Indian Federation of Working Journalist IFWJ) has demanded that a Media Commission should be set up to study the problems of the journalists and to suggest their solutions. In a video conference, which was participated by more than 40 journalists from all over the county on the occasion of the World Press Freedom Day, the general refrain in the meeting was that attacks on journalists from the governments, media houses and goons are increasing these days. It can be tackled and stopped only with the collective and concerted efforts the academicians, social activists, media persons and common people.
Introducing the topic, the IFWJ Secretary and the host Sidharth Kalhans underlined the need to defend the media persons from attacks coming from different corners so that they can work without fear and favour. He paid tributes to the journalists who have made sacrifices in different parts of the country in the line of their duty. UPWJU President Bhaskar Dubey said that journalists must also have to change their style of working to win the confidence of the common public because once the credibility of a journalist is gone, no amount of protection would be helpful to restore his/her prestige in the profession. Ajay Shukla of the Arya Samaj (Chandigarh) lamented that many of the media advisors of the different governments, who are supposed to work for the betterment of the journalists, start behaving as the agents of their governments after their appointments. In these circumstances, the unity of the journalists is of the utmost value.
Kunal Majumdar of the CPJ presented his report on the attacks on journalists which was concentrated mainly on his study on the four districts of Uttar Pradesh. Another guest speaker Abhishek Srivastava told that many of the journalists have been harassed but regrettably, they have failed to get solid support from the Civil society including the media organisations. The IFWJ Vice- President KM Jha told the meeting that the IFWJ has been working for the last 70 years for the protection for the rights of journalist It is because of the efforts of IFWJ that a number of facilities have been made available to them by various governments. Giving the example of Madhya Pradesh he said that MP government has now started paying pension to retired journalists known as ‘Shradha nidhi’ due to the efforts of the organisation.
IFWJ President BV Mallikarjunaih told about the programmes, which will be undertaken by the organization for the physical safety, security, as well as the economic independence of journalists. He said that ‘we have to work hard for saving the jobs of the media persons in the post Corona period.’
IFWJ Vice-President Hemant Tiwari said that the IFWJ and UPWJU together have prevailed upon the governments to provide helps to the needy and victimized journalists. Shri Tiwari laid stress on the protection of jobs and economic stability of journalists because freedom from hunger is the basic need and is more important than the independence of journalism. The latter is meaningless without the security of the former. Veteran Journalist Arvind Kumar Singh congratulated the innovative efforts of the IFWJ for making use of the new technology for interacting the journalists of the country. He said that the IFWJ will have to work in unison with other unions to boldly fight for the independence of the journalism. He further said that the freedom of the press is cannot be segregated from the freedom of the job and both should be safeguarded for the development of healthy journalism. IFWJ Secretary Geetika Talukdar from Guwahati told that the Assam Union of Working Journalists has been able to achieve an insurance cover of Rs fifty lakh for those working in this Corona crisis.
Senior journalist Ram Kishore Trivedi of Mumbai said that the journalists have been vociferous in protecting the cause of the journalists and the regretted that even many big organisations are arbitrarily dispensing with the services of journalists. Another senior journalist from Mumbai J P Singh suggested that a register for the journalists should be maintained on the pattern of Bar Council of India or the Medical Council of India to identify the real journalists from fake ones.
Manjari Tarafdaar from Kolkata said that the situation of the journalists can be protected only with the broader unity of the other media employees. The meeting continued for more than one hour and more than twenty participants got the opportunity to speak.
IFWJ Secretary General Parmanand Pandey said that the biggest danger which is being faced by the journalists is related to their jobs and pay cuts. He said that the IFWJ has always been at the forefront of the struggle for the cause of the journalists.
Neelesh Joshi of Telangana Journalists Union said that Digital journalism is a good step forward for the expansion of the freedom of speech and expression. He, however, cautioned that journalism should not be made a shield to cover the misdeeds of some journalists because it is bound to create a deep crisis of credibility for the profession. Among others who participated in the discussion were IFWJ treasurer Rinku Yadav, Senior Journalists Rajendra Maurya,
Utkarsh Sinha, Hemant Shukla, T, B. Singh Rajesh Mishra, Ashish Awasthi, Ajay Trivedi, Santosh Gupta from Uttar Pradesh Kappara Prasad Rao from Telangana, P Venkatmuni from Karnataka, AS Negi,Rajesh Niranjan from Delhi, Sudhanshu Kumar and PPN Sinha from Bihar, Sunil Thapliyal from Uttarakhand and Sanjay Jain from Haryana and Basant Rawat from Gujrat.
