By Raja Chowdhury
New Delhi: The Kashmir Editors Guild, a body of Valley-based editors, on Friday said the Governor’s administration, has stopped advertisements to the largest circulated local daily, Greater Kashmir, and another daily, Kashmir Reader, “without an formal order.”
Interestingly, the strangulation bid came at a time when media in general and the Kashmir media in particular is putting up a huge and costly battle with social media set-ups to ensure the truth is cleanly and clearly separated and reported from mass rumour mongering. Kashmir is quite prone to rumours, which routinely overtake facts,” the Guild’s said in a statement.
The statement said the Guild regrets that the administration had stopped government advertisements and had decided “to fight the deliberate strangulation and subversion of the institution of media in the State.”
The Delhi Union of Journalists condemns the move by the Jammu & Kashmir administration, currently under Central rule, to stop government advertisements to two popular newspapers Greater Kashmir and Kashmir Reader.
We applaud the solidarity shown by 13 newspapers that protested the arbitrary move by carrying blank front pages on Sunday March 10, 2019. We express our solidarity with the Kashmir Editors Guild that held a protest at the Press Club.
We note that the Jammu & Kashmir Government has issued no statement or explanation for its sudden withdrawal of advertisements. It seems to be an arm-twisting exercise to punish newspapers that do not publish news and views in accordance with the government’s wishes.
It also sends out a warning to other newspapers to toe the government line or perish. The allocation of government advertising cannot be an arbitrary matter, it must follow guidelines and due process. We demand that the Press Council take up the issue with the J&K Government and ensure that advertisements to these newspapers be restored with immediate effect.
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