Don't bully us

IN Media Watch Briefs | 22/03/2017

Last week there was an interesting fracas between a powerful lobby, the Indian Sugar Mill Association (ISMA), and journalists covering the commodity beat. ISMA apparently withdrew an invitation to a journalist of the Financial Chronicle to a dinner party it was holding because it did not like a story he filed. The later shared the news with fellow beat journos adding that the association was also trying to find out who the source for his story was. The other journos then decided to take a stand and one of them wrote to ISMA's corp comm person to say that she though such an action was in poor state, and announced that those covering ISMA would not attend any reception it might hold. Sensing a boycott, the dinner was cancelled.

TAGS

ISMA Financial Chronicle

Subscribe To The Newsletter

Media Watch Briefs

Amazon resisting voluntary censorship

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.

Let the games begin

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.