Recently we all have been hearing about Editors Guild of India because of charges of ineffectiveness of the organization in curbing fake news that has been levied upon by Arnab Goswami.
Let me remind, our nation witnessed a very unfortunate event of mob lynching in Palghar, Maharashtra on the fateful night of 16th April, 2020 wherein 2 seers and their drivers were killed by the mob. The cause for this incident is under investigation. Arnab Goswami, in his news hour debate, alleged Editors Guild of India for downplaying the Palghar lynching and not being standing up against fake news. This incident drew mass attention across the nation.
And yes, “NATION WANTS TO KNOW, WHAT TRANSPIRED SUCH AN INCITEMENT AND WHAT IS EDITORS GUILD OF INDIA ALL ABOUT”.
Editors Guild of India (EDI) referred to as THE GUILD was established in the year 1978 following the National Emergency that was imposed in India. In 1976, an act was passed famously known as the Feroze Gandhi Act, which imposed Draconian curbs on the freedom of media. Realizing the need for a strong association to protect the interests, freedom, and rights of the editorial lobby of the print media (magazines and newspapers), THE GUILD was formed. This body was instrumental in getting the Feroze Gandhi Act of 1976 repealed after massive protests. It has 2 prime objectives-
- Protecting press freedom
- Raising the standards of editorial leadership of newspapers and magazines.
This body convenes an Annual General Meeting every year. Guild adopted a code of practice on 30th August, 2002. The main objective is to safeguard the ethics, credibility, and standards of this profession. It lays emphasis upon the correctness of the fact and judgment of the ground media personnel before passing any fact or event with respect to a particular situation or an incident. Not only this the code of practice also protects the media lobby against prejudiced and unlawful suppression of media rights and harassment of editors from those in authority. It steps forward to speak out against such incidents to the concerned department or authority and recommends relevant action to be taken.
Likewise, as mentioned on the official website of the Guild, it was accused that there were numerous incidents of media bias in the Gujarat riots of 2002. The Editors Guild deputed a fact-finding team to Gujarat, investigated the complaints, and circulated the findings widely.
In the world of today which fighting the menace of deadly COVID-19, it is important to stand united and work for a better tomorrow.
