10 October 2018: The Indian Journalists Union (UU) extended full support to women journalists who have chosen to come out and join the #MeToo movement to expose the sexual harassment and misuse of power by those in high positions in the media industry. It called upon the managements of both print and electronic media to conduct a thorough enquiry into the complaints raised against all those in their organisations and take stringent action against them.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Indian Journalists Union (UU) President S N Sinha, Secretary-General Amar Devulapalli and Vice President Sabina Inderjit welcomed the courageous action of some women journalists to come out in the social media recounting their own harrowing experience of sexual harassment at the hands of their editorial bosses in the past and present in recent days. "We extend our support and solidarity to the women journalists who went through harrowing experience at their work place and gathered courage now to expose the skeletons in the media cup boards. They brought into open long whispered information in the newsrooms about the unbecoming and at times criminal behaviour of those in senior positions," they said.
"The Indian Journalists Union (UU) demands that all the media managements should set up the mandatory Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) to deal with such cases. In fact, the UU State Unions across the country have been demanding such committees as per the Supreme Court directive, but sadly very few managements have done so. The government should take action against the media managements who did not put in to place ICCs immediately," the statement said.
The I1u demanded that the Minister of State for External Affairs, M J Akbar, who was named by a women journalist and corroborated by another three colleagues, should immediately step down and face independent inquiry into the allegations. A women journalist recounted in social media her harrowing experience with him when he was Editor. Before joining politics, he was editor of The Telegraph, The Asian Age and some other publications. The UU also called upon the media managements to keep those who were facing allegations of sexual harassment out of editorial functions and conduct through and transparent inquiry into the allegations.
