“What’s anti-national?” demanded an editor with an English daily in Kashmir. “And who will decide? Is reporting about the killing of two militants somewhere in Kashmir anti-national? What if some 10,000 people at some place are shouting slogans for ‘azadi’? Should reporting that be also considered anti-national? It’s very dangerous if such a decision is left to the jurisdiction of officials and policemen. The ultimate aim of this policy is to make local media in Kashmir as the extension of the state.”
He was referring to the new media policy released by the Jammu and Kashmir administration, a 53-page document aimed at “creating a sustained narrative on the functioning of the government in media”. Among other provisions which seek to regulate reporting in the freshly minted Union Territory is a mechanism which empowers the government to decide what is “anti-social and anti-national” news.
The policy has been criticised in several quarters for violating the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press. The local media in Kashmir, under siege since August 5, when the Centre stripped Jammu and Kashmir of special status and split it into two Union Territories, sees the policy as a death knell.
“It’s a one-sided decision,” said Tahir Mohidin,...
source https://scroll.in/article/964900/jammu-and-kashmirs-new-media-policy-is-aimed-at-demolishing-the-local-press-editors-say?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=public
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