Two editorials in the last two days spotlighted growing concerns about the media.
The first, published in The Hindu on February 3, flagged police “harassment” of journalists in Chennai. The second in The Telegraph today flagged the “global crackdown” on journalism.
The Hindu’s editorial was in the context of a police SIT seizing the phones of at least four journalists while investigating the leak of the FIR in the Anna University sexual assault case. The four journalists have now moved the Madras High Court against further harassment.
“What makes the episode an instance of harassment is that the journalists were subjected to intrusive and distasteful questioning. Instead of probing how and why the FIR leaked, the SIT is trying to find out whether they had put it in the public domain,” the editorial said.
The “larger question” was whether the police “have the blanket authority to seize mobile phones or devices without judicial authorisation or any credible reason that an offence has been committed”. The editorial called it a “brazen intimidation tactic and an attempt to identify and harass their sources and an attack on freedom of expression”.
The Telegraph’s editorial said journalists and media houses often face other kinds of attacks, such as “attempts to cut off their source of funding” and the “denial of government advertisements”. It flagged The Reporters’ Collective losing its nonprofit status, with Income Tax authorities arguing that journalism “does not serve a public purpose”.
The editorial also noted the “massive institutional cover-up to fudge the real figure of casualties” during the Kumbh stampede last week.
“...the Age of Information, ironically, has also been characterised by a massive influx of disinformation, aided and abetted by the explosion of social media platforms. Traditional media has been left with the onerous task of separating the proverbial wheat – truth – from the chaff. Can this task be described as anything else but public service?” it asked.
It added: “An equally crucial task pertains to speaking truth to power, something that the legacy media in India seems to be ignoring. The media’s ability to demand accountability from those in power remains contingent upon its financial viability. This explains the State’s attempt to choke its access to funds. It also underlines the urgent need for the media, old and new, to reimagine its remunerative model to retain the voice of independence.”
At Newslaundry, we had our devices seized during an Income Tax ‘survey’ in September 2021. And we’ve always championed the reimagining of traditional media models. That’s why we don’t take ads, whether it’s from governments or corporates, because financial dependency cannot go hand-in-hand with public interest journalism.
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