Manipur media outlets to boycott all news related to Govt and state BJP

Following the Manipur government's failure respond to repeated requests to clear pending advertisement bills by 4 p.m. on Saturday, media outlets in Manipur decided to boycott all news related to the government of Manipur and the BJP of Manipur Pradesh.

The decision was taken after a joint meeting of newspaper publishers, editors, representatives of Manipur Hill Journalists Union (MHJU) and All Manipur Working Journalists’ Union (AMWJU), which are supporting the movement, in Imphal on Saturday.

It was decided to continue the boycott after receiving no response from the government or the state BJP, it stated.

The boycott will include all news on the Manipur government, as well as the ruling parties, the BJP and the NPF. All government advertisements, including those of its authorities, corporations such as the PDA, LDA, and others, will be boycotted, it mentioned. The committee, however, decided to give the INC's Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee some time after receiving assurance from its president, it stated.

The governor's office, the speaker's office, COVID-19, and pandemic-related news, including medical situations, will be exempted from the media boycott, it further stated. As per the resolution, crime-related law-and-order stories will be spared from the boycott.

It added that the boycott was initiated after the government failed to clear the bills despite assurances from the chief minister and chief secretary of Manipur's government. Following personal intervention by the chief minister and the chief secretary, the media organisations had suspended an earlier boycott request, according to the statement.

Invoices worth crores of rupees are outstanding with the government, while bills for thousands are due with both the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress for ads issued in connection with the just ended 12 Assembly election (I).

The pandemic and rising costs of news production have put financial burden on Manipur's media houses. It went on to say that media houses have been appealing to the government to take a sympathetic view of the situation in order to avert a clash.