Journalists have come under increasing attacks in Orissa over the past year, caught between aggressive industrialists, political corruption and competitive media houses.
“There have been 12 physical attacks on reporters, stringers or camera persons this year, and six cases of threat and intimidation, up from three attacks in 2009,” says a special report brought out by the Free Speech Hub, an initiative of the Media Foundation.
With the state being on the frontlines of the ongoing battle between mining and industrial interests on the one hand, and displaced people on the other, the pro-development lobby often suppresses negative publicity through money and muscle power, says the report.
“The most widely broadcast channels and the largest circulating daily are owned by powerful people,” adds the report. “Given this reality, reporting the depredations caused by national and international business houses that have descended on the state to exploit its ample natural resources has become a perilous task.”
Faceless stringers often bear the brunt of the suppression, and the state government either actively opposes them, or acts as a spectator. “Its failure to take swift and punitive action in these cases has sent a clear message: the messenger can be shot.”
The complete report is available at >www.thehoot.org .
