The May 3 RSF 'press freedom' rankings have us reckoning with the fact that journalists are either ousted from the country, jailed, penalised or criticised for a stance when reporting on government inattention to issues. In the process the focus sometimes, is on the teller, not the story. https://thewire.in/media/election-2024-journalist-press-freedom-india
In the last year, India has figuratively ousted two foreign journalists by placing clear government hurdles on their path. Vanessa Dougnac, the longest serving foreign correspondent in India who has reported for multiple French publications, had to leave in February after the government issued a two-week revocation of her Overseas Citizen of India card. In April, ABC News’s Avani Dias had to return to Australia after the government refused to extend her visa until it was too late and informed her that her reporting had ‘crossed a line’. In a live broadcast, Al Jazeera said its correspondent who would travel to India to cover the elections was not given a visa.
Homegrown journalists have had it worse. Eight are in jail. Kashmir journalist Aasif Sultan has been jailed since 2018, Punjab independent journalist Rajinder Singh Taggar was arrested last week, Gautam Navlakha has been in jail and house arrest since 2020, Kashmir’s Sajad Gul since 2022, Jharkhand reporter Rupesh Kumar Singh since 2022, Kashmir reporters Irfan Mehraj and Majid Hyderi since 2023, and Newsclick-founder Prabir Purkayastha since 2023. Purkayastha’s arrest, notably, involved raids across Newsclick employees’ houses and workplaces, placing a target on the backs of all individuals who had dared to be associated with the site.
Unlike this journalist, for many, to have the camera trained on them – to the point where they themselves become the story – puts an effective pause on their reporting itself. Google searches with any of these journalists’ names gives you news on their incarceration, journey home, or trials with the law. Their reports are snowed in.
by Soumashree Sarkar
06/05/2024