Indian Express puts out a strong editorial defending press freedom, urges Finance Minister to relook curbs on journalists

The Indian Express today put out a strong editorial in defence of journalism, asking the finance ministry to relook restrictions on access to the North Block.

Headlined, May We Come In, the editorial notes that the decision sends out “unflattering signals” and positions the government as “insecure and distrustful”. It says: “A journalist’s work, necessarily and legitimately, includes engagement with all levels of government, both on and off the record. That’s fundamental to the people’s right to know. Access to its corridors, therefore, is no favour granted by the government, and it cannot be governed by its whim or the jargon of the rule-book alone — it is the acknowledgement in a constitutional democracy of the imperative to make space for, and give room to, the check and balance on the elected and the powerful. By trying to keep the journalist out, by making her hostage to the vagaries of executive discretion and the bureaucracy of permissions, the finance ministry risks undermining the unstated but essential compact of reciprocity and respect between institutions.”

You can read the entire editorial here.

Last evening, the Editors Guild of India also issued a statement condemning the curbs on journalists, including those holding Press Information Bureau (PIB)-accredited cards.