“Why action against media platform suspected of links with enemy nation isn’t assault on press freedom”, First Post, August 18m 2023:

“Media organisations regularly condemn attacks on free speech in our country, as they should. But by expressing “deep concern over the ongoing targeted campaign against the news web portal Newsclick and its founders,” the Press Club of India, the Indian Women’s Press Corps, the Delhi Union of Journalists and the Press Association have erred grievously. For action against a media platform suspected of links with an enemy nation cannot be called an assault on press freedom.

I am a member of the two of these bodies — the Press Club of India and the Press Association.

Shockingly, the four organisations have resorted to whataboutery, “If the sources of funding for Newsclick are under scrutiny, the same transparency should extend to supporters and backers of various other portals aligned with the establishment. It is imperative for the interests of complete transparency that the sponsors and funding sources of all such portals be disclosed. Without such disclosure, the recent actions targeting Newsclick could rightly be characterized as a witch-hunt…..”

Read the full article at Firstpost.com