Journalists Write to Parliamentarians Demanding Formation of National Media Commission

The National Alliance of Journalists (NAJ) and the Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) wrote an open letter to leaders of both houses of Parliament on Thursday, December 9, calling for setting up of an expert National Media Commission to "look into the manifold ailments that the media suffers from today".

The letter said that the wide spectrum of media increasingly faces twin dangers from both the government and monopoly press barons.

"They seem to be working hard to kill both press freedom and all forms of job security and permanency in the profession. Journalists face prosecution and persecution for reporting on issues inconvenient to the government," the letter said.

It highlighted that there have been repeated attempts to devalue the two premier National News Agencies, the Press Trust of India (PTI) and the United News of India (UNI). The letter added, "The national broadcaster Doordarshan as well as the Rajya Sabha TV have been turned into virtual drum beaters of the central government. Financial pressures and layoffs have been used to control all these institutions."

The open letter, signed by the office bearers of NAJ and DUJ, highlighted that for the first time in post-independence India, after the appointment of the First Press Commission and subsequent Press Councils, and the coming into existence of the Working Journalists Acts, the media has been severely battered and bruised.

"Our service conditions have been destroyed, throwing hundreds of journalists, press workers and other employees on the roads. Job permanency has vanished," it said.

It also pointed out that the central Labour Codes have repealed the two laws that had been enacted by the Parliament in the post-Independence decade to provide security and decent service conditions for all newspaper employees.

The letter also added that the media persons who have managed to find alternative employment and fora to raise independent voices through the new digital media are now facing "increasing government pressures to control, censor and finish all forms of digital media".

India stands at 142 out of 180 in the World Press Freedom Index. The letter said, "Increasingly, charges are being filed against journalists for doing their job. Cartoonists have been charged for their jokes. Reporters are being prosecuted for reporting events inconvenient for the government. Many are being trolled. Many are being prosecuted for a tweet or a Facebook post."

It also highlighted that some journalists, like Siddique Kappan, are in prison, for just doing their work. It said, "These are ominous signs for any democracy. We demand that a separate law be enacted for the protection of journalists from arbitrary arrests and prosecution. This is not just an issue of journalists. The Indian Parliament should worry about this as a free press is essential for a vibrant democracy."

The letter stressed that approximately 3,000 journalists lost their jobs in the lockdown during the first wave of Covid-19. Many of them were pushed towards poverty. Some legal challenges to these arbitrary and often illegal retrenchments are pending in the courts and will take years to yield results. The writers called attention to the need for fast-track courts to decide on such labour matters.

The past few years have seen the repealing of the Working Journalists and Other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1955 and the Working Journalists (Fixation of Rates of Wages) Act, 1958 and their merger into the Labour Codes. "A major consequence is the demolition of the wage fixation machinery mandated by these Acts," the letter said.

There are new government attempts to appoint just an ornamental Media Council, under the present Press Council setup which is full of dummy bodies, the letter claimed. What is necessary is a full Media Council to replace the old Press Council, not just hogwash to please some journalists. Both legacy media and the digital media must be represented, alongside media experts, including unions that have raised such demands, the journalists said.

It said that there is an urgent need for formation of a Media Commission, on the lines of earlier Press Commissions but more autonomous, to study developments and compile a report on the status of the media today. "It should go into the entire issue of monopolies and cross-media holdings to uphold the independence of the media. It must also be a wage fixing Commission which examines the financial status of media enterprises and recommends fair wages," the letter said. It added, "The Media Council should not be government’s responsibility but the responsibility of media professionals, experts and parliamentarians."

The letter also demanded that the central Labour Codes should be repealed as they act against not only journalists but the working classes all over the country.