T
he issue of freedom of the
press has gathered momen-
tum in recent times and has
now reached the Rajya Sabha
where an opposition group has
submitted a notice to chairman M
Venkaiah Naidu for a discussion
on the subject. The notice has the
signature of NCP chief Sharad Pa -
war but what makes it interesting is
that it has also been signed by
BJP member Subramanian Swa my.
A total of 16 opposition parties
have signed the notice, including
the Congress, the Trinamool Cong -
ress, the Left parties, the DMK, the
SP and the BSP.
The notice is clearly triggered
by the opposition’s be -
lief that the Indian me -
dia is under severe
pressure from the NDA
government and has
been intimidated or
coerced into backing
the BJP. Rahul Gandhi
on the campaign trail
had attacked a “pliable
media” for playing up
the ruling party’s agenda while
ignoring the rest. Swamy’s signa-
ture is intriguing because of his
personal attacks on certain media
houses, most notably NDTV.
The opposition is armed with
the annual World Press Freedom
Index which ranks 180 countries
based on an amalgamation of
factors. India is ranked 138 on
the index.
Considering the signatories, the
debate which they want next week
will be the first united opposition
effort to take on the government,
more so considering it is also
signed by YSR Congress mem-
bers. Freedom of the press is also
seen as an issue on which the
Modi government is vulnerable.I
n a surprise move, the finance
ministry has barred Press Infor -
mation Bureau (PIB) accredited
journalists from entering North
Block unless they have prior app -
ointment. This restriction is only
enforced ahead of the Budget,
when the entire ministry is quaran-
tined to maintain secrecy, and lifted
once the Budget has been present-
ed. Right now, only the Prime
Min is ter’s Office and the Ministry
of External Affairs require prior
appointments.
The PIB, under the Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting,
grants accreditation to full-time
journalists with a minimum of five
years’ experience. The accredita-
tion itself is issued after a detailedsecurity check by the Ministry of
Home Affairs, including on-site veri-
fication of their residence by police.
The PIB accreditation card is valid
for entry into almost all ministries.
The recent move is seen as a
reaction to some reports in the
media which were critical of the
Budget, or some of its proposals.
The order restricting entry is issued
by the Budget division in the Dep -
art ment of Economic Affairs, Min -
istry of Finance.| INDIA LEGAL |July 22, 2019 43Media Watch
T
he Budget has also hit the print media
hard with the announcement of a 10 per-
cent customs duty on imported newsprint,
duty-free till now. This is seen by print media
owners as a double whammy since revenue has
been already hit by the growth of digital media.
According to experts, the duty on newsprint
would increase the cost of operations by three
to four percent, which will shrink profit to an
all-time low. This comes on the heels of a huge
spike in the cost of production as the price of
newsprint went up by as much as 60 percent
over the past 18 months before it started
to stabilise. Many newspaper owners see it as a
pressure tactic on the industry to re main compli-
ant. A newspaper spends 30 percent or more of
the total cost on newsprint. Red u cing the use of
imported newsprint is not seen as an option as
domestic newsprint is vastly inferior in quality.
No newspaper has sought to raise cover price.
The only option is large-scale retrenchment of
editorial staff or an increase in advertorials or
staging events to generate revenue.Print under Pressure
J
ournalists who cover
Bollywood and co -
me under The Enter -
tainment Journalists’ Guild
of India (EJGI) have deci -
ded to boycott Kangana
Ranaut and demanded a
public apology from her
foll owing an ugly spat between the national
award-winning actress and a journalist. The
heated exchange took place during the song
launch of upcoming film JudgeMentall Hai Kya,
in the presence of producer Ekta Kapoor and
actor Rajkummar Rao. Kangana took on a
reporter, Justin Rao, over his negative com-
ments on her last release,Manikarnika: The
Queen of Jhansi. She also accused Justin of
running a smear campaign against her, which
he vehemently denied. An ugly exchange fol-
lowed ending in the Guild’s decision to boycott
her. Media representatives met Ekta Kapoor to
demand an apology from Kangana but that
seems unlikely.The Kangana
Factor
Budget Fallout
Cry Freedom