Editors Guild seeks probe in death of journalist Satish Nandgaonkar

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The Mumbai Press Club also stated that the “bureau chiefs and editors have been found to be insensitive and even complicit in making working conditions worse”. It also raised the issue of the health of journalists getting adversely affected because of the toxic news room demands of the bureau chiefs and editors.

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By Our Special Correspondent

New Delhi, March 16: After Mumbai Press Club of India revealed a stressful office ecosystem as a possible reason for the death of journalist Satish Nandgaonkar, Editors Guild of India has called for a probe into the circumstances leading to the untimely demise of the scribe. The press bodies have red-flagged toxic office work culture in media houses for making the lives of journalists hazardous.

“The Editors Guild of India (EGI) is extremely saddened to learn about the untimely death of Satish Nandgaonkar, a journalist working with a daily newspaper in Mumbai. The Guild’s attention has also been drawn to several statements that have been issued in recent days relating to Nandgaonkar’s demise. The Guild urges the management of the concerned news organisation to conduct a fair and transparent inquiry into the allegations,’ said the EGI in a media statement.

It may be recalled that the Mumbai Press Club had issued a long statement a fortnight ago, giving extensive details of the media organisations having created toxic workplace situations for the journalists. It said that journalists are being pressured to work like factory products.

“The Guild has always stood for fostering a conducive work environment in every newsroom, and reiterates that relationships among colleagues must be based on fairness and mutual respect,” added the EGI in the statement. Incidentally, the Mumbai Press Club had put the onus on the chiefs of bureaus and editors for watching over toxic work culture. But none of the media houses have so far come out with statements on accounts of situations portrayed by the Mumbai Press Club in the statement.

“While the Guild is working to update the Code of Ethics for working journalists and editors with a view to tackling ever-evolving challenges, it calls upon managements of all news organisations to ensure the well-being of its journalists. Every journalist deserves a fair hearing and fair play,” added the EGI.

Mumbai Press Club has issued an open letter to Editors and Media Houses to draw attention to claims of “harassment and abuses” of journalists. The Mumbai Press Club has also claimed that journalists and photographers are being subjected to pressure to deliver “factory style news stories on tap”. The Mumbai Press Club said: “The recent collapse and death of a senior reporter of a daily newspaper in Mumbai is a tragic example of this newspaper pressure to be one-up on the rivals.”

The Mumbai Press Club also claimed that the media houses are resorting to unethical practices as means to gain attention. It said that “an editor of a news channel asked a journalist to create a ruckus during the press conference of a Congress politician”. The open letter mentioned that the said journalist resigned when he was pressured to create the ruckus in the Congress presser.

The Press Club of India (PCI) had also documented accounts of journalists summarily sacked from their jobs in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The journalists had told the PCI tales of being sacked from their jobs without the media houses adhering to the norms of the labour laws.

The Mumbai Press Club also stated that the last few years have been trying for the media persons on the back of “job curs, layoffs, and non-renewal of contracts”. It also stated: “To counter, the financial challenges, journalists are being stretched to breaking point, which has made working conditions unbearable”.

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