PCI demands law to ensure ‘free and fair functioning of the media’

Media regulator Press Council of India (PCI) has urged the Government to pass a law which not only protects journalists but also provides adequate compensation to their families in the event of their demise..The uproar comes following the recent deaths of two journalists, Rajdeo Ranjan in Bihar and Akhilesh Pratap Singh in Jharkhand. The two unfortunate incidents have caught global attention and have been strongly condemned by the Direct-General of UNESCO..Rajdeo Ranjan, the Siwan bureau chief of Hindi-language national daily Hindustan, which is a part of HT Media, was shot dead in a busy market near Station Road in the district earlier this month. As per intelligence reports, the orders to kill him were given from somebody located within the Siwan jail premises..Akhilesh Pratap Singh, working for a news channel, was shot dead by assailants, belonging to the Maoists splinter group Tritiya-Sammelan Prastuti Committee, in Chatra district of Jharkhand for not agreeing to their repeated demands for levy..Rajdeo Ranjan, the second among the two to be shot, possibly became the fourth Indian journalist to be murdered for work-related reasons. That’s just in 2016..This is a part of rising trend, with print journalists covering corruption and politics being targeted by political and criminal groups..India is not the only country which has such high number of journalist-murders. However, on a global scale, India’s position is certainly a matter of a concern..This has been analysed by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ): A New-York based non-profit organisation that promotes freedom worldwide, and among other functions, investigates the death of every journalist to determine whether it is work-related..According to CPJ database, since 1992, 38 Indian journalists have been murdered for a ‘motive confirmed‘ i.e. murder in direct reprisal for his or her work; or killed in crossfire during combat situations; or killed while carrying out a dangerous assignment..Death of another 23 journalists in India is also suspected to be under similar circumstances..Also, the CPJ Impunity Index spotlights countries where journalists are murdered and their killers go unpunished. In the 2015 index, which looked at data between September 2005 and August 2015, India features in the index for the eighth consecutive year, at number 14 (the top three countries in this list are involved in an armed conflict) with an Impunity Index Rating of 0.0008 unsolved journalist murders per million inhabitants..Further, India is ranked 133 out of 180 countries by the Reporters Without Borders in the 2016 World Press Freedom Index. The index measures the level of freedom available to journalists in 180 countries using the following criteria – pluralism, media independence, media environment and self-censorship, legislative environment, transparency, infrastructure, and abuses because of the number of journalists killed and the impunity for crimes against the media..Nazeem Ahmad Kazmi, secretary general of Press Club of India, said,.“It is in this context we demand from the government, both at the centre and states, to come down heavily on the culprits and also create an atmosphere conducive to the free and fair functioning of the media in the country..We also appeal to all media organisations in the country to come together and deliberate on how to resist increasing attacks on press freedom. In this context, we offer our forum for every media outfit to come together to strategise on the action plan for our battles ahead.”