New Delhi, 16 July 2024: The Indian Journalists Union welcomes Delhi High Court’s order yesterday asking taking down of YouTube videos and news articles which are “defamatory and insinuating” on editor and co-founder of The News Minute and winner of Chameli Devi Jain award for Outstanding Woman Media Person, Dhanya Rajendran. 

The order comes in the wake of her defamation suit against “defamatory” statements against her, after the ‘Cutting South’ event co-hosted by The News Minute along with NewsLaundry and some others on March 25, last year as a conclave ‘to celebrate journalism’. The judge directed media channels Kerala based The Karma News, and Janam TV and its newspaper Janambhumi, to remove as many as nine YouTube videos and news articles containing statements which amounted to defamation against Rajendran. If they didn’t do so within 10 days, then Rajendran could approach the court.  

The petition said that after the event and during it, these outfits ran reports both digitally and in print, claiming they “intend to separate the country, and divide India into North and South creating a United States of India or South India…the event was funded by American billionaire and philanthropist George Soros and crores of rupees have landed in Kochi (the venue of the event) and the money has reached through illegal channels --hawala channels”. The news organisations rubbished the claims as unsubstantiated.  

In a statement, IJU President and former member of Press Council of India Geetartha Pathak and IJU Secretary General and Vice President of International Federation of Journalists Sabina Inderjit welcomed the order wherein the judge after perusing the articles and videos, had noted they were prima facie ‘not based on any credible and reliable sources for making out a case that the said allegations are true and based on facts.’ The IJU said media houses should not indulge in character assassination and must adhere to professional and ethical journalism.