The newly-listed rules for accreditation of journalists covering proceedings of the legislative assembly are nothing but a conspicuous move to selectively stifle the role of the media as news providers and comes on the lines of controversial fake news directive issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting at the Centre. But why has the government suddenly woken up to the discomfort of being watched critically and what is it trying to hide? Is this a part of BJP’s plan to plug negative publicity while embarking on Mission 2019?
The media is considered to be a watch dog to monitor the conduct of the government. It goes beyond informing the public and educating them while also playing a decisive role in providing information helping its citizens make crucial decisions. It’s is for this role that media is considered the fourth pillar of democracy and the government has launched a whimsical strike against this very freedom of the press.
The new set of rules will restrain a section of journalists from covering the proceedings of the House. Newspapers which have a circulation of less than 15,000 copies will not be allowed entry for coverage. The guidelines are so vague that one would be left wondering how this figure of 15,000 was derived when there is so much ambiguity between circulation and sales figures. The fact is that government has been feeling the heat from newspapers in this segment where the carrot and stick formula is ineffective. Incidentally, this would also mean that the only official language Konkani newspaper Bhaangarbhuin can never think of being allowed entry along with the many other English and vernacular publications.
Harsher guidelines include all newspapers of a group to be considered single entity and a requirement of a newspaper to be in business for a minimum of three continuous years. It gets worse for representatives from weeklies, fortnightlies and monthlies as they will be banned from coverage. For news portals and websites, only those with a minimum revenue of Rs 10 lakh per annum from its news portion only, besides having 10,000 page views per day of its news portion will be eligible.
While the government is going hard at mainstream media, it has failed to lay its hands on social media which for now has been creating the maximum damage with its fast and growing reach. There have been several posts going viral on a daily basis causing embarrassment to those in power, and even bringing some to their knees with clarifications and even apologies.
The need for these strictures don’t arise since there are various provisions of law that can tackle journalists and media houses that run defamatory pieces. Members of the House are entitled to even move a breach of privilege motion against any content that is in violation of the legislators or that is casting aspersions on them. If at all guidelines are to be brought, it has to be in consultation with the Goa Union of Journalists and the Press Accreditation Committee of the Goa Legislature Secretariat besides the Goa Editors’ Guild. Government cannot unilaterally try to silence the media to meet its goals.
