Anantapur: YSRCP government stifling voice of small, medium newspapers

Anantapur: Association of Small and Medium Newspapers of India, AP Chapter president B Sateesh Babu has accused the ruling YSRCP government of suppressing and oppressing small and medium newspapers and neutralising their constructive role in coverage of local news by de-incentivising the support and privileges granted to them.

In a statement released to the media and the copies of the petition filed against the state government with the Press Council of India, Sateesh Babu lashed out at the state government for suppressing the voice of small newspapers and refusing to give accreditation cards to small and medium newspapers journalists with an objective of throttling their voice and killing them.

The Association state president maintained that even big newspapers were indulging in the sale of accreditation cards to its reporters and minting money and are passing on the allegation of misusing government given accreditation cards on the small newspapers.

Even after completing two years of governance by the YSRCP, it could not issue accreditation cards in the name of taking time for weeding out fake journalists in the state. The state government promise to give Rs 5 lakh to the family members of the deceased journalists is yet to be implemented, he pointed out.

Not a single family is given the promised amount. He regretted that the YSRCP government unlike other state governments has not come forward to recognise journalists as frontline warriors during the Covid pandemic.

Sateesh Babu demanded the state government to issue two accreditations to small newspapers and magazines, if the government insists on GST for the small newspapers then it should give 2 accreditation cards to papers and magazines with not less than 500 copies printing order.

The stipulation that magazines should not have less than 84 pages should be decreased to 32 or 68 pages and issue of ID numbers to publications that are printed regularly. The government should also earmark 30 percent of advertisement funds for small papers and magazines.

The Association also demanded the Centre and state governments to sanction Rs 10,000 pension to journalists, who completed 60 years of age.