Verbal diktat

IN Media Watch Briefs | 18/07/2016

Kashmir's print media gag of three days has been achieved without any written order, which would have required citing of some law. It has been achieved by brute force on day one, with police teams raiding printing presses and seizing copies of papers printed, followed by a verbal explanation on day two by a government minister and spokesperson. He said a three day ban had been decided on "reluctantly." No newspapers were published in the valley on Sunday. There seems to be no move on the part of media houses to go to court over this summary verbal ban, which they are all complying with.

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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.