South Asia Media Solidarity Network (SAMSN) e-bulletin

In this bulletin:

1. Iranian Cameraman Killed in Kabul Attack
2. Calls for Inquiry into Death of Investigative Journalist in India
3. Pakistan Intelligence Agencies Answer Shahzad Murder Inquiry
4. Press Council of India Gets New Chair
5. India’s Supreme Court Clears Way for Implementation of Wage Award
6. Maldives Journalists Call on Media Council Members to Resign
7. Report on “Paid News” in India Published
8. Sri Lankan Journalist Arrested, Footage Destroyed
9. Report on Media Development in Bhutan Released
10. New Norms Proposed for Broadcast Industry in India


1. Iranian Cameraman Killed in Kabul Attack

The IFJ joined SAMSN partners in mourning the death of Farhad Taqaddosi, cameraman for the Iranian news channel Press TV after serious injuries suffered in an insurgent attack in Kabul on September 13. Taqaddosi, 23, was an Iranian national who had been working in Kabul for Press TV for two years. According to reports received from SAMSN partner the Afghan Independent Journalists’ Association (AIJA), Taqadossi suffered serious shock when a rocket propelled grenade fired by insurgents exploded near him. He was hospitalised immediately after the incident but his condition progressively deteriorated and he died on September 20.

See: http://asiapacific.ifj.org/en/articles/ifj-mourns-death-of-cameraman-after-kabul-attack

2. Calls for Inquiry into Death of Investigative Journalist in India

SAMSN partners in India called for a full inquiry after Ramesh Singla, a freelance journalist working in a district neighbouring the national capital, was killed in a hit-and-run incident on October 4. Singla was a freelance journalist who frequently contributed to the top-selling Hindi-language newspaper Dainik Jagran, and had published a number of investigative stories on illegal mining in the area.

See: http://asiapacific.ifj.org/en/articles/ifj-calls-for-full-inquiry-into-death-of-investigative-journalist

3. Pakistan Intelligence Agencies Answer Shahzad Murder Inquiry

Brigadier Zahid Ahmad Khan, a senior official of the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), submitted a written statement to the judicial commission inquiring into the May 2011 murder of journalist Saleem Shahzad. SAMSN partner the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) points out that this is the first time that the ISI has been examined in any judicial forum. The official was asked by the judicial commission, set up after a hard-fought campaign by the PFUJ, to respond to allegations of ISI involvement in the abduction and subsequent murder of the Islamabad based journalist.

See: http://asiapacific.ifj.org/en/articles/intelligence-agency-gives-evidence-to-shahzad-inquiry.

4. Press Council of India Gets New Chair

Justice Markandey Katju, a retired judge of the Supreme Court, was appointed Chairman of the Press Council of India on October 4. Justice Katju retired from the Supreme Court, where he had rendered several significant opinions on freedom of expression, on September 20. He takes over from Justice G.N. Ray and is expected to serve a full term of five years.

See: http://www.hindustantimescom/india-news/newdelhi/Justice-Katju-new-chief-of-Press-Council/Article1-753604.aspx; http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2518765.ece.

5. India’s Supreme Court Clears Way for Implementation of Wage Award

India’s Supreme Court, while hearing a petition challenging the legality of a wage award announced by a statutory board appointed by the government, has declined to stay an announcement ordering its implementation. India’s sixth Wage Board for Journalists and Non-Journalists submitted its report in January and the government is in process of examining it, before formally notifying it as the legal norm that all newspaper proprietors would have to implement. On October 14, journalists and press workers in major Indian cities held rallies to demand the early implementation of the new wage award.

See: http://www.livemint.com/2011/09/22000505/SC-says-govt-free-to-notify-su.html?h=B.

6. Maldives Journalists Call on Media Council Members to Resign

SAMSN partner, the Maldives Journalists’ Association (MJA) has called on members of the Maldives Media Council to resign, following revelations by the country’s national audit body that members of the Council received MVR 900,000 (USD 57,700) in unauthorised allowances since January 2011. The MJA said it was “unacceptable” that a body established to regulate the media is seen to be in breach of the law.

See: http://www.mja.org.mv/index.php/news/179-maldives-media-council-members-received-living-allowance-against-the-law.

7. Report on “Paid News” in India Published

The Press Council of India (PCI) has released the full report of a sub-committee appointed in 2010 to investigate the practice of “paid news” or “cash for coverage”. The practice was found to be rampant during the campaign for the general elections to India’s parliament in 2009. The full report of the sub-committee comprising Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and K. Sreenivas Reddy was adopted after significant abridgment by the PCI in April this year, leading to some controversy. The PCI decision follows a directive by India’s Central Information Commission, made in response to a petition under the Right to Information Act, demanding that the full report be made public. The full report can be found at the PCI website.

See: http://presscouncil.nic.in/HOME.HTM.

8. Sri Lankan Journalist Arrested, Footage Destroyed

SAMSN partner the Free Media Movement (FMM) condemned the arrest of Sirasa TV reporter Indika Shri Aravinda, the seizing of his camera and the destruction of the film footage by the Moratuwa Police on October 4. According to reports received by the FMM, Aravinda was detained while gathering information on the death in police custody of a suspect in the killing of a police constable attached to the Modera police station. Aravinda was arrested while interviewing family members at the victim’s residence and taken to the Moratuwa police station.

9. Report on Media Development in Bhutan Released

Copenhagen-based NGO International Media Support has published a report in association with Bhutan’s Ministry of Information and Communication, Unesco and UNDP on media development in the Himalayan mountain kingdom. The report notes that Bhutan has made progress in media development in recent years but that the absence of skills and trained manpower could be a constraint in the near future. Certain observations have also been made on the mode of media regulation in force in the kingdom, which seems to leave less room than optimal for the exercise of journalistic judgment.

See: http://i-m-s.dk/files/publications/mda_bhutan_2010UNDPIMS.pdf

10. New Norms Proposed for Broadcast Industry in India

India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has proposed new norms guiding entry into the broadcast sector. Current rules specify only a very low threshold in terms of net worth for any corporate entity to start a cable and satellite channel in India. The new norms propose to raise this threshold and also to enforce a programming code. Five violations of the programming code, as determined by a self-regulatory body appointed by the broadcast industry, would invite the cancellation of the offending company’s licence. Journalists’ unions and the broadcast industry have opposed the new proposals and called for a wider debate. The Press Council of India has called for amendments in its statute to enable oversight of the broadcast industry.

See: http://www.livemint.com/2011/10/08003723/Govt-tightens-entry-norms-for.html?h=B and http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2526523.ece.

IFJ Asia-Pacific
http://asiapacific.ifj.org
ifj@ifj-asia.org

SAMSN is a group of journalists’ trade unions, press freedom organisations and journalists in South Asia that have agreed to work together to support freedom of expression and association in the region. SAMSN was formed at a meeting of these groups in Kathmandu, Nepal, in September 2004. The group agreed to stand in solidarity and work together for media reform, for an independent pluralist media and to build public respect for the work of journalists in the region.
For further information on SAMSN, visit www.ifj-asia.org/page/samsn.html

SAMSN Members
Afghan Independent Journalists' Association, Afghanistan
Bangladesh Journalists' Rights Forum (BJRF), Bangladesh
Dhaka Reporters' Unity, Bangladesh
All India Newspapers Employees' Federation (AINEF), India
Indian Journalists' Union (IJU), India
National Union of Journalists India (NUJI), India
Maldives Journalists Association
Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), Nepal
National Union of Journalists Nepal (NUJN), Nepal
Nepal Press Union (NPU), Nepal
Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), Pakistan
Pakistan Press Foundation, Pakistan
Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA), Sri Lanka
Federation of Media Employees' Trade Unions (FMETU), Sri Lanka
Free Media Movement (FMM), Sri Lanka
Bangladesh Manobadhikar Sangbadik Forum (BMSF: Human Rights Journalists Forum of Bangladesh)
Media Watch, Bangladesh

ENDS

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