Based of what I have seen and read, I believe that Mayabhushan MUST be supported by the Goa Union of Journalists.
Based on what I believe will happen, the GUJ will NOT go and bat for him at full strength. I am NOT sure how many of the Goa Journos will support him publicly ab inicio. Ultimately, the questions will be for the courts: (1) WAS what MB wrote accurate or not? (2) Did MB's expose in the public interest or not? jc On 23 July 2016 at 06:00, Mayabhushan <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello, > > I have been summoned on Monday morning by the Goa Police Crime Branch in > connection with a case filed by the Herald management which implicates me > in offences like data theft and hacking. > > Below is a letter I have written to the local media body, the Goa Union of > Journalists, complaining of harassment by the media organisation for > bringing out a story on media corruption in public interest via social > media. > > Best regards > Mayabhushan > > > > > > > Dear friends in the GUJ executive committee > > You may have been aware of the developments surrounding the > #JackpotJournalism story, which I had filed on social media earlier this > month. > You may also be aware, that the Herald management in a complaint filed > before the Crime Branch's Cyber Cell, has tried to implicate me as having > had a hand in hacking and data theft which led to the leak of an internal > memo. As a result, I am required to be present at the above stated office > on > Monday at 10:30 am. > The memo, which I had also uploaded on social media, confirms that chunks > of editorial news in the Herald newspaper, have to be pre-approved by the > sales department, unlike the tall claims made in the newspaper's front page > Open Edit. > Incidentally, the very fact that they filed a complaint with the Crime > Branch, also proves the authenticity of the memo. It proves that news in > the Herald, indeed, is shackled by sales processes and decisions. > Our job as journalists, is to source information from public and private > enterprises and place what's important and in public interest, in the > public domain. Our job requires us to tell readers and viewers, about how > the piece of sourced information affects or could affect their lives. > Today, the Herald has tried to 'fix' me with this criminal complaint for > publishing a leaked company document. Tomorrow and henceforth, any company > or government agency could file a complaint under the IT act, accusing a > journalist of hacking their database to obtain the data, if he or she files > a story in public interest based on such document/s. > Hope you understand the perils and dangers that such a precedent could set > for sincere and genuine reportage. > At this stage I would like to (like I have in my FB post) unequivocally > state that I have not hacked any email or committed data theft. I was given > the information by people who are unhappy (and there are many) with the > unethical practices at the newspaper which were exposed by the > #JackpotJournalism story. > To refresh your collective memories, the #JackpotJournalism story shows how > deputy general manager (sales) Adwait Dessai attached to the Herald > newspaper and his colleagues use strong-arm tactics to muscle through a Rs. > 25 lakh-per-casino-per-month 'advertising' deal from a representative of > the casino industry. > Desai also alleges how management pressure has ensured that several news > stories related to the real estate lobby and the casino industry were > killed there. > One thing of particular interest to GUJ, could be how Adwait goes on to say > in a sweeping statement, that reporters indulge in extortion. > Anyway, the reason for my writing to you is to complain about efforts made > by Herald, a newspaper which boasts of investigative journalism, to silence > genuine Whistle Blowers. > Instead of trying to initiate corrective measures institutionally, they > have, with the criminal complaint, tried to cower down their own > whistle-blowers and tried to implicate me, a member of GUJ, into the > affair. > My complaint is that, with the filing of the criminal complaint, attempts > are being made to harass me (as a whistle-blower myself in this case), > solely because I placed sensitive information, as exposed in > #JackpotJournalism and on other occasions, in the public domain and in > public interest. > When someone buys a newspaper for Rs. X, there is an unspoken contract > between the buyer and the newspaper, that the information given to the > reader is genuine and editorially processed. What #JackpotJournalism > exposed was a blatant violation of that contract with back-end news > compromising deals. > GUJ should also back the cause of the unsung whistle-blowers who have > helped me obtain the information and who are now being unfairly targeted by > their employers for being selfless servants of public interest. > I leave the choice of honouring this request to your good sense. > > Best regards > Mayabhushan > > > P.S. In case you would like me to stop sending this mailer across, please > do let know. No hard feelings. > > > -- > Sent from Gmail Mobile > > > -- > Sent from Gmail Mobile >
