[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he impasse between the media houses and the state government of Nagaland persists. Except for one, the demands put up by the editors of the newspapers have not been fulfilled. Even that one demand was fulfilled two days after the deadline set by the editors had lapsed.
One area the state government has not handled well has been the ‘approach’. The casual dealing of things by the state government officials regarding the matter has irked the editors. It is indeed an insult to the whole media fraternity.
The editors representing the media fraternity of the state have been voicing their grievances. A memorandum was submitted to the chief minister on October 30. The state government was sleeping over the matter for all this while only to wake up in the eleventh hour to address the problem which was not possible (the deadline given was November 30 and the state government started moving files three days prior to the expiry of the deadline). Well, somehow the releasing of the pending advertisement bills was done on December 2 (two days after the expiry of the deadline). The other demands placed by the editors are still to be addressed by the state government.Actually, the editors could have reviewed their decision of boycotting the state government related news and functions had the approach of the officials concerned was right. Assuring the editors through SMS, press releases or phone calls are considered unofficial.
The editors have clearly mentioned in their joint memorandum that a written commitment to implement in letter and in spirit the Nagaland Government’s own standing directive, which includes that the release of all future advertisements and payments need to be routed through the Directorate of Information and Publicity Relation (DIPR) and that all payments of published advertisements must be made within 45 days from the date of publication
Another demand has been to explain the terms of reference and the time-frame in which the Committee, headed by the Secretary, IPR, is to look into these pressing pertinent issues and take up remedial measures without delay.
