ITANAGAR, Feb 13:The editorial team of The Dawnlit Post today responded to the press release issued by the Arunachal Pradesh unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing the publication of publishing the fabricated news under the headline, ‘Has Ram Madhav landed the BJP in trouble in Nagaland’.

The Dawnlit Post is one of the oldest newspapers of Arunachal Pradesh that has been in continuous publication since 1998. Over the years, the newspaper has garnered a reputation for being a newspaper of clarity and conscience. Any allegation against the newspaper of breaking character from the ethics that it has held dear for two decades is not only extremely serious but also ridiculous.

As is clear from the article in question that was published in our February 12, 2018, issue, the article was first published in the media portal called ‘The News Joint’. During multiple times within the article, it is made amply clear that the reporting of the article was written for and by ‘The News Joint’ and that The Dawnlit Post had merely reproduced the said article.

We at The Dawnlit Post are aware of the ethics and guidelines that dictate free and fair reporting in the truest sense. It is in the spirit of this guiding light that The Dawnlit Post went the extra mile to not only reproduce the said article but also publish the statement that was issued by the Nagaland state unit of the BJP relating to the matter. If The Dawnlit Post were to be driven by any malicious intent, it would have been convenient for the editorial team to leave out the BJP’s statement: “Meanwhile, the Nagaland BJP unit has termed the report as ‘fictitious’ and has vehemently denounced it. Also terming The News Joint as “another fake news agency”, the Nagaland BJP unit said that it would take strict legal actions against those behind spreading the fabricated news.”

The original article has since been taken down from the website of the ‘The News Joint’ and we have done so too. The Dawnlit Post also withdrew the February 12 edition from many newspaper vendors since the article in question has been labelled ‘fake news’; perhaps rightly so.

In the Arunachal Pradesh unit of the BJP’s statement, not only has it accused The Dawnlit Post of stooping to a “new low in Arunachal’s history of journalism”, it also said that an investigation must be carried out by the Arunachal Press Club and that suo-moto action must be taken by the district magistrate/deputy commissioner to recommend (if found guilty of malicious intent) the cancellation of its RNI registration.

The Dawnlit Post is appalled that a party of BJP’s stature (that also happens to be in power in the Centre) should make such a call.

At the risk of sounding sermonizing, we would like to say that perhaps it would bode well for all political parties to stick to their official mouthpieces to voice their views and stayed away from misusing mainstream media outlets and subsequently attempting to stifle voices that differ from their stance.

On part of the publication, we will continue to uphold the ideals of journalism with additional care.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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