Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Tuesday assured a delegation of media representatives, led by Kasturi & Sons Ltd. Chairman N. Murali, that he would uphold the freedom of the media in the State. The delegation, under the aegis of the ‘Alliance for Media Freedom’, met him at the Secretariat and expressed concern over the erosion of media freedom in the State and the registration of criminal cases against journalists.
It also handed over to the Chief Minister a copy of the statement and resolutions passed during a consultation titled ‘Media Rights and Responsibilities’, held in Chennai on July 1. The meet had called for the “rolling back of arbitrary and illegal actions against the news media in Tamil Nadu.”
Govt. control over TV
Addressing journalists after the meeting with the Chief Minister, Peer Mohamed, convenor of the Alliance for Media Freedom, said that the delegation conveyed to the Chief Minister its concerns on issues facing the media in the State and also about the government’s control [through Arasu Cable TV Corporation] over TV channels that telecast people’s protests in various parts of the State.
N. Ravi, Publisher of The Hindu; Suresh Nambath, National Editor of The Hindu; T. Ramakrishnan, Associate Editor of The Hindu; A. Subramani, Metro Editor (Chennai) of The Times of India; S. Karthigaichelvan, managing editor of Puthiya Thalaimurai TV; Florent C. Pereira, general manager of Kalaignar TV; C.R. Bhaskaran, managing editor of Makkal TV; Kavitha Muralidharan of the Network of Women in Media; and Haseef Mohamed of the Centre of Media Persons for Change were present during the meeting.