Attacks on scribes done to frighten media into submission: BEA

Expressing serious concern over the growing incidents of attacks on media, the Broadcast Editors Association (BEA) said such incidents are aimed to "frighten the media into submission".

"There seems a pattern in all these incidents suggesting that an attempt is sought to be made to frighten the media into submission particularly because it works in most sublime public interest," said the apex body of electronic media professionals in the country.

The Association also decided to constitute a five-member fact-finding committee which will visit Bangalore and to go into the Karnataka Assembly incident and subsequent developments. It will be headed by BEA general secretary N K Singh and submit its report within a week.

The BEA alleged that the powers-that-be in different states show contempt towards media and cited examples of recent incidents in Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir and West Bengal which indicated so.

The Association said, such "incidents and concomitant responses from those holding high and constitutional positions only establish the contempt that powers-that-be have for the media in particular and freedom of expression and public interest in general."

It justified showing visuals of MLAs allegedly watching pornographic material on mobile phones at the time when the Assembly proceedings were underway. The BEA said, "the channels had worked to serve the most important public interest which overrides all other institutional and individual privileges."

Association president Shazi Zaman also said a delegation will meet Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, who is also chairperson of the All India Speakers' Conference.

The Broadcast Editors' Association also objected to the manner in which the House-Committee of the Karnataka Assembly summoned some editors of TV channels and questioned them.

"...the tone and tenor of the questions asked to the editors were not in consonance with elementary principles on which pillars of democracy rest," the BEA feels.

The Association also expressed "shock" at the response of the Karnataka Chief Minister "justifying" the incident in Bangalore where journalists were badly beaten up allegedly by lawyers and goons when the mediapersons were discharging their professional duty.

It also cited the example of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, where the Speaker is said to have claimed in the House that "media is subservient to the State Assembly".

"The BEA feels that such assertions not only show ignorance of those running democratic institutions but also expose their contempt for freedom of expression which is a fundamental right guaranteed to every citizen under Article 19(1) (a). The comment of the Speaker came when some ministers objected to media reporting on malfunctioning of their respective departments."

The Association also expressed concern at the beating up of some journalists allegedly by ruling Trinamool Congress workers in Jadavpur, West Bengal and "noted with a sense of outrage the subsequent reaction by state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who said that the incident 'was a cook-up'."