Restriction or regulation: Why are journalists in J&K being asked for personal details?

On September 26, the district magistrate of Doda in Jammu and Kashmir issued an order asking local journalists to submit their “personal details”.

Not just basic information like phone number and address, but domicile certificate, monthly salary, educational qualification, employer’s contact details and even their registration certificate. The journalists are expected to “furnish the requisite information at the earliest”.

This isn’t the first such order issued in Jammu. In May, the Ramban district magistrate directed the local police to identify “fake media groups”, collect their personal details and “verify their antecedents”.

Around the same time, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court told the union territory’s administration to consider setting up a regulatory body for news outlets on social media. The court said the administration should take action “most expeditiously to curb the circulation of fake news, which tarnishes the image of real journalists”.

The Doda order appears to be in keeping with that sentiment: to crack down on what several journalists in Jammu called a “few rotten apples”. They told Newslaundry that digital media in Jammu desperately needed regulation.

“There has been a mushrooming of media portals in Jammu. Anyone can create one on social media,” said Bivek Mathur of 101Reporters. “Many of them use blackmail and unfair means for personal gain. Because of them, our names are getting spoiled.”

“Anyone with a mobile phone can gain access to government offices, citing Facebook pages and using pressure tactics,” said Mohit Khandari, a journalist in Jammu with BBC Hindi. “At every presser you go to, there are at least 50-odd people who are not from the mainstream media. There are a lot of people doing good work as well, but benefits and support are not given since it is not a regulated industry.”

Ashraf Wani, the district information officer of Doda, told Newslaundry that the order applies to journalists across print, TV and on social media. So far 67 people have provided their details, Wani added. He believes that’s all the media personnel in the district.

The police’s Criminal Investigation Department will verify the information. “Then a committee will sit and make final decisions,” Wani said. “After receiving representations from local journalists we have kept salary and other sources of income as an optional column.”

Wani said the order was issued because Doda is a “sensitive district” and there had been instances in the past where matters were “communalised” or misinformation spread.

“This had started creating a law and order situation,” he said, adding that the administration would “ensure” it does not lead to a clampdown on the freedom of expression.

Press freedom concerns

This potential “clampdown” on press freedom is a major concern for some journalists in the region.

In 2020, the J&K administration implemented a new media policy which gave it the power to scrutinise news for content that’s “fake”, “plagiarised”, “unethical” or “anti-national”. Any “individual or group” responsible for such content would be “proceeded against under law”.  Journalists would only be accredited if they passed “robust background checks”.

The policy, which is in force from 2020 for five years, was widely criticised for being “Orwellian” and “Goebbelsian”.

Anuradha Bhasin, editor of Kashmir Times, said the order “seems to be an extension of what is happening in the Kashmir valley”. “To put a blanket law and ask journalists to fill in their personal information is not right,” said Bhasin, who is based in Jammu. “Journalists are not criminals. There are rotten apples everywhere. You can just look at TV channels spewing hate for that. But this is a selective way of looking at things.”

Dinesh Malhotra, secretary general of the Jammu Press Club, called it a “dangerous trend”.

“This step isn’t really for regulation. It is just to gag and curtail voices,” he said. “As journalists, we want freedom of expression.”

But Malhota admitted that Jammu suffers from “large presence of so-called journalists” who “misuse their platform”. “Because of these black sheep, the genuine journalists will have to suffer,” he said.

A few ‘bad apples’

But who are these “black sheep”?

Bivek Mathur believes the high unemployment rate in Jammu has “lured” those without jobs to try their hand at news, using platforms like YouTube and Facebook.

“The kind of media coming up in J&K is completely uncontrolled,” said Zafar Chaudhary, founder of the Dispatch, a media platform in Jammu. “The kind of reporting done has utter disregard for privacy and no real questions are asked.”

Chaudhary hastened to add that journalists “do not need certificates” but there has to be some regulation. “The question is how and who should do it,” he said. “And the answer has to come from society.”

He added, “The conflict has been going on here for decades. It’s not just militancy, it is a conflict that has become part of our individual lives and which is institutional. People have so many stories to tell. They use these mediums to vent their anger.”

Several journalists Newslaundry spoke with explained how “self-styled reporters” visit institutions that don’t usually get much coverage, like schools, and offer to shoot their events for a sum of money.

In July this year, reports claimed that suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba operative Talib Hussain Shah had gained access to the BJP’s headquarters by posing as a reporter, although the opposition had claimed he was in charge of the saffron party’s Minority Morcha.

It’s not just a Jammu problem. Alleged incidents of journalists indulging in “extortion” have been reported from the Kashmir valley as well. Just last week, a “self-proclaimed journalist” was arrested in South Kashmir after being accused of rape and extortion. His friend, a journalist with a local weekly newspaper, was also arrested.

In Kupwara, a “self-styled journalist” was arrested in May this year after a medical officer accused him of extortion.

There aren’t as many reported cases of journalists indulging in allegedly criminal behaviour because they don’t usually get reported to the police, not least because “both sides benefit.”

In Jammu, the process of accreditation for the media is similar to that in the rest of the country. In 2017, the J&K administration notified the new State News Media Accreditation Policy, which lays down the eligibility requirements such as the number of years in the profession. The policy states that “accreditation shall be used solely for journalistic purposes and not other purposes”.

According to Khandari of BBC Hindi, the accreditation of many journalists expired last year, but there was no renewal or extension of accreditation. So while journalists are invited to cover political events and official functions, they have to explain why their accreditation has expired every time.

Newslaundry made repeated attempts to contact Akshak Labroo, J&K’s director of information, but without success.