Journalists could lose accreditation if propagate fake news
New Delhi: In an election year, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has amended guidelines for journalists’ accreditation stating that if a journalist is found to have “created and/or propagated” fake news, the journalist’s accreditation will be suspended or permanently cancelled.
In a press release issued Monday evening, it said that the Press Council of India and News Broadcasters Association (NBA), the two regulatory bodies for print and television media respectively, will determine whether the news is fake or not.
Once a complaint is registered for “determination of fake news,” the Ministry’s statement said, the accreditation of the journalist who “created and/or propagated the fake news” will be “suspended till such time the determination regarding the fake news is made by the regulating agencies mentioned above”.
Immediate responses to the move from journalists were almost uniformly negative, ranging from those who think this move will not affect the actual problem of fake news to others who believe this is an attack on press freedoms.
The Press Information Bureau website says that 2,404 journalists now have accreditation. To put that number in context, there were 105,443 newspapers registered in India as of 2015 (and that does not count broadcast or digital news organisations). So it is clear that the impact of these regulations is on a very small subset of Indian journalists.
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Ice cream vendor stabbed to death near India Gate, accused nabbed
New Delhi (PTI): An ice cream vendor was stabbed to death near India Gate on last night, police officials said on Thursday.
Police, who said the incident seemed to be a case of personal enmity, have apprehended a suspect.
According to police, the ice cream vendor, identified as Prabhakar (25), was standing near his trolley when he was attacked by a person on Wednesday night. He collapsed after being stabbed, a police officer said.
People who spotted him lying on the ground informed the police.
"Prima facie, it is suspected to be a case of personal enmity as we have apprehended a suspect," the officer said. Futher investigations are on, he said.
Prabhakar was a native of UP's Etawah, police said.
