Way back in 2015 when my conscience coaxed me to write about the threatening condition in which journalists were doing their duty and the scenario now, its getting worse. The fourth pillar of democracy is shaking. I have a hope though. The foundation of our democracy rests on pillars that are strong enough to sustain the winds of change. 

 Excerpts from an oped written then:  

The malady of exposing truth.....be a journalist on your own
 

A post on my whats app group was buzzing with feverish messages from my helpless friends. I could not resist joining them. Sahara, one of the big media houses sent notice to scores of its journalists who had not been reporting to duty due to non payment of their salaries for the last 6 months. It said 'those who will not resume their work today will be exposed to and liable for serious disciplinary action', which meant they were not just out of job suddenly but had no money till the next job coming their way. PAC was called in to handle these peacefully agitating journalists. Striking journalists were only asking for their justified dues. Someone suggested that the management will not listen and that matters concerning a journalist comes under labor laws, they should approach the Labour department authorities and then go up to govt authorities like the DM, SP and also the CM and minister IB.  

Unfortunately and shamefully a few days ago journalist Jogendra Singh of UP was burnt alive by a minister of the state government. Some days later another journalist in MP was killed and again the second day a Jammu & Kashmir scribe was beaten up. We are sure such things will not cease to happen in future too.

The pen yielding so called activist reports from the border sometimes between bullets raining from terrorists in Jammu Kashmir, during incidents like Mumbai attack, in war zones and riot areas, sometimes in floods, cyclone, earthquake, and sometimes for that matter from an epidemic infested area. Many times in death defying situations. A journalist's contribution to the service of the nation is no less than a soldier. Believe you me its not glamorous. In the quest for educating people they not just tend to cultivate enemies but stretch themselves too far for their passion. What the soldier does with his gun a journalist does with his pen. The fire is no less.

Journalists today are threatened, intimidated, cajoled and if they do not bend they are done away with. This has become most convenient and rather easy for the powers that be. 

How much freedom of writing do journalists have these days and how much freedom of expression is tolerated. Govt is out muzzling the fourth estate for obvious reasons, that asking them questions and revealing their underbelly irks them. Ruling class most often attacks journalist for writing their mind. Dissenting voices are crushed.

The memories of emergency have come alive. We just recently happened to celebrate the 40th anniversary of emergency. As the situation is today it makes one wonder whether are we heading towards another emergency! In this light what LK Advani said expressing his concern about danger to democracy does not seem far fetched. Journalists from small towns who are exposing corruption are being targeted like never before. It has been proved without doubt and in many instances the combination of politicians, bureaucracy, mafia and land mining sharks ( to name a few sharks) are working against media.

The enemy of press as of today is highly unseen, its a hydra headed monster. Both the managements and political establishments do not want independence of press. On the other hand the Prime Minister of the country calls media 'news traders' and his ministers calls them 'presstitudes'. It is a sorry state that none of us questions the PM about it. We are called cockroaches in a room and yet no journalist objects. Are we so numb to our respect! Yes, we are cockroaches out to clean up the system. The point is that the outrage, anger, solidarity is missing these days. So the Modis' and Mamatas' will carry on doing it. Every govt is united in muzzling media.

The sad part also is that we see journalists fighting with each other, thereby our credibility taking a hit. These are exactly the times when journalists are more vulnerable than ever. If after 40 years after emergency we are muzzled then our independence and democracy needs a revisit. The date is introspective.

Forces against us are far more stronger than before. We are less powerful today than we were before. The magnitude of the challenge that is confronting us is much larger which is going unrealized. Social media is also united in opposition with the establishment. If there are no journalists will democracy be there!! We will have to protect ourselves and the community. We will have to stand up for ourselves. We have come a long way, we have immense rights to assert our freedom as per the constitution, examples like RTI is one of them. We are the fourth pillar of democracy and having come a long way the independence is irreversible now.

Its sad to see fissures and cracks within our system. The major one being the contract system which is instrumental in pulling us down. This disallows formation of platform of any kind to voice its genuine concerns. The non implementation of wage board has dealt a fatal blow at strengthening the already underpaid journalist. And to top it up contract system has killed us. It is outright illegal. Unfortunately in most of the organizations journalists are handpicked by owners and do what the masters want which has dealt a body blow to our cause of integrity towards our profession. These are real threats being faced every day. How strong are we to deal with conflicts among ourselves. Challenge is within as well as from outside.

The condition of journalists in town and districts is worse. They are vulnerable to all sorts of intimidations. It is they who need security and assurance as they are the ones who are practically reporting from ground zero and facing threats everyday for their courage to unearth the truth about the system. They need to be provided and ensured some kind of institutional security. 

Children in media schools are groomed for being a good journalist which includes courage, fearless speech, going all out for a story etc. Sadly these days, schools of journalism are teaching everything except journalism. The result being a hybrid breed of non serious journalists out to find a place for themselves presumably more glamorous than our own Bollywood. 

Then, what are the kinds of people who run media houses? Interestingly, nothing to do with information dissemination or interests of people and country at large, many if not most, are run by builders with heavy coffers, public representatives, industrialists, NRIs'. Business and political clout, thats how it is for them, nothing more. They are, so, not accountable. Each one is more corrupt than the other. They are very cleverly milching the government as they are majorly thriving on government patronage.

Most of us may not be knowing that Working Journalist Act is only for print journalist, not for electronic and online journalist. Such discriminatory laws for journalists is to deny them their due rights which in turn empowers the individual and the community. Its high time we fight for our rights as journalists.

The dichotomy....we who fight for the rights of others do not fight for our own rights and sadly are unequipped, careless to fight for ourselves. Hope we too do not get reduced to slavery one day. The latest killings of investigative journalists are a grave example of how vulnerable we stand amoung the people we fight for.

#Journalists, #Rights of journalists, #Wage Board for journalists, #Indian journalists, #Indian media, #Problems of journalists in India, #Priti Prakash, #Blogger 

PUBLISHED: Jul 20, 2015

http://www.facenfacts.com/EditorialDetails/101/the-malady-of-exposing-truth.....be-a-journalist-on-your-own.htm

The ''Sun is Out'', in Kerala

The massive floods of 2018 August hit Kerala hard in all way. Millions of people were displaced, their houses inundated with flood waters, no food, no drinking water, no clothings, everything was washed away by heavy rains compounded by water that was released from the overflowing Periyar dam. Damage to property and life was estimated in thousands of crores. Tourism being one of the main industry in God’s Own Country, as Kerala is called, had the biggest hit. It is not just for tourists but the employment that it provides to thousands of Keralites had also gone. The government of Kerala and moreover the people have to be saluted for their dedicated help with which Kerala bounced back to normalcy. With the resilience of the people of the state, just a month after the floods, Kerala is back on its feet. It is inviting tourists with open arms to visit the beautiful state like before. Hotels, resorts, roads have all opened. As Kerala is saying, The Sun is Out.

My report on how Kerala is back on track for tourism:

Kerala, God’s own Country, is ready to welcome tourists once again
Allaying apprehensions about the preparedness of its globally famous destinations, Kerala announced that it is ready to receive tourists in all major places within a month after the state was convulsed by one of the most devastating floods in recent times.

“Tourism is a major contributor to Kerala’s economy and a significant source for earning foreign exchange. The floods left the tourism industry in a state of disarray and shock but now it has bounced back into business with renewed vigor, demonstrating its inherent resilience and determination to overcome the traumatic aftermath of the floods”, Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran said.

Asserting that things are back to normal he said, restoration and rehabilitation activities are in full swing. ‘Road connectivity has been re-established. Flights are operating. Hotels and resorts are up and running. Kerala is back on tracks. God’s own Country is ready to welcome tourists once again,’ the minister said.

The minister said, there is a need to restore confidence of various stakeholders in tourism sector, both in India and in major foreign markets and assure travelers that the state’s tourism and hospitality industry is fast returning to normalcy.

In this connection he drew attention to a ‘Tourism Readiness Survey’ which was recently conducted by the government with a detailed district wise and destination wise analysis of places, roads and other modes of connectivity. The survey revealed that leaving alone 13 properties, all the rest out of the 10,000 are ready. Kerala Tourism has drawn up a time bound action plan. To reassure the world, the reopening of Cochin International Airport after floods was telecast live on Kerala Tourism social media channels recently.

Secretary Rani George who accompanied the minister informed that the visitors had already started arriving in Kerala for the upcoming tourist season and that the first chartered flight carrying 60 tourists from Australia arrived in Kochi on September 15.

In a detailed and impressive presentation on Kerala’s revival activities with a title ‘Sun is out’ Secretary Rani George espoused that all the tourism destinations and hotels in Kerala have already been open for the tourists. All the roads to the tourism destinations have been repaired or reconstructed, except for some areas like Gavi-Wagamon which will be cleared sooner than later.

She informed that the Kerala Travel Mart, a biennial Tourism Trade Fair that showcases the entire spectrum of Kerala’s tourism industry to the world, will be organised soon. Till date, 545 international tourism buyers from 66 countries and 1090 domestic tourism buyers have registered for KTM, to be held in Kochi during September 27-30.

Kochi-Muziris Biennale will be held from 12 December 2018 to March 29, 2019. This contemporary art event in South Asia will be used as a platform that will have artists from all over the world taking part in Kerala’s syncretic culture.

The government of Kerala is considering organising Champions Boat League this year as planned earlier sending a message out that Kerala waters are safe for adventure activities as well.

Secretary George informed about a newly opened Jatayu Adventure Centre near Thiruvananthapuram that would be a major attraction during coming tourist season. The centre houses the world’s largest bird sculpture, a virtual reality museum, a state of the art ropeway and many other activities.

Kerala Tourism Department is organising FAM Tours for Travel writers, journalists meeting planners and travel agents, besides a new brand campaign to promote Kerala globally. Road shows have been planned in India and abroad to demonstrate Kerala’s readiness to the world.

“We are planning to conduct FAM tours for the media personnel. There are also plans to participate in the London Travel Mart and to have a press meet there. Discussions are on, whether to have the Champions Boat League, which was postponed due to floods. New campaigns for the revival of the tourism industry will be commenced from next month,” said the Secretary Rani George.

The minister also informed, ‘There is no restriction for using alcohols in any tourist destinations”.
On a question Director Tourism P Balakiran assured, “There are no epidemics in Kerala now. Some of the people, who were part of the rescue operations, got fever which was due to contact with contaminated water but now the issue is under control and the health ministry is monitoring the situation with utmost vigilance.”

“There will be intensive promotion campaigns for reinstating tourism in Kerala. Tourism industry has a great part in rebuilding Kerala. The state has envisaged a 12 point programme for the revival of tourism in the state, with priority to reconstructing the damaged roads.

“We should consider the fact that, no tourists were in trouble even at the worst situations during the floods. The authorities have taken adequate and prompt measures to rescue some of the tourists, who were stranded in some areas. It depicts our commitments towards our guests,” said P Balakiran, Tourism Director

http://www.facenfacts.com/NewsDetails/70643/gods-own-country-kerala-is-ready-to-welcome-tourists-once-again-says-tourism-minister-kadakampally-surendran.htm

Keywords: #Kerala Tourism, #Kerala, #Gods Own Country, #Tourism, #India Tourism, #Adventure Tourism