Media houses warned against Akash Vani and Doordarshan’s ‘Bhagwa Karan’

Media houses warned against Akash Vani and Doordarshan’s ‘Bhagwa Karan’

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The National Alliance of Journalists and the Delhi Union of Journalists have said that the RSS-backed ‘Hindustan Samachar’ has been contracted to provide news to Akash Vani and Doordarshan. This step, according to the ruling party, will suffocate the news in india and will end the free press. (Illustration: The Wire) New Delhi: National Alliance of Journalists (NAJ) and Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) in a joint statement on india‘s public broadcaster ‘Prasar Bharti’ by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Singh (RS S) supported news agency ‘Hindustan Samachar’ has expressed serious concern over the occupation. Earlier, The Wire reported in a report that Hindustan Samachar has been contracted to provide news to both Prasar Bharti-run All india Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan. This small and lesser-known agency has been chosen by ignoring agencies like Press Trust of india (PTI) and United news of india (UNI). In a statement, the NAJ and DUJ said, the move will suffocate news in india at the behest of the ruling party and destroy unbiased and independent journalism. Hindustan Samachar was launched in 1948 to create a consensus in favor of the ideology of the RSS, which dominates the current ruling system. The media houses have said in a statement that this step has been deliberately taken to make the main news agencies of the country, PTI and UNI, irrelevant. According to the statement, ‘Doordarshan and Akashvani have their own correspondents in national and state capitals, supported by extensive news coverage from PTI and UNI from india and abroad. However, since the present government came to power, the situation has changed drastically with efforts to regulate the functioning of these news agencies. It is further said, ‘PTI membership of Prasar Bharti has been terminated. UNI has been deliberately neglected, its revenue and expenditure management is in disarray, many journalists have lost their jobs, while some are working for very little money. In a statement, NAJ President SK Pandey, General Secretary N Kondia and DUJ General Secretary Sujata Madhok said that this step is another challenge to a secular and democratic society. According to him, it may be recalled that Shiv Ramshankar Apte, a senior RSS pracharak and co-founder of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, founded Hindustan Samachar in the year 1948 along with RSS ideologue MS Gololkar. Ever since the Modi government came to power, india has been a regular beneficiary of government advertisements and other forms of patronage, while earlier it was struggling for survival. “The move to give it the role of primary news provider for the country will polarize, communalise and polarize Indian society and politics,” he said. It is also a serious threat to political parties opposed to the ruling party. Click here to read this report in English. Related

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