Confined to a corner

IN Media Watch Briefs | 16/01/2014

On January 15 the Mamata Government in West Bengal further endeared itself to journalists by issuing a cicular showing them their place, literally. There is now a designated press corner on the first floor in the new secretariat Nabanna, and straying from there to meet officials for their work on any other floor requires designated entry slips of various colours. Movement without slips constitutes violation of the standard operating procedure, says the circular.

 

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The new term for self censorship is voluntary censorship, as proposed by companies like Netflix and Hotstar. ET reports that streaming video service Amazon Prime is opposing a move by its peers to adopt a voluntary censorship code in anticipation of the Indian government coming up with its own rules. Amazon is resisting because it fears that it may alienate paying subscribers.                   

Clearly, the run to the 2019 elections is on. A journalist received a call from someone saying they were from Aajtak channel and were conducting a survey, asking whom she was going to vote for in 2019. On being told that her vote was secret, the caller assumed she wasn't going to vote for 'Modiji'. The caller, a woman, also didn't identify herself. A month or two earlier the same journalist received a call, this time from a man, asking if she was going to vote for the BSP.                 

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