Latest news with #PressCouncil
Time of India
3 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Pahalgam violence an attack on Indian democracy, social harmony: Ram Bahadur Rai
Haridwar: Veteran journalist Ram Bahadur Rai said on Friday that the terrorist attack in Pahalgam on April 22 was not just an act of terror but carried three significant meanings. "First, it was an attack on Indian values of democracy, coexistence, and social harmony. Second, it was an assault on religious freedom and confirmation of the artificial theory that Hindus and Muslims cannot live together as a nation. Third, it was an attempt to derail tourism and teerthatan (religious tourism)." He praised the country's media, especially print, for "fair coverage" of the Pahalgam attack and its aftermath. "The print media informed the public that following Pahalgam, the govt had no choice but to launch Operation Sindoor . This operation symbolises the unmatched prowess of our armed forces, projects the govt as powerful (parakrami), and underscores its steely resolve to end cross-border terrorism," said Rai, chairman of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts and a Padma Bhushan awardee. Rai said Operation Sindoor's biggest success was in securing global support unlike earlier wars with Pakistan, when India had to explain its position. On the issue of "paid news," Rai questioned why the govt has not taken actions to curb it. He urged the creation of rules and a regulatory body to guide journalists on their responsibilities. "It should not be like the Press Council of Jawaharlal Nehru's era, which Arun Jaitley called 'a toothless tiger.' The body must regulate all media, from print to digital," he said. He called on chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to take initiative, as he did with the Uniform Civil Code. "This body should not control the media but show it the right path, its rightful duties, and what it must avoid," Rai said.
Irish Times
19-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Press Council to review membership criteria amid ‘rapid change' in industry
The Press Council of Ireland has initiated a review of its membership procedures and criteria against a backdrop of 'rapid change' in Irish journalism amid a slew of new entrants to the market, its chairman has said. In a statement issued late last week, Rory Montgomery said he expects the review to be completed and submitted to the council's board in the autumn. Mr Montgomery, a retired diplomat and senior civil servant who was appointed as chairman of the council in 2022, issued his statement to The Irish Times in response to queries about the rejection of an application for membership submitted by a local news platform in Cork city. Last year local newsletter Tripe+Drisheen (T+D) was selected to receive funding under a Coimisiún na Meán scheme for regional platforms and titles aimed at supporting local democracy and court reporting. Provisionally the website, founded and edited by Cork-based journalist JJ O'Donoghue, was told it would receive €38,000 over 12 months. It planned to use the funding to hire two part-time reporters and expand its coverage. READ MORE However, the release of the funds was contingent on recipients being accredited member publications of the Press Council. Mr O'Donoghue told The Irish Times that he began that process in November last year. In a letter dated March 28th, 2025, Mr Montgomery told Mr O'Donoghue that T+D's application for membership did not 'meet the criteria as set out' on the Press Council's website. He also apologised to Mr O'Donoghue for 'unavoidable delays' in dealing with the application. The Press Council has still not told Mr O'Donoghue which of its nine criteria his publication failed to meet, the journalist said last week. 'The Press Council has accredited media organisations from Gript to the Ditch, so it's a wide gamut,' he said. 'But what's particularly frustrating is that the board has provided zero clarity around which criteria T+D failed to meet, and yet has told us to apply again in the future. It's ironic coming from a media oversight body.' In a response to questions last week, Mr Montgomery said he could not go into 'the specifics' of T+D's application, but said the board had considered it 'on a number of occasions' before the decision to reject it in March. T+D is published on Substack, a US-owned platform that allows journalists to earn subscription income for blogs, newsletters, videos and podcasts. Mr Montgomery denied that T+D's presence on Substack was an issue for the board when it was considering its application. More than 100 publications are currently Press Council members, he said, 'several are exclusively online' and there are 'no restrictions as to the means of online publication'. The chairman added that the council had 'recently initiated a review of its membership procedures and criteria'. Asked for more information, he said a subcommittee of the Press Council was set up 'last month' to 'review those elements of its constitution and procedures relating to membership and resignation/expulsion'. He said that one matter to be considered was 'communication with prospective members'.
IOL News
02-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Vusi Thembekwayo takes Sunday World to Press Council over ‘misleading' fraud story
Vusi Thembekwayo insists Sunday World's story demonstrates a fundamental departure from the tenets of responsible journalism, while the publication told IOL that it stands by its story. Image: File Picture Entrepreneur and author, Vusi Thembekwayo and his company, MyGrowthFund Venture Partners, have lodged a complaint with the Press Council of South Africa against newspaper publication, Sunday World and acting editor Ngwako Malatji seeking recourse over a story titled: "Fraud allegations rock Vusi Thembekwayo and his entity,' published last month. Thembekwayo insists the news article around the ongoing legal dispute between Thembekwayo and his former business partner Justin Rovian Naidoo presents 'a misleading and incomplete narrative' which he seeks to correct. On behalf of Thembekwayo and MyGrowthFund Venture Partners, spokesperson Vanessa Sangar argues that the Press Council complaint - seen by IOL - outlines multiple, serious breaches of the Press Code of Ethics and Conduct, stemming from the newspaper's decision to publish serious allegations based on court documents that, critically, had not been served on Thembekwayo or MyGrowthFund VP at the time of publication. 'This occurred despite the journalist being explicitly informed of this fact, rendering any meaningful response impossible before the story went live,' said Sangar. Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel. 'Sunday World's actions demonstrate a fundamental departure from the tenets of responsible journalism. The complaint highlights a disturbing lack of fairness and balance, the disregard for the basic right of reply, and the publication of information without crucial context. 'This includes the fact that the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) had previously reviewed and dismissed some of the core issues raised in the article,' she said. According to Sangar, the complaint raises grave concerns regarding how Sunday World obtained the court documents in question. 'Evidence suggests the documents were accessed via the official court online system before legal service, prompting a request for the Press Council to investigate the potentially unlawful and unethical methods used in gathering information for the story,' said Sangar. She said the news article has unfortunately caused 'significant' unwarranted damage to the reputation and dignity of Thembekwayo and MyGrowthFund Venture Partners, amplified through the publication's social media channels. 'It represents a secondary victimisation, allowing the newspaper's platform to be instrumentalised in a commercial dispute in a manner contrary to journalistic ethics,' said Sangar. For his part, Thembekwayo said he hoped that the Press Council would address the matter adequately. "Integrity, fairness, and ethical conduct are not optional extras in journalism; they are foundational," said Thembekwayo, who is also an internationally acclaimed motivational speaker. "Sunday World's handling of this story represents a serious lapse in judgment and a several material failures to adhere to the Press Code standards that underpin credible reporting. We trust the Press Council will address these breaches thoroughly. Accountability is essential.' The complaint lodged seeks formal findings on the alleged multiple breaches from the Press Council, demanding a full retraction of the article's 'unbalanced' and inaccurate aspects, alongside a prominent public apology from Sunday World.
Observer
29-03-2025
- Politics
- Observer
Serbian students protest at pro-govt 'propaganda'
BELGRADE: Serbian demonstrators gathered for a rally outside a pro-government television channel on Saturday, branding it a "propaganda tool", in the latest of nearly five months of mass protests. Holding banners "Manipulator, not a journalist," waving Serbian and university flags and blowing whistles, student organisers called on citizens to join the demo in front of the offices of Informer, a television station with a tabloid newspaper of the same name. The nationwide wave of student-led protests against state corruption has raised pressure on the nationalist government of President Aleksandar Vucic. It was sparked by the deadly collapse of a roof at a newly-renovated train station in Novi Sad, Serbia's second city, in November. Since the beginning of the protests, pro-government media have portrayed student demonstrators as "foreign agents," alleging they are funded by the opposition and plotting a "coup d'etat". According to the Press Council — the regulatory body that monitors newspapers — Informer violated the Serbian journalists' code of ethics 647 times in 2024. — AFP
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Serbian students protest at pro-government media 'propaganda'
Serbian demonstrators will rally outside a pro-government television channel on Saturday, branding it a "propaganda tool", in the latest of nearly five months of mass protests. Student organisers called for the demo in front of the offices of Informer, a television station with a tabloid newspaper of the same name. "Informer has been spreading numerous lies and falsehoods for a long time," said Bogdan Vucic, a student at the Belgrade Faculty of Political Science. The nationwide wave of student-led protests against state corruption has raised pressure on the nationalist government of President Aleksandar Vucic. It was sparked by the deadly collapse of a roof at a newly-renovated train station in Novi Sad, Serbia's second city, in November. Since the beginning of the protests, pro-government media have portrayed student demonstrators as "foreign agents," alleging they are funded by the opposition and plotting a "coup d'etat". Student Bogdan Vucic said one of his peers had become a target of both the Informer TV station and the tabloid. "They have published information about his family that goes against the most basic standards of decency, not to mention journalistic ethics," he said. According to the Press Council -- the regulatory body that monitors newspapers -- Informer violated the Serbian journalists' code of ethics 647 times in 2024. Many newspapers and channels in Serbia are owned by people with close ties to the government and regularly echo its talking points. Tabloid Kurir said students "terrorise Belgrade." Informer alleged they are paid by US aid agency USAID and billionaire George Soros -- a regular target of right-wing conspiracy theories. Another pro-government broadcaster, Pink TV, branded the protest movement an uprising supported by Kosovo, which broke away from Serbia in 2008. "Such narratives contribute to making students enemies of the state -- it creates a violent atmosphere and divisions," said Bogdan Vucic. "That's why we want to put an end to what we could call propaganda -- very dirty propaganda." - Independent media under threat - Informer is among the most widely-read newspapers in Serbia, with 57,028 copies printed daily. It is cheaper than its competitors at just 40 Serbian dinars ($0.36) a copy. The group claims its TV channel is the "most watched among cable networks" in the country. Like other pro-government outlets, Informer benefits from public funding -- through advertising purchased by state operator Telekom Serbia -- and exclusive interviews with the country's leaders. Meanwhile "the situation for independent media in Serbia is increasingly dire," to the point where they risk disappearing, said Slobodan Georgiev, news director of television channel NOVA S. According to the media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, the majority of Serbian media derive their income from advertising and opaque public subsidies -- both sources largely controlled by the ruling elite and dependent on the media groups' political alignment. "Advertisers close to the government, as well as state-owned companies, completely bypass independent media," said Dragoljub Petrovic, editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper Danas. - 'Imbecile' - Critical media and journalists are subjected to various forms of pressure, including vindictive lawsuits, public insults, and being labelled traitors. "Independent journalists face relentless pressure, including direct attacks from the head of state and leading figures of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party," Georgiev said. In early March, the president called a journalist who had covered the protests "an imbecile colluding with the demonstrators," prompting dozens of reporters from southern Serbia to refuse to cover the president's activities in protest. On Wednesday, a television campaign aired on national television labelling journalists from two opposition-aligned networks -- TV N1 and Georgiev's TV Nova -- "enemies of the state." "Unless there are real political changes in the coming years, it is likely that no media outlet will remain safe from the influence or control of President Aleksandar Vucic's cabinet," Georgiev told AFP. Earlier this month students blocked the headquarters of Serbian national television (RTS) in Belgrade for a day, after one of its journalists referred to them as a "mob". To reach people in smaller towns across Serbia — where residents often rely on state-backed media that echo Vucic's ruling party line -- protesters have spent weeks criss-crossing the country on foot. The gathering in front of the Informer station is scheduled to begin at 2:00 pm (13H00 GMT). Contacted by AFP for comment, Informer's editor-in-chief did not respond. cbo-mp-oz/rlp
