Journos protest at Assembly against discrimination by MAC
Hyderabad, Feb 18 (INN): Accusing the Media Advisory Committee of being 'discriminatory,' journalists staged a dharna at the Assembly Media Point demanding that all the members on the Panel resign. The dharna was seen as an after-effect of the 'leak' of video clippings of the attack on Governor ESL Narasimhan in the House on Thursday.
The protesting journalists alleged that the Assembly Secretariat had 'deliberately provided selected visuals to certain television channels' at the behest of the Media Advisory Committee. This favouritism had created problems for the scribes attached to other television channels, besides lessening the trust which had been prevalent among the media circles and built up over the years, the protestors alleged.
The protestors' slogan shouting drew the attention of Telangana Rashtra Samithi MLA T Harish Rao who spoke to them. They revealed to the MLA that ever since Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy was elected the Speaker of the Assembly (before he became the Chief Minister), problems for the media persons had increased manifold.
The TRS MLA however told the protestors of adopting a partisan attitude against the Telangana issue and taking the NBA advisory as an excuse not to air the protests at the Osmania University, but not hesitating to broadcast the events which rocked the House on Thursday. Harish Rao asked the media to adopt a more cooperative attitude towards the Telangana agitation and he would reciprocate by solving the media's problems.
Soon after, Government Chief Whip Bhatti Vikramarka along with other MLAs spoke to the protesting journalists and took note of their grouses. He assured them that there would be no discrimination in the future. Mr Vikramarka also said that the media persons covering the Assembly beat would be given more facilities, including chairs and access to toilets. Mr Vikramarka's words had the desired effect and the impromptu protest was called off.
News Posted: 18 February, 2011
|
