New Delhi : To guarantee a secure workplace for journalists, the National Union of Journalists (India) and the Delhi Journalists’ Association have requested the national government to create a Journalist Protection Act and a National Register for Journalists. Additionally, in light of the tremendous changes occurring in the media, both organisations have called for the creation of a Media Council and a Media Commission. On behalf of journalist organisations, it has been decided to file a petition with the Supreme Court protesting discrimination in the state-level recognition of journalists.
Ras Bihari, president of NUJ-I, affiliated with the International Federation of Journalists, said in a meeting held on Wednesday that the media is facing a big problem after the murder of a mafia kingpin and his brother by miscreants posing as journalists in Prayagraj. He said that first of all, proper guidelines have been made for the media. The need is to stop fake news and fake journalists. Fake journalists and fake news can be stopped by creating the Journalist Protection Act and the National Journalist Register. Both the central and state governments should make guidelines for this.
NUJ General Secretary Pradeep Tiwari said that in view of the changes in the media, the Central Government should constitute the Media Council with immediate effect. Treasurer Dr. Arvind Singh said that two press commissions have been constituted in the country. Now there is a need to form a media commission to study the media situation.
The convenor of the Delhi Journalist Association, Rakesh Thapliyal, and co-convenors Pramod Kumar Singh and KP Malik said that due to fake journalists, problems arise again and again for journalists to work. On behalf of all journalists, the Baghel government was thanked for enacting the Journalist Security Act in Chhattisgarh. It was decided in the meeting that soon a memorandum would be given to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah regarding the demands of journalist organisations. In the meeting, it was decided to run a campaign in all the states regarding the demands of journalists.
In the meeting, Secretary Amlesh Raju, Coordinator of Delhi Journalist Association Rakesh Thapliyal, Co-convenor Pramod Kumar, KP Malik, Senior Journalists Manoj Verma, Mukesh Vats, Pratibha Shukla, Santosh Suryavanshi, Pradeep Srivastava, Anurag Punetha, Atul Mishra, Ravindra Mishra, and Netrapal Sharma Adi put forth their views.
