Press Statement

India: India Today pulls down shutters

12 Aug, 2020

The National Union of Journalists (India) and Delhi Journalists Association (DJA), strongly condemns the closure of India Today Group’s English language tabloid Mail Today under the pretext of COVID19 pandemic. More than 100 editorial staff will be laid off, along with a lot of employees from marketing and other departments. The newspaper was sharing a lot of resources with their respective counterparts. The employees were taking a reduced salary when the lockdown started. NUJ(India) has sought immediate intervention of the Government of India and State Government to put a halt on the ongoing large-scale retrenchment of working journalists and closure of media establishments.

NUJ(I) President Ras Bihari said in a statement that amid lockdown in the wake of the Covid-19, journalists are losing jobs and facing a serious financial crisis due to closure of Newspapers. He said that employees confirmed the development and said they are devastated by the news. While the employees haven’t received any official confirmation on the same, many of them have been told about the development either by their reporting manager or HR personnel.

The DJA President Rakesh Thapliyal and General Secretary K P Malik said that the Media sector is facing a tough time. As per the information HT Media, the publisher of Hindustan Times, Mint and Hindustan, has laid off over 100 staff to optimize its expenses due to the impact of Covid-19 and the lockdown has severely affected its printing businesses. During the Corona era, the newspaper managements were expelling journalists for their interest. We demand immediate intervention from the Central and State government and have demanded a fair settlement as per the Labour Laws.

Manmohan Lohani

Office Secretary

Written By

National Union of Journalists (India) National Union of Journalists (India)

7, Jantar Mantar Road, 2nd Floor
New Delhi 110001 , India
Telephone: +91 1123368610

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