Author’s Note: – We encourage the readers of this open letter to endorse it. Anyone who wishes to endorse this open letter can do so by posting their Name and Affiliation/Institute/Profession below in comments section of this site/blog. The Press Council of India is a statutory body established by Press Council Act 1978, “An Act to establish a Press Council for the purpose of preserving the freedom of the Press and of maintaining and improving the standards of newspapers and news agencies in India.” http://presscouncil.nic.in/home.htm

 

Open Letter to Markanday Katju, Chairperson, Press Council of India: Non-Publication of a News-Item – Workers March To Parliament

It is with dismay we, readers from Tamil Nadu of esteemed English Daily Newspapers (print version) like The Hindu, The Times of India, New Indian Express, Deccan Chronicle etc., from Tamil Nadu want to bring to your notice the lack of coverage of a news ,  which we have come to know through social networking sites, about 2 Lakh workers ‘March to Parliament’ by 11 central trade unions  on 12.12.13 (Video by Malavika Vyawaharehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI3BSSKi65U&feature=youtu.be and (Post by Venkat)http://tnlabour.in/?p=2006  that has not been given any coverage on 13.12.13 in Tamil Nadu at least in Chennai based print version Edition. This seems to be also true with all mainstream English TV media Channel. March to Parliament gathering seems to be larger than any Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi rally which often gets best possible coverage by all mainstream Print Media and even live coverage by all mainstream TV Media. Though we have come to know, through social networking sites, it has got some small coverage only in New Delhi City edition. Instead on 13.12.13, we have been fed by all these major dailies (mentioned above) with news of a ‘Royal’ (Bhuvaneshwari-Sreesanth) Wedding in Kerala with Photographs! We have nothing against the couple and we wish them all the best!  The news of this ‘Royal’ Wedding in Kerala with Photographs seems to have found place in these newspapers as far a place as Delhi too.

This is not an isolated incident and we give incidents of non-publication of events of this kind which have been well articulated in the alternative media.

Sainath, Senior Journalist, on non-coverage and non-publication by mainstream Indian Media (also see Post by Srinivasan Ramani – http://www.pragoti.in/node/4300) about Massive Workers Rally on Feburary 2011 – “February 2011 saw one of the largest rallies staged in Delhi in years. Lakhs of workers from nine central trade unions — including the Congress party’s INTUC — hit the streets to protest against rising food prices and unemployment. This was many times bigger than the very modest numbers at Anna Hazare’s fast and larger than Ramdev’s rollicking ‘yoga camp.’ These were workers and unions not linked to the state. Not market-driven. Not corporate-funded. And expressing clearly the interests and values of their members. Infact, fitting some classic definitions of ‘civil society.’ The rally was covered by the BBC, Reuters and AFP but was mostly invisible in mainstream Indian media except when attacked for creating traffic jams.” http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/sainath/the-discreet-charm-of-civil-society/article2110433.ece

Siddharthya Roy on Mill Workers Protest Coverage in Mumbai says “But ironically what does not find place anywhere in the reports is the core issue itself – the workers’ protest! What was the march about? How many people attended it? Who were the organisers? What were their specific demands? What’s the background of the issue? How has the State responded to it?” (http://www.thehoot.org/web/home/story.php?sectionId=1&mod=1&pg=1&valid=true&storyid=5418 )

P. Sainath while delivering the T G Narayan Memorial Lecture (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Enl_i0IsQOA Posted byatiltpd) at IIT Madras organized by Asian College of Journalism, Chennai narrated the conspicuous non-publication of any news-item about ‘disciplined’ assembly of more than 2 million (20 lakh) people for the 57th Death Anniversay of Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar at 6th December in (Chaityabhoomi) Mumbai, Maharashtra (Post by Round Table India http://roundtableindia.co.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7093&catid=129&Itemid=195 ). It seems that this was covered again only as local news in print Mumbai news edition in few of the above mentioned newspaper. Otherwise only other news about it was about ‘nuisance’ this caused to ‘general’ public which according to Sainath is farthest from truth.

In this context, it is pertinent to also mention the case of non-publication of any news about the alleged involvement of Mukesh Ambani’s son in an accident in Mumbai on 8th December, 2013 that  allegedly killed 2 people. https://kractivist.org/mukesh-ambanis-son-allegedly-kills-2-in-a-car-accident-media-blacks-out-the-news-wtfnews/ (Posted by Kamayani Bali Mahabal)

 

Even when news item about  common people – Organized and Unorganized Workers, Tribals, Dalits, Women, Backwards, LGBT, Differently-abled,  Religious Minorities – is published; it is many times done without any regard and sensitivity towards “recognized ethical canons of journalistic propriety and taste”, and in most cases even revealing the identity of survivor(s).

From the excerpts (quoted below; italicised by us) of Procedure for filing the complaint http://presscouncil.nic.in/complaints.htm  we get to know that regarding this matter of non-publication of a news-item we can file an official complaint to Press council of India

“Complaints against the Press:  It is open to any person to lodge a complaint with the Press Council against a newspaper for a breach of the recognized ethical canons of journalistic propriety and taste.  The complainant need not necessarily be the person aggrieved or directly involved. The alleged breach may be in the publication or non-publication of a news-item or statement, or other material, like cartoons, pictures, photographs, strips or advertisement which are published in a newspaper. …”

However, Procedure for filing the complaint states that before doing so we should bring it to the notice of concerned editors of above mentioned newspapers

“ Write to the editor first

 

It is a requirement of the Inquiry Regulations that the complainant should initially write to the editor of the newspaper drawing his attention to what the complainant considers to be a breach of journalistic ethics or an offence against public taste.  ….  This rule is necessary because it acquaints the editor with the identity of his accuser and the details of the complaint.  …”

 

Though we understand the necessity of initially writing “to the editor of the newspaper drawing his attention”, we are unable to understand why it is necessary to acquaint “the editor with the identity of his accuser”? Couldn’t there be a better mechanism of filing the complaint by revealing the identity of his/her accuser to only those (say PCI only) to which it is utmost required? This issue becomes more pertinent in contemporary times with recent case of “snooping” of an adult (common) woman by State of Gujarat under the aegis of Narendra Modi coming to light, again primarily through alternative social media networking sites.

 

Using social media as a potential site of alternative media; we bring this to your notice rather than pursuing the matter officially. This is primarily for two reasons:-

 

  1. While we understand that Press Council has a procedure for filing a complaint on non-publication of news-item which requires that we also bring the said notice to concerned editors, we choose not to do so as this is not a reflection against a single newspaper and that it’s not specific to a single news item.

 

  1. Some of us still trust some of the editors and sub-editors in these newspapers to take note of this matter through your intervention and take up these matters seriously and pursue their newspapers to carry news of, for and by common peoplewho constitute more than 90% of India’s Population.

 

These biased reporting of news reflect a tendency on the part of the media to define only ‘sensational’ content as newsworthy andfilter out struggles of common people. Though we are not suggesting anything specific here, we want you to take note of this matter seriously and do the needful. We, the undersigned, who have always stood for freedom of press, resolve to carry forward this struggle against non-publication of people oriented news-items in future as well.

 

By

 

Some Members of Catalyst Study Circle (https://www.facebook.com/CatalystStudyCircle),

தொழிலாளர் கூடம் (Thozhilalar koodam) – TN Labour Blog (http://tnlabour.in/?page_id=6) and Forum Against Manual Scavenging (FAMS,  http://famschennai.wordpress.com/about/

Endorsed By :

 

Following people have endorsed it till now:

 

Sadanand Menon, Arts editor and Adjunct Faculty, Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), Chennai

C Lakshmanan, Faculty, Madras Institute of Development Studies

Sujatha Mody, Penn Thozhillalar Sangam

V Geetha, Writer, Translator, Social Historian, and Activist

Vijay Bhaskar, Faculty, Madras Institute of Development Studies

Venketash Athreya, Adjunct Faculty, Asian College of Journalism, Chennai

R Vaigai, Advocate,  Madras High Court

JBG Tilak, National University of Educational Planning and Administration

Dhiman Chatterjee, Academic and Member, Sanhati

Ajit Menon, Faculty, Madras Institute of Development Studies

Milind Brahme, Faculty, Indian Institute of Technology – Madras

Solomon Benjamin, Academic

Chakravarty M, Faculty, Indian Institute of Technology – Madras

Karkada Nagaraj, Faculty, Asian College of Journalism, Chennai

Kalapana Karunakaran, Faculty, Indian Institute of Technology – Madras

Karuna D W, Researcher and Activist

Karen Koelho, Faculty, Madras Institute of Development Studies

Kripa Ananthpur, Faculty, Madras Institute of Development Studies

Bhaskar, Member, Communist Propaganda Forum

K Pazhani,  General Secretary, Makkal Sananayaka Kudiayarasu Katchi, Tamil Nadu

Bala Subramanium, Faculty, MK University.

Prabakaran, Writer, Scholar and Activist

Madhumita Dutta, Researcher and Activist

Kunal Shankar, Journalist

Stalin Ranjagam,  Writer, Scholar and Activist

G Anand, General Secretary, GIEA, South Zone

Sunmuga Sundaram, Editor, Ilaignar Muzhakkam

Vel Murugan, State Secretary, Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), Tamil Nadu

A. Kumaresan, Member, Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers’ Association

V Parameswaran, Editor In-charge, Theekkathir

J Chidambaranathan, President , Democratic Trade Union Centre

Meena Kandasamy, Poet, Fiction Writer, Translator and Activist

Soundarajan, MLA and President, Centre of Indian Trade Unions, Tamil Nadu

Amirtham Lenin, Faculty, Loyola College

Sidhartha Sindhan Periyasamy

Chandrika Radhakrisnan, Researcher and Activist

Safwan Amir, Research Scholar, MIDS

Deepa, State Committee Member, DYFI and Research Scholar, MIDS, Chennai

Saravana Kumar, Student,  Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS)

Deepak Johnson, Student, Indian Institute of Technology – Madras (IIT- M)

Venkat, Research Scholar, MIDS and Activist, Chennai

Preetha, Research Scholar, MIDS, Chennai

Jaganth, Researcher, MIDS

Meenakshi, Research Scholar, MIDS and Activist

Manoj, Engineer

Rashmi MD, Student, Loyola and Activist

Abhishek, Journalist

Ganesh, Engineer

Bethanavel , Student, IIT- Madras

Gowtham, Student

Aparajay, Research Scholar, MIDS

Arun, Research Scholar, Loyola College, Chennai

Hari Prasad, Public Sector Bank Employee

Kiran, Student, JEDI University

Suriya S, Research Scholar, MIDS

Kathir, Member, Student Federation of India

Sruti MD, Member, Student Federation of India

Kishore Kumar, Member, Student Federation of India

Jerome Samraj C, Faculty, Department of Economics, Pondicherry University.

and many others