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Manipur media outlets decide to boycott news related to state govt, BJP
The decision to boycott news related to the state government and the ruling BJP came after they failed to clear the advertisement bills to the media outlets in Manipur.
IMPHAL: The media outlets in Manipur resolved to boycott news related to the state government and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the non-clearance of advertisement bills with effect from April 24 “till the pending bills are paid or an understanding has been entered with the parties concerned,” according to a joint statement by publishers and journalists’ unions.
The decision was taken after a joint meeting of newspaper publishers, editors, representatives of Manipur Hill Journalists Union (MHJU) and All Manipur Working Journalists’ Union (AMWJU), which are supporting the movement, in Imphal on Saturday.
On April 15, publishers, members of Editors Guild Manipur (EGM), MHJU and AMWJU made an appeal to the Manipur government and the state units of the BJP and the Congress to clear all the pending advertisement bills by 4pm of April 23.
“However, since there was no response from the government and the BJP, the meeting decided to go ahead with the boycott,” said a joint statement of the EGM, AMWJU and MHJU on Saturday.
“In the case of the Congress, the meeting resolved to give some time following assurance given by its president.”
The boycott, according to the resolution of the joint meeting of media bodies, will cover all news related to the government, ruling parties, the BJP and the Naga People’s Front (NPF), it said. The boycott will also include all government advertisements including those of its authorities, cooperation like the PDA, LDA etc.
The media boycott will however not include the offices of the governor, the speaker, Covid-19 and pandemic related news including medical emergencies. Crime related stories of law and order will also be exempted from the boycott as per the resolution, it said.
The boycott came after the government failed to clear the advertisement bills even after a series of assurances given by the Chief Minister and Chief Secretary of the government of Manipur.
The media bodies in the state once suspended an earlier boycott call following personal intervention of the chief minister and the chief secretary.
Bills running into crores of rupees are pending with the government while bills running into lakhs for advertisements made in connection with the 12th Manipur assembly elections have been pending with both the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress.
Informing that the media houses in Manipur are reeling under financial strain following the COVID 19 pandemic and rising cost of news production, the statement of the media bodies has appealed “to the government to take a sympathetic view of the situation to avoid the confrontation.”
Manipur has over 30 English and local dailies, about a dozen local TV channels, some periodicals and a few news portals.
