IJU dismayed at PCI advisory to newspaper, terms it as interference

Nov 30, 2021

Hyderabad/Chandigarh: The Indian Journalists Union (IJU) has expressed dismay at an advisory issued by the Press Council of India (PCI) to newspapers in the country in which the PCI held the view that unregulated circulation of foreign content in Indian newspapers is not desirable.

In a statement issued on Monday K. Sreenivas Reddy and Balwinder Singh Jammu President and Secretary General of IJU said the advisory is an unnecessary meddling into the functioning of news media which is a sacred domain of editors.

That the Editor is responsible for the content published in the newspaper irrespective of the source is known to all and the PCI taking pains to remind editors and publishers about this well established moral and legal principle is surprising to say the least, the IJU leaders averred.

The IJU leaders also said the advisory was silent on the specific cause of action from the PCI. This amounts to putting scare of muzzling action from the establishment into print media publications and the PCI which should champion the cause of free press taking this unpleasant and unwelcome responsibility on itself does not auger well for democracy in India, the IJU leaders said.

–India News Stream