-The Indian Express   'Paid news' syndrome is a menace capable of eating into the vitals of a free and fair media and rooting it out is essential for the health of democracy, Union Minister Ambika Soni has said.   Inaugurating the 125th year celebrations of Malayalam daily 'Deepika' here last evening, the Information and Broadcasting minister noted that the Press Council of India and Election Commission are seized of the matter and are...

The Centre for Science and Environment has extended its deadline for media fellowships 2012. If you have interest in environmental issues please go through the enclosed notification from the CSE and apply for the media fellowships. Terms and conditions are given below and can also be found on the CSE website (http://www.cseindia.org/).  For any clarification or more information please email or phone Papia Samajdar, or Souparno Banerjee at souparno@cseindia.org / 9910864339. The...

Aamra ekhon-o boli ni kon kagoj porte hobe, kintu agami dine kintu setao bole debo. (Till now, we haven’t told which newspapers must be read, but in the future, we will do that as well.) – West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, speaking on March 29 in defense of her government’s decision to bar all but 13 newspapers from more than 2,400 government-approved libraries across the state. “Kunal Ghosh, associate editor...

Before being a cartoonist/graphic novelist, I am a citizen first. A citizen with the freedom to have feelings — if not the freedom of free speech. Now, the former is far easier than the latter. I have the freedom to have feelings and the freedom to deal with those who hurt my feelings. And on that note, I want Sarojini Naidu arrested. Posthumously, but so be it. In an All India...

Nothing illustrates the threat that the FIR raj poses to personal liberty more starkly than the arbitrary manner in which two complaints in the cartoon case were pursued. One complaint was filed against Jadavpur University professor Ambikesh Mahapatra by a Trinamul supporter, accusing him of emailing “obscene” content about the chief minister. The second was lodged by Mahapatra, accusing four persons with Trinamul links of assaulting him. The strikingly divergent police response...