The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Mediapersons lodge protest with Speaker

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 24, 2006

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Mediapersons lodge protest with Speaker

Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD: Mediapersons lodged a strong protest with Speaker K.R. Suresh Reddy on Thursday over the action of the staff in disrupting the live telecast of a `mock Assembly' organised by suspended MLAs of the Telugu Desam Party.

This followed the action of the staff led by Chief Marshall Ashok Gajapathi Raju in wrenching away the cables from an outdoor broadcast van in the midst of a live telecast of the protest by a Telugu news channel. They had earlier removed the loudspeaker and asked the TV channels to stop the telecast.

Pleas ignored

Ignoring the latter's request for more time to pull the programme off the air, the staff removed the cables from the OB van. When questioned, senior officials of the Legislature Secretariat said the staff had acted on the instructions of the Speaker.

Designated area

Members of the Media Advisory Committee and other journalists who met the Speaker pointed out that the `mock Assembly' was being held at the `Media Point', an area designated by the Speaker outside the main building for conducting television interviews and live telecasts since video cameras were barred inside.

Mr. Suresh Reddy explained that he had neither ordered the `mock Assembly' to stop nor prevented the live telecast initially in a spirit of democracy. But, members complained that some channels were showing only the mock and not the real Assembly.

Speaker's assurance

As this amounted to wrong use of the facility by the media, he had ordered the live telecast to be discontinued. He, however, assured that the media would be allowed to work unhindered in future.

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