Threatening and Tarring the Watchdogs
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A JOURNAL OF THE PRESS INSTITUTE OF INDIA ISSN 0042-5303 April-June 2017 JOURNALISM UNDER SIEGE Volume 9 Issue 2 Rs 50 Threatening and CONTENTS • All fawning admiration, no critical look / Ranjona Banerji tarring the watchdogs • Demonetisation – coverage by print could have been better / Bharat Dogra The press used to be known once upon a time as the Fourth Estate • A president’s unmasked (the legislature, the executive and the judiciary being the three dislike of the media / main wings of national vigilance). Freedom of expression is also Yogesh Vajpeyi enshrined in our Constitution. However, today, increasingly, the • The new Disability Act media seems to be vilified and constitutional guarantees tossed and the role of the media / aside by authoritarian diktats, in the name of ‘ensuring national Santosh Kumar Biswal • A 'travelling diary' highlights security’ and safeguarding law and order. Journalists who report woes faced by rural women on malpractices are being threatened. Sakuntala Narasimhan / Sakuntala Narasimhan provides the perspective • Treating waste on-site best way to keep Bharat n the third week of March this year, the Network of Women in Media, swachh? / Rina Mukherjee India (NWMI), a forum for women media professionals (including print, • Sustainable use of water radio and television) put out a statement condemning the intimidation never taken serously, says I expert / Ranjita Biswas unleashed against a woman journalist who published a series of articles exposing corruption and massive malpractices by India’s largest miner and • Getting the message across exporter of rare earth minerals, S. Vaikundarajan of Tamil Nadu, with details to a tribal population is of politicians’ collusion in the illegal operation and looting of national assets never easy / Ritesh Kumar (sand and minerals). Sisu Following a series of four articles on the operation published in The Wire • 'It's digital we have to be in January (https://thewire.in/tag/beach-sand-mining/) the writer, Chennai- focussed on, it's our future' based Sandhya Ravishankar, received a flood of abusive calls, even threats of / Yogesh Vajpeyi violence and dire consequences, via Twitter and Facebook, from supporters • A bold school student of Vaikundarajan, according to her complaint to the Press Council. Blogs stands up for music / Nava in English and Tamil targeted her too. She was also threatened with legal Thakuria action for defamation, although her report is based on factual information that • The best Bengali films of Vaikundarajan has not denied. 2016 constitute a mixed bag The threats have come on the letterhead of the mining company (VV Minerals), / Shoma A. Chatterji of which Vaikundarajan is founder-chairman. Two hundred criminal cases are • He was a teacher, reportedly pending against him. NWMI’s statement is being sent to the police reformer and writer / Mrinal demanding action against such intimidation, pointing out that this “does not Chatterjee bode well for freedom of the press and truth-telling in the public interest”. • A journalist fondly recalls Only when the authorities (including the police and the cyber wing) ensure four men who shaped his that journalists can fulfil their duty to inform the public unhindered by threats careeer / Partab Ramchand and pressure, can we hope to create an atmosphere of genuine freedom of • Remembering expression, NWMI’s statement adds. Gita Sen / Narendranath Mitra / Kishori Amonkar / Kalikaprasad / Ashokamitran (Continued on page 3) / Nirmal Shekar April-June 2017 VIDURA 1 FROM THE EDITOR As freedom shrinks, it's hard times for investigative journalism In October last year, a young data with The Hoot shows that law- presumed dead. Last year, 11 journalist came to meet me makers and law-enforcers are the Mexican journalists were killed, the when I was in New Delhi for prime culprits in the attacks and country’s highest tally this century. the presentation of the annual threats on the media,” Seshu points Ahmed writes that after nearly a PII-ICRC Awards. She was a out. Overall, the situation seems decade of growing violence against former winner of the award, an quite frightening. And not only in the media, the press has adapted outstanding journalist. For a India. by severely cutting back on what series of stories she had done for a Agence France-Presse reports that it reports and that self-censorship national magazine, focusing on the press freedom has hit the lowest is not only common, it is often the trafficking of children from Assam point in 13 years, threatened by US standard. to Gujarat and Punjab to ‘Hinduise’ President Donald Trump's media Protecting Journalism Sources them as it were, she was vilified, bashing and restrictions pursued by in the Digital Age is a new global threatened and mercilessly trolled. both democratic and authoritarian study produced by WAN-IFRA Her character was questioned, governments. The report cites US- for UNESCO that examines obscene pictures sent every day to based Freedom House, a human the growing risks confronting her email account, and a case filed rights organisation, as saying forms of journalism dependent against her in Guwahati for inciting that only 13 per cent of people upon confidential sources and communal hatred. She had covered worldwide enjoy a ‘free press’. The whistleblowers. It finds that the child trafficking for ten years; her Freedom House survey highlights legal frameworks that support stories had the desired impact with growing concerns over efforts by protection of journalistic sources many children benefiting. governments around the world to at international, regional and In this case, she had spoken to clamp down on media and dissent. country levels are under significant all ‘stakeholders’ connected with “Political leaders and other strain – a development that is seen the story. Instead of countering partisan forces in many democracies to represent a direct challenge to her reports with fact and reason, -- including the United States, the established universal human those in the dock resorted to the Poland, the Philippines, and South rights of freedom of expression use of force, threats and other vile Africa -- attacked the credibility and privacy, and one that means. Several other journalists in of independent media and fact- especially constitutes a threat to India are facing similar ire from based journalism, rejecting the the sustainability of investigative groups and outfits who fancy traditional watchdog role of the journalism. themselves as custodians of our press in free societies,” says Jennifer The study, authored by former nationhood and national pride and Dunham, who headed the research. World Editors Forum/ WAN-IFRA consider dissent of any sort as akin Significantly, the report mentions Research fellow Julie Posetti, covers to sedition. Do violence and such press rights are being eroded by the 121 UNESCO Member States and loutish behaviour have a place in efforts of politicians in democratic represents a global benchmarking the practice of Hinduism? states to shape news coverage and of journalistic source protection in A study commissioned by The delegitimise media outlets. the Digital Age. It will be launched Hoot finds that there have been 54 However, many countries fare far on World Press Freedom Day (May attacks on journalists and 25 cases better than Mexico. Azam Ahmed 3rd) in Jakarta. of threatening them in the past 16 reporting from Mexico’s Tierra months. Seven journalists were Blanca for the New York Times, says Sashi Nair killed, but “reasonable evidence of Mexico is one of the worst countries [email protected] their journalism being the motive for in the world to be a journalist the murder is available only in one today, Afghanisatna and Somalia case”, says Geetha Seshu writing being the other two. At least 104 about the ‘silencing of journalists’ journalists have been murdered for the website. The attacks are not in Mexico since 2000, while 25 just from vigilante groups. “The others have disappeared and are 2 VIDURA April-June 2017 (Continued from page 1) Illustration: Arun Ramkumar Illustration: Sandhya is not the first journalist 23 March); cutting across party or ‘buddy’ system. She was who has been threatened by those divisions, legislators charged the accused of “violating the Official who control sand-mining, one of media with “blackmail, extort- Secrets Act” and endangering the the most powerful lobbies in the ion, character assassination, and security of the nation. Lance Naik state -- Tamil magazine Vikatan misleading society”. (Interestingly, Mathew, who spoke to Poonam, and others have also been at the the assembly devoted “over four subsequently committed suicide receiving end of the miner’s ire and hours” to the topic, under a rule (presumably fearing action by his false defamatory claim when they that allows only a “brief discussion superiors) and Poonam has also refer to the subject of illegal beach of public importance”, setting been accused of “abetment” in his sand mining. Many mainstream aside more important issues suicide. This kind of intimidation newspapers and publications are such as distress caused by state- is unacceptable if information that afraid to write on the subject, fearing wide drought, and agitation by has a legitimate place in the public exactly such harassment and legal disgruntled anganwadi (nursery) domain (about unethical treatment issues. The International Federation employees. As for “misleading of jawans) is seen as “endangering of Journalists (IFJ) includes on society”, the very next day, the the security of the nation”. its website other examples of same paper carried an item titled, As I said, criticism of any women journalists being vilified ‘CM misleads the house regarding kind, even legitimate, generates for exposing malpractices. Another anganwadi remunerations’. hostility among VIPs and in award-winning Indian journalist More recently, on March 29, the corridors of power, which (Neha Dixit) who wrote about child the NWMI sent another protest negates the spirit of democracy. trafficking inOutlook magazine was letter to Union Home Minister If media persons have been found similarly vilified as “depraved”.