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| Govt's initiatives to re-evaluate state's publications widely hailed | | 'More can be done to undo mess created by previous regime' | | Abodh Sharma
Early Times Report
Jammu, July 10: With the era of arm twisting the publications to tow Government's line thankfully coming to an end with the ouster of NC-Congress regime, the initiatives of the PDP led coalition government to rationalize allocation of Government advertisements to the news papers and other publications has been widely welcomed by the media houses.
Information furnished by the previous Government in the State Legislative Assembly in response to a listed question of an opposition MLA had made certain startling revelation regarding complete anarchy and nepotism in the directorate of information, wherein issue of advertisements had not only become a tool of corruption, but also used to arm twist the publications into towing the Government line on issues of vital importance to the people of the state, thus sabotaging the objective journalism.
The reply of the government had revealed that many insignificant and marginal news papers were allocated advertisements far more than many an established ones and many of the non- existent publications were also the beneficiaries of the illegitimate largesse of the officials of the department who were given loose rope by certain influential people within the Government. Besides nepotism in release of advertisement, many a news papers which refused to tow Government line had to face dirty vilification campaign and unwarranted action.
However, the present regime has taken some pragmatic steps to streamline the mess created by the previous Government. Though the initiatives have been widely hailed, many in the industry opine that by ensuring certain laid parameters, the government can further establish more transparency and accountability in the entire process of issue of Government advertisements.
"The RNI has laid down in its guidelines that the owners of a publication must buy their own newsprint. This can give anyone a clear idea of the circulation of the publication" said the editor of a respected publication of Jammu. Enlisting other measures that can help government in gauging the actual worth and standing of any publication in terms of circulation, he said, "entire newsprint is brought into the state via Lakhanpur toll plaza, from where government can have a clear idea of the consumption of newsprint and hence the circulation of any publication; the Government can also get the physical verification of the infrastructure and investment made by the publications as many newspapers running in one room rented accommodations were reportedly getting more government advertisement then those which have made huge investments, solely due to their nexus in the department; An assessment of actual staff position and EPF statements of the workers can give a fair idea of the standing of any publication to the government; further, government can set up a committee/board to analyze the content of various newspapers which can then help it to classify the newspapers more objectively".
Meanwhile, Journalist fraternity also expects the Government of the day to take cognizance of the security assigned to various media houses by making fresh assessment of their security threat perception so that they can do their job fearlessly. |
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