Journalists’ Forum Assam (JFA), while expressing serious concern over repeated attacks on working journalists across India, insisted on honoring media wisdom by both media and non-media entities. The scribe’s body reiterated that as the journalists enjoy the right to ask questions for information, the others should have the opportunity to criticize the media persons as well.
It may be noted that following the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's long interview by Smita Prakash, editor of Reuters' partner Asian News International (ANI), which was subsequently telecast by various news channels on 1 January 2019, criticisms erupted against the interviewer that she left many hard issues from discussing.
Even the Indian NationalCongress president Rahul Gandhi termed the ANI interviewer as a pliable journalist while addressing a press conference in the national capital, which was strongly denounced by the Editors Guild of Indiaover the use of word like pliable by the law maker.
"We believe journalists should claim no immunity from healthy and civilized criticism. At the same time, labeling of journalists has emerged as a favorite tactic on the part of the establishment to discredit, delegitimize and intimidate them,” said a statement of Editors Guild.
Various other journalist associations came out with strong words against the Congress president for his remark against the ANI editor as perhaps ‘she conducted an interview with a rival political leader’. It’s unwarranted and unbecoming of a senior leader of a national political party, they asserted.
“JFA argues that journalists should not bother about critical comments from the politicians (or anybody),” said a statement issued today JFA president Rupam Barua and secretary Nava Thakuria adding that ‘it always believes in continue working with a clear mission to safeguard the interest of the nation in particular and the human race in general’.
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Geneva based the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), a global organization advocating for media safety and rights, has expressed deep concern over the ongoing violence against journalists in Pakistan. The latest victim, Janan Hussain (40), was killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa near the Afghan border on November 20, during an ambush in the Kurram area that claimed the lives of 42 Shiite Muslims. Hussain, a journalist with Channel 365 and a member of the Parachinar Press Club, is the 11th media worker killed in Pakistan this year.
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The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) awarded its annual prize for the protection of journalists to Palestinian journalist Iyad Alasttal. This recognition comes amidst the unprecedented loss of over 150 Palestinian and Lebanese journalists since October 7, 2023, marking one of the highest tolls in such a short period in a conflict. The PEC dedicated the prize to the memory of these journalists who risk their lives daily.
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It’s shocking to report that a number of Guwahati-based scribes and RTI (right to information) activists have been facing interrogation and even arrest by Assam chief minister’s special vigilance cell following the allegations of Sewali Devi Sharma, the prime accused in Rs 105 crore State council of educational research and training (SCERT) scam, as being blackmailers to her in different occasions. The arrestees include a female reporter (identified as Pujamoni Das alias Honey Kashyap, who reportedly took a large volume of money from Ms Sharma) along with a satellite news channel reporter named Bhaskarjoti Hazarika. RTI activists namely Rabijit Gogoi (who pretended to be a...
Can we imagine a world of zero poverty, zero unemployment, and zero carbon emissions with a new approach in post-corona economics! Ask Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus and he will answer in the affirmative. The university professor turned revolutionary banker believes that the human race should not only dream about a safer world by reducing global warming, wealth concentration and unemployment, but also work in that direction with personal and collective capacities.
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