The Editors Guild of India (EGI) on Sunday sought withdrawal of the newly released Central Media Accreditation Guidelines.
Expressing concern over the new guidelines issued by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), the Guild said: “It is clear that these vague, arbitrary and draconian clauses have been included with an intent to restrict any critical and investigative reporting of government affairs. There are other provisions as well that are restrictive,” it said.
The EGI said in the case of freelance journalists, the requirements pertaining to the number of bylines had been made unreasonably high. “The guidelines have been introduced without any prior consultation with journalists’ bodies, media or organisation or any other relevant stakeholders. The Guild, therefore, demands a withdrawal of these guidelines and urges PIB to undertake meaningful consultation with all the stakeholders if it is intent on revising them,” it said.
