged thegamblers came to know that he had tipped-off the police and they attacked him. He pointed fingers atKawde brothers. However, till late night, no case was registered. Shaikh claimed senior officials hadassured him an offence will be registered after preliminary investigation. Shaikh was given medical aid.(Times of India 23/1/13)Journalist sent to six month imprisonment (1)JODHPUR: The Rajasthan high court sentenced a journalist of a Jaipur-based newspaper to six months'imprisonment and imposed a penalty of Rs 50,000 each on the owner of the newspaper, editor and itsSikar correspondent for wrong reporting in a criminal case. While hearing a contempt petition, a divisionbench comprising Chief Justice Amitava Roy and Justice Mahendra Maheshwari, ordered that if theamount is not deposited in 2 weeks, the three will have to serve one month imprisonment. According toadditional advocate general GR Punia, the Churu correspondent of a vernacular newspaper had reportedon October 10, 2011 that the CJM of Churu had sent a criminal under judicial custody instead of policestudy after accepting bribe. "The CJM issued notices to the concerned persons and referred the matter tothe high court as criminal contempt," said Punia. (Times of India 24/1/13)Debate on Article 19(2) needed, says journalist (1)

Jaipur: Is “freedom of expression” a muddled notion? Is there a need to define more clearly wherefreedom of expression ends and deliberate incitement begins? Does freedom of expression allowsomething that has the potential to incite violence and discrimination? During a session titled “Freedom ofspeech and expression” at the Jaipur Literature Festival, journalist and managing editor of TehelkaShoma Chaudhury said Article 19(2) of the Constitution, which imposes reasonable restrictions onfundamental right to freedom of speech and expression, needed to be debated. The discussion featuredMs. Chaudhury, writers John Burnside, Orlando Figes and Bashrat Peer in conversation with journalistTimoth Garton Ash. While she was a “freedom absolutist” on matters of cultural production like art andcinema, Ms. Chaudhury said freedom of expression could not be taken as an absolute concept when itcame to public discourse, which included public speeches. To the latter part, poet and film lyricist JavedAkhtar, who was part of the audience, asked how one could define the limits of freedom and expression,and if one were to justify restrictions on speeches that incited violence did it not bring the discourse backto square one? Ms. Chaudhury replied that censorship should apply to modes of expression that werefactually incorrect and incited violence and these could be easily identified. She cited the example of therecent exodus of Assamese and other north-eastern students from several cities in India, which was theresult of incorrect information circulated across the Internet and other means of communication. Therewas a need for society to “assert its right to offend others,” something that should not be silenced in thename of public sentiment and political correctness as these were just smokescreens, Ms. Chaudhurynoted. British historian noted for study of Russia Orlando Figes said freedom of speech could only beeffective when it translated into street protests and mass movements and had no meaning whenpreached by armchair intellectuals. Citing a 2010 poll, Mr. Figes said most Russians were not only awarethat their television programmes were controlled and manipulated by authorities; they were verycomfortable with it since they believed it helped maintain social order. Kashmiri journalist and authorBasharat Peer talked about censorship of the press by the government. “The story of surveillance andcensorship go together,” said Mr. Peer, citing an example of an undercover policeman in Kashmirreporting back to the government on the activities of the Press. “Especially in the case of smallnewspapers published from the States, like in Kashmir and Bihar restrictions are implemented bystopping government ads,” he said about press censorship working through economic restrictions.Moderator Timothy Garton Ash said journalists working for smaller publications — including bloggers,freelancers and independent journalists working in remote centres — faced the greatest risk of beingsilenced. (The Hindu 26/1/13)Journalist molested by BSF jawans at Kolkata crossing (1)KOLKATA: A woman journalist was allegedly molested by three BSF jawans in uniform at the crowdedShyambazar crossing on Monday evening. Passersby nabbed and beat up one of the suspects, while theother two escaped. Locals staged a half-hour road blockade accusing the police of shielding the jawansand helping them get away. The police lathicharged the protesters, triggering chaos at the busy trafficcrossing. The girl, who works with a news channel, had gone to a restaurant with a friend. They hadbarely stepped out, around 7.30pm, when three BSF jawans made lewd comments at her, says thecomplaint. One of them was brazen enough to touch her and "tried to sexually assault her", she says. "Iwas shocked. The jawans were in uniform yet completely drunk. One of them lunged at me. I could notimagine that such a thing could happen in a place like Shyambazar crossing, where there were hundredsof people,"she said. The journalist screamed for help and a crowd quickly gathered. People waiting at anearby bus stop rushed out and surrounded the men in uniform. The trio tried to flee but the girl chasedone of them down. "I ran after him and grabbed him near a police kiosk. Locals helped me overpower himand we handed him to the police," she said. (Times of India 29/1/13)Rs 5 lakh relief to kin of scribe killed in police firing (1)

Guwahati: The Manipur government has announced Rs 5 lakh as compensation to the family of freelanceTV cameraman Thangjam Dwijamani, who was killed in police firing while covering a demonstration inImphal on December 23 against alleged molestation of an actress by a self-styled Lt Colonel of theNSCN(IM) two days earlier. The Cabinet, on Saturday, also decided to provide a teacher's job toDwijamani's wife. The government had earlier placed under suspension 11 security personnel. It had lastweek announced a Rs 5 lakh cash award for information leading to the arrest of the NSCN(IM) cadre.(Indian Express 1/2/13)Stand up for freedom (1)The growing intolerance of a minuscule section of society to the arts is a blot on the way of life in thecountry. Hardly has the din died down on the inability of Salman Rushdie to visit Kolkata for a literaturefestival than we hear that an all-girl band in the Kashmir Valley is being threatened and abused on socialmedia networks. There could not have been a more touching story than four schoolgirls getting togetherto form a band and play popular music in front of an appreciative audience. It is as well that J&K chiefminister Omar Abdullah has hit back at the critics. He makes the very pertinent point in his tweet that it’sridiculous that people demand freedom of speech in social media and yet abuse the same media in tryingto muzzle innocent performers. There will be conservative sections of society who may not appreciate thenew-found freedoms that the young enjoy as we evolve in the modern era. The more ground that is lost tothem by way of governments not acting to rein them in the more we are going to see of lumpen elementsbeing incited to violent action. The time to act is now and it is up to authority to show that it is capable oftaking a stand against people whose only pleasure is to deny others their freedom. (Asian Age 3/2/13)MPs fail to log on to social media sites (1)New Delhi: The UPA government may have decided to ask ministers to embrace social media, but MPsacross political parties remain unconnected to India’s young population through new media toolsincreasingly popular among the youth. Only 40 out of 542 MPs elected to the current Lok Sabha haveTwitter accounts, including 7 MPs who no longer have active accounts, an HT analysis shows. Incontrast, 12 out of 30 state chief ministers are on the web-based platform. India has over 10 millionTwitter accounts and despite just 10% internet penetration already ranks 7 among nations with mostusers of the social networking platform. Twitter has repeatedly pointed to India as one of its fastestgrowing markets – unsurprising since the country has over 500 million citizens under 25. And faced with apublic relations embarrassment over the government’s failure to address social media driven protestsover the recent Delhi gang rape, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) recently proposed getting ministers touse Twitter and Facebook to reach out to young voters. But the statistics point to a failure to use socialmedia cutting across party lines. All 100 US senators are on Twitter, even though that country is agingwhile India continues to ride a youth wave. But of the 204 Congress Lok Sabha MPs, only 13 have activeaccounts, while two others – external affairs minister Salman Khurshid and human resource developmentminister MM Pallam Raju – who started accounts no longer use them. Only 4 out of 78 central ministers –Ajay Maken, Manish Tewari, Shashi Tharoor and Milind Deora – are active on Twitter, though a fewministries including the PMO have official accounts. The BJP -- widely considered a technologicallymore savvy party than the Congress -- fares little better. Only 9 out of its 115 MPs in the lower househave active accounts that they use to send out political messages. Yashwant Sinha has an account but isno longer active, and Maneka Gandhi’s account spreads awareness about her NGO, which works to saveanimals from cruelty. Nor are urban MPs more connected through Twitter to their voters than urbancounterparts. Only Milind Deora, Priya Dutt, Sanjay Nirupam (all Mumbai) and Ajay Maken (Delhi) out ofthe 13 MPs representing the country’s two most populous cities are on Twitter. Only BJP leader AnanthKumar, out of four Lok Sabha MPs from Bangalore, has an active twitter account. Bangalore, Mumbai,Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune all figure among the top 100 cities in terms of number of Twitterusers. In the days following the horrific gang rape and eventual death of a 23-year-old physiotherapy

student on a moving bus in Delhi last December, the failure of the government’s social media strategywas apparent. Thousands of young protestors thronged Delhi’s streets and used Twitter, Facebook,Instagram and other new media tools to capture and communicate their anger and frustration against thecapital’s police force and the country’s political class. As Shambhavi Saxena and her friends, who werepart of the protests, were allegedly dragged away by police, she continued tweeting. Her comments wereretweeted hundreds of times, having the cascading effect of negative publicity that the governmentwanted to avoid. “Woman constable beat me up, pulled my hair, and slammed me into a wall #Parliament Street police station,” Saxena wrote in one of the many tweets that went viral. Her mothersubsequently even wrote to Delhi chief minister Shiela Dikshit complaining about the way her daughterand others were treated by the police. Though Delhi police denied Saxena’s allegations, the completeabsence of the government’s defence on social media platforms left the UPA cornered in a one-sidedfight online. Recognizing this failure, the PMO and the Sam Pitroda-led National Innovation Council havepitched a plan to get ministers and spokespersons active ion social media, to explain the government’sperspective on events.But while central ministers and MPs across party lines appear behind the socialmedia curve, chief ministers of the country’s states are more connected to young voters through newmedia tools. Narendra Modi (Gujarat), Omar Abdullah (Jammu and Kashmir), Tarun Gogoi (Assam),Akhilesh Yadav (Uttar Pradesh), Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan), Raman Singh (Chattisgarh), Nitish Kumar(Bihar), Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal) and Mukul Sangma (Meghalaya) all have active Twitteraccounts. Manohar Parrikar (Goa), Neiphiu Rio (Nagaland) and Pawan Chamling (Sikkim) have Twitteraccounts but aren’t active. Some CMs, like Modi and Banerjee, also frequently use Facebook to reach outto voters. (Hindustan Times 3/2/13)Culture police crush hope for free speech (1)“Freedom of speech is a big lie in our country,” said director Karan Johar referring to controversy aroundmovie Vishwaroopam. Sociologist Ashis Nandy is still fighting for the remarks he made at the JaipurLiterary Festival. The latest blow has come in the form of attack on an exhibition that featured works ofsome legends of Indian art as certain sections of the society found them to be ‘provocative’ and ‘insulting’to women. Speaking your mind often leads to foot in mouth situation, feel many intellectuals. WriterAdvaita Kala says creativity has come under attack because of this. “After the recent cases, creativepeople are shying away from sharing their opinions as their views are often misconstrued. Even on socialmedia, often your comments take their own shape and then you have to apologise for them. But it doesnot mean that you can go about saying anything to anybody. There are certain do’s and don’ts and thoseare to be maintained to live in a society,” says Advaita. Cartoonist Sudhir Tailang, strongly feels thatauthorities often misunderstand things. “I personally feel there is no point expressing your views intoday’s time. In the last one year or so, authorities have become more oppressive. Mamta Banerjee got aprofessor arrested for sending an innocent cartoon on e-mail. In Mumbai, two girls write something onThackeray and they are howled up. In Puducherry, a boy makes a harmless comment againstChidambaram’s son and he is arrested. People with vested interests have turned India into a battlefielddivided on religious, communal or political grounds. It has become difficult for people to express theirviews because the fear of being taken otherwise always hangs in the air. If things go like this, there will beno Kabir, no MF Husain, no Pandit Ravi Shankar, no Ghalib or R.K. Laxman in our country,” says Tailang.Disillusioned by the recent cases, Kartik Bahl, area manager with a multinational, feels freedom of speechshould not be misused. “Why don’t people realise that we all have our own opinions. Just that speakingyour mind should not be confused with having freedom to say anything. Respect others, and you’ll neverhave to take back your words,” he says. Ad guru Piyush Pandey feels people should be cautious enoughto avoid being caught in a foot in mouth situation. “People should be sensitive to what they are talkingabout and should not hurt anyone. When I make an ad, I ensure it doesn’t hurt anyone’s sentiments. Iwould want to walk the edge but don’t fall off the cliff,” he concludes. (Asian Age 7/2/13)

India's restrictive freedom of speech (1)The film fraternity in India recently saw its first Auro 3D technology film Vishwaroopam engrossed incontroversy as it allegedly hurt sentiments of a particular religious community. The film was initiallybanned in certain regions on grounds of maintenance of public order. The banning of this film by the Stategovernment in spite of the film being cleared by the Censor Board was surprising; considering the factthat in August 2011 while deciding the ban on the film Aarakshan, the Supreme Court of India had ruledthat once the film has been cleared by the Censor Board for public viewing, screening of the same cannotbe prohibited by the State governments on grounds of probable breach of peace. The Supreme Court andalso Madras High Court have previously stated that inability of State government to maintain law andorder cannot be a reason to prevent screening of a film. In spite of the above precedents, the DistrictMagistrates in 31 districts of State of Tamil Nadu passed arbitrary and unreasoned orders banning thefilm. However, banning of films, literary or artistic works on grounds of public order is not new in India.Salman Rushdie, whose book in 1988 provoked protests from religious groups was not allowed to attendliterary fest in Kolkata earlier this year due to similar reasons. At the recent Jaipur Literature Festival, oneof the biggest literary festivals in the world, members of a political party protested against participation ofPakistani authors. The Jaipur festival also saw an appalling incident where Ashis Nandy's remarks onScheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe led to a non-bailable warrant being issued against him by theRajasthan Police. (The arrest was later judiciously stayed by the Supreme Court.) Similar incidents in thepast, where free speech has been curbed range from highly contentious works of painter M. F. Husain,writer Taslima Nasrin and others to unpretentious status messages and likes on facebook. Theseincidents have tarnished image of India's constitutionally granted fundamental right of free speech.Recently, India was ranked at dismal 140 out of 179 countries in World Press Freedom Index, withcountries like Afghanistan, Zimbabwe etc being ahead of India. The Constitution of India since itsinception in 1950 grants the citizens of India a fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression.This right is not absolute and comes with riders. States are allowed to make any law which places"reasonable restrictions" on freedom of speech and expression in the interests of the sovereignty andintegrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency ormorality, or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence. It is the use/misuse ofthese restrictions which has often led to controversy surrounding curbing of free speech. These termswere not defined by the Constitution drafters and nor has the legislature in these many years bothered todefine the scope and meaning of each term. The Supreme Court and other Courts of the land havelooked into these terms from case to case basis; however, there is no specific definition of most of theterms. For example, Supreme Court has stated that public order is synonymous with public peace, safetyand tranquility. Similarly, while defining the term "security of the State", the Court has stated that actswhich incite commitment of violent crimes are against security of State. These interpretations though toan extent qualify the terms mentioned in Constitution, do not define them fully and terms still remainvague… (Times of India 12/2/13)Scribe killed by Maoists in Bastar (1)RAIPUR: A journalist was killed by suspected Maoists in Tongapal, tribal Sukma district in South Bastararea of Chhattisgarh. Police said Nemichand Jain, who was working for Hindi dailies being published fromthe state capital, had gone to village Ledagram on Tuesday where he was killed. A note, purported tohave written by the Maoists accusing him of being a police informer, was recovered from the spot.However, police did not rule out the possibility of the involvement of others in the murder, as the patternof writing in the letter and manner in which the journalist was killed was different from the usual practice ofthe Maoists. There are indications that the Maoists would come out with a statement in a day or tworegarding their version about the incident. Meanwhile, Maoists killed a villager in Sukma district. Policesaid the villager was earlier associated with a grass root level Maoist organization but later he hadsurrendered before the police. In Dantewada district, security forces have arrested five Naxalites who had

set ablaze vehicles engaged in road construction activities at Katekalyan on February eight while awoman Naxalite surrendered in Manpur area in Rajnandgaon district. (Times of India 14/2/13)High alert in Odisha after journalist’s murder (1)Bhubaneswar: A high alert has been issued in Odisha’s Malkangiri district following the killing of a seniorjournalist in neighbouring Sukma district of Chhattisgarh by suspected Maoists. The state’s border withChhattisgarh has also been sealed and vehicles are being thoroughly checked. According to a report fromMalkangiri, the 45-year-old journalist, Nemichand Jain, was taken away by a group of armed youths fromhis village near Chhattisgarh-Odisha border on Tuesday evening. Jain’s dead body was found abandonedon a road near his village with a deep cut in his throat on Wednesday morning. The body also had bulletmarks. A Maoist poster was recovered which stated that the scribe was eliminated as he was informingthe police about their movement. Besides, he was also instigating youths in the village and neighbouringareas against them. The journalist was working for a prominent Hindi daily. The killing has sent shockwaves among scribes working in Malkangiri and other Maoist infested districts of Odisha as they hadnever targeted the media in the past in Malkangiri-Sukma-Dantewada belt, the most notorious Maoistzone in the country. Malkangiri based journalists have condemned the incident. Meanwhile, the Maoistshave strongly opposed the proposed visit of Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh toOdisha’s Nuapara district. Ramesh is scheduled to visit the area on February 16 to review works near theSunabeda wildlife sanctuary. Maoist posters have been found in several villages in the area protesting theminister’s visit and appealing to the people to throw him out. The police have also seized landmines fromnear the sanctuary. A combing operation has been launched following the recovery of landmines. For thelast couple of years, the Sunabeda sanctuary has become a safe hideout for the Maoists operating in thedistrict. (Deccan herald 14/2/13)Britain shocked by shooting of journalist in Sri Lanka (1)The Foreign Office voiced its shock and serious concern over the shooting of a British-Sri Lankanjournalist in a Colombo suburb. Britain's South Asia minister Alistair Burt urged the Sri Lankan authoritiesto identify those behind the attack, which the United Nations' human rights chief called an assassinationattempt. Faraz Shauketaly, 54 – a reporter with the privately owned Sunday Leader, whose editor wasshot dead in 2009 – was rushed to hospital for surgery yesterday following the midnight assault at hishome, according to colleagues. It is the latest in a string of attacks against media on the island. "The SriLankan authorities must quickly identify who committed this crime and bring them to justice," Burt said ina statement. "There has been a range of attacks in Sri Lanka on journalists, civil society organisationsand others in recent years. To date, too many incidents have had little investigation and no resolution."The UK and the European Union have urged the government of Sri Lanka to do everything possible toinvestigate such incidences and ensure that those responsible are brought to justice." Shauketaly, a dualBritish and Sri Lankan national, has been visited in hospital by British consular staff. Meanwhile NaviPillay, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said she was "deeply disturbed" by the attack on ajournalist from a publication that was strongly against the government until mid-2012. Since then it hasbeen purchased by a businessman seen as staunchly in favour of President Mahinda Rajapakse. (IndianExpress 17/2/13)After six-month ordeal, scribe will walk free today (1)Bangalore: The special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) will on Monday give out a detailedwritten order on the release of the two arrested in the Bangalore terror module case. The NIA hasdropped all charges against Muthi-ur-Rehman Siddiqui, who was working with this newspaper, and SyedYusuf Nalaband. The court on Saturday ordered the release of the two after the prosecution submittedthat there was no prosecutable evidence against them. Both are expected to be released by Mondayevening. The order of the court has brought an end to the six-month ordeal of their families. Zia-ur-

Rehman, the younger brother of Siddiqui, said that the order of the court has brought great relief to thefamily. He said the family knew that Siddiqui was innocent and would come out unscathed. He thankedthe God and the Association for Protection of Civil Rights which fought the case in the courts from dayone. “Siddiqui was always proud of being a journalist and he would continue to pursue his career after hisrelease. He is now a honourable man absolved of all charges by none other than the highest investigativeagency of the country,” Rehman said. Sakina Bi, the elder sister of Syed Yusuf Nalaband, who hails fromBagalkot told Deccan Herald that the family was greatly relieved after they heard that her younger brotherwould be released from jail soon. She said the family was planning to come to Bangalore to receive him.She said that though they were very confident that Nalaband was innocent, they were stupefied by themedia onslaught and the charges that the police were making against him. “This has restored the faith inour judiciary and the system that there is a fair probe still possible in this country even against theminorities,” she said. Sakina said her brother would continue to work in Bangalore as he was now anhonourable man and that the family had no reason to fear anybody. (Deccan Herald 24/2/13)Pakistani TV anchors turn moral police, spark outrage (1)New Delhi: Late last month, a dentist-turned-anchorperson of Pakistani news TV channel Express Newsgatecrashed into a massage parlour in Lahore with her cameraman and two policemen and "uncovered"an alleged brothel. She is believed to have ransacked the parlour, ordered the cops around, threatenedarrest and the policemen seemed to obey dutifully. Express News telecast the incident on February 1. Itwasn't the first incident of its kind but the latest in a growing trend of Pakistan's aggressive news TVchannels taking to moral policing and vigilantism in a battle for popularity and ratings. The phenomenonhas offended viewers and media observers and the two sides often confront each other in the socialmedia. Kamran Shahid, a former college lecturer and now anchor on Dunya TV's show 'On the front withKamran Shahid', about a month ago suggested doing away with co-education in Pakistan's universities asa measure to curb sexual harassment of female students. In the Lahore incident, Dr Maria Zulfiqar, a littleknown Express News anchor who hosts a show called Baat se Baat, allegedly forced open the doors of amassage parlour run by Chinese and Russian women and threatened a Pakistani employee that shewould get her arrested if she didn't admit the place was a brothel. Among the more infamous incidentsthat marked the early days of this trend involved anchor Maya Khan "raiding" parks in Karachi in Januarylast year to "catch" dating couples for her breakfast show Subah sawere Maya Khan ke saath on CNBCSamaa TV. Cameras were shoved in the faces of couples in total disregard of their privacy. They werebullied and questioned if they were married and if their parents knew what they were up to. (IndianExpress 25/2/13)There is no freedom of expression under Mamata regime: Nilotpal Basu (1)New Delhi: Taking on the Trinamool Congress (TMC)-led West Bengal Government over the banning of afilm in which the anti-Singur movement has been allegedly depicted in a negative light, senior CommunistParty of India- Marxist (CPI-M) leader Nilotpal Basu on Monday said there is absolutely no freedom ofexpression in the state under the Mamata Banerjee regime. According to media reports, the KolkataCensor Board had denied approval to Suman Mukhopadhyay's film 'Kangal Malsat' (War Cry of Beggars),said to be based on the movement against land acquisition in Singur. "The manner in which the WestBengal Government is functioning since last 20 odd months, one should not be surprised on such steps.It is very clear that the government is not prepared to listen any criticism or comment, and there isabsolutely no freedom of expression in the state under present government. Such things are taking placeagain and again," said Basu, while talking to reporters here. "The filmmaker was a very vocal critic of theLeft Front Government and also joined in many of the demonstrations at that point of time, when therewas hue and cry for dislodging the our government," he added. Meanwhile, TMC MP Vivek Guptarubbished the charges being levelled on the state government, and said the government has no role toplay in the matter, as the censor board has not given the releasing certificate. However, the Kolkata

Censor Board has claimed that they have objections to the language used in the film, which the directorallegedly had refused to remove. (ANI) (Newstrack India 26/2/13)Cops raid scribe’s house in Bihar (1)Patna: Close on the heels of the Press Council of India (PCI) arguing that there was an “unwrittencensorship on media in Bihar”, the state human rights panel has issued a notice to the Bihar directorgeneral of police and Nawada-superintendent of police asking them to explain under what circumstancesthe house of a journalist from a national daily was raided in the night. The Nawada-based scribe had fileda report “Judge proposes, cop disposes”, which said how Nawada SP Lalan Mohan Prasad had failed toexecute an arrest warrant against Station House Officer Vindhyachal Prasad, who had tied a rope aroundthe waist of a lawyer (who was an additional public prosecutor and represented the police), after arrestinghim and paraded him in the lower court. Terming both reports (raid on journalist house and inhumantreatment meted out to lawyer) as “quite disturbing”, chairman of the Bihar Human Rights Commission(BHRC), Justice (Retd) S N Jha said: “There is an attempt to muzzle the Press for reporting the matterand bringing it in public domain.” The notice, a copy of which is with Deccan Herald, says that the actionof the SP was violative of freedom of speech and expression. “The chain of incidents, if true, reveals aconcerted attempt on the part of Nawada police to undermine not only the dignity of the individual referredto in the news item but also the dignity and primacy of the judiciary. The action ex-facie deserves to bedepreciated and disapproved,” it says. The unfortunate incident took an ugly turn when the SP, who wasearlier posted as DySP in chief minister’s security, took umbrage over the report published in an Englishdaily and reportedly ordered the arrest of the reporter “by hook or crook”. Immediately thereafter, theNawada police raided the district correspondent’s house at 8:30 pm. Apprehending arrest in a “fabricated”case, the reporter moved a petition with the chief judicial magistrate and the civil SDO. The police,however, could not find anything incriminating. But disturbed over the two events, the BHRC suo motutook cognizance of the episode and issued notice to DGP Abhayanand and SP Lalan Mohan Prasad.Asking both of them “to submit their response within two weeks”, Justice Jha posted the matter to March20 for further hearing. (Deccan Herald 4/3/13)Freebie for journalists (1)Jaipur, March 7, 2013: In a first, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday announced free laptops forall accredited journalists in the State. Considered a “media-friendly” CM, he also announced several othersops to journalists in the annual State budget 2013-14. Besides free laptops, accredited journalists over60 years of age would be given a monthly pension of Rs. 5000. At present, accredited journalists areprovided free medical and accidental cover of Rs. 2 lakh. This has been increased to Rs. 5 lakh. He alsoannounced raising the advertisement rates by 20 per cent for those newspapers whose advertisementrates were not approved by the Department of Audio Visual Publicity. Mr. Gehlot further announced acontribution of Rs. 5 crore each to the Journalist-Writer Fund and the Artistes Fund by the Stategovernment. The government already provides free bus travel to accredited journalists in the Statetransport buses. (The Hindu 7/3/13)India in a spot over UN resolution on Sri Lanka (1)New Delhi: New Delhi is walking a tightrope over the US-sponsored draft resolution on Sri Lanka in theUN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The draft resolution titled ‘Promoting Reconciliation andAccountability in Sri Lanka’ is still open to changes as member states are still factoring in their concerns.It is not commonplace for any Indian political party to openly support a resolution at the UN backed by theUS, but this time the main political parties in Tamil Nadu are rooting for India supporting such a resolutionagainst Sri Lanka. New Delhi, on its part, wants to play it safe and is trying hard for the resolution to be“less intrusive” yet enough to satisfy the concerns of the DMK — a UPA ally — and AIADMK. The

esolution takes note of the UN High Commissioner for Human Right’s call for an independent andcredible international investigation into violations human rights law in Sri Lanka against Tamils. It alsoexpresses concerns at the continuing reports of violations of human rights, including enforceddisappearances, extra-judicial killings, torture, violations of the rights to freedom of expression,association and peaceful assembly, intimidation of Lankan Tamils and reprisals against human rightsdefenders, members of civil society and journalists, and threats to judicial independence and the rule oflaw. Colombo , too, is uncomfortable with New Delhi playing the Tamil minority card too loudly. Indianofficials said they were engaged in discussions to find out the best possible way out on the resolution.(Hindustan Times 9/3/13)Media should not ignore youth, science, farmers: Mitra (1)Bhopal: National president of Indian Media Centre (IMC) and Member of Parliament Chandan Mitra saidthat media should concentrate on news related to youth, farmers and science that are developmentcentres of the country. While chairing first day of IMC's national conference, Mitra said that instead ofworking like a trade union of journalists, the IMC is working to build an intellectual environment in thesociety. He hoped that soon, the IMC would reach in all the States of the country. Chandan Mitra, alsoeditor-in-chief of 'The Pioneer', criticised few news channels for promoting superstitions. He objected tothe statement of Indian Press Council president Marakand Katju, saying that Katju must work for thewelfare of media and not for publicity. Former Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director JoginderSingh said even with the presence of problems like paid news in the media the silver lining is still that theIndian media has succeeded in uniting the citizens bravely against terrorism and corruption. Expressingconcern over the corruption prevailing in Government departments, Singh said that media can be a strongweapon against corruption unless it becomes part of it. State Urban Administration and DevelopmentMinister Babulal Gaur said that media should not only present the negative stories but should alsopresent the positive and development works in front of the society. (Pioneer 10/3/13)Media and Entertainment players flay attempt to curb freedom of speech (1)Mumbai: Coming down heavily on recent attempts by various sections to stifle freedom of speech, Ficci'sMedia and Entertainment panel said the free speech is "sacrosanct"."We are not far from a point wheresomeone's sneeze or a cough on a television show will be a source of offence and outrage for many...It istime for us to recognise that free speech is what is sacrosanct...," Ficci's Media and EntertainmentCommittee Chairman Uday Shankar told Ficci-Frames summit here. The three-day Ficci Frames is thelargest media and entertainment (M&E) jamboree in Asia. It got off to a glittering opening here today withthe global and domestic industry leaders like Walt Disney International Chairman Andy Bird and AnneSweeney, co-chair, Disney Media Networks & President, Disney-ABC Television, attending the function,among others. Shankar, who also heads Star India, said: "I am shocked that there are still groups andinterests who continue to debate on the right amount of freedom that can be granted to the media; as ifthis is something to be granted and as if this is even negotiable." He further said the country shouldleverage on its democratic credentials over others like China and Russia to have a robust and truly freemedia. The comments come in the wake of a string of controversies in the recent past like the releases ofthe film 'Vishwaroopam', in which veteran Tamil actor-producer Kamal Haasan had to face troubles ingetting the film released even after a clean chit from the Censor Board, after a minority group opposedcertain portions in the flick allegedly hurting their religious sentiments. This row even forced I&B ministerManish Tewari to call for amendments to the Censor Board rules, which would ensure once a film haspassed the Censor Board, it cannot be banned by the state administrations. "The most important issue atthe moment is the one on freedom of speech... we all agree that the role of the media is to question thestatus quo. But with the right to question must come the right to provoke and the right to offend," Shankarsaid, adding that we are "regressing" in this area. He also cited the recent issues like the trouble faced bytwo girls in the neighbouring Palghar over a Facebook post on the hardships the public had to face

following the shutdown of the megapolis after Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackery's death in November last,and Star India's hardships after the reality show Satyamev Jayate's attempt to comment on theweaknesses in the medical system. Shankar also pointed out to the lack of credibility on audiencemeasurements in the industry and asked for corrective action by the industry. "It is indeed a matter ofconcern that the credibility of the most prevalent currency of all transactions in TV enjoys so littlecredibility," he said. "As a television executive, I am surprised sometimes how I am even able to function.I do not know enough about my viewers - in fact I don't even know how many of them are there," headded. (Indian Express 12/3/13)Minimum qualification must for scribes: Katju (1)New Delhi: Press Council of India Chairman Justice Markandey Katju, who in the past claimed thatmajority of the media professionals have a "poor intellectual level", now feels that persons with "little orinadequate training" in journalism are entering the profession leading to negative effects. He wants toprescribe a "legal qualification" for entering the profession. On Tuesday, Katju set up a three-membercommittee to suggest the "qualifications a person should have before he can be allowed to enter theprofession of journalism"."Since the media has an important influence on the lives of the people, the timehas now come when some qualification should be prescribed by law," he said in a statement afterappointing a committee comprising PCI members Shravan Garg, Rajeev Sabade and Dr Ujjwala Barve,Associate Professor, Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Pune to look into theissue. The committee has been asked to submit its report at the earliest. Katju said the need for setting aqualification for entry into journalism had been felt for some time although many institutions impartteaching in journalism, some of which although is "very unsatisfactory"."In the lawyers profession an LLBdegree as well as registration in a Bar Council is required. Similarly, for entry into the medical professionthe necessary qualification is an MBBS degree and also registration with the Medical Council. Forbecoming a teacher, a teacher's training certificate/degree is required. Many other professions have therequirement of some qualification before one can enter that profession," he said. (Times of India 13/3/13)Acid attack on Maharashtra scribe, kin (1)Mumbai, March 13, 2013 (IANS): A journalist and his family were victims of an acid attack by localpolitical activists in another assault on the media in Maharashtra, an official said here Wednesday.Dinesh S. Choudhary, 40, his wife Arsana and teenaged daughter Rashmi were attacked in their house inTilak Nagar in Purna town in Parbhani district, police said. Police said the attackers, one of whom is localCongress activist Sayed Ali 'Don' and an unidentified man, barged into Choudhary's house just beforemidnight, threw acid on them and escaped. "They were rushed to the Yashoda Hospital in Nanded wheretheir condition is stated to be serious but stable," police told IANS. Choudhary is working as a Purnabaseddistrict correspondent with Solapur Tarun Bharat newspaper. Narayan Karanjkar, the editor of thepublication, said the attack was instigated by Sayed Ali and his accomplices after Choudhary wrote ascathing article on the gutka mafia operating in and around Parbhani. "All local media organisations havecondemned the incident. Journalists from Marathwada region will take out a procession here Saturday toexpress solidarity with Choudhary," Karanjkar told IANS. Meanwhile, in Mumbai state Home Minister R.R.Patil took serious note of the incident and directed the Parbhani district police to provide protection to thefamily. Following Choudhary's complaint, police said a case has been registered against Sayed Ali 'Don'and other "unknown" people. Purna town is 580 km from Mumbai in Marathwada region. (Deccan Herald13/3/13)PCI to take up scribe's murder with Jharkhand govt (1)RANCHI: Subcommittee of Press Council of India on its maiden visit to Jharkhand on Thursday decidedto take up the killing of scribe Pramod Kumar Munna of Deoghar district with the state government andrecommended a CBI investigation into it. Munna was working for a local vernacular newspaper Samkalin

Tapmaan and was killed by unknown people on December 16, 2007 after he exposed illegal activities ofthen minister Harinarayan Roy in the Madhu Koda government. Both ministers are facing trial undervarious provisions of corruption, money laundering and disproportionate assets in different courts.Appearing before the seven member subcommittee, Munna's widow and son told their story andrequested intervention for fair investigation and compensation. Munna's son Prince told the members thathis father was killed for exposing illegal activities of Roy in grabbing government land after which he wasthreatened repeatedly. "My father had told the police about the threats that he was getting from theminister (Roy) and he was also called to Ranchi once to 'manage' the affairs," Prince said, adding thatsoon after the murder the local police promised to include the minister's name in the FIR and constitutean inquiry. "We have met different governors and chief ministers to demand an impartial inquiry and exgratiapayment but no one has acted," he said. Taking serious note of the government apathy, convenerof the subcommittee Kosuri Amarnath said that they would take up the matter of compensation with thestate government during their meeting with the DGP, home secretary and department of information andpublic relation on Friday. "Our council will also ensure that a CBI investigation is ordered because whensomeone as powerful as a minister has been accused it is beyond the state agencies to conduct animpartial probe," he said. The panel also heard various cases of coercion, threats to journalists andattacks on them and announced to hold talks with the state government. The panel has visited eightstates and lans to visit Chhatisgarh to take a stock of the threats faced by journalists while reporting fromtroubled zones. (Times of India 15/3/13)Control on media essential for existence of democracy' (1)Kochi: Control on media is essential for the existence of democracy, PSC chairman K S Radhakrishnanhas said. He was delivering the inaugural address at the convocation ceremony of the students who havecompleted diploma course in Journalism and communication and Public Relation and Advertising at theInstitute of Communication under the Kerala Press Academy, Kochi. “Journalists themselves should findthe answer for the question for who should control them. There is nothing wrong in seeking control overthe media as those who work in this sector themselves consider it to be an industry. However, reports ofpaid news are surely affecting the credibility of the media,” Radhakrishnan said. He said that there is atrend among the media to report only one side of an incident. Kerala Press Academy chairman N PRajendran, who presided over the function, said practical approach is the road to success in journalism.Press Academy vice-chairman K C Rajagopal general council member P Sujathan, secretary V R AjithKumar, assistant secretary N P Santhosh, Institute of Communication director M Ramachandran andlecturer Hemalatha spoke on the occasion. Radhakrishnan also presented awards to rankholders M PSajon, Angel Shijoy, A Kiran Paul, K P Sheena and Asif M Basheer. Also, Mohammed Ibrahim and AbdulSamad were selected as students who have excelled in both academic and extra-curricular activities.(Indian Express 18/3/13)Chidambaram to inaugurate national editors' conference tomorrow (1)New Delhi, Mar 22 : Finance Minister P. Chidambaram will inaugurate a two-day national editors'conference on social and infrastructure issues here tomorrow. The conference will deliberate on crucialpolicy decisions, success stories and achievements of the Government. The various sessions during thetwo day duration will be addressed by ministers and key officials representing the core social andinfrastructure ministries of the Government. Union Ministers of Rural Development, Communications andIT, Women and Child Development, Minority Affairs, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Housing and UrbanPoverty Alleviation will address the various sessions of the conference. Senior officials from RailwayBoard and Ministry of Labour and Employment and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting are alsoexpected to address the conference. The conference will be attended by leading representatives of theregional press comprising of senior editors and chief of bureaus along with local beat correspondentscovering the sessions being addressed by concerned ministries. The interaction is expected to provide a

platform to the media representatives to understand the implementation of crucial policy decisions in thesocial and infrastructure sector. It will also provide an opportunity for the various ministries to understandthe limitations / gaps from a media perspective on the implementation of schemes and programmes.About 70 editors / journalists are likely to attend the conference. The two-day deliberations are part ofPress Information Bureau's effort for enhancing information dissemination at the regional level as anoutreach strategy. The focus will be on development issues that has promoted inclusive growth acrossthe country. The conference is a continuation of PIB's endeavour of organizing the national deliberationsas an annual event on the social and infrastructure sector. Over the last few years, the Press InformationBureau has organized the conference on similar lines at Aizwal, Srinagar, Guwahati and Puducherry.(New Kerala 22/3/13)Mangalore Home stay attack: Scribe gets bail (1)MANGALORE: Kasturi TV channel reporter NaveenSoorinje, who was arrested in connection with theMorning Mist home stay attack case, was released on bail from Mangalore district jail on Saturday.Soorinje, who is the 44 thaccused in the home stay attack case July 28, 2012 that shook the nation, waslanguishing in the jail ever since he was arrested on November 7, 2012. Karnataka High Court had onMarch 18 granted bail to Soorinje after nearly four and a half months of his arrest. The high court hadasked Soorinje to provide a bond of Rs 5 lakh and a surety for the like sum and also had directed him notto tamper with prosecution witnesses and evidence. It may be recalled that the high court had rejected hisbail on December 26. However, later, the court passed the order granting bail after recording thestatement of Vijaya Kumar, the complainant in the case. Kumar had written a letter to Justice MarkandeyaKatju, chairman, Press Council of India in February 13 favouring Naveen. Kumar had expressed hissorrow that Soorinje, who helped the victims, was languishing in jail. Soorinje was accorded a warmwelcome outside the jail by his colleagues, friends and members of various organisations and politicalparties. (Times of India 23/3/13)Media certification, monitoring panels to watch paid news-CEC (1)Jaipur, Mar 24 : Media Certification and Monitoring Committees will be constituted upto district level forkeeping a tab on the practice of paid news by contestants in the Lok Sabha and State assemblyelections, Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath said here today. These committees will work on theround-the-clock basis to examine the feed-back/complaints in this regard within a brief prescribed deadline, Mr Sampath told mediapersons on the side lines of a national conference on electoral and politicalreforms organised by the Association of Democratic Reforms(ADR) and the State Election Watch. Thedecision of the district committee would be appeal-able before the state and/or national committee, theCEC said. However, he clarified that getting paid-news is not an electoral offence at least but it wouldattraction Election Commission action that paid news expense is not shown in the candidate's electionexpenditure returns to the Commission. Nominees from Information Broadcasting and Press Council ofIndia would also be involved in these committees, he said. (New Kerala 24/3/13)Need to regulate social media, says Khurshid (1)Kolkata: Lauding the effectiveness of the social media, external affairs minister Salman Khurshid has saidthe freedom that comes out of using it needs to be regulated. “Social media is effective today because weare equal. It is the equality of social media and your ability to manipulate and use technology that givesyou the freedom — a freedom which then, perhaps, needs to be regulated. It needs to be regulatedbecause every freedom has to be regulated,” Khurshid said here. Speaking on the topic freedom versusequality at The Telegraph National Debate here on Saturday evening, he said, “I have never known ofequality being regulated but I have known of every freedom (being regulated).” “Please read theConstitution and if you are a true Indian, please bow to the Constitution which says reasonable restrictionon all your freedom - on your freedom of speech, freedom of work, freedom of action,” the senior

Congress leader said. During the debate, where other politicians like corporate affairs minister SachinPilot and BJP’s senior leader Ravi Shankar Prasad also participated, it was announced that the viewsexpressed by the speakers were personal and might not reflect the views of the party or government.(Hindustan Times 25/3/13)Scribe roughed up at Raghu protest rally (1)BHUBANESWAR: A journalist was hospitalized after being brutally beaten up by some police personnelnear Naveen Niwas here on Monday, while he was covering a demonstration by Student Congressactivists demanding the arrest of former law minister Raghunath Mohanty in connection with an allegeddowry torture case against him. Protesting the highhandedness of police, scores of journalists staged awildcat protest for five hours in front of Naveen Niwas, residence of chief minister Naveen Patnaik. Theissue also echoed in the assembly with opposition Congress and BJP stalling house proceedings,demanding a statement from the chief minister. Around 10 constables of 6th Indian Reserve Battalionmercilessly caned Subhakant Padhihary (27), reporter of a popular vernacular daily, even though heshowed his identity card to the cops. "I first thought the police personnel mistook me for a demonstrator. Iimmediately showed them my identity card. But they dragged me down to the ground, kicked me and beatme up with sticks," Padhihary said. Sources said five constables were suspended in connection with thecase. In his FIR, lodged at Airfield police station, Padhihary alleged that the police barbarism took place infront of DCP Nitinjeet Singh. "Singh knew me very well, but he did not stop his men from beating me.Instead of showing me sympathy, he ran away from the place," Padhihary said. Singh said he did notignore Padhihary. "It was an unfortunate incident. Our personnel were dispersing Congress activists nearNaveen Niwas when Padhihari was passing through the area. Soon after I came to know about the attackon him, I immediately asked my staff to take the journalist to hospital. I had to rush to another place tocontain a law and order problem. I had not intended to disregard the journalist," Singh said. Journalistsnevertheless demanded action against the DCP, Airfield police inspector Girija Chakraborty and IRBconstables, who beat up Padhihary, while he was on duty. A delegation of journalists later met the CM,who directed DGP Prakash Mishra to inquire into the matter. "The chief minister asked me to probe thematter and take action against the guilty. The accused constables have been suspended," Mishra said.The attack on Padhihari came as a shot in the arm of the Congress and BJP, whose leaders rushed toNaveen Niwas and expressed solidarity with the scribe. BJD legislator Sanjay Dasburma, who waspresent in front of Naveen Niwas, also condemned the incident. "Action would definitely be taken againstthose responsible," Dasburma said. (Times of India 27/3/13)Maoists say sorry for killing Bastar journalist (1)Raipur: Forty-five days after their cadres murdered journalist Nemichand Jain in Sukma on February 12,Maoists have apologised for the act and said their topmost leaders are handling the case. They have alsorequested Bastar journalists to end their boycott. In an unprecedented step, the entire media fraternity inBastar had passed a resolution announcing the boycott of Maoists and their press releases until theyapologised for the murder and punished the guilty. The rebels called a few journalists to interior forests ofBijapur and apologised for Jain's death. West Bastar divisional committee, CPI (Maoists), membersKamlu Kunjam and Jyoti met the journalists and said: "We have received information about the murder ofJain by some Sangham members of Kanger Ghati area. Since we are yet to identify the accused, seniorleaders are facing problems in taking a decision. But very soon, the central committee will probe thematter and inform media about it. Some of our cadres have committed this wrong. We apologise andrequest you not to boycott us." Kunjam added: "Lower-level cadres committed the act without informingthe senior ones. The committee will announce punishment for them." Jagdalpur-based journalist HarjitSingh Pappu was among those who met the rebels. "We had gone for our cause. We are happy that they

have apologised. I hope they punish the culprits soon and inform us," he told The Indian Express. (IndianExpress 1/4/13)Scribe killed, two hurt in avalanche near Manali (1)Manali: A Kullu-based ANI reporter was buried alive and two others were injured in an avalanche at Rahlafall, 30 km from here, on the Manali-Rohtang border road on Wednesday. The deceased has beenidentified as Prem Thakur, 28, son of Sonu Ram of Gharakar village opposite Kullu town. MukeshKumar, machine operator of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), and Karan, cameraman with ANIreporter, were seriously injured in the mishap. According to the BRO spokesperson, the incident tookplace when the ANI reporter and his cameraman started taking shots of the snow clearance operationlaunched by a JCB of BRO around 3.30pm. Suddenly, a major avalanche came down, following which thethree fell into a deep gorge. (Hindustan Times 3/4/13)S-I supended for misbehaving with woman scribe (1)NEW DELHI: A police sub-inspector posted at the Mandir Marg police station has been suspended andan inquiry initiated against him for allegedly misbehaving with a 23-year-old woman journalist this pastweek. The victim, who works for a national English daily, had called the accused Dharmendra Meena toseek some information regarding a case which he shared. A little later, he called her back on her mobilephone and said something inappropriate and suggestive, said a senior journalist working with the samenewspaper. “She was in trauma for the next few days and reluctant to talk to police officers but did notshare her ordeal. However, she broke down on Tuesday and narrated what had happened,” said thejournalist, adding that senior officers were informed about the alleged misbehaviour. A senior policeofficer from the New Delhi District said that Meena has been suspended after the complaint was receivedand would remain suspended till a report of the inquiry initiated against him is submitted. (The Hindu4/4/13)Media demonising Muslim community: Katju (1)Hyderabad: "Discrimination" against Muslims is giving rise to a feeling of injustice among them, PressCouncil Chairman Markanedya Katju on Sunday claimed and rebuked the media for what he described as"demonising" Muslim community through "irresponsible" journalism. Press Council of India ChairmanMarkandey Katju along with criminal lawyer Majid Memon at Mumbai University function. HT photo/KunalPatil "Whenever a bomb blast occurs or such incident takes place, within an hour or so many TVchannels start showing that an email or sms has come from the Indian Mujahideen, JeM or Harkatuljihade-Islam,or some Muslim name, claiming responsibility. "An email or sms can be sent by any mischievousperson. But when your start screening this on TV and next day in print. The certain message you (media)are sending is that all Muslims are terrorists and they having nothing to do except to throw bombs....Youare demonising the entire Muslim community and promoting communalism", Katju said. He wasaddressing a symposium on "Reporting Terror: How Sensitive is the media?", organised by English daily'The Hindu'. "Is this the responsible behaviour of the media? I think it is totally irresponsible behaviourwhich is promoting communalism in the country. This is very bad. I have raised voice against this, butthey said I am suppressing the media", Katju said. Observing that media should stick to ethics and bemindful of its national responsibility, Katju said, "Do you have the freedom to spread communalism? Youwill be stopped from doing devilish thing. I am a strong fighter for media's freedom but I will not allow youto do such devilish things. You will have to have responsibility in the national interest".Katju claimed thefeeling of injustice was on the rise among Muslims owing to "discrimination" against them in variousspheres. "Unfortunately, Muslims are discriminated in getting jobs, banks loans and there is a sense ofgreat injustice", he alleged. "The cause of terrorism is injustice. Abolishment of poverty and discriminationwill help in checking terrorism", the former Supreme Court judge said. Stressing that every freedom issubjected to reasonable restriction in public interest, Katju said he had earlier requested the Prime

Minister on the need for amending the Press Council Act. "The amendments were sought with regard tobringing the electronic media under purview of media council and for providing some powers to takeaction", Katju said, pointing out that he was only in favour of regulation and not to control the media. "But,in exceptional circumstances definite action needs to be taken", he added. (Hindustan Times 8/4/13)Congress logs into social media to target youths (1)BANGALORE: The state Congress is trying to woo the urban youth through social media. On Monday,KPCC president G Parameshwara interacted with netizens on Google+ Hangout. He also launched theparty's Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts and released its audio-video publicity material. Theparty will update netizens through these media on a daily basis. As senior party leaders will be touringand campaigning, second-rung leaders have been assigned to keep the party presence alive on socialmedia. Rahasya Gowda, who chatted online with Parameshwara, asked: "What made you to take tosocial media?''Parameshwara replied: "We're changing to keep pace with the modern world. There aremany educated and ambitious youth on social media - it's their platform. We're here to develop the linkwith them and address their aspirations.'' He said the target audience was youth and women as they cancorrect the system. If youths are the target, why then is representation to Youth Congress members solittle? "The definition of youth needs to be defined. In politics, 45 years and sometimes up to 50 years isconsidered youth. We have several units and Youth Congress is one of them. Of the 177 candidatesannounced, 67 are below 45 years. There is a transition as educated and young people are comingforward to be part of politics and usher in change,'' he said. Parameshwara and Siddaramaiah workedhard to dispel reports about differences between them and put on a show of camaraderie. "We have goodprospects. Our rivals are spreading this rumour to create confusion,'' Parameshwara said. "Forget aboutbitterness or differences, we haven't even had a heated conversation. It's baseless,'' said Siddaramaiah.(Times of India 9/4/13)Delhi HC against self-regulation by electronic media industry (1)New Delhi: Amid raging controversy over regulation of electronic media in India, the Delhi High Court onTuesday recommended to the government to establish a statutory body to regulate the broadcast media,saying state intervention was necessary. "Absence of state intervention on its own is no guarantee of arich media environment. On the contrary: to promote a media environment characterized by pluralism anddiversity, State intervention is necessary," a bench headed by justice Pradeep Nandrajog said.Recommending that a statutory regulatory body "consisting of men and women of eminence" beconstituted, the bench said, security of tenure should be provided for its members so that they were freefrom government interference. "Till this happens…as a stop gap mechanism the self-regulatory bodyformed by the Indian Broadcasting Foundation named 'Broadcasting Consumers ComplaintCommittee'…recognized by the Union of India as a body competent to take cognizance of and decidecomplaints pertaining to violation of the law by broadcasters…its (BCCC's) decisions shall be treated bythe Union of India as the foundation to take appropriate action and pass necessary directions as alsoorders against the offender," the HC said. The bench was deciding a PIL against 'Emotional Atyachar'telecast on UTV Bindass in 2010. It asked the BCCC, an industry body meant for self regulation, todecide the complaints of "vulgarity" and "obscenity" against reality show and the Centre would enforce thedecision. "This is a landmark verdict which would ensure that TV content is regulated through a bodyeminent people and not left to self-regulation, which is an oxymoron," advocate Rahul Mehra, whorepresented the petitioners, told HT. Press Council of India chairman Justice Markandey Katju has beendemanding that electronic media should be brought under PCI's jurisdiction. But the governmentmaintained that it favoured self-regulation by the industry. The court pointed out there was no regulatorybody constituted under the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act 1995, The Cable Television NetworkRules 1994, Programme Code and Advertising Code and in case of violation of these Acts and Rules itwas left to the executive to ensure that the mandate of the legislation was complied with. But such a

situation would be an anathema in a democratic set up inasmuch as it would put broadcast industry underthe direct control of the state, it noted. "To guarantee pluralism and diversity of opinion requires provisionsfor public broadcasting, commercial broadcast and print media and community-based broadcast. Toensure media pluralism may require the application of competition law by the State to prevent monopolyof forms of communications, airwaves etc.," the bench said. Noting that freedom of expression was not anabsolute right, the bench, however, said, any reasonable restrictions could be imposed only by legislation.Commenting on the current electronic media scene, the HC said, there was desperate rush to grabeyeballs which had led the broadcast media to sully itself with sensationalization by adding colour andspice to events and transgressing individual privacy. (Hindustan Times 10/4/13)BJP leader's sons held, released for attacking scribe (1)INDORE: Two sons of BJP leader Kamal Khan who was recently nominated as member, MadhyaPradesh state minority commission were arrested by cops of MG Road police station here on Mondayevening for allegedly assaulting a cameraman of a leading news channel. Maaj Khan and Bilawal Khan,both sons of Kamal Khan, who enjoys the status of minister of state and their two aides Wasim Khan andSharad were arrested by staff of MG Road police station for allegedly assaulting a TV channelcameraman Balchan Vishnurao Garde. All four were later released on bail. The cameraman had lodged acomplaint of criminal assault against the four at the MG Road Police station on Monday alleging that theaccused beat him up during a function near Rajwada on Sunday evening. "Based on the cameraman'scomplaint we registered a case against them under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 294 (obsceneacts or language for others) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC and arrested them on Monday evening.They were later released on bail," MG Road police station in charge Kanhiyalal Dangi said. According tosources, a programme was organized near Rajvwada on Sunday evening to felicitate Kamal Khan for hisnomination to MP State Minority Commission. One of the media cameraman Balchand Vishnurao Gardewho was covering the event captured visuals pertaining to alleged drawing of electricity illegally to light upthe function. When the cameraman queried Khan's sons on this, then they and their two aides allegedlybeat up. (Times of India 17/4/13)Social media being used for terrorism, illegal acts: Sibal (1)New Delhi: Social media is being used for spreading terrorism and drug trafficking but the government isunable to take action because identity of perpetrators of such acts is not known, telecom and IT MinisterKapil Sibal said on Thursday. "Take drug trafficking, take terrorism... There are lot of things that ishappening through social media. Now we want to go after somebody... We cannot because the identity ofperson is not before us," Sibal said at launch of digital newspaper of BAG Network. The telecom ministersaid that if the identity of such user is known to the government, it is unable to act as the user is often notwithin the jurisdiction of India. Information and broadcasting minister Manish Tewari, who was present atthe occasion, echoed Sibal's view and said that there should be distinction between privacy andanonymity. "Once your are able to make that distinction and once you are able to enforce that the identityof the person... at least authenticated to the platform that he is on, a lot of these problem specially the onethat we saw the migration of people of north east from various cities, would have been taken care of,"Tewari said. Sibal said that community needs to build a consensus to resolve issues related to socialmedia by collaborating with each other and not by just making rules and regulations. "Even if you makerules and regulation, social media will not adhere to it. How do I get social media to adhere to those rulesand regulation. They are sitting outside. they say that our servers are not here, our servers are in USA.We will not listen you... what can you do? This is the problem," he said. When asked the restraint withingovernment to control miscreants on social media, Sibal said "We do not agree with you that we shouldput any control on social media. We do neither control media nor electronic media... If we start readingyour licence agreement (electronics media) then on daily basis electronic media violates some of thenorms." The telecom minister said whenever government even starts talking about any regulation on

social media, the traditional media people start attacking the government. "Not talking personally aboutyou, but your fraternity starts attacking the government at the Centre that it is in violation to freedom ofspeech and expression and creates such an environment across country as though our government orany other government is against freedom of speech and expression," he said. Sibal that this kind of mediaactivity has its own political effect on the country and "I don't believe that in India we are ready to adoptthis kind of process." "But definitely I will say one thing that no medium should be outside the laws of thiscountry," he added. The telecom minister said he believes that like judiciary, media should also thinkabout the restraints that should be adopted. (Hindustan Times 18/4/13)Publishers, editors oppose move to regulate British press (1)New Delhi: The global community of news publishers and editors has reacted critically to U.K.’s proposedmove to set up a press regulator through a royal charter. The World Association of Newspapers andNews Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the World Editors Forum, which claim to represent 18,000publications, have appealed to the British government to rethink the terms of the charter-basedregulation, warning it would “threaten more than 300 years of press freedom in the UK.” The proposedroyal charter, the organisations said, would “discourage investigative journalism” and encourage “selfcensorship”as publishers who did not sign up to the “approved regulator” system could be liable forpunitive damages, or alarmingly high libel costs. The letter also raised concerns about proposedarbitration services. “Disputes currently settled easily without cost to either side could become majorcompensation claims for even the smallest of errors,” the letter noted. The proposal would also have a“chilling effect” as a precedent to curtail press freedom in other countries. The organisations expresseddisappointment that the U.K. government ignored the numerous concerns raised by press freedom andhuman rights groups and “replaced a self-regulatory system with one underscored by statutoryregulation.” They alleged the charter needed to be seen alongside other proposed legislation, making it“statutory regulation of the press.” Instead, the organisations backed an “effective self-regulatory systemindependent of both the state and the newspaper and magazine industry.” The U.K. proposal hasemerged in the wake of the Leveson Committee’s findings into the ethics of the British press after thephone-hacking scandal. The Committee had recommended the setting up of a new, independent body,with a range of sanctions, to replace the existing Press Complaints Commission. (The Hindu 19/4/13)Social media helping locate quake victims in China (1)BEIJING: "About Fang Yang in Duneyang, Baosheng town. We do not know whether she is dead or alive.Her daughter and husband are now climbing Mount Benxi on foot looking for her. Please help us findher," said a desperate posting on a Chinese social media site. By 10pm Beijing time, there were threemillion posts on Sina Weibo and other social media websites with people trying to desperately seek helpor reaching out to their friends and relatives living in the area affected by this morning's earthquake in thewestern province of Sichuan. Posts and SMS are also being sent by affected people using mobile phonesconnected to 3G networks. The affected people are guiding relief workers about the exact location wherethey have been caught since the earthquake. China's phone service operators have enhanced theirservices as relief teams are using these services to locate the people trapped under fallen debris. "Pleasecontact me if you find her. I am her daughter. Very anxious," a young girl said in another post about hermother while giving her mobile phone number. Many Chinese also made use of the social media askingwhy the Seismological Bureau has again failed to predict the earthquake which hit the same area in 2008.Some web users called on the government to invest more funds on this crucial science instead offocusing on runaway economic development. "Even after such development in science and technology,why the government cannot accurately predict an earthquake. Put aside funds for this matter. Andimplement earthquake resistance construction standards for houses in the vulnerable areas," a bloggernamed Jie wrote. Nearly three hundred million people use the Internet and social media in China,according to official figures. The government is now using it as a tool for relief operations, something that

could not be used as effectively when earthquake last struck the same province in 2008. The 2008 quake,the deadliest in China, killed 95,000 people. (Times of India 21/4/13)Scribe asked to leave court in Dec 16 hearing (1)New Delhi: A foreign correspondent on Tuesday was asked by the judge, hearing the December 16 gangrapeto leave the courtroom as he was not entitled to attend the proceedings as per the Delhi High Courtorder on media coverage in this case. Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna asked the journalist, aforeign national belonging to a weekly, to sit outside and pick the news from Indian news agencies. Thejudge also said that he is bound by the Delhi High Court order and so he cannot be allowed to attend theproceedings. The High Court had allowed access to one journalist of each of the accredited nationaldailies and news agencies. The High Court had, however, imposed some restrictions on the media,saying it should not disclose the name of the victim or her family members or witnesses cited during thetrial. The journalist, however, requested the court to allow him as he has got accreditation from the IndianGovernment and is living here for the last six years. Showing his I-card, he also told the court, “You(judge and prosecutor) cannot do discrimination on racial background.” The judge’s direction came afterSpecial Public Prosecutor Dayan Krishnan urged the court to ask the foreign journalist to vacate the courtroom as the High Court order specifically mentioned that only national dailies of India and selected newschannels are allowed to sit in the proceedings. Krishnan also said that many of the Delhi news channelswere also not allowed to attend the proceedings and they could pick the news from Indian news agencies.Krishnan said if he wanted to attend the proceedings, he will have to take the permission from the HighCourt. The prosecutor showed the judge the High Court order while requesting the journalist to leave theroom. (Pioneer 24/4/13)Scribe death: PLFI claims responsibility (1)RANCHI: A breakaway faction of the CPI (Maoist), the People's Liberation Front of India (PLFI), hasclaimed responsibility for the brutal killing of a journalist in Khunti district, 40 km from Ranchi. JitendraSingh, 42, was killed late on Saturday in Murhu locality. The journalist worked for a local Hindi newspaperin Murhu and had been writing about the activities of the rebels for the past 16 years. In a letter foundfrom Singh's pocket, the PLFI said the journalist was killed because he did not pay heed to their diktat."No one can work in the area without approval of the PLFI," the letter read. The letter contains the nameof self-styled area commander of PLFI Ashishan Purty alias Dakwal's name. Subdivisional police officerKhunti Ashwini Kumar Sinha said, "Dakwal is a new name. He has surfaced after area commander forMurhu, Adki and Bandgaon, Munna Swasi was arrested about eight months ago." Singh had been toParshabeda, 22 km from Murhu, on Saturday with his three friends. A group of armed rebels stoppedthem and asked their identities. "As Singh identified himself, he was dragged a few metres, beaten upwith a cane and later shot dead," said police. However, Singh's friends escaped unhurt. Police haveraided over 10 places since Saturday night but could not arrest the rebels. The last rites of Singh wereconducted on Sunday evening. Singh was also into construction business and used to take contracts,police said. The letter also mentioned that he was carrying out government work in the area without thepermission of the PLFI, which is active in Murhu. The scribe was shot on the head and the chest. One ofthe three friends of Singh, who went to Murhu police station to inform about the incident, has beeninterrogated by police. "It is not a Maoist group, so it is difficult for us to track their movement. They aresmall groups," said a police officer. Sources said police had raided the suspected hideouts to trace therebel group. "Investigation is on. We have received some inputs which are being followed up," said KhuntiSP M Tamil Vanam. (Times of India 29/4/13)Ensure freedom of speech is not infringed upon: Par panel to (1)A Parliamentary panel today asked the government to ensure that citizens are not harassed, and people'sfreedom of speech is not infringed upon, on account of certain sections in the IT Act as was done in some

cases. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology, chaired by Rao Inderjit Singh,said it did not agree with the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY) contentionthat 4 cases under Section 66A and 2 cases under Section 79 are "mere aberrations".Section 66A of theIT Act prescribes punishment for sending offensive messages through communication services, while,Section 79 provides for intermediaries to observe due diligence and safeguards. The panel said that2012-13 witnessed a few controversies related to these sections of the IT Act, 2008 and the departmenthad issued an advisory in this regard so that the government's stand becomes clear on the issue. "Thecommittee do not agree with the contention of the department that the 4 cases under Section 66A and 2cases under Section 79 of the IT Act during 2012-13 are mere aberrations and that it would not beadvisable to amend the law based on these 4 cases where appropriate action has been taken to addressthe issues," it added. DEITY in its reply to the panel had said in the last 3 years media had highlightedfour cases where misuse of Section 66A was alleged and appropriate action was taken in all the cases,which included a case from Maharashtra where police officials and a judicial officer were transfered. "Thecommittee strongly feel that these cases should be taken as precedents which might be repeated infuture to harass the innocent citizen and infringe upon the Right of Freedom of speech of public," thereport said. Acknowledging that DEITY had followed the international best practices in framing theprovision of the IT Act, the panel suggested to the department that an act should take into account theground situation and adapt to emerging challenges. The panel said it was also "highly unhappy" withPlanning Commission allocating just Rs 500 crore against a demand of Rs 1,500 crore made by DEITY tofight cyber crime. "The committee are highly unhappy to note that the increased demand for 2013-14proposed by the department for taking new initiatives in field of cyber security, have not been consideredby the Planning Commission," the report said. The panel added that for 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17),against a demand of Rs 1,500 crore, the department (DEITY) has been allocated only Rs 500 crore. Inview of the fact that in last five years, as many as 1,273 government websites have been hacked andfinancial fraud/cyber crime has increased tremendously, the panel said it endorses DEITY's submissionthat restriction in allocation would delay in taking new initiatives to check on cyber crime. "The committeestrongly feel that the funds allocated under cyber security including CERT-In IT Act should be increased,"it added. (Business Standard 30/4/13)US calls on Sri Lanka to ensure freedom of press (1)Washington: Expressing deep concern over the recent surge in attacks on Sri Lankan mediaorganisations, the US on Tuesday called on the country to ensure freedom of press. "The US calls on SriLankan authorities to demonstrate their commitment to the rule of law and freedom of expression byconducting thorough investigations into all attacks and killings of journalists and bringing perpetrators tojustice," State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell, told reporters. "We urge Sri Lankan authorities toprotect freedom of expression," he said, adding that the necessity of upholding this fundamental right wasnot only a component of the UN Human Rights Council resolution in Geneva this March but it was alsocentral recommendation of the Sri Lankan government's own Lessons Learned and ReconciliationCommission. US calls on Sri Lanka to ensure freedom of pressThe State Department spokesman saidthe US has seen the Amnesty International report and noted that it echoes many of the concerns the USraised in its own human rights report. The US, he said, has seen the Amnesty International report andnoted that it echoes many of the concerns the US raised in its own human rights report. "So as we havesaid many times, we remain extremely concerned about threats to freedom of expression in Sri Lankaand continue to support the need for justice and accountability for serious human rights abuses in SriLanka," he said. As part of the "Free the Press" campaign, Ventrell highlighted the case of Utheyan, aTamil-language newspaper in Sri Lanka. "Utheyan has seen its personnel beaten, its newspapershipments burned, its equipment destroyed and its offices set ablaze in this last month alone. The assaulton the free press in Sri Lanka extends beyond Utheyan," he said. "The BBC Tamil-language service has

had its programmes about Sri Lanka and the Human Rights Council censored. Reporters have beenphysically assaulted and murdered in years past, and a prominent political cartoonist has been missingfor three years," Ventrell said. (CNN IBN 1/5/13)India 140th on media freedom list, China 173 rd (1)LONDON: Increased censorship is crippling India, which has seen the biggest tumble in Asia in terms ofmedia freedom. India is ranked 140th in the 2013 World Press Freedom Index - its lowest ranking since2002 - because of an "increasing impunity for violence against journalists and because internetcensorship continues to grow". India has slipped nine positions on this list with the "governmentincreasingly refusing to grant citizens the freedom to be informed".It makes India worse than countriesthat are usually considered miserly with freedom of information - Niger, Sierra Leone, Bosnia, UAE, SouthSudan, Chad and Afghanistan. India has been bracketed under the category "difficult situation" withregards to freedom of information along with Egypt, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Burma, Iraq and Russia. Thereport said the Asian region saw the sharpest deterioration in the climate for those involved in news andinformation in 2012. Four journalists were killed in India - the world's biggest democracy - in 2012. Thereport, which has for the first time published a global indicator of worldwide media freedom, says, "InIndia, authorities insist on censoring the web and imposing taboos, while violence against journalists goesunpunished and the regions of Kashmir and Chhattisgarh become increasingly isolated." China has beentermed as "very serious situation" and ranked 173rd among countries facing tremendous censorship.(Times of India 4/5/13)Press freedom outlook 'gloomy', says IPI watchdog (1)Vienna, May 4 : Last year was the deadliest for journalists, and the number of reporters operating freely inthe world is shrinking, Vienna-based press freedom watchdog International Press Institute (IPI) has said."2012 was the worst-ever year in terms of journalists killed," said IPI deputy director Anthony Mills onWorld Press Freedom Day, which was observed Friday. "Journalists are dying in large numbers, in Syria,Pakistan, Somalia and Brazil," he said. A total of 70 journalists were killed in 2012, according to theCommittee to Protect Journalists, of whom 28 in Syria, 12 in Somalia, seven in Pakistan and four inBrazil. Over 90 percent of the murders of journalists documented by the IPI since the early 1990s havegone unpunished and the perpetrators have never been brought to justice, Mills said. On Syria, Mills saidthat before the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011, almost no journalistswere killed because there were virtually no independent media organisations. Journalists who criticisedthe regime also knew the fate that awaited them, Mills noted. "Journalists reporting in Syria are still ingrave danger, all that is associated with a civil war and an increasingly splintered opposition infiltrated byextremist groups," he said. However, the internet and social media have transformed news coverage ofevents in Syria and elsewhere, Mills said. "New media have created a valve though which information canseep out, in a way that couldn't happen a few years ago." He gave the example of the news of the arrestand torture of two teenage boys in Syria's Daraa city which triggered the revolt against Assad. "Onlinemedia - bloggers and social activists - were able to transmit information immediately that was picked upby mainstream media like al-Jazeera," Mills said. He contrasted this with the 1982 Muslim Brotherhooduprising in Hamama city, in which 20,000-30,000 people were killed. "It took months for information onthat to get out," Mills said. Despite the September 2012 UN action plan and resolution on the safety ofjournalists, media workers continue to be murdered, arrested and even die from disease or maltreatmentin prison, he said. "Take the example of Iran, where dozens of journalists are in jail although it's not acountry where journalists are murdered like in Somalia or Pakistan." Turkey, which has more imprisonedjournalists than any other country (at least 66), is another case in point, he said. "The Turkish governmentdoesn't choose to distinguish between journalists or writers and the militants that they interview. In mostcase, they are charged with terrorism." The main obstacles to press freedom even within Europe is the"high degree" of cynicism on the part of governments and a lack of political will, Mills claimed. "Even in

Britain, the government has proposed legislation that would enforce self-regulation through royal charterwith the possibility of regulation coming from parliament," Mills said. m"The outlook is pretty gloomy. Butthe situation is not completely without hope, however," Mills concluded. (New Kerala 4/5/13)Media showing only govt’s negative side: Sibal, Azad (1)Bhopal: Rattled by a string of corruption scandals, two Union ministers on Sunday blamed the media forfocussing only on the negative and invoked the 'paid news' phenomenon to get even. Minister forCommunications and Information Technology Kapil Sibal said corruption was endemic in the society,including media, but when confronted the latter alleges that it was being denied freedom of expression.Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad wondered if journalists should be imported from the US and UK towrite about the good works that the UPA was doing over the years like building roads, schools andhospitals. Going a step further, Sibal said the media was promoting unbridled consumerism and arguedthat it was leading to corruption. "The fourth estate should be part of construction and not demolition,"Azad said advising the media to keep the nation's interests in mind because they are "Hindustanistoo".The ministers, who were addressing a joint press conference at the Congress headquarters here,said the audio-visual media was spreading negativity round the clock and defaming individuals. (IndianExpress 6/5/13)Newspapers, news agencies employees stage demonstration (1)Employees of newspapers and news agencies today held a demonstration against the "inordinate" delayin the implementation of the Majithia Wageboards' recommendations for journalists and non-journalists.The demonstration held under the aegis of the Confederation of Newspapers and News AgenciesOrganisations (CNNAEO) was staged in front the Press Trust of India building and later outsidenewspaper offices at Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg. Addressing the demonstrators, the leaders of CNNEAOaccused the managements of "deliberately delaying" the implementation of the wageboards'recommendations. General Secretary of CNNAEO M S Yadav said more demonstrations would be stagedagainst the managements for their "adamant attitude".Yadav hoped that a decision would be made infavour of employees of newspapers and news agencies who are waiting for a wage revision since the lastwageboard proposals announced in 2000. Among others who addressed the rally included C K Naidu ofIndian Express, Suresh Akhouri of IJU, M L Joshi of UNI, S K Pandey of Delhi Union of Journalists andRoop Chand of the Times of India Employees Union. (Business Standard 8/5/13)Report against scribes unfounded: Chandy (1)THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said that the intelligence report aboutcorrespondents of three Malayalam newspapers having worked against the interests of the State inrespect of inter-State water disputes with Tamil Nadu is unfounded. Expressing regrets over the reportagainst newspapers here on Wednesday, the Chief Minister said that references against the newspaperswere unfortunate. Chief Secretary E.K. Bharat Bhooshan had examined all aspects of the report aswanted by the editors of the newspapers. He had found that neither the correspondents of thenewspapers had acted wrongly nor had they published anything detrimental to the interests of the State.It had been alleged that the correspondents had received favours from a public relations officer of TamilNadu and that the officer had managed to leak documents and information from the Secretariat. Theinquiry by the Chief Secretary showed that no document had been lost and that no criminal offence hadbeen committed, Mr. Chandy said. The Chief Minister said the intelligence report was intended to providesome pointers to the government. The government did not question the bona fides of the officers whofiled the report. Intelligence reports are not always 100 per cent accurate. Malayala Manorama ManagingEditor Philip Mathew, Mathrubhumi Managing Editor P.V. Chandran, and Kerala Kaumudi ManagingDirector M.S. Ravi had approached the Chief Minister last Saturday demanding a probe into the

allegations in the intelligence report filed by Additional Director-General of Police (Intelligence) T.P.Senkumar. Mr. Chandy had asked the Chief Secretary to inquire into the matter. (The Hindu 9/5/13)Attack on scribe: plea to file criminal case (1)KADAPA: Journalists’ Aikya Vedika members on Thursday condemned the attack on Maha TV staffreporter Srinath Reddy allegedly by Prasad Reddy, CEO of Chinthalamadugupalli Cooperative Society inVempalle mandal. Vedika leaders C. Suri Babu, K. Suryanarayana Rao, Vijayachandran and othersapproached District Revenue Officer P.H. Hemasagar here and demanded registration of a criminal caseand stern action against the CEO. Srinath Reddy, who was admitted to Vempalle Government Hospitalhere, was beaten up for reporting irregularities in the society and seeking information on its affairs underRTI Act, they said in a statement here. (The Hindu 10/5/13)Obama advocates balance between free press, national security (1)WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama strongly believes the need to maintain a balance betweenfreedom of press and that there is no leak to any classified information that threatens national security,the White House said on Tuesday. "The President feels strongly that the press to be able to be unfetteredin its pursuit of investigative journalism. When he was a senator, the President co-sponsor legislation thatwould have provided further protections for journalists in this regard," White House press secretary JayCarney told reporters at his daily news conference. "He is also mindful of the need for secret andclassified information to remain secret and classified in order to protect our national security interests. Sothere is a careful balance here that must be attained," Carney said responding to a volley of questionsfrom the White House media on the news report that the Department of Justice collected phone recordsof editors and reporters of the Associated Press news agency. Carney, however, did not respond tospecific questions on Associated Press allegations. "What I can tell you is that this president believesstrongly in the First Amendment and is a strong defender of the First Amendment. He believes strongly inthe need for the press to be unfettered in its pursuit of investigative journalism," he said. "He also believesstrongly, as a citizen and as president, in the need to ensure that classified information is not leakedbecause it can endanger our national security interest; it can endanger American men and women aroundthe world. But I cannot and he cannot appropriately comment on the specifics of an ongoing criminalinvestigation," Carney said. Obama, he said, absolutely believes in the need for the press to be able topursue unfettered investigative journalism. "But I can't then take that to a specific case that's beenreported in the press — again, that we learned about from the press — appropriately, because if welearned about it any other way, it would be inappropriate," he said. (Times of India 15/5/13)Tripura: Three killed as armed men attack a newspaper's office (1)Agartala: Three staff members of a newspaper in Tripura, Dainik Ganadoot, were killed on Sunday afterarmed men attacked the paper's office. The three non-journalist staff members were stabbed by theunknown assailants. According to police, the motorcycle-borne assailants barged into the office of 'DainikGanadoot' at the Palace Compound at about 3 pm and stabbed a proof reader and a driver on the groundfloor before proceeding to the first floor where they stabbed the office manager. As it was Sundayafternoon, only a reporter was present at the newspaper office 'Gandoot Bhawan'. He fainted on seeingthe assailants stabbing the two men on the ground floor and was left unharmed. All the three men, whowere knifed a number of times each, were rushed to the hospital where they were declared brought dead,the police said adding the traumatised reporter was also undergoing treatment there. The assailantsbarged into the office of Dainik Ganadoot and stabbed a proof reader and a driver on the ground floor.The three were identified as proof reader Sujit Bhattacharya (32), office driver Balaram Ghosh (40) andoffice manager Ranjit Chowdhury (60), the police said. 'Dainik Ganadoot' editor-cum proprietor SushilChowdhury, who lives in the same compound, said he suspected the three were stabbed due to mistakenidentity and he himself might have been the target but did not know the reason behind the killings. Papia,

the six-year old daughter of the driver, who too lived in the same complex, said she saw the twoassailants repeatedly stabbing her father and Bhattacharya before rushing to the first floor. Police said theassailants were yet to be identified and search operation has been launched to apprehend them. AgartalaPress Club has strongly condemned the killing and demanded safety and security to the lives ofjournalists and employees of newspaper and media houses in the state. (CNN IBN 19/5/13)Editors Guild demands thorough probe into Ganadoot killings (1)Editors Guild of India today expressed shock and deep anguish over the killing of three employees of thenewspaper 'Dainik Ganadoot' in Agartala and demanded a thorough probe into the incident. "Thatmanager of the newspaper Ranjit Chowdhury, proof reader Sunil Bhattarcharjee and driver BalaramGhosh died at the hands of suspected contract killers in broad daylight on Sunday, shows that the lawand order in the state of Tripura has all but collapsed," the Guild said in a statement here. Issued by VijayNaik, the General Secretary of the guild, the statement said that "this is not only an attack on the freedomof the press, but the inability of the police to show any progress in the investigation shows inefficiency ofthe police administration." The Guild called upon Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar to order a thoroughprobe into the incident and provide adequate protection to the staff of the newspaper. It also said that themedia in north eastern states is coming under increasing threats from insurgents and contract killers andas such, reporting from conflict zones is becoming difficult as reporters have to put their lives at risk. TheGuild called upon the state government to find the culprits and bring them to book. The South Asia MediaCommission also expressed shock over the killings and slammed the Tripura government for its"insensitive attitude" towards the incident. "The murder of three staffers of the Agartala-based newspaper,Ganadoot Patrika, in their office in broad daylight is shocking beyond words," K K Katyal, South AsiaMedia Commission (SAMC) President, said in a statement. Asking the government to "wake up" to its"primary responsibility" of maintaining the law and order, the SAMC demanded a thorough inquiry into theincident besides compensation to the families of the victims. According to police, motorcycle-borneassailants barged into the office of 'Dainik Ganadoot' at the Palace Compound in Agartala at about 3 PMand stabbed a proof reader and a driver on the ground floor before proceeding to the first floor where theystabbed the office manager. (Business standard 21/5/13)Four arrested in scribe’s murder case (1)GUNTUR: The police arrested four persons - A. Brahma Reddy, I. Nagendra Babu, D. Veeranjaneyuluand P. Gopi who were accused of murdering journalist L. Prakash at Pedakakani on May 6. The search ison for three more accused. Producing them before the media here on Thursday, Superintendent of Police(urban) A. Ravi Krishna said Brahma Reddy had decided to eliminate Prakash due to his allegedinterference in a financial dispute with N. Hanumeswara Rao of Kurnuthala village in Vatticherukurumandal. Hanumeswara Rao owed Rs. 25 lakh to Brahma Reddy but the latter tried to avoid repaymentwith the support of Prakash. Besides, a private chit fund company served a notice to Brahma Reddyseeking to auction his house after Hanumeswara Rao to whom he gave surety, failed to clear his dues.Brahma Reddy claimed that Prakash threatened him with dire consequences if he did not give up a courtcase filed for securing his dues from Hanumeswara Rao. As the pressure mounted from Prakash,Brahma Reddy fled to Hyderabad where he stayed for some time. Unable to bear the torture any further,Brahma Reddy decided to eliminate Prakash believing that Hanumeswara Rao would then keep hiscommitments. Brahma Reddy offered Rs. 5 lakh to Nagendra Babu and others for killing Prakash andthey put their plan to action on May 6 near Pallalamma Cheruvu in Pedakakani. Prakash was returninghome around 11.30 p.m. when he was brutally attacked with an axe and sickles. He died on the spot. Asum of Rs. 1.10 lakh was paid to the assailants for completing the job. (The Hindu 24/5/13)Government, media spar over press freedom (1)

MUMBAI: Maharashtra governor K Sankaranarayanan conferred the RedInk Lifetime AchievementAwards upon veteran journalists Kuldeep Nayyar and N Ram in Mumbai Saturday. The ceremony wasorganized by the Press Club of Mumbai. Nayyar's wife Bharti accepted the honour in his absence.Awards were also presented to 19 other journalists from all parts of India. At the function, Union ministerfor information and broadcasting Manish Tewari called upon the media to "introspect" and devise a robust"self-regulation regime". "Make self-regulation more inclusive and robust to keep out judicial intervention,"he said. He said there was a need for "constant introspection" so the self-regulation process could betaken forward. Tewari said social media has reshaped media today. In effect there are over 8 crorebroadcasters in the form of micro-bloggers and individual users of social networks. Tewari alleged thatthe "Revenue models of Indian media organisations have not been well-constructed, leading in turn toissues of paid news, private treaties, tyranny of TRPs and sensationalism." During a panel discussionafterward, N Ram observed that unreasonable restrictions were being placed on the media. He said thethreat of criminal contempt was posing a serious challenge to fearless journalism. Moderator ArnabGoswami said the media had the right to defend its turf against frequent judicial interventions. (Times ofIndia 25/5/13)N. Srinivasan: My resignation being sought only by hounding media (1)Chennai: A defiant and combative BCCI President N. Srinivasan, who has decided to hang on to hisposition despite the IPL spot-fixing scandal, today said his resignation is being sought only by a"hounding media". N. Srinivasan, whose son-in-law and Chennai Super Kings CEO Gurunath Meiyappanhas been arrested for alleged involvement in betting, reached here after attending the IPL final last nightin Kolkata, where the crowd booed him during the presentation ceremony. Related: Srinivasan booed byEden crowd "The press is hounding me, the media is hounding me. I have already clarified everything inthe press conference. I have no reason to resign," Srinivasan retorted when journalists at the airportasked him about the scandal andwhether he should resign on moral grounds. Srinivasan had yesterdayheld a press conference hours before the final to declare that he would not step down. He alsoannounced the setting up of a three-member enquiry panel to investigate the scandal, that led to thearrest of three Rajasthan Royals players. The BCCI president asserted that he has done nothing wrongand rejected reports of a revolt against him in BCCI. He made it clear that he would not be "railroaded,pushed and threatened to quit"."My support is complete and not one member in BCCI has asked for myresignation", he had said. "I have a job and we will act strictly. I assure you, the BCCI will act without fearor favour to investigate and if player, franchise or owners have breached any rules, action will be taken",he said. The three-member inquiry commission will consist of two members of the IPL OperationsCommittee and an independent person in whose appointment he will have no role. The five members ofthe committee are Arun Jaitley, Rajeev Shukla, Sanjay Jagdale, Ajay Shirke and Ravi Shastri. (IndianExpress 27/5/13)‘Media has breached citizens’ trust, but all is not lost’ (1)Is a newspaper a product and its reader just a consumer? Is the news media in the business of news or inthe business of advertising? Would you define the media by the interventions it made in ensuring justicein the Jessica Lal murder case, the 2G scam and the mining scam or define it by its apathy toward Dalits,women, sexuality minorities and the working class? The Sixth Union Debate of the National Law Schoolof India University (NLSIU), Has the Indian Media breached the Trust of the Citizens?, held hereWednesday sure did not set an easy task for the panel which included some of the country’s senior-mostjournalists and media commentators. Opening the debate, N. Ram, former Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu,argued that the Indian media had surely breached the trust of the Indian citizen but not completelyforfeited it. However, he said that corrupt practices such as paid news have become a “structural featureof the Indian media”. He said paid news is no longer just a phenomenon during elections but continues allyear long. Expressing concern over the “dangerous dependence on advertising”, he said the media has

fallen behind in covering issues of mass deprivation and acts of brazen injustice. Countering him, theVinod Sharma, Political Editor of The Hindustan Times, said: “Just like you get the government youdeserve, in a democracy, you also only get the media you deserve.” Defending a popular news anchor,who was slammed by human rights activist and academic G. Hargopal for being jingoistic and reactionaryin a previous panel, Mr. Sharma said: “He spent the first year trying to run a serious news channel. But itfailed. To survive, he turned it into the Fox News of India.” He said it is because of the media that justicefor the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat are still part of thepublic discourse. Countering him, Geeta Seshu, Consulting Editor of The Hoot, said: “The Indian mediabecame a lost cause from the moment it started viewing itself as product.” Stressing that there is anabsence of plurality in the media, she raised questions about media ownership patterns and cartelisationin the industry. “We have to find an alternative to the advertisement driven model,” she said. Veteranjournalist Nupur Basu countered her and said that it is fashionable to trash the media. “If there were notelevision channels, 10,000 people would have died in Gujarat not 2,000,” she said, lauding channels forthe manner in which they have forced the hand of the government and the Board of Control for Cricket inIndia in the spot fixing scandal. Calling for greater sensitivity toward the constraints within which themedia functions, she said more than advertising and circulation pressures, the media is facing greaterpressure from the system to remain silent. Senior journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta pointed out thatthree newspapers hold 85 per cent of the market share in Delhi and questioned the premise that theIndian citizen is free to choose the media he or she wants. In a telling comment, he said: “In the Indianmedia, there are too many lapdogs, too few watchdogs and hardly any guide dogs.” He also said that thereason Dalits are a blind spot is because there are hardly any of them in the media. Veeraraghavan,Senior Editor, CNN-IBN, said that TV is not a platform that can build national opinion beyond a particularpoint and it is unfair to have such expectations of the medium. “You talk of breached trust; I say it ismisplaced trust that expects a complex issue like naxalism to be resolved on air in 30 minutes. But cansuch a discussion bring issues to focus? Yes, of course.” (The Hindu 30/5/13)Newspapers see prospects in payments for online content (1)Bangkok: Global newspaper chiefs have some rare good news to share after years of slumping printsales and advertising revenues — readers appear increasingly willing to pay for online news. More than1,500 newspaper editors and other media figures are meeting in Bangkok this week as papers continueto shed readers — at least in the older markets — and the shift to the Internet draws more “eyeballs” butlower ad rates. Press freedom, journalist safety, the use of new technology and future trends in print andadvertising will also be discussed at the four-day annual World Newspaper Congress, which runs untilJune 5. The issue of charging readers for web and mobile content looms largest, with editors casting anenvious eye at media groups which have successfully implemented “paywalls” after years of giving awaynews for free. “The general impression was that it would be impossible to reverse the culture of free(online) content... that people will never pay for it,” said Gilles Demptos of the World Association ofNewspapers and News Publishers. “The great news is, that is changing dramatically,” he added, citingthe boom in paid-for online subscriptions for the “high-quality” journalism of the New York Times (NYT)and Financial Times. Last month, the NYT became the second most-read US daily newspaper, with acirculation of over 1 million. The figure was boosted by 325,000 new digital readers who have joined sincea paywall was introduced in 2011. (Hindustan Times 3/6/13)Press Academy proposes to set up media museum (1)KOCHI: Kerala Press Academy (KPA) proposes to establish a state-of-the-art media museum, which willserve as a repository of the history and development of mass media in the country. A detailed projectreport (DPR) of the museum proposed to be set up at an investment of Rs. 13.50 crore has been readied.KPA chairman N.P. Rajendran said that the DPR would be handed over to the Minister for Information

and Culture K.C. Joseph on June 12. A three storied-building in the traditional Kerala architectural stylehas been proposed on the campus of the KPA at Kakkanad to house the museum. V.R. Ajith Kumar, KPAsecretary, said the media museum would be the first of its kind anywhere in the country. The museum willfeature aspects covering the birth, evolution, and development of the mass media, including print, audiovisualmedia and traditional media. It will depict the comprehensive history of how mass media evolved inthe country besides giving an insight in to the services and role played by the media especially duringcritical situations. (The Hindu 4/6/13)Media faces people’s ire for beaming false news (1)DHARWAD: Following reports of a woman and a senior citizen being confined in their houses for years inBangalore, a section of the media appears to be out looking for similar breaking news stories. In a freshcase on Thursday, a private TV channel beamed the news that a young, mentally challenged girl fromDharwad was confined to her house and victimized by her mother. Sandhya, 28, daughter of Vithal andRekha Gondoli, resident of Malamaddi in Dharwad, is a graduate who was depressed for the past fewyears. Her father, a retired tahsildar, passed away recently. Sandhya is looked after by her homemakermother Rekha. When local news reporters went to Rekha's house to cross-check, they had face the ire ofneighbours who lambasted the media for spreading wrong information. They denied the girl was confinedto her house, and said she was moving around and was friendly with neigbhours. Meanwhile, someneighbours informed reporters that the girl and her mother had been taken away by a person in a privatevehicle. On hearing this, Dharwad deputy commissioner Sameer Shukla sent a team of officials from thewomen and child welfare department and police to Sandhya's house to find out what was happening. Theofficers found the house locked. Shukla told TOI the officials finally contacted Sandhya over the cellphoneof the TV reporter, who had taken Sandhya and her mother. "The reporter asked the officials to come to aparticular traffic junction to meet the duo. However, his mobile was switched off later. Davanagere policesucceeded in intercepting the vehicle at Davanagere and detained the occupants. Police were about toregister a case of abduction against the TV reporter but refrained when Sandhya's mother told them theywere not abducted but were being taken to Bangalore for medical treatment," Shukla said. Shukla alsosaid: "A TV channel beamed the news that the girl was being victimized by her mother. It was wrong onthe part of reporter to take the duo to Bangalore without informing the authorities. He should haveinformed local officers who would have arranged for immediate medical treatment for the girl, if she wasreally being harassed. If the mother was victimizing the daughter, how safe is she?" he asked. (times ofIndia 7/6/13)Scribe’s book unveils facts on Telangana stir (1)HYDERABAD: TRS MLA T Harish Rao on Tuesday took the responsibility of distributing around 500copies of a book written by senior journalist N Venugopal, in an attempt to spread facts about theTelangana movement. The book, Vidveshame Dhyeyamga Visalandhra Maha Rabhasa, was released byTelangana Jouranlists Forum general secretary Ch Kranti Kiran at a function here on Tuesday. It seeks tocounter the book released by Visalandhra Maha Sabha leader Parakala Prabhakar. Speaking on theoccasion, Harish Rao lauded the efforts of Venugopal for his research to bring out facts about theTelangana movement. Describing Venugopal as an intellectual like the late Prof Jaya Shankar, he saidthe book speaks facts based on research and with documentary evidence culled from variousnewspapers and books. Harish Rao said he would take 500 copies and distribute them among TRSexecutive members, MLAs, MLCs and ministers of both Seemandhra and Telangana regions. Everyperson participating in the Telangana movement should read the book in order to know several crucialpoints in the history of the movement, he said. Harish Rao alleged that Kiran Reddy government isproposing to sell 202 acres near the Hi-tec City at Rs 12 crore per acre. An estimated Rs 2,400 croreearned through the sale would be spent on acquiring 2,000 acres in the chief minister’s native Chittoordistrict to set up the National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ). When Telangana lands are

sold, people would be happy if the amount is spent on establishing a NIMZ in the Telangana region, hesaid. On the propaganda spread by Parakala Prabhakar, Harish Rao alleged that Prabhakar has becomea tool in the hands of Andhra capitalists. Venugopal, introducing his book, said he penned it to spreadfacts and. He termed Parakala’s book as ‘childish’. Parakala, as a BJP spokesperson, supported theparty’s “one vote, two states” slogan and is now contradicting himself, he pointed out. Telangana HistorySociety president Tadakamall Vivek, journalist Allam Narayana, TNGO leader Deviprasad and othersspoke. (New Indian Express 12/6/13)It’s time for action to restore media’s credibility, says Ansari (1)LUCKNOW: Expressing concern over paid news, cross-media ownership and the declining role of editorsand their editorial freedom, Vice-President Hamid Ansari on Saturday stressed the need for correctiveaction to restore the credibility of the media. “The corrective action should be undertaken without delay asfailure to do so would lend credence to widely expressed apprehensions about special interests,” he said.Pointing out some developments which “have raised questions about the media’s objectivity andcredibility,” Mr. Ansari said a free, fair, honest and objective press is a potent instrument for enhancingtransparency and accountability. “Freedom of the Press is one of the most important ingredients ofdemocracy and reflects the character of the state.” In his inaugural address at the biennial session of theNational Union of Journalists (NUJ) at Hathras in Uttar Pradesh, the Vice-President mentioned thefindings of the Administrative Staff College of India, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and theparliamentary standing committee on information technology. He said their findings presented adisturbing picture. He said most of the 300-odd news channels in the country were “loss making” anddependent on “dubious cross-holding, black money infusion and dodgy private equity investors.” In thisscenario, the media was inclined or forced to adopt unethical methods, the Vice-President observed.Referring to the TRAI document, Mr. Ansari said it had drawn a direct link between “uncontrolledownership” and “paid news,” corporate and political lobbying by television channels, “propagation ofbiased analysis and forecast, both in the political arena as well as the corporate sector, and irresponsiblereporting to create sensationalism.” The paper had mentioned that “it is even more lethal where theownership or control rests with entities which have both business and political interests.” The standingcommittee had asked the TRAI and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to consider the paidnews issue on a priority basis. It had proposed “urgent attention” on the issue of cross-media ownership.To curb the twin problems of cross-media ownership and paid news, the Vice-President suggested astatutory Media Council or a revamped Press Council of India functioning as a regulatory body for theprint media and a similar body for the electronic media. Media owners and interested parties should notbe on the regulatory body. Mr. Ansari said the standing committee had also stressed the improving of theworking conditions of journalists, including contractual employment and wage scenario, and to “ensurethat the autonomy of the editorial staff was upheld.” (The Hindu 15/6/13)Doctors abduct, confine and beat scribes (1)CUTTACK: Doctors might be enjoying protection under the Orissa Medicare Service Persons andMedicare Service Institutions (prevention of violence and damage to property) Act 2008, but what aboutprotecting innocent patients and their attendants from the delinquent ones who perpetrate atrocities onthem? In a blatant incident of hooliganism by the medical professionals, junior doctors of the SCB MedicalCollege and Hospital here abducted two scribes and forcibly confined them in their hostel, abusing andbeating them up, on Saturday evening. The only fault of the victims was to seek information on thecondition of a patient, who was admitted to the Medicine Department of the hospital. According to reports,Sobhakar Samantray, the father of reporter of a local TV channel Chittaranjan Samantray, had beenadmitted to the ward a few days back. Even as he was undergoing treatment, the junior doctors hadreportedly been pestering his attendants to take him away without citing any valid reason and had gone tothe extent of misbehaving with them and Chittaranjan too. On Saturday evening, when Chittaranjan and

his colleague Debasish Mohanty were at the bedside of his father, a mob of junior doctors swooped onthem and dragged them to the PG hostel. The duo was confined in a room for more than two hours andsubjected to abuse and beating. Intriguingly, the Mangalabag police had reached the spot when thedoctors were taking the victims to the hostel but preferred to be a mute spectator. The action finally cameafter senior police officials and media personnel rushed to the scene and rescued the duo. What is moregalling is even though the victim Chittaranjan and his mother Charulata filed two complaints, the policeregistered cases only late on Sunday afternoon but not before accepting belated counter FIRs from thedoctors. The issue raises several questions on the functioning of the premier health institution whereneglect of patients and misbehaviour of the attendants, particularly by junior doctors, has becomecommon place in recent times. “If the patient attendant misbehaved or assaulted the doctor on duty, heshould have informed the authorities or the police. They just cannot take law on to their own hands,” saida senior doctor. Clearly on the back foot, the SCBMCH authorities have gone on a damage control mode.“We do not approve of the incident and will not tolerate it. The College Council will meet on Monday todiscuss the situation and take appropriate action in the connection,” said Dean Prof PC Mohapatra. (NewIndian Express 17/6/13)‘New Anti-Terrorism Act gags freedom of expression’ (1)The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and its member organisation in Bangladesh,Odhikar, expressed deep concerns Monday over the amendment of anti-terrorism bill 2013, which statesthat the court will accept videos, still photographs and audio clips used in Facebook, twitter, Skype andother social media as evidence. The amendment bill passed by parliament on June 11 widens the scopeof sanctions provided in the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2009. Earlier in 2012, the amendment to this actintroduced death penalty as the highest penalty for terrorist activities. It also provided scope to prohibitthe use of Bangladeshi land for any terrorist activities against other countries and all types of illegal arms.The rights bodies say the bill was passed despite strong resistance from the opposition and withoutholding talks with civil society organisations. Earlier in a joint report in October 2010 FIDH and Odhikarexpressed their concerns that the vague definitions of terrorist activities under the act had “opened thelegislation to potential abuse.” The act was incompatible with the principle of legality requiring thatcriminal liability and punishment be limited to clear and precise provisions enshrined in the InternationalCovenant on Civil and Political Rights which Bangladesh has ratified, the report had said. By creating abroadly applicable definition of terrorist activities and reducing terrorism to merely a question of crimepunishable by death, the amendment bill makes the act even more vulnerable to the worst kind ofabuses, said FIDH and Odhikar. The widening of the scope of crimes punishable by death thus carriesthe tremendous risk of irreversible injustice, they said, claiming that the act has already been abused bythe government to repress political opponents, journalists and other dissenting voices. Odhikar secretaryAdilur Rahman Khan said: “The amended bill as it stands now will be more repressive and by its verynature most likely will turn into a nightmare of abuse and violence jeopardising social and politicalstability, instead of strengthening human security. We also raised concerns about the act when it was firstpromulgated by the military-backed caretaker government.” “Experiences in several countries shows thatthe criminalisation of opinions expressed online through social media or blogs is not only a violation offreedom of expression and the right to privacy, it also represents a new pattern of persecution of anyvoice of dissent, as well as human rights defenders,” said Karim Lahidji, FIDH president. Dhaka Tribune18/6/13)Chief editor, reporter held for Rs 1 lakh extortion (1)MUMBAI: The chief editor and the reporter of a local magazine from Mira Road were arrested forextorting Rs 1 lakh from a hotelier in Borivali East on Monday. The reporter, AmitPanvar (29), was caughtred-handed while accepting the sum. Police said Panvar and his editor, NityanandPandey, 40, had filedcomplaints against the hotelier, Rahat Khan, for running illegal activities. Khan's hotel is based at

Devipada in Borivali East. The two scribes first demanded a large sum of money from Khan andeventually settled at Rs 1 lakh. Khan had recorded their conversation and submitted it to the police. Theaccused-duo will be produced before a local court on Tuesday. Officials from the Kasturba Marg policestation said the magazine had been running for the past five years. (Times of India 25/6/13)BJP blames media and Congress for row over Modi (1)New Delhi: After three days of silence, a deeply embarrassed BJP vehemently denied reports in a sectionof the media that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had managed to fly back 15,000 Gujaratisstranded in the calamity-hit Uttarakhand. Amid spate of adverse reports on the absurdity of the claims,BJP president Rajnath Singh, in a clarification in Lucknow on Wednesday, said, “Mr. Modi went toUttarakhand to express his sympathies and it is being said that he evacuated 15,000 Gujaratis from there.I myself talked to him and he said that he never gave any such statement.” However, the BJP leaderswere at a loss to explain why in the first place the party leadership deemed it necessary to pick up thephone to seek a clarification from Mr. Modi on such a weird media report that spawned other reports andcommentaries. A day after the report appeared in an English daily, the BJP spokespersons were actuallypraising the commendable job done by Mr. Modi in ensuring prompt rescue of Gujaratis. Modi fans onTwitter and other social web sites went gaga over the report, citing it as yet another example of a leaderwho could deliver. However, as realisation dawned that it had parochial and other connotations theyquickly went on the offensive suggesting that a section of the media was bent on attacking the ChiefMinister for every thing. Mr. Modi had gone to Uttarkhand with a team of State officials and camped atDehradun for two days to supervise the rescue and relief efforts undertaken by his team. On Tuesday, theBJP national spokesperson Prakash Javadekar defended the actions of Mr. Modi on the ground that heperformed his duty as Chief Minister of Gujarat. “I am unable to understand the controversy over the visitof Mr. Modi to Uttarakhand. Besides him several other Chief Ministers had visited the State hit by adisaster,” Mr. Javadekar said. (The Hindu 26/6/13)Pakistan says Indian scribe overstayed (1)New Delhi: The Pakistan High Commission Wednesday said there was no change in its media policytowards India and termed as "very unfortunate" and "a total falsehood" allegations that the long-servingscribe of an Indian news agency was being "thrown out" of Islamabad. Indian officials said Pakistaniauthorities have been "dilly-dallying" over clearing visas for Indian journalists. Manzoor Ali Memon, thepress attaché to the Pakistan High Commission, said the Press Trust of India (PTI) correspondent RezaulLaskar had been in Islamabad from September 2007, and was allowed to stay in their country for "fiveyears and nine months", which was much beyond the two-three years' term allowed to journalists. Askedif there was a change in the media policy of Pakistan towards India, Memon said "there was nothing likethat".India and Pakistan have a protocol to allow two correspondents from each other's countries to stayand report. From India it is the Press Trust of India and the Hindu, while from Pakistan it is the AssociatedPress of Pakistan and Radio Pakistan. However, no Pakistan correspondent has been posted in Indiasince 2010 due to "selection procedures", said Memon. Memon said they had shown "every courtesy" tothe PTI's Islamabad correspondent and even allowed him to stay on despite his visa having expired onMarch 15. "We have extended to him all the courtesies and every cooperation, even treating asauthorized the unauthorized period of his stay from March 15, 2013 onwards.. But, it is very unfortunatethat he is creating an impression that he is being thrown out and indulging in Pakistan bashing," Memontold IANS. Memon said the correspondent was also allowed to cover the Pakistan elections in Maythough he did not have a valid visa. He termed as "rubbish and an untruth" allegations that he was told toleave in haste. "We can challenge every allegation." The Pakistani official voiced unhappiness over thetweets posted by the correspondent suggesting that he is being thrown out. "PTI had informed thePakistan authorities over a year ago that they would be sending a replacement. His visa has not yet beencleared, nor has the Hindu correspondent got clearance. We don't know why it is taking so long," said an

Indian official. PTI General Manager (Administration) Shakeel Ahmed told IANS that they had informedthe Pakistan High Commission that they want to replace their Islamabad correspondent and beeninformed that "it is being processed".Hindu correspondent Anita Joshua, who has returned to India, toldIANS that while she was in Pakistan she had applied for an extension of her visa which was to expire inMarch. "But I was told in May that I am not being given an extension, so I returned." (Deccan Herald26/3/13)I & B Minister discusses hike in FDI in media (1)New Delhi: Information and Broadcasting minister Manish Tewari today held consultations withrepresentatives of print and the broadcasting industry on the issue of increasing FDI limits in the mediasector. Officials said the I&B Minister, along with senior officials of the ministry, met representatives of thebroadcasting and the print industry in two different meetings. The ministry is working to formulate its viewin consultation with stakeholders on the issue of increasing FDI caps in broadcasting and print mediasectors. Following the recommendations of the Mayaram committee, the government is consideringincreasing FDI caps in several sectors including broadcasting. The panel, headed by Department ofEconomic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram, had suggested raising the foreign investment limit from 26percent to 49 percent in print media, FM Radio, uplinking news and current affairs channels and 100percent in broadcasting carriage services and printing of specialized magazines and facsimile editions offoreign newspapers. (Indian Express 30/6/13)NBW issued against The Hindu Editor (1)CHENNAI: Principal Sessions Judge (PSJ) G Chockalingam on Tuesday issued non-bailable warrant(NBW) against Siddarth Varadharajan, editor of The Hindu, in connection with a defamation complaintfiled against him. The complaint pertained to publication of a statement by DMK chief M Karunanidhi onthe issue relating to the ban on the release of Vishwaroopam. Contending that the statement defamed theCM, Public Prosecutor ML Jegan filed the complaint. (New Indian Express 3/7/13)Digvijay Singh: I am the most abused man on social media (1)Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh, who has been appointed as the Goa in-charge bythe All India Congress Committee, said here today that he was the most abused man on socialnetworking websites. On countering BJP's social media strategy, Singh said that the Congress will"aggressively venture into the social media arena" to take on campaign by BJP's election campaignmanager, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. "You will see difference within three months, althoughDigvijay Singh is the most abused person on social media," he said, referring to the Congress party's planto opt for a social media campaign. He interacted with elected representatives, Pradesh Congresscommittee members and office bearers of the party today, during his day long visit here. Addressing thegathering, Singh appealed the workers to counter the information campaign run by the BJP and theSangh Parivar through the social media. He said that the information technology cell of the Goa Congressparty unit should work with frontal organisations like the National Students Union of India and the PradeshYouth Congress to counter the BJP social media campaign. "Congress leaders should activate theirFacebook and Twitter accounts to launch an information campaign," he added. (Indian Express 3/7/13)‘Morphed’ photo: Orissa MP files case against daily (1)Bhubaneswar: The publication of a photo of Nawrangpur Congress MP Pradip Majhi in a swimming poolwith two unidentified women in an Oriya newspaper and social networking site Facebook has triggered acontroversy. The MP has filed a case with Tughlaq Road police station in New Delhi against the editor ofthe newspaper and the person who posted the photo on Facebook. The photo published in Oriya dailyNirbhaya on Saturday showed Majhi in the pool with two women. The photo was again posted by one

Trideeb Rout on his Facebook page. Soon after the photo became public, Majhi lodged an FIR at Delhi'sTughlaq Road police station against the editor of the newspaper and Rout. Speaking to The IndianExpress, Majhi said the photo was clearly morphed and meant to defame him on the eve of elections. "Myface is superimposed on a muscular body. I am aware that some people are trying to defame me eversince I became an MP in 2009," he said. Majhi said he would file another case against the newspapereditor and the other person under IT Act and libel laws once he reached Bhubaneswar. (Indian Express7/7/13)Criminal defamation case against Chandrika (1)KOTTAYAM: The Nair Service Society (NSS) on Saturday filed a criminal defamation case againstChandrika daily for what it termed a defamatory article published in the paper against the Nair community,the founding father of the organisation Mannathu Padmanabhan, and NSS general secretary G.Sukumaran Nair. The complaint was submitted through lawyer and the former State president of theBharatiya Janata Party P.S. Sreedharan Pillai at the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court,Changanassery. After accepting the complaint, Magistrate A.M. Basheer posted the hearing in the caseto July 11. The complaint has been filed against P.K.K. Bava, State treasurer of the Indian Union MuslimLeague and printer and publisher of the daily; T.P. Cheruppa, chief editor; C.C. Saithalavi, editor; andA.P. Kunjammu, columnist. Speaking to media persons later, Mr. Nair said the case was filed after it wasdecided that the apology that had been tendered in response to the legal notice was unsatisfactory. Thecontroversial article was intended to muffle criticisms raised against the contentious decisions of theEducation Department. It could also be seen as the reaction of certain leaders who were apprehensive ofthe unity between the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam and the NSS, he said. (TheHindu 7/7/13)Twitter ties up with Komli Media, kick-starts ad biz (1)CHENNAI: Twitter users in India may soon start seeing more targeted advertising as the micro-bloggingservice is looking to rev up its advertising business in the country. The company, which hired Rishi Jaitleylast November to lead the effort in setting up an Indian base, has chosen digital media platform KomliMedia to be its ad sales partner in India. According to people with direct knowledge of the matter, KomliMedia will start selling ‘promoted products’ or advertising on Twitter in India. Twitter is looking to tap intonewer revenues streams to reach its global sales target of $1 billion by 2014, and it is expected thatemerging markets will play a role in achieving this. “Komli’s offering at the moment will include promotedtweets, promoted trends and promoted accounts,” said a Twitter spokesperson, who confirmed thedevelopment. Komli, interestingly, also has the mandate for selling premium advertising for Facebook andZynga in India. The Indian online advertising market, which is currently dominated by Google’s AdWords,Facebook and a few other minor players, is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 32per cent to Rs. 7,400 crore in 2017, according to a recent FICCI study. Although Twitter refused tocomment on rate cards or the current pricing structure, industry insiders put the minimum outlay at aroundRs. 5 lakh to Rs. 8 lakh. Promoted trends, for instance, will last 24 hours, and appear the top of trendingtopics. Twitter and Komli Media are pitching this as an option to be used for companies that have biglaunches and announcements to make. Promoted accounts, on the other hand, which will appear at thetop of ‘who to follow’ recommendations, and will mostly be available on a cost-per-follow model. Twitterhas earlier worked with Star TV and UTV in India, where they promoted hashtags on the channels. Thecompany is also looking to sign more partnerships with various channels, operators and networkoperators. (The Hindu 8/7/13)IGP orders to shift Phillaur SHO on scribes' plaint (1)Jalandhar: Acting on the complaint of journalists from Phillaur, Jalandhar zone inspector general of police(IGP) B Chander Shekhar on Thursday ordered the transfer of Phillaur SHO Gulshan Lal Sharma on

charge of engineering protest against the scribes and for 'indirectly threatening' to get them implicated infalse cases. Earlier, a meeting of journalists from Phillaur sub-division was held at the Punjab Press Clubhere to discuss the agitation path to be adopted for the inordinate delay on part of the Jalandhar (rural)police chief Yurinder Singh Hayre in transferring the erring SHO despite assurances to the journalists inthe past. The meeting presided over by club president Major Singh expressed concern over thereluctance of senior police officials to act against the SHO, who is said to be a close associate of PhillaurMLA and chief parliamentary secretary Avinash Chander. In the wake of decision to meet the IGP, thescribes submitted oral and material evidence to the police officer regarding Sharma's indirect threats tojournalists through his emissaries and concocting false stories to frame media persons, who weredemanding his ouster since June 24. SSP Hayre and district public relations officer Gurmeet Singh werealso present on the occasion. The journalists also submitted that the orders of district magistrate ShrutiSingh during her visit to Phillaur for registration of an FIR and arrest of those involved in illegal mining onthe Sutlej riverbed were also not complied with by the erring SHO. The scribes maintained that if the SHOwas not implementing the DM's orders, the plight of the common man on delivery of police services couldbe well imagined. "Despite strict instructions of deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal to effectively checkillegal mining, the SHO has not acted against people involved till date. It's an open secret that sand wascollected from the Sutlej riverbed during nights and early mornings," they alleged. Shekhar immediatelyasked Hayre to transfer Sharma. "The inquiry being conducted by SP (detective) Rajinder Singh onjournalists' complaint should be completed in a day and requisite action taken against him," the IGPadded. Sources said that acting Punjab chief secretary NS Kang, who is also principal secretary ofinformation and public relations department, also intervened (Hindustan Times 12/7/13)One shot dead, journalist injured in Bhopal (1)BHOPAL: One person was shot dead and another, a journalist with a local Hindi daily was injured whentwo miscreants opened fire on them near the second number bus stop in Tulsi Nagar area here, policesaid on Saturday. The incident took place last night, they said. The miscreants fired 3-4 rounds and onebullet grazed the hand of journalist Aadesh Singh Bhadoria. However, his friend Sunny, who sustainedbullet injuries in the stomach succumbed in the Narmada hospital, where both were admitted. Now,Bhadoria's condition is said to be stable. Aadesh is son of Madhya Pradesh Working Journalists' UnionPresident Shalabh Bhadoria. (The Hindu 13/7/13)Panel reviews UK report on media ethics (1)NEW DELHI: The I&B consultative committee on Monday discussed UK's Leveson report which had beenprepared in the wake of the News of the World controversy, only to attract strong reservations of MPs onthe government exercise. The report was taken up in the context of discussions to revamp the PressCouncil of India and to deal with paid news. MPs found the recommendations of the Leveson report"alarming". "There should be no control over media freedom in the name of regulation," an MP told TOI.Members questioned the purpose of this exercise and the efficacy of the regulatory agency suggested byLeveson. The Leveson report, titled, "Culture, Practice, and Ethics of the British Press", hadrecommended establishing a regulatory agency that would exclude serving editors, parliamentarians andgovernment representatives. I&B minister Manish Tewari said, "This was only a preliminary discussion.Members sought time to discuss the report thoroughly." (Times of India 16/7/13)Mysore MP questions credentials of people who misuse freedom of expression (1)MYSORE: Mysore MP A H Vishwanath on Sunday said freedom of expression is not intended to insult orundermine the historic personalities and litterateurs, media people and film producers should desist fromusing the names of great personalities to market their produces. Releasing a book "Almelamma - a postmortem" written by P V Nanjaraje Urs, Vishwanath said in the recent past people in various fields areusing the names of great personalities to get instant publicity and popularity. But this is nothing but the

misutilization of freedom of expression guaranteed in the constitution, he said referring to the film whichwas named after 12th century saint reformer Basavanna. "Constitution has guaranteed the freedom ofexpression to people and artists, litterateurs and writers and they are free to express their opinion throughbooks, paintings and films, but this should be used to insult, denigrate or distort the image of greatpersonalities" he said, adding that even naming the film after a community or caste is also not a goodsign. "I am wondered whether the producers are not getting suitable names for their films or they want todraw people attention by creating controversies" he pointed out, terming this as gimmick adopted byproducers to get cheap popularity. Referring to contribution of Wadiyars to Mysore, Vishwanath said thepeople held Maharajas, particularly Krishnaraja Wadiyar and Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar in high esteemand they worshipped them like god. "There contribution to society and state was immense andunfathomable" he said recollecting how his grandfather who brought him to city to witness dasaraprocession took off his slippers and saluted Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar saying that it was they whogave them the food. "Such was the reverence and this is slowly vanishing with the passing time" he ruedand said what prevents people in remembering Maharajas when they can remember various otherpersonalities. (Times of India 21/7/13)Media bound to tell truth behind allegations: Chandy (1)Thiruvananthapuram: Media has a responsibility to inform people the truth behind allegations and counterallegations, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said here on Monday. "Freedom of the press is nonnegotiablein democracy. But the media also have a responsibility towards the public to tell the truthbehind events and allegations," he said while releasing the book 'From Fourth Estate to Rubber Estate -resignation letter of a journalist' written by noted journalist Joe A Scaria. "These days allegations aremade freely through media but they are refuted by those against whom they are levelled. People have aright to know the truth and it is the responsibility of media to tell the truth...People have a right to know thetruth behind everything being reported and debated in media," Chandy said, apparently referring to thehandling of solar panel scam by a section of media. "Tolerance is most significant in democracy andpeople should be broad-minded to accept criticism. Freedom of the press will strengthen journalism. If it isinterrupted, it will affect functioning of democratic polity," he said. (Zee News 22/7/13)Journalists live in fear in Balochistan (1)Islamabad, July 23 : Naziha Syed Ali, one of the leading writers at Dawn newspaper, reveals that there isan apparent sense of fear among the journalists in Balochistan. In her article for the Dawn newspaper,she recalls that she met some journalists in Quetta a few weeks ago where they were attending aworkshop. "They came from all over the province, including some of the areas where the insurgency is atits height - Khuzdar, Awaran and Turbat. The common refrain was 'don't quote me by name or sayanything that could indicate my identity'," she says. Naziha Syed Ali says that the journalists are abeleaguered community in the province, who face intimidation and worse from different quarters. 13deaths have occurred in Balochistan between 2006 and 2012 as per the figures compiled by theCommittee to Protect Journalists, she mentions in her article, but no one has been put on trial orconvicted for any of these murders. The Balochistan High Court had earlier in May this year issued showcause notices to owners and chief editors of six newspapers for violating an earlier order not to publishstatements by extremist organisations. "The papers in question had printed the claim of responsibility by asectarian group, Jaish Al-Islam, for the murder of a police official the month before. One of the editorssaid the court told him it was no excuse to say that if he did not follow the militants' instructions he wouldbe risking his life," says Naziha Syed Ali. "Sometimes militants even insist on newspapers printing namesof individuals that are on their hit list, which gets the publications into further trouble with the law," sheadds. (New Kerala 23/7/13)CJI opposes external regulator for media (1)

NEW DELHI: The Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam has opposed any external regulator for the media.Making a strong pitch for self regulation of the media on Tuesday, the Chief Justice said correcting themedia through an external regulator was a strong urge that should be resisted. Speaking here at theRamnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards, Sathasivam described the media and the judiciary astwo key pillars of the Indian democracy. He said that freedom of the press was an essential requisite of atruly functioning democracy.He said: "The temptation to correct the media through an external regulatoryauthority may seem a dominant urge, but it is surely not the answer. The press is naturally and rightlytouchy about it. External regulation could result in a perilous departure from the cherished principle of thefreedom of the press as the sine qua non of our democracy." Quoting Mahatma Gandhi Sathasivam said,"One thought that is fairly straightforward, and is consistent with the freedom of thought and expression,is self-regulation by the profession itself." Adding a word of caution Sathasivam said, "A media thatcherishes its independence must recognize that this freedom is as essential for the judiciary to deliverjustice as it is for the media to observe its impartiality." He added that freedom of press was an essentialrequisite of a truly functioning democracy. ``It is the ark of the covenant of democracy because publiccriticism is essential to the working of its institutions. It is the heart of the social and political intercourse,"the CJI said. (Times of India 25/7/13)Journalist sentenced to two years' rigorous imprisonment (1)PUNE: The court of judicial magistrate AmitsinhMohane on July 24 sentenced a self-styled human rightsactivist who pretended to be a journalist, to two years rigorous imprisonment for demanding Rs 6 lakh orcar from a senior government officer for not circulating defamatory news against him. Mohane alsoslapped a fine of Rs 4,000 on the convict Dnyaneshwar Karale (42) a resident of Dehu gaon in Punerural. According to the prosecution's cases, the government officer Vasantrao Mhaske (62), a formerinspector general of registration, Pune had registered a complaint against him under relevant sections ofthe Indian Penal Code with the Bund Garden police station. Mhaske was also a trustee of an educationalinstitute in Wakad. The prosecution's case is that Karale impersonated as a reporter from "PuneriManase" and had written a news defaming Mhaske in 2006. After publishing the news Karale startedthreatening him to circulate the newspaper in entire Pune and demanded Rs 6 lakh or an SUV. Theprosecution said that Mhaske refused to meet the demand of the report and approached the police forhelp as he was fed up with the constant money demands made by Karale. Assistant public prosecutorVarsha Prabhu examined six witnesses to prove the guilt of the accused. (Times of India 28/7/13)Three journalists gunned down in Philippines (1)Manila: Three journalists have been gunned down in the Philippines in its worst spate of media killings innearly four years, police and rights watchdogs said. The latest victim, freelance news photographer MarioSy, was killed in front of his wife and child late Thursday by two suspects who broke into his home in thesouthern city of General Santos, police said. The attack followed the shooting deaths in Manila onTuesday of two columnists of a tabloid that had recently ceased publication, said Rupert Mangilit,secretary-general of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines. "We're quite alarmed that despiteclaims that the environment for journalists is safer now, we have three killings happening in a week," hesaid. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists says at least 73 Philippine journalists havebeen killed in direct connection to their work since 1992, making it the second deadliest country in theworld for the press. Critics blame this on widespread gun ownership by civilians and a "culture ofimpunity" that sees many among the powerful not being brought to justice for criminal acts. Thirty-twojournalists were among 58 people kidnapped and murdered allegedly by a powerful political clan in thesouthern province of Maguindanao in November 2009. "Since the Maguindanao massacre this markedthe first time that we had more than two journalists killed in a week," Mangilit said. General Santos policeinvestigator Fernando Torreta said the authorities have yet to establish the motive for the attack on Sy,

53. "He was shot at his home, in front of his wife and child. The wife gave a deposition to policedescribing the suspects, but she does not know them. The gunmen fled on a motorcycle," Torreta added.Mangilit said the two slain Manila columnists, Richard Kho, 47 and Bonifacio Loreto, 59, had both workedfor a small tabloid called Aksyon Ngayon (Action Today) that folded in March. Both had tackled "political"issues that could have won them enemies, he added. He said reports of summary execution-style killingsin general are on the rise in Manila as well as provincial centres. Only three people have been convictedof murdering journalists in the Philippines since President Benigno Aquino came to power in 2010, Condesaid. In the same period, Mangilit said, 18 other journalists were murdered across the country. (Zee News2/8/13)'Media freedom essential, but be responsible' (1)KOCHI: Media in the country and especially the state should focus on projecting standard news instead offalling prey to sensationalism and trivialisation of issues, said Kerala High Court advocateKhaleeshawaram Raj. He was speaking during the inauguration of a discussion titled ‘Trial by media,freedom of the press’ organised by C P Sreedharan Foundation in Kochi on Thursday. “Media activism isto be encouraged. However, what the media channels are forgetting to focus on is the real issue. Forexample, at a time when fraud is taking place in every corner, media institutions should instead focus onraising a voice seeking implementation of the Fraud act. Instead, it has been focussing on a single personinstead”, he added. He called for more responsible journalism while also advocating that the judgments ofthe court should not be influenced by the trial by media. Sebastian Paul who spoke during the discussionsaid that censorship of the media would not do justice to the public in the country. “If the media is notgiven its freedom, then many events taking place in hidden places wont be brought to light. Censorshipwas brought to effect during the Emergency, but it did not prevail. Media has the right to provideinformation equally as the people have the right to be informed”, he said. He also said that trial by mediais essential. “If everything is left to the police and the investigating officers, the information in certaincases won’t be brought to light effectively. The public themselves won’t be satisfied”, he said. However,he called for responsible journalism as well as ensuring that ‘breaking news’ is only displayed when thenews is absolutely verified. “Sometimes, a news is planted. The media should ensure that only facts arebrought out”, Sebastian Paul said while referring to the Watergate scandal which was broken byWashington Post only after their facts where duly verified. He also called for the need for activejournalism while also stating that in the current scenario, more curbs should be brought on the opinionsand news doing the rounds on social media. C P Sreedharan’s son Sathish, however voiced the opinionthat visual media in the state has forgotten their limits and was going in the way of destructive journalism.He called for a curb in the news being displayed by the media. (New Indian Express 2/8/13)channel under political squeeze, managing editor quits (1)Chandigarh: When Kanwar Sandhu, senior journalist and managing editor of Day and Night News,resigned on Friday, he did so after publicly putting the blame for the three-year-old multilingual channel’sfinancial problems on the machinations of a “powerful political entity in Punjab,” aimed at snuffing out “fairand free journalism.” From August 1, the channel, owned by the Kandhari group of industries, has goneoff the two major DTH platforms from which it was operating and is reportedly scaling down its operations.This means laying off around 50 employees. In an address to the employees, which was put on YouTube,Mr. Sandhu congratulated the political entities of Punjab on succeeding in their designs. He said thepoliticians who run “a group of news and entertainment channels are behind the cartel that controls thecable network in Punjab. We exposed its designs and our plea that the Fastway group of cablecompanies has been abusing its dominance to deny us access to the Punjab market has also beenupheld by the Competition Commission of India [CCI].” Since denial of access to Punjab led to reducedTRPs and resultant low advertising revenue, the channel was bleeding financially, month after month, Mr.Sandhu said. Within two months of inception in 2010, the news channel began facing problems from the

Fastway group that controls 85 per cent of subscribers in Punjab and Chandigarh, and in February 2011 itwas taken off the air. This drastically reduced the reach of Day and Night News in Punjab, its target areaof viewership. (The Hindu 5/8/13)UNESCO condemns third murder of Filipino journalist (1)New York, Aug 7 : The head of the United Nations agency tasked with defending press freedom Tuesdaydenounced the killing of Mario Sy, the third Filipino journalist gunned down in recent days, and urged athorough investigation into the killing. "I condemn the murder of Mario Sy," said the Director-General ofthe UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Irina Bokova. Sy, a freelance photocontributor to Sapol News Bulletin newspaper, was shot on 1 August by an unidentified man who enteredhis house in the province of South Cotabato. The killing comes two days after the double murder ofBonifacio Loreto and Richard Kho, columnists for a weekly tabloid newspaper, Aksyon Ngayon. "It is veryalarming to see three journalists killed in the space of two days and I urge the authorities to do all in theirpower to bring the culprits of these crimes to justice," Bokova said. According to media and police reports,on 30 July, Loreto and Kho were shot several times by two assailants on motorcycles as they talked infront of a convenience store in the Quezon City neighbourhood of the capital, Manila. The journalists areremembered on the dedicated UNESCO webpage, 'UNESCO Condemns Killing of Journalists.' (NewKerala 7/8/13)Credibility of media at an all-time low: Kishwar (1)GUWAHATI, Aug 9 – “Though media houses all over the world are collapsing with the rise of the socialmedia and the Internet, etc., in India, both print and electronic media are witnessing a phenomenalgrowth. However, despite hundreds of news channels and newspapers coming up, credibility of the mediais at an all-time low today.” While delivering the 12th Kamala Saikia Memorial Lecture, noted academicand writer Madhu Purnima Kishwar, a senior fellow at the Delhi-based Centre for the Study of DevelopingSocieties (CSDS), opined that media in India today hardly help a common man in making informeddecisions. Kishwar, who is also the founder editor of Manushi, a journal about women, published since1979, also lamented that little money, time and effort is invested today for researching and investigatinginto any subject matter prior to reporting. The 12th Kamala Saikia Memorial Lecture was organized by theJournalist Kamala Saikia Memorial Trust in association with the Guwahati Press Club on the occasion ofhis 22nd death anniversary today. A staunch follower of ethical journalism, a social activist and a harshcritic of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), Kamala Saikia was shot dead by the outfit in 1991.The memorial lecture is organized commemorating Saikia’s life and work, where eminent personalitiesdeliver talks on prominent issues concerning society at large. Today’s meeting was presided over byjournalist Kanaksen Deka, president of the memorial trust. “Rise of social media is the best thing that hashappened in India with the depleting credibility of the mainstream media. Whereas the national dailiescover 70 per cent news from the 10-km radius surrounding the metropolises, most of the investigativereporting are actually the leaks facilitated by the rival groups or parties, mostly to embarrass each other,”Kishwar added. Citing various examples of terrorism-infested Kashmir and the riots in Gujarat, she opinedthat irrespective of its prominence, every issue gets polarized through the media today into ‘for versusand against’, confusing the common people. “People cannot take an informed stand on the basis ofmedia reports due to the propaganda surrounding every issue,” she added. Questioning the mediaportrayal of Gujarat riots in 2002 as genocide and the vicious anti-Narendra Modi campaign that followedin the subsequent years, she compared it with the bottom-up development agenda of Modi Governmentin Gujarat, arguing that from the very beginning, media was on a mission to establish Modi as a massmurderer, sidelining all the measures Modi took to contain the riots, including immediate deployment ofthe armed forces, which is absent even in the States like Assam, in the wake of any riot. “The Gujaratmodel of development won accolades across the globe and the Muslims of the State are equallyprospering with the Hindus,” she said, highlighting the growth of the Muslim population in the State in

agriculture, manufacturing and hospitality sectors. “Love for sensationalism with disastrous consequencesclubbed with irresponsible journalism is costing India a lot,” added Kishwar. (The Assam Tribune 10/8/13)Free press, not free-for-all (1)New Delhi: When information and broadcasting minister Manish Tewari took office last year, PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh ushered him in with a cautionary tale. Singh, Tewari recalls, told him thegovernment’s relationship with the media had to be one about “persuasion, rather than regulation”. Inother words, no playing big brother. The Indian press is often touchy about rules, a fear implanted duringthe Emergency declared in 1975, when a censorious government hacked press freedom. “Thisgovernment doesn’t believe in imposing regulation on the media in any form. But the question is, whyhave our courts been constrained to raise issues with regard to media behaviour from time to time?”Tewari asks. With a bewildering array of TV and radio channels, the line between the free media and a‘free-for-all’ is sometimes a thin one. The government now wants cross-party parliamentary discussionson Britain’s landmark Leveson Inquiry report on the “culture, practices and ethics of the press”. Leveson,after probing the Rupert Murdoch-owned News of the World’s hacking of a murdered schoolgirl’s phone in2012, recommended a tough new “independent regulatory body” backed by law. India’s media businesshas changed vastly since 1990, when the cable era began. From just one state-owned broadcaster in1959, there are over 850 now. While the statutory Press Council of India regulates the print news media,TV is subject to self-regulation — they have their own oversight panels. “The model of self-regulation maybe clumsy but it has worked. But to strengthen the paradigm of self-regulation, we need to refine themodels,” Tewari said at a recent discussion held by the think tank, Observer Research Foundation. Selfregulationworks only if channels are willing to sign up — they are not required to do so by law at present.So, of the 480-odd news channels, only a few have opted for regulation. The government wants a debatearound whether the self-regulatory model should be underpinned by some kind of law. “We need a selfregulatorymechanism, but one that is not voluntary but mandatory. We can’t have an opt-in or opt-outmodel. Once a television channel gets a licence, it must subject itself to regulation as per guidelines setby an independent regulatory body,” says Rajdeep Sardesai, editor-in-chief of news channel CNN-IBN.Paid news, described as content paid for by a client, but not declared as such, is another menace. Crossmediaownership, in which the same proprietor may own the whole supply chain — broadcast todistribution — leading to an oligopoly-like situation also needs to be addressed. India’s primetime newsshows are the equivalent of blood sport. Hectoring anchors often pronounce people guilty or innocent.“The Tower of Babel becomes the Tower of London where people are hanged without even a trial,”Tewari says. The government therefore wants the media to address the “tyranny” around television ratingpoints, which are gleaned from just 10,000 meters in mostly urban TV homes. A proposed broadcastaudience research council to bring transparency is still held up. Justice (retired) Markandey Katju,chairman of the Press Council of India, points to a basic difference between regulation and control. “Incontrol, there’s no freedom. In regulation, there is freedom,” he says. Talk of media regulation will still betricky. But, almost miraculously, both the media and the government agree on the self-regulation model. Agood starting point. (Hindustan Times 15/8/13)Journalist shot as militants target media (1)Tripoli: A third journalist in four days has been targeted by gunmen in Benghazi, Libya’s second city, amidfears that extremists are trying to silence the media. Khawlija al-Amami, a presenter for the al-Ahrar TVstation, was shot at by gunmen who pulled up to her car, on Monday. The bullets missed but hours laterthe gunmen texted her a warning to “stop your journalism” or be killed. The attack follows Friday’s killingof TV presenter Izzaldin Qasaad, a critic of the rising tide of violence, who was shot dead as he left aBenghazi mosque. On Saturday, another reporter was shot and wounded in Ajdabiya, south of the city.Reporters without Borders, which warned earlier this year that Libyan journalists were being targeted byextremists, said: “This heinous crime marks a serious and regrettable turning point in Libya’s difficult

transition.” Human Rights Watch called on the Libyan government to hunt down the perpetrators, claimingthe judiciary has failed to investigate 51 political assassinations, most of them in Benghazi, since the endof the Arab Spring revolution in 2011. The killings come against a background of rising violence acrossthe country. In eastern Libya, security forces are locked in a tit-for-tat war against Islamists. On Monday,two soldiers were shot dead when their military vehicle was ambushed in Sirte. Meanwhile, progovernmentforces are deployed in a standoff with militias outside Tripoli, with defence officials sayingthat they are preventing a coup. Security has been stepped up in the capital itself after a gun battle nearthe airport road, on Monday. The growing chaos has spread to the economy, with oil exports plummeting.The main base for security units protecting oilfields south of Benghazi has been stormed and looted ofweapons by militias, while Libya’s two main oil terminals have been closed by strikes. (The Hindu15/8/13)Govt tightening reins on paid news (1)NEW DELHI: The government is tightening the rules to stop any incidence of "paid news" in the electionseason. Media organizations found guilty of publishing "news'' for a consideration will risk losing theirregistration according to amendments to the Press and Registration of Books (PRB) act proposed by theinformation and broadcasting (I&B) ministry. Similar provisions are also likely to be brought in forelectronic media. With assembly elections less than three months away the government plans to rein ininstances of "paid news'' by introducing stiff penalty provisions. The Election Commission has recentlyproposed that ``publishing or abetting of publishing'' be made an electoral offence that could lead to twoyearimprisonment for the offender. According to the proposed amendments in the PRB act, the firstviolation will invite a 30-day suspension of advertisements from Directorate of Audio Visual Publicity whilethe second violation will mean no DAVP ads for 60 days. A third violation will attract cancelation ofregistration for the newspaper or magazine. The new amendments are part of a cabinet note that hasbeen sent to the law ministry for vetting. "We have suggested amendments to the PRB Act to checkinstances of paid news in newspapers. We are considering similar provisions for the electronic media aswell,'' I&B minister Manish Tewari said on Wednesday. The ministry would take action onrecommendations made by the Election Commission and the Press Council of India (PCI) in the case ofprint media and News Broadcasters Standards Authority (NBSA) for electronic media, he said. Theparliamentary standing committee reviewing the PRB Act has already recommended that an annualstatement record of income from advertisements should be filed by publications. Rapping the I&B ministryfor not providing a suitable mechanism for checking "paid news", the panel headed by MP Rao InderjitSingh said, ``The committee need hardly emphasize that having the provision of furnishing details ofadvertisement revenue by the publications would definitely address the menace of paid news to a greatextent." The legislation has now been sent back to the ministry for suitable amendments. The ElectionCommission in 2011 had recommended amendments in the Representation of People Act that wouldmake publishing and abetting the publishing of `paid news' for furthering the prospect of election of anycandidate or for prejudicially affecting the prospect of election of any candidate an electoral offence withpunishment of a minimum of two years imprisonment. (Times of India 16/8/13)Photojournalist gangraped in Mumbai, 20 suspects detained (1)Mumbai: Out on an assignment, a young photojournalist was allegedly gang-raped by five men who badlybeat up and tied up her male colleague in a deserted south Mumbai factory on Thursday evening in achilling reminder of the Delhi gang-rape that shook the nation. Mumbai police commissioner SatyapalSingh said seven to eight men had been rounded up. However, according to TV reports, police havedetained about 20 people suspected of the crime; several others are also being questioned. They alsohope to crack the case soon as they have 'good leads' on the suspects. The victim and her friend weretaken to the local Jaslok hospital, where her condition was said to be stable. Hospital authorities said shewas initially in a state of shock. The woman, who is in her early 20s, had gone to the Shakti Mill

compound in Worli with her colleague for a feature on old buildings that her publication was planning torun. Her statement was being recorded after which a case would be registered, joint commissioner ofpolice (law and order) Sadanand Date said. “We have formed teams comprising local police and crimebranch to investigate the matter,” he said. Soon after 7pm the girl, accompanied by a male colleaguearrived at the spot, which is not very far from the busy Mahalaxmi railway station but is rather deserted,five young men accosted them. They assaulted the man, tied him up and then took turns to rape thewoman. The journalists’ cries for help went unheard as no one was around. The crime reportedly tookplace at around 8pm at the back of the mill compound, where they had arrived by walking along therailway track. The Worli-Lower Parel belt in Mumbai has several deserted mills, some of which have beendeveloped into commercial establishments. According to unconfirmed reports, the men tricked thejournalists into accompanying them into the mill, away from the railway track, by promising to get thempermission to click photographs. When compared with Delhi, Mumbai is considered a safer city forwomen. But lately, India’s financial capital has been gaining notoriety as far as crime against women isconcerned. On Sunday, an American woman was robbed on a local train. (Hindustan Times 23/8/13)Don't disclose identity of HIV patients, HC tells govt, media (1)Ahmedabad: Acting on a public interest litigation, Gujarat High Court on Thursday issued directions to thestate authorities regarding non-disclosure of the identity of an HIV-infected person. A division bench,comprising Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice J B Pardiwala, passed an order in thisregard, acting on a PIL moved by one Harsha Pabari from Jamnagar. Pabari had moved the PIL after anincident came to light in Jamnagar, in which a woman infected with the virus was labelled, with a stickeron her forehead, to distinguish her from other patients by the authorities of Guru Govindsingh Hospital, agovernment hospital. Nangesh said the court has issued several directions to the state authorities tomake sure that the identity of all the HIV patients were not made public. "The court has also stated thatthe state government should disseminate information on prevention of the infection and take steps torehabilitate HIV+ patients," Nangesh said. "The court has also directed the media to be careful about notdisclosing the identity of an HIV+ patient," he added. (Indian Express 24/8/13)The right to talk and write (1)Journalists in India have no special rights. Unlike the United States, freedom of the press in the countrydoes not flow from any special provision or amendment to the Constitution, but from the right to freespeech and expression. Article 19(1) (a) of the Indian Constitution confers this right subject only toreasonable restrictions specified in Article 19(2). Therefore, to propose licences, qualifications andcommon entrance examinations for journalists, as Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewaridid a few days ago, is to try to circumscribe and limit the fundamental right to freedom of speech andexpression. Dissemination of information might be the business of some news organisations, but it is alsoan essential part of the everyday activities of countless Indians who talk, post, upload or tweet what theysee, hear, sense or think. What distinguishes journalists employed by a news organisation and privateindividuals taking advantage of social media and personal communication channels to disseminateinformation is not the nature of their work, but the public standing and credibility that they command. Anyattempt to prescribe licences and qualifications for journalists will necessarily end up limiting whatordinary citizens can do. As in other democracies, newspapers in India do not require a licence tooperate. In authoritarian or managed democracies, where press licensing is the norm, the threat of acancelled licence is often enough to ensure the media toes the official line. If journalists are to be givenlicences, can newspaper licensing be far behind? All of this is not to say that news organisations needmake no effort to improve the standards of their journalism. In the race to be the first to break the news,television channels, and sometimes newspapers too, often get their facts wrong and the context mixedup.But, as the best journalism schools have already realised, practice, not theory, makes a goodjournalist. Mr. Tewari’s proposal seems more like a trial balloon: he gave no details of what exactly he

had in mind, and did not appear to have given serious thought to all the implications. Indeed, his train ofthought mirrors that of the Press Council of India Chairman Markandey Katju, who, some time ago, set upa committee to decide on minimum qualifications for a journalist. The Minister wants the minimumqualification to apply equally to subject experts contributing to a news organisation, reckoning that theywould not resent the requirement. What is mooted as an exercise to raise the quality of journalism couldjust as well pose a threat to the free flow of information, and to the freedom of speech and expression.(The Hindu 25/8/13)Lawless UP: Four journalists killed in past 45 days (1)LUCKNOW: A missing journalist's body was found in a gunny bag by the roadside in Bulandshahr onMonday. It was the fourth case of a journalist being murdered during the past 45 days in UttarPradesh.The 28-year-old Zakaullah had been missing since last Friday. His body was found dumped inChola locality under Kotwali Dehat police station of the district. Zakaullah was a resident of Khurja town,20 km from Bulandshahr. The body bore multiple injury marks; it appeared the journalist was beaten todeath. Police were clueless about the probable motive behind the murder and the identity of theassailants. Last Friday Rakesh Sharma (50), a senior reporter with a Hindi daily, was shot dead byunidentified assailants in Etawah, hometown of chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. Before that two murders ofjournalists were reported from Banda and Lakhimpur Kheri. Despite Yadav's instructions, police havefailed to make much headway in the cases. Expressing concern over the increasing attacks onjournalists, the UP Accredited Journalists' Association has asked Yadav to look into the matter personallyand as soon as possible. "This is a new trend and if allowed to continue unchecked, such incidents aresure to come as a deterrent for journalists who are exposed to multiple risks while performing their dutiesand investigating issues," the association said in a letter to the CM. (Times of India 27/8/13)Asaram's supporters attack media, six arrested (1)Jodhpur: Hundreds of supporters of self-styled spiritual guru Asaram allegedly attacked a team of newschannel IBN-7 on Saturday morning near his ashram in Pal area. A reporter and a video journalist of thechannel sustained injuries and their camera and equipment were damaged before villagers living near theashram rescued them. The police said they have identified the attackers and strict action will be takenagainst them. Reports said the police have already arrested six persons from outside the ashram. Theincident took place at around 9am, when the TV channel crew had gone to the ashram to report about agathering of Asaram's supporters even as the controversial godman evaded arrest in a sexual assaultcase filed against him by a minor. A group of his supporters took advantage of the police's absence at theashram to assault the channel crew and damage their camera. "We were rescued by some villagers butthe police took one hour to reach the site," said the channel's reporter Bhawani Singh. He alleged thatsenior police officers didn't pick their phone calls and a few policemen reached the site only after thepolice control room was informed. His supporters have been gathering in Jodhpur since the last two daysand more that 2,000 people from different parts of the country have already assembled here. Deputypolice commissioner (West) Ajay Pal Lamba claimed on Friday that the police is aware of the situationand will tackle it accordingly. Lamba added that additional police force, including four companies of theRajasthan Armed Constabulary (RAC), have been kept on alert. Women constables have also beencalled from the neighboring districts. "Supporters are coming here to express their sentiments andemotions towards Asaram and all are observing satsang peacefully," Chanchal Raj Sharma, an ashramspokesperson said. On Saturday, Lamba informed that no more supporters of Asaram were beingallowed to come into Jodhpur and that six people had been arrested in front of Asaram's ashram. TheJodhpur Police had asked Asaram to appear before the police for questioning by August 30 based on agirl's complaint on August 20, accusing him of sexually assaulting her at his ashram in Rajasthan'sJodhpur city. The deadline lapsed last night and his arrest seems likely now. (Hindustan Times 31/8/13)

Media should practise self-discipline: President (1)New Delhi, Aug 31 : President Pranab Mukherjee Saturday called upon the media to "play an importantrole to play in cleansing public life"."The media has and must play an important role to play in cleansingpublic life. However, to undertake this role, the conduct of the media itself should be above board," thepresident said at the golden jubilee celebrations of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) at theRashtrapati Bhavan. "Sensationalism should not become a substitute for objective reporting. Gossip andspeculation should never replace hard facts. Political or commercial interests should not be passed off aslegitimate and independent opinion," he added. "Journalists must be keepers of the conscience of ourcountry they must shape and influence public opinion in India and provide objective, balanced coverageof news." Mukherjee acknowledged the role of the press in India's freedom struggle as well as its struggleto free society from social prejudice. "The history of journalism in India is closely linked to the history ofour freedom struggle," said Mukherjee as he pointed out freedom fighters like Mahatma Gandhi, BalGangadhar Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai, who were all journalists. "Indian journalists have fought not just for thefreedom of the press but also for the freedom of our nation and to free society from social prejudice,casteism, discrimination...," the president added. Mukherjee called upon journalists to continue to upholdthe glorious traditions set by their predecessors. (New Kerala 31/8/13)Two scribes brutally assaulted at Asaram's ashram (1)INDORE: Not taking any lesson from attack incidences on journalists in Bhopal and Jodhpur, policeabsence at the ashram of arrested self-styled godman, Asaram Bapu, on Sunday afternoon took its toll ona scribe and shutterbug who were severely beaten up and received multiple wound injuries by his groupof supporters. Getting a tip-off of protest at the Khandwa-road based ashram of the godman on his arrest,scribe of a Hindi daily asked the photojournalist to reach on spot for the coverage. Seeing the cameraoutside the main gate of the ashram, the supporters inquired about his credential. "We told that we arefrom a newspaper and had information of protest at the ashram. So, we have arrived here. In reply, someof the angry supporters said that you are anti-Hindu and media is responsible for maligning Bapu's imageand arrest. They pulled both of us inside the ashram and beat up severely," said Sandeep Pare, thescribe adding that they snatched away camera of photojournalist.The incident occurred at around 2.30pm when police deployment was removed from the spot after the Jodhpur Police arrested the godmanand took him to Indore airport. However, seeing the sensitivity of the issue the untoward accident couldhave been avoided if few policemen had a watch. "Police presence might have avoided the incident.Somehow, we managed to escape," said Pare. A case was registered against half-a-dozen miscreants forloot and beating at Bhanwarkuan Police Station. However, police officials said that they cannot bepresent all the time everywhere. "The incident has occurred when there was no police. However, we haveregistered a case of loot against a couple of miscreants," SP (West) Anil Singh Kushwah said. Whenasked that police could have been deployed after the similar incidents in Bhopal and Jodhpur, he said,"As godman was arrested last night, police deployment was removed from the ashram." (Times of India2/9/13)Scribes rally against militant threat (1)Imphal, Sept. 2: Scribes and newspaper distributors of Manipur took out a joint rally here today to protestagainst a threat by a “militant group” to editors, reporters and newspaper distributors. Sources in the AllManipur Working Journalists’ Union said a “militant group” had issued a statement a few days ago,claiming that it had carried out some action, but the newspapers did not publish the statement as theyhad doubts about the “genuineness of the existence of the group”. This resulted in the rebel group issuingthreats. The journalists’ union did not disclose the name of the militant group and the action claimed by it,as this would amount to publishing the group’s name and actions as desired by it. The president of theunion, Wangkhemcha Shyamjai, said the march was taken out to protest against the threat and to appeal

to the rebel group not to threaten media houses and distributors. He added that such threats to mediawere frequent. The rally came a day after a delegation of Editors’ Committee met chief minister OkramIbobi Singh to apprise him of the threat perception. Newspaper distributors have stopped giving paperssince yesterday following the threat. Some of the hawkers stopped distributing morning newspapers sinceAugust 28, following the threat. More than 200 newspersons and hawkers marched from the ManipurPress Club here to the gate of the chief minister’s office complex. A joint delegation of the newspersonsand hawkers met the chief minister and reported the threat and sought a secure environment fornewspersons. “The chief minister assured us that the government would take security measures forprotection of media houses and would also track down those issuing the threats. He requested us to givethe government two to three days’ time to track down the group,” the general secretary of the journalists’union, G.A. Naocha, said. As the hawkers stopped distributing newspapers, many subscribers came tonewspaper offices this morning to collect newspapers. Imphal has more than 15 daily publications,including five English dailies. Later in the day, leaders of the Editors’ Committee, Newspaper Sellers andDistributors’ Association and All Manipur Working Journalists’ Union decided to take a joint stand on thethreat. (The Telegraph 3/9/13)Ex-gratia of Rs 15 lakh to kin of deceased scribe (1)Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Government today announced an ex-gratia of Rs 15 lakh to the kin of the TVjournalist and Rs 10 lakh to the family of others who were killed in clashes between members of twocommunities in Muzaffarnagar. Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had earlier announced a compensation ofRs 10 lakh to the journalist's family and Rs five lakh each to the kin of five others killed in the clashes. Theseriously injured in the incident will be paid Rs 50,000 each while those who received minor injuries willget Rs 20,000, officials said. IBN7 channel's part-time correspondent Rajesh Verma and five others werekilled as fresh clashes between members of two communities erupted in Muzaffarnagar, after whichindefinite curfew was clamped and the army deployed to help maintain law and order. Tension runninghigh since three persons were killed in Kawal village on August 27 today flared up in clashes in severalparts of the district. (Indian Express 8/9/13)Muzaffarnagar riots: On social media, rumours and anger (1)LUCKNOW: The social media on Monday slammed the Uttar Pradesh government's "excuse" that theMuzaffarnagar riots were fuelled by YouTube videos, Facebook comments and tweets. A video shot inPakistan, showing two brothers being killed in the Pakistani city of Sialkot, was reportedly circulated inMuzzafarnagar last week. It was purported to represent the August 27 lynching of two boys by communityby a mob belonging to the other community in Kawal village of Muzzafarnagar, officials said. Terming thesocial media theory as an excuse, tweeples slammed the Akhilesh government as using it a cover to forits inability in anticipating and controlling the communal flare up. A tweet by @fakingnews stating "UPgovt has blamed social media for #UPriots, never knew people check Facebook updates and tweetsduring Mahapanchayat", was retweeted 100 times. Social media also questioned the video angle mootedby the government. Netizens said it was more governance failure than the video which led to the riots.@1TheAce tweeted, "A video can provoke communal riot? Have a check how many villagers haveYouTube access? Get better idea to cover up governance failure #UPriots." Chief minister AkhileshYadav donning a skull cap during a news conference on Monday too evoked sharp criticism. Cyber worldtermed it as mere symbolism and communal in nature. Taking a dig at the CM, @Mosiqi tweeted, "Howappropriate is it for Akhilesh Yadav to turn up in a skull cap to react on #Muzaffarnagar riots? He seemsmore Muslim than real Muslims." "When UP is burning, CM Akhilesh Yadav is meeting Haj Pilgrims andhaving food with them. Shows where his priorities lie. #UPRiots," tweeted @beingraavan. Another user,@KarnikaKohli, termed the 'show' very interesting and tweeted, "Akhilesh Yadav's decision to wear 'thecap' while addressing the media on #UPriots is... well... interesting. :-) Very secular." While@KarnikaKohli choose words that gave a sarcastic reference, @ashwaniti was straight in terming the

"skull show" as shameful. The user tweeted: "Akhilesh Yadav wearing skull cap in interview. Don't knowwhat he wants to show. Shame." Like others, @RajyavardhanP expected the UP chief minister toaddress the issue and control riots. He tweeted, "Why Akhilesh Yadav wears a topi while addressingmedia on #UPriots? I'm not against any dress/religion but shouldn't he look fair or unbiased?" Tweeplesalso recalled the Mayawati regime during which no communal violence was reported. @Joydas tweeted,"U know how bad Akhilesh Yadav has been for UP from the fact that people remember Mayawati govtfondly as the 'Good Old Days'." @rameshsrivats supported the statement with his tweet: "18 months ofMulayam Singh & Akhilesh Yadav, and slowly Mayawati is appearing like a nice cuddly CM whoencouraged stone-based fine arts." On the spread of rumours, Tweeples urged netizens to refrain fromsharing hearsay news and instead stick to posting their comments. "Let's just post our comments on thesocial media. Lets not become news organizations and share half-baked truth and rumours as news. Letthe media do their duty and let's just be the commentative netizens," wrote Sidharth Gautam onFacebook. On similar lines, @janusblinked tweeted, "I am pretty sure 90% of the people killing won't evenknow how and why the riots started. #UPriots." Politicians cashing in on the communal situation too cameunder criticism. @im_vasi tweeted, "How simply these politicians r playing in the name or religions in#UPriots n still ppl r blind to learn these acts...." Throughout the day hashtags like #UPRiots, 4 BJPMLAs, Ajit Singh, Akhilesh Yadav, and Riots were trending on Twitter. (Times of India 10/9/13)Pandemonium as all try to enter courtroom (1)New Delhi: A large number of journalists scuffled with security personnel and lawyers at the Saket courtcomplex on Tuesday after they were prevented from entering the courtroom where the verdict in theDecember 16 gangrape case was pronounced. More than 200 journalists from the print and electronicmedia had gathered outside the courtroom. At around 11 am, they were told that the verdict would comeat 12.30 pm. The journalists lost their cool after being told by the police that only those journalists whosenames figured in a list provided to them would be allowed inside the courtroom. The journalists protestedbut the police stuck to the list of accredidated journalists — one each from every organisation would beallowed inside the courtroom, they were told. The list had been submitted earlier by a petitioner, who hadapproached the High Court for permission to cover the trial. Fights broke out as the journalists tried to getpast the security outside the courtroom. For nearly 10 minutes, there was chaos, exchange of abuses andfisticuffs as the journalists fought among themselves, the police and court employees. Irked by thecommotion, angry lawyers too joined the scuffle. Minutes before the accused were brought inside thecourt, the police used long ropes to prevent journalists and lawyers from spilling on to the porch leading tothe courtroom. Policemen refused to let anyone cross the rope. Amidst the chaos, two journalistsexchanged blows while trying to get to the doors of the courtroom. The parents of both the victim andaccused Mukesh were swiftly escorted inside the courtroom by the police through a back door, making itimpossible for the journalists to interview them. As policemen threw a ring around them after the verdict, itwas impossible for any journalist to catch a glimpse of them or get their comments. (Indian Express11/9/13)Press Council dragged to HC for censuring Tamil Nadu (1)CHENNAI: Stung by the Press Council of India's (PCI) caustic observations and strictures against it,further compounded by a summons for the personal appearance of its home secretary, the Tamil Nadugovernment has dragged the PCI to court questioning the very validity of its proceedings. An April 5, 2013observation of PCI has led to home secretary Niranjan Mardi's writ petition in the Madras high court. ThePCI observation was, "In our opinion, if the Tamil Nadu government finds itself unable to run theadministration in accordance with the Constitution, it has no right to continue in office and should quit. Wedirect the Tamil Nadu government to either submit its resignation or, if it does not wish to do so, mustimmediately give orders for the arrest, chargesheeting and suspension of those 30 police personnel whobehaved in a highly undemocratic and illegal manner." The matter relates to the arrest of Tamil daily

Thinaboomi's editor S Manimaran and his son M Rajesh Kumar by the Madurai police on July 21, 2010,allegedly after they had published investigative reports on a stone quarrying scam in and around Madurai.After their midnight arrest, they lodged a complaint with the Press Council stating the authorities hadacted in collusion with the granite mining lobby and that it was a blatant curtailment of the freedom ofpress. The duo was released on July 22, 2010, but the then government had registered five new casesagainst them. PCI directed the district collector and other authorities to submit their replies. The reply wassubmitted in January 2011, saying two of the five cases against the duo had been closed and they hadbeen chargesheeted in the other cases. Since the matter is pending before a criminal court, the PressCouncil should reject the complaint as not maintainable, their reply stated. While rejecting thisexplanation, the PCI made the impugned observation. Interestingly, the same day, the complainantsubmitted a memo to PCI stating they wanted to withdraw the complaint, since the present AIADMKregime was taking the right action and hence, the complaint had lost its relevance. Despite the withdrawalletter, the PCI issued summons to the home secretary and collector and asked them to be present onSeptember 19. Assailing the direction, Mardi said the PCI cannot make such observations or say thegovernment had no right to continue in office. The PCI ought not to have proceeded further even after thecomplaint had been withdrawn. Under Section 14 of the PCI Act, 1978, the council can censure only anewspaper or a news agency which has offended the standards of journalistic ethics or public taste. ThePCI cannot pass orders of censure against a state government, he said. He said the PCI had actedbeyond its jurisdiction. The home secretary said the cases were now pending before a magistrate, andhence the PCI could not interfere with judicial proceedings. Justice K K Sasidharan has posted thepetition to Monday for hearing. (Times of India 16/9/13)Sri Lankan editor, family flee after armed attack (1)Colombo: A senior Sri Lankan editor known for her anti-government stance has fled the country with herfamily following death threats after an armed attack on her house which she suspected was intended tofind some sensitive documents, a local media watchdog said on Wednesday. Mandana IsmailAbeywickrema, co-editor of Sunday Leader newspaper, yesterday headed “to a North American country”,joining some 80 journalists who have sought refuge abroad since President Mahinda Rajapaksa came topower in 2005, the Free Media Movement (FMM) said. Five burglars broke into her house in a pre-dawnraid on August 24, 2013 and held her at knife point as they searched her Colombo home for nearly threehours before one burglar was killed in a shootout with the police. Last month, the military admitted thattwo of the five men were soldiers who had deserted the Army, but denied that security forces were behindthe crime. “She (Ms. Abeywickrema) had received several death threats after she raised her suspicionsthat the gang was not looking for valuables but for some documents,” the FMM said. She suspected thatthe intruders were looking for the documents related to a major state land scam she was investigating.“She and her family lived in hiding, moving from house to house since the break in burglary of herresidence,” the FMM said. Her husband Romesh Abeywickrema, the editor of the business section in theEnglish daily, and their 12-year-old daughter have also left the country, it said. Ms. Abeywickrema hasbeen critical of the government in her political commentary and was elected the first President of theJournalists’ Trade Union formed recently. The Sunday Leader is considered a major critic of the presentgovernment and media activists have alleged that is the reason it has been targeted and that journalistshave been forced to self-censor their work for fear of violent attacks. The founding editor of the Englishdaily, Lasantha Wickrematunga, was murdered when a gang attacked him in his car in January 2009. “Alarge number of media workers including journalists have been killed, abducted, assaulted and mediainstitutions have been set on fire since 2005, but no killing, abduction, assault or arson has beeninvestigated and no perpetrator brought to justice,” the FMM said. The watchdog said it was urging thegovernment to end the “impunity which has become the shield for attacks against media and journalists inSri Lanka and bring all perpetrators to justice”. It reiterated its request that the government should invite

the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression Rights to visit the country in order toobtain help to speed up these investigations. (The Hindu 18/9/13)Misuse of social media high on National Integration Council’s agenda (1)NEW DELHI: Apart from a law to punish communal violence, the use - and misuse - of social mediaduring riots will figure prominently during the National Integration Council's (NIC) meeting to be held onMonday in the wake of the Muzzaffarnagar riots. The need for "responsible" use of social networking siteslike twitter, facebook and others during a communal riot will be taken up for discussion in the context ofhate propaganda, instances of fake and misleading videos or rumours being propagated. Official sourcessaid the government will like to encourage use of social media during times of social and communaltensions to act in a manner to calm, rather than inflame passions. Official intervention, however, can betricky in the light of instances of state governments and politicians using ill-defined clauses of theInformation Technology (IT) Act like 66 (A) against critics, political opponents and innocent internetplatform users. The IT Act remains controversial despite introduction of safeguards such as vetting ofcases by senior police officials being registered. This will be the first time that leaders and policymakerswill debate social media in the context of communal violence. Treading the fine line in acting againstmischief or criminal intent while respecting the enlarged boundaries of freedom of speech on a mediumthat is difficult to police will engage leaders of national and regional parties, public figures andrepresentatives of private organizations. The trigger in bringing social media to the NIC high table is thereported misuse of social media during the Muzaffarnagar riots. It has been alleged that videos depictingviolence that had nothing to do with the local incidents were put on social networking sites. Similarconcerns were discussed in Parliament in August, 2012, when morphed pictures were used by mischiefmakers in the form of MMS (multi-media messages) to fan communal tension by targeting people fromthe northeast in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune. The government had then clamped down bybanning bulk SMS and MMS for a certain period, but found it difficult to remove objectionable picturesand videos from various social networking sites. The task was made more difficult with most picturesmorphed and uploaded at different websites in Pakistan and some other countries. The government hasto depend on companies which own the micro-blogging and social-networking sites whose servers arelocated in US to act against the posts and uploads. As these companies interpret individual privacy in acertain way, it took days before objectionable contents were blocked. The issue will be discussed in thebackdrop of the Muzaffarnagar riots that left 48 people dead and over 45,000 people displaced duringcommunal violence in western Uttar Pradesh. The 148-member NIC — chaired by Prime MinisterManmohan Singh — will also discuss issues concerning safety and security of women, confidencebuildingmeasures taken to tackle communal disturbances and taking help from all sections of society inremoving communal tension. The proposed communal violence Bill, opposed by some states as itenvisages empowering the central government to send central forces unilaterally in case of communaldisturbances, is also expected to be discussed in the meeting. The Bill also faces problems as itdescribes only minorities as victims of communal violence. (Times of India 21/9/13)Journalists rally behind The Hindu RE (1)HYDERABAD: Journalists staged a dharna near Indira Park on Saturday protesting against the bookingof a case against The Hindu Resident Editor S. Nagesh Kumar and barging into his house by a posse ofpolicemen. The demonstration which was organised under the aegis of AP Working JournalistsFederation and Hyderabad Journalists Union demanded an inquiry into the sequence of events since theregistration of the case by three independent Editors. It was resolved to organise a meeting to discuss thedevelopments at Sundaraiah Vignana Kendram on Monday. Speaking on the occasion, president of theState-level federation B. Basavapunnaiah demanded the dismissal of Director General of Police V.Dinesh Reddy for adopting a vindictive stand against Mr. Nagesh Kumar. The sequence of events sincethe registration of case against the journalist reflected a conflict between journalism and ‘police raj’. The

federation general secretary G. Anjaneyulu said the police acted in an atrocious manner going to thehouse of Mr. Nagesh Kumar. It reminded of the emergency days. The HUJ president P. Anandam said ifthe police could do it even to a person who secured bail, imagine the position of poor journalists who didnot have the financial standing to get the bail. (The Hindu 22/9/13)Social media misuse needs to be checked: PM (1)NEW DELHI: The role of social media in fanning communal violence was the focus of many speechesdelivered at the National Integration Council meeting in the national capital Monday, which Prime MinisterManmohan Singh chaired. The Prime Minister broached the issue in his inaugural address, and saidthere was need to prevent the misuse of social media by elements looking to foment trouble. Referring tothe recent communal violence in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh that left 48 dead, the PrimeMinister said there were cases in which fake videos were circulated, causing deeper divides betweencommunities and greater hatred. He said social media provides new information, and could be used tocement bonds. "Social media provides the opportunity to state one's views freely, and there is need tomaintain this. But it is also important that we do not allow people wanting to create trouble to misuse it,"the prime minister said. Manmohan Singh said there were ways in which people were so inter-connectedthat national boundaries seemed no longer relevant. He also referred to the misuse of social media lastyear, which led to many people from the northeastern states being forced to flee their homes and jobs insouth India. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan,Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Haryana Chief MinisterBhupinder Singh Hooda and Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma were among those who raisedconcerns over the impact of social media. Yadav said there was no effective mechanism at present tostop the spread of hatred-inducing material on social media. "Service providers should have the capacityto identify people who send such material," he said. Hooda said the central government can take steps forthe control of social media under the present legal framework. "It has often been seen that socialnetworking sites such as Facebook, Twitter etc become media used in spreading propaganda throughvideo clippings and messages of incidents with communal overtones," he said. Chavan said that thechallenge posed by the misuse of cyberspace and mobile technology had to be carefully addressed,without impinging on the freedom of expression. "While there is a procedure in place to block socialnetworking sites, it would require some innovation and coordination with service providers to identify andblock circulation of provocative messages over mobile phones," he said. Chavan suggested setting up asocial media laboratory under the state intelligence department to monitor posts likely to endangercommunal harmony. He also suggested that mechanisms should be evolved to mobilise non-governmentorganisations, religious leaders and eminent citizens to counter provocative posts. Gogoi said thatmischievous elements and vested interests can spread rumours and hate speeches within a short span oftime, through social media networking sites and mobile phones. (Times of India 24/9/13)Case against The Hindu RE: scribes seek Governor’s intervention (1)Hyderabad: Protests against filing of cases on The Hindu Resident Editor S. Nagesh Kumar continuedacross the State on Thursday even as the Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ)organised a ‘satyagraha” here on Thursday. Senior journalists, including the editors of language andEnglish dailies, participated in the satyagraha to condemn the ‘vindictive attitude’ of the DGP, V. DineshReddy, and expressed their solidarity with Mr. Nagesh Kumar. A delegation of the IJU and APUWJ calledon Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan later seeking his intervention in the ‘witch-hunting’ being indulged in bythe DGP. The State police chief was trying hard to muzzle the voice of the media, a vital institution ofdemocracy. “The police officers of lower and middle rank are not hesitating to harass Mr. Nagesh Kumarindicating that all these developments are taking place at the DGP’s behest,” the memorandum said.Addressing the protesting journalists earlier, The Hindu Rural Affairs Editor, P. Sainath, condemned thepolice for their ‘morally reprehensible act’. “The police indulged in a police State kind of outrageous

intimidation.” The agitation launched by the scribes was a fight against the arbitrary action and forprotection of free expression. The agitation went beyond The Hindu as journalists stood up for honestyand truth. “I believe you are winning your battle and you will know about this shortly,” he said. FormerPress Academy chairman Potturi Venkateswara Rao lamented that the freedom of expressionguaranteed by the Constitution was weak as was reflected by the cases registered against an institutionlike The Hindu. Veteran journalist G.S. Varadachari said the struggle was not confined to The Hindualone and the issue pertained to all the journalists. NTv chief editor K. Srinivasa Rao, who objected to thepolice chief’s dictatorial tendencies, wanted Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy to intervene in thematter and ensure that the cases against Mr. Nagesh Kumar were withdrawn unconditionally. NamastheTelangaana editor Allam Narayana said the incident exposed the feudal tendency of the police chief.Visalandhra editor K. Srinivas Reddy said the Chief Minister should pull up the official for registering suchcases. IJU secretary general D. Amar questioned the rationale behind filing of cases against Mr. NageshKumar when the Editor of The Hindu was responsible for publication of the news. TV9 CEO Raviprakashstressed the need to join hands to oppose such attacks on the media houses. The DGP showed his evilintention by filing non-bailable sections on The Hindu Resident Editor skipping the ombudsman and otherinstitutions to redress his grievance, said The Hindu Deputy Chief of Bureau, K. Venkateshwarlu. TheNew Indian Express RE G.S. Vasu wondered how Mr. Nagesh Kumar was made to sit for hours in thepolice station at a time when the police boss himself was accused in a case. Journalists K. LakshmaReddy, K. Sudhakar Reddy (Sakshi), AP Press Photographers Association president Ravikanth Reddyand others spoke. (The Hindu 27/9/13)Urdu daily scribe assaulted by policeman in Kurla (1)Mumbai: A journalist of a city-based Urdu newspaper was allegedly assaulted by a police personnel inKurla Tuesday night. Javed Sheikh said in his complaint that he was at the Kurla bus terminal whenpolice sub inspector Manojkumar Londhe allegedly assaulted him. "Two years ago, Londhe was arrestedon charges of rape, which I had reported. When Londhe saw me waiting for a bus, he came up to me andreferred to my article. Then he and a woman assaulted me," Sheikh said. Deputy Commissioner of Police(zone 5) Dhananjay Kulkarni said, "Londhe is currently posted with the Gadchiroli police. He and hisaccomplice are absconding. Efforts are on to trace nab the duo." (Indian Express 3/10/13)Need to harness social media constructively: Shinde (1)"We must ensure that social media is basically meant for interaction among people to share informationon different fronts and should not be used to create bad blood and communal disharmony," Shinde said.Addressing gatherings at Sitarganj and Doiwala towns in Udham Singh Nagar and Dehradun districtsrespectively Shinde said as law and order and communal harmony is the first and foremost task of everystate government, social media should not be allowed to come in its way. Referring to speedyrehabilitation and restoration work done by Congress-led Vijay Bahuguna government to relocate thoserendered homeless and restore road, drinking water and electricity within a stipulated time aftercatastrophe struck Rudrapryag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi districts, the home minister appreciated the stategovernment for successfully rescuing lives of about 1.40 lakh pilgrims and locals. "The way the stategovernment succeeded in saving the lives of about 1.40 lakh people stuck at different calamity-hit placesin these districts, rehabilitated all those rendered homeless and restored all connectivity within a shortspan of time, was commendable," Shinde said. He said that the resumption of puja at Kedarnath onSeptember 11 followed by restarting of the yatra to Kedarnath and Badrinath are two instances ofadequate efforts made by the Bahuguna government to bring back normalcy in the deluge struck districts.(Times of India 8/10/13)Internet is about free speech (1)

There is no Left-wing or Right-wing agenda when it comes to freedom of speech, whether it is in anewspaper or on the Internet. But the unfortunate fact is that there are increasingly different rules guidingthe twoA democracy that is ruled by a woman leader, the widow of a popular and charismatic leader, whohas, according to some economists, adopted ruinous economic policies which have among other thingscapped the inflows of foreign investors. A country with a global sporting icon but one where irate youthand workers are rioting against Government policies. Sounds familiar? It is not India — this is Argentina.Yet, despite the similarities and the fact that Cristina Kirchner actually holds a constitutional office, thereis one very important difference. According to a recent report by an NGO, Freedom House, despite someminor issues, the Internet is classified as ‘free’ in Argentina. This means both access to as well as contenton the internet. India, on the other hand, has seen a drop in its ranking on the issue among 60 nations —to 35 from 27 the year earlier. While India has a better ranking than any of its neighbours —after all, inPakistan access to YouTube remains blocked and in Bangladesh Razakar goons have murderedbloggers — the fact is that laws promulgated by India’s policymakers have chipped away at publicfreedom. The ironic fact is that, had it been a BJP-led Government making these laws, most in the mediawould be crying ‘murder’. Yet the laws and its makers have been allowed to get away. When two teenagegirls in Mumbai were arrested for posting a question, all hell broke loose in the media. But the law did notchange. Recently, there was a case where a car rally navigator, a video of whose made it on the Internet,also filed a case against the person who uploaded the video, because he had been ‘hurt’. The fact is thatmost judges throw out these cases when they come up in court, but for someone to be taken into policecustody even for a few hours on the basis of a complaint using the Information Technology Act can, andoften does, impact their personal and professional life. But why are politicians so afraid of the Internet?This is not an Indian problem alone; leaders in neighbourhood China have been so paranoid of theinternet that they have built the so-called ‘Great Firewall of China’, lest citizens find out about theatrocities committed at Tiananmen Square. The main freedom the Internet affords is that it allows peopleto make up their minds and not just get the Government narrative, or in the case of India, a biasednarrative that several media houses put out. It is no surprise then that some prominent mediapersonalities have tacitly supported the Government’s laws. Harassment is one thing, but several mediapersons have not taken kindly to being questioned on their political biases and complain about ‘trolling’ onthe Internet when questioned. Ironically, if they actually read the definition of ‘trolling’ on the Internet, theywould realise that they themselves are the trolls. Yes, there should be laws against paedophiles andthose who harass people on social media. Unfortunately, online blackmail is all too common in Indiawhere usually men threaten to put up ‘compromising’ pictures of women, and there should be lawsagainst that as well. But the anger the Government has against social media is because it allows thepublic to raise its frustration against those in power. Yes, the public on social media in India is but a smallpercentage of India’s population, and some politicians often take heart from that. But they should not,because that itself is a damning indictment of the Government and highlights their failure to enhanceInternet connectivity in India. There is no Left-wing or Right-wing agenda when it comes to freedom ofspeech, whether it is in a newspaper or on the Internet. But the fact is that there are increasingly differentrules guiding both. There are newspapers, particularly in upcountry areas, that publish inflammatorypictures and articles, often with express intent. This is how the protests against the atrocities committedon Rohingya Muslims in Burma caused riots in Mumbai. In an effort to contain the riots, the Governmentof India banned respectable news sites that explained what was going on. What is more worrying is thatcertain people use these laws to try and ensure that unflattering articles about themselves and theircompanies are kept out. These are little more than attempts to airbrush the truth. Instead of filing casesagainst media companies for defamation or in Press Council of India where such cases can be decidedquickly, certain people have taken recourse to filing cases under the IT Act to get such articles removed.Fortunately, in most cases, they have come up against lawyers from media houses who can give as goodas they get. It is sad that we live in a world where everybody gets easily offended. The ability to offendshould be protected rather than those who are easily offended. Hate speech is one thing, but one man’s

offensive speech could well be another man’s comedy. Yes, there are times when the difference betweenoffensive speech and hate speech is blurry, but these lines should be defined by the courts. The Internetholds immense promise for a country like India where millions of people have grown up without regularaccess to reliable information. The Internet, coupled with the advent of low-cost smartphones, can bringabout a revolution in India. Politicians are scared of this revolution because many of them have madecareers and money out of ‘information arbitrage’, for lack of another term. In an attempt to preventchange, politicians are desperate to leash the tool which will enable this change. If they love India, asthey profess to do, they should unleash the Internet and not tie it down because of the problems it mightbring about. Indians and India will benefit from a free and fair Internet, if we are proud of our democracywe should also be proud of our internet and the fact that we have such a forum. (Pioneer 8/10/13)Directive to printing presses (1)New Delhi: Ahead of the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections, the Delhi police on Tuesday came out withan order asking operators of all printing presses not to print any unlawful documents or anything which isnot in line with the guidelines of the Election Commission. “All the owner/managers/operators of printingpress must not print any material in violation of the provisions of press and book registration act 1867 andother related laws and rules in force presently, within 60 days from the promulgation of this order withoutviolating the right of freedom of expression of the general public,” a statement released by police said.This order shall come into force with effect from October 10 and shall remain in force for a period of 60days upto December 5 unless withdrawn earlier, the statement said. The order was issued after the Delhipolice received several complaints that many printing presses, both licensed and unlicensed, areengaged in printing work. These printing presses are are allegedly printing all sorts of material underdirect contractor agreement. “As a result, all sort of harmful material, inconsistent with law of the land orotherwise, is being printed, advertently /inadvertently, in gross violation of the prevailing law of the landand other instructions issued by government offices time to time,” the statement said. “Any person whocontravenes this order shall be liable to be punished,” said a police official.(Asian Age 9/10/13)Politicians' use of social media on Election Commission's scanner (1)LUCKNOW: Rampant use of Facebook, Twitter and other social media has set the tone for electioncampaigns for most of the political bigwigs. But their use of social media has been caught by the hawkeyeof the Election Commission of India. The ECI has thus decided to pitch in information technologyexperts, who would keep an eye on use of social media by political parties. The idea is to ensure thatpolitical parties and candidates do not flout the model code of conduct by any means, chief electionofficer Umesh Sinha said, added that social media had posed new challenge for the ElectionCommission. Though social media was used in the UP assembly election 2012, its use has grownmanifold since, so much so that political parties have come up with separate IT cells to propagate theirideologies. Huge money was being spent on using social media as the medium of campaign. Itswidespread use, however, has resulted in a plethora of proxy profiles, which the Election Commissionsaid will also be monitored for the content. Sinha added that it will be up to the EC to decide if the contentis violating model code of conduct. In case it does, it will be investigated and action will be takenaccordingly, he added. The EC will also keep watch on fake posts and profiles and would act afterinvestigation, Sinha said. So far, the Bharatiya Janata Party and its prime ministerial candidate NarendraModi have taken the lead in use of social media as their campaign tool. Realising the importance of thesame, Congress is also moving in that direction. With Lok Sabha election approximately six months away,the Election Commission of India has started doing its homework to keep things under control once themodel code of conduct comes into force. Interestingly, the ECI has already decided to form mediacertification and monitoring committee up to district level. The order to form such committees was issuedby Election of Commission of India through an order dated August 27, 2012. The task assigned to themonitoring committee includes checking paid news during elections that is advertisement in garb of news

and other related matters. Each district level committee would consist of district election officer/returningofficer, ARO (not below sub divisional magistrate), Central government Information and BroadcastingMinistry official (if any in the district), independent citizen/journalist as recommended by Press Council ofIndia, DPRO/district information officer/equivalent member secretary. Similarly, expenditure incurred onadvertisements through social media will also be in the purview of Election Commission's monitoringcommittee and candidates hiding the same will face EC action, the CEO said. Sinha confirmed that an ITexpert's help would be taken at each of the district level committee to check misuse of social media andto check illegal use of it for campaigning. Besides, the ECI would keep a watch that nothing objectionableis carried forward through social media. Any violation would be dealt with sternly and action would betaken as per the various IT Acts, said Joint chief election officer Ramesh Chandra. (Times of India10/10/13)The Daily Mail has unwittingly begun a debate on press freedom (1)In my happy schooldays in India, when verbal disagreements threatened to escalate into violence andphysical confrontation — which would mean thrown punches, torn shirts and a tumble in the mud with theentire playground rushing like beach bums running from a tsunami — “going on mothers” was consideredthe worst provocation. It meant using the word which accused one’s protagonist of maternal incest, the‘M’ word which the American ghetto seems to have adopted and translated from the centuries oldHindustani word. (OK, that was just a shot at amateur etymology. The US probably arrived at its motherabuseindependently, but a little nationalist boasting never hurt nobody!) Imprecations against one’smother had to be defended. There were colourful Marathi variations on the theme involving the GodHanuman and several originally-minted insults about another’s mother’s morals, attributes and vocation,local to our school and streets. The sin was universally considered cardinal — one didn’t ‘go onmothers’In the past two weeks a debate about press freedom has been initiated by the Daily Mail, anational newspaper which attacked the Labour party leader’s late father Ralph Miliband. Ed Miliband’sfather Ralph Miliband was an academic and a Marxist. The Mail published a shameful article on te latterunder the headline “The Man Who Hated Britain”. It was a clear case of ‘going on fathers’ and EdMiliband, with admirable reflex loyalty and the restraint which being British and having an elevatedpolitical position forces on him, didn’t lurk outside the offices of the Mail and punch the editor in the facewhen he emerged but demanded a right to reply in the same paper. Ed was furious. He appeared on TVand accused the Mail of deliberately lying — as though one could lie unwittingly. I was with him. (Let thenewspapers of the world note that if any of them publish an article saying that the late Lt Col, JamshedDhondy hated India, not being the leader of any political party, I will send the ‘boys’ out and will myself bethere right behind them). Ralph Miliband was a Jewish refugee from Belgium who came to Britain toescape the Nazis. He was a Marxist thinker of the Trotskyist persuasion. His ideology led him torepublicanism, to criticising the institutions of the elite which perpetrated class distinctions and snobbery,to critiques of the capitalist past and neo-capitalist present of Britain. Ralph was also an outspokensupporter of trade unions and was in favour, however remote the possibility, of a proletarian revolution inthe UK. There are millions of Britons who hold a combination of opinions similar to those of RalphMiliband. I myself would by and large agree, with a few exceptions. I wouldn’t, for instance, demand theabolition of the Monarchy, though I am in favour of occasionally chopping one of their heads off to remindthem who is boss. My thus favouring Royalty has nothing to do with admiring the Duchess of Cambridge’ssister’s shapely and famous posterior — which I don’t — but everything to do with not wanting somejackanapes such as Michael Gove, the present Education Secretary to be nominated ‘President’ of thecountry. Then again, I am in favour of trades unions and of abolishing elitist schools and universities (withthe exception of course of Cambridge which has produced some civilisation-altering science and manyfine writers and persuasive columnists). The Daily Mail found some diary piece Ralph had written whenhe was 16 and a young lad in Britain in which he said that he found the English to be rather suspicious offoreigners. This rag of a newspaper found material in this youthful and truthful observation to justify its

headline. The Mail’s effort was directed at propagating the nonsense that the Labour leader, owing to theinevitable influence of his father, was a crypto-communist. Ed replied saying his father had sought refugein this country, was grateful for its protection and had served as an officer in the Royal Navy in World WarII. Ironies multiplied as the controversies took shape. Ed’s opponents at the polls, David Cameron andNick Clegg, leaders of rival parties, weighed in on his side saying he was completely justified in rebuttingaccusations against his father. Others pointed out that it was the Daily Mail and its proprietor LordRothermere who had supported Hitler and the Nazis before the war began. If anyone had sought tobetray Britain, it was the Mail’s owners. The Mail didn’t apologise to Ed. Instead it published an articlestanding by its earlier stance. The article was aimed at the pig-ignorant and considerably large section ofBritons who probably believe that Lenin was a founder member of The Beatles. The Mail’s articles arguedthat Ralph Miliband was self-evidently an advocate of a Stalinist dictatorship in Britain, complete withrepressive gulags. Unfortunately for the Mail there is now an all-party commission contemplating how tocontrol the excesses of the British press without curtailing its freedom. Ed is party to this formulationwhich will become law. The Mail may live to regret ‘going on fathers’. (Hindustan Times 14/10/13)'Media has more freedom in India than in the West' (1)NAGPUR: The parameters for development are diverse and one should not judge the government on thebasis of a 4.5% growth rate, said union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde. America has been shut downdue to the economic downturn, but not a single employee has been discontinued in India, he said. Shindewas speaking after unveiling the 'Statue of Freedom of Press' at Lokmat Media's printing plant at Butiborinear here on Sunday. "It was on this day that Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar parted ways with the communallybiased society and converted to Buddhism along with his followers. The society today needs tocontemplate over the reasons behind Ambedkar's decision. Communal forces should ask themselves whyAmbedkar chose to convert to Buddhism," he said, and asserted that such elements would not be allowedto prevail. He said the print, electronic and social media in India has more freedom as compared to theWest. Shinde said until now America boasted of the Statue of Liberty but today the "world's biggestdemocracy has given the world the first Statue of Freedom of Press".The black marble statue shows aman and a woman reading a newspaper installed atop a jet black granite pedestal. Shinde said it is a truerepresentation of freedom of the entire media as the curtain that veiled the statue, carried mastheads ofall major regional, national and international dailies. Thirteen of the state's senior journalists werefelicitated by Shinde for their contribution to journalism. Lokmat Group chairman and MP Vijay Darda,Maharashtra minister for social justice Shivajirao Moghe, EGS minister Nitin Raut, local MP VilasMuttemwar and Wardha MP Datta Meghe were among those present. (Times of India 15/10/13)MP scribe dies after consuming poison, Cong seeks CBI probe (1)Bhopal: Opposition Congress in Madhya Pradesh today demanded a CBI probe into the death of a localjournalist who committed suicide after allegedly being threatened by certain officials against whom he hadfiled a PIL in the High Court for forging caste certificates. "The Congress demands CBI probe into thesuicide of Rajendra Kumar as he had taken the extreme step before the room of the State ChiefSecretary yesterday," the state unit Congress vice president Rameshwar Neekhra told reporters. 39-yearoldKumar, who used to run a weekly newspaper, had consumed poison yesterday while demandingaction against alleged corruption in the state government. Kumar was admitted to Hamidia hospital wherehe died late night, police said. Neekhra said that Kumar came to know through RTI that nearly 300officials who did not belong to the SC category had used fake certificates to get jobs, and was receivingdeath threats from them. Kumar who had filed a PIL in the high court on the issue was being pressurisedto withdraw it, he said. "Since the entire state is being run from Mantralaya and Kumar taking the extremestep in front of the CS' office, it's a matter of concern as it is associated with the security of the Secretariatand reflects poorly on government's sensitivity," Neekhra added. He demanded that the ElectionCommission should also take cognisance of the matter since state is bound by Model Code of Conduct

and also initiate steps to terminate services of the employees Kumar mentioned in his plea. The Leader ofOpposition in MP Assembly, Ajay Singh has charged the state government of being insensitive towardssuch issues. In a statement, Ajay said the manner in which Kumar died exposed the BJP government inthe state and demanded action against those found guilty. He also demanded that one member ofKumar's family be given a government job. (Zee News 16/10/13)Asaram Bapu wants media to be restrained, SC says no (1)NEW DELHI: Arrested spiritual leader Asaram Bapu on Monday requested the Supreme Court to orderthe electronic media to tone down their coverage of alleged sexual assault cases against him, saying theTV channels' "media trial" had already convicted him even as the police is yet to file a charge-sheet.Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for Asaram Bapu, referred to the apex court's judgmentcautioning the media against holding trial through irresponsible reporting and requested a bench of ChiefJustice P Sathasivam and Justice Ranjan Gogoi to protect his client's right to be presumed innocent till acourt scrutinized the charges and came to a conclusion after holding trial. Singh said Asaram had 400'ashrams' all over the country with more than 7 crore followers and the TV channels were blatantlybreaching the 'laxman rekha' laid down by the apex court to project him as guilty of the alleged offenceseven when the police had not come across enough evidence to file a charge-sheet. The bench said, "Forthe present, we are not inclined to restrain the media. We will observe it for some more time and we willgive you permission to approach the court again if the situation persists. We hope and trust media willfollow the Supreme Court's guidelines." On September 12 last year, the apex court had abstained fromlaying down guidelines on coverage of criminal trials but had evolved a new constitutional doctrineempowering the higher judiciary to direct print and electronic media to defer reporting of trial courthearings for a short period if an accused proved that earlier news reports had harmed his right to fair trialor interfered with administration of justice. Though a five-judge constitution bench said it evolved theDoctrine of Postponement to balance the right of an accused to be presumed innocent till completion oftrial with the media's right to freedom of expression, it linked the doctrine to many complex caveats,making it very difficult for an aggrieved accused to convince a high court or the Supreme Court to orderpostponement of reporting of trial proceedings. The five-judge bench had said constitutional courts, highcourts and the Supreme Court, should not direct postponement of reporting without first exploringalternative measures like change of venue of trial or postponement of trial proceedings to secure fair trial.The apex court had said constitutional courts could temporarily prohibit statements in the media if theyhad the potential to prejudice or obstruct or interfere with the administration of justice in a given casepending in the Supreme Court or a high court or even in the lower courts. (Times of India 22/10/13)Journalist group condemns press freedom violations (1)Denver: A group representing journalists from across the Americas is condemning violations of pressfreedoms in both Latin America and the United States. The Inter American Press Association on Tuesdaycited the killings of 14 journalists as well as government acquisition of media outlets in Latin America, thesecret seizure of Associated Press phone records, a new censorship law in Ecuador and advertisingrestrictions in Argentina as among the worst of the offenses. Members passed resolutions against themon the final day of their annual meeting in Denver. The group urged the US Congress to pass tolegislation establishing a "robust" shield law that protects journalists from being forced to divulge theirsources, a law that would prevent journalists from being jailed for refusing to do so. (Zee News 23/10/13)Media should act responsibly, says Minister (1)THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Cultural Affairs Minister K C Joseph said that the government does not haveany difference of opinion with the media on the issue of freedom of press but felt that it should beexercised in a responsible manner. He said that instead of any censorship or control over the media, themedia should develop a self-regulatory mechanism of its own. The Minister was speaking after

inaugurating ‘Take Two’ media festival organised by the Department of Communication and Journalism,Kerala University, here on Thursday. ‘’Job opportunities are greater now in the media when comparedwith the days where there were only the print media. The style of journalism has changed today.Investigative journalism has given new dimensions to the world of media. However, the values injournalism had not kept apace with the growth in the media industry,’’ Joseph said. He said that the mediainvites people to comment on topics and if there is at least anying sensational in it, it will become the topicfor the live discussions on news channels. ‘’Instead of running behind sensational stories which mayincrease the ratings or readership, the media should also shift its focus to the developmental issues of thesociety,’’ Joseph said. K Muraleedharan MLA, who presided over the function, said that most newsanchors who anchor discussions are keen at establishing their perspectives and views on an issue ratherthan understanding the guest or moderating their opinions. He said limelight is on those who seekattention of media through sensational statements or expressions. ‘’The prime time channel discussionsare struggling hard to take up sensitive issues for discussions and sensible questions are also notcommon during discussions,’’ said Muraleedharan. (New Indian Express 25/10/13)HC notice to EC, govt on AAP plea over posters (1)New Delhi: Two volunteers of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday moved the High Court accusing theDelhi government, the Delhi Police and the Election Commission of violating their freedom of speech andexpression by removing party posters and banners from their residences under the Delhi Prevention ofDefacement of Property Act, 2007. "The AAP is a relatively new party, with limited resources and funds,... older parties have the resources... to rent out billboards and place prime-time advertisements ontelevision and radio. The AAP relies on the capabilities of the aam aadmi, who can do little more thancarry posters and placards, and wear hats and badges, etc," the petition, filed by Anil Bhatia, SatyadevSolanki stated. The petition stated that police had warned the volunteers that they would be fined andpolice proceedings would be initiated against them if they continued to put up posters. Appearing for thepetitioners, advocate Prashant Bhushan argued that removing posters forcibly was "denial of the right tofreedom of speech of the citizen and the restriction should be set aside immediately...". The bench ofChief Justice N V Ramana and Justice Manmohan issued notices to the government, Police and theElection Commission and sought their replies within two weeks. (Indian Express 26/10/13)Parliamentary panel questions EC over web content (1)New Delhi: A parliamentary panel on Saturday questioned the Election Commission’s jurisdiction on itslatest guidelines to political parties and candidates for regulating their online and social media contentduring elections. The chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on law and justice, ShantaramNaik, said he has asked the commission to quote the provisions of law under which it had issued theseguidelines. “I have requested the EC to inform us about the provisions of law which empower it. Some ofthe instructions may be desirable, but one cannot understand the logic of issuing guidelines much afterthe date of announcement of elections when it had enough time to do it before it,” Naik said. “Wheneverthe commission officials have appeared before the standing committee, we have expressed reservationson the manner in which instructions are issued without quoting the law. In the present case also, thecommittee expresses its disapproval,” he said. The panel chairman said the EC has created a new lawwhich has not been passed by Parliament and its guidelines also do not form part of its rule makingpowers, provided to the commission by the government. “The EC has caught the political parties andcandidates by surprise without even having consulted them on this issue,” Naik said. “Such matterscannot be left to be regulated in the names of instructions,” the chairman said. The commission had onFriday issued detailed guidelines bringing the online and social media content posted by political partiesand candidates under its model code of conduct. (Hindustan Times 27/10/13)