The Hindu : Insurance cover for journalists

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 20, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

Insurance cover for journalists

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI APRIL 19. The Life Insurance Corporation has been asked to work out details of an insurance scheme for journalists, the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Ravi Shankar Prasad, said today.

Referring to the long-standing demand, he said he was for providing the insurance cover to the scribes. Also, the Centre would consider enhancing the corpus of the Journalists' Welfare Fund, set up with Rs. 5 crores.

Mr. Prasad was taking part in the inauguration of fifth national conference of the Indian Journalists' Union (IJU) here.

Comparing the coverage of the 9/11 event (blasting of twin towers in New York) on the American news television channels with that of suicide killings in Jammu and Kashmir a few weeks later in India, he said the U.S. channels did not allow themselves to become a platform for spreading terror, and this was in contrast with the Indian channels treated the J&K incident.

Stating that the "threat of terrorism is looming large", he wanted the journalists to ponder whether they too should not consider such events in their coverage in "that mature way".

Inaugurating the conference, the Union Food Minister, Sharad Yadav, said the journalists should keep foremost in their mind the plight of the poor which had been worsening over the years. In the past, the newspersons highlighted the cause of the poor in a sustained manner.

B. Subhashan Reddy, Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, said journalism should not be treated like commerce or trade, and members of the profession should function as a watchdog of society.

Suresh Akhouri, IJU president, said that with the advent of the electronic media and technological changes in the print media, a media commission should be established. He wanted the Union Government to give more powers to the Press Council and bring employees of the electronic media under the Working Journalists' Act. K. Sreenivas Reddy, secretary-general, presented a report.

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