THREATENED TO BOYCOTT GOVERNMENT RELATED NEWS
EMN
DIMAPUR, OCTOBER 30
The editors of newspapers in Nagaland have served an ultimatum today to the State Government with November 30 as the last date to clear all the pending payments of advertisements. “In the eventuality that the Nagaland State Government is unable to implement it by November 30, 2014, the undersigned editors and newspapers have resolved to take firm and decisive measures by December 1, 2014, which may result in withholding the publishing of government advertisements, news and events till the pending bills are cleared and the laid down policies are implemented in full,” a joint memorandum of the editors of Nagaland Post, Morung Express, Nagaland Page, Tir Yimyim, Eastern Mirror and Capi said which was submitted to the Chief Minister.
The memorandum said that the Nagaland newspapers are one of the primary medium of mass communication that have over the years provided public service in gathering and disseminating news to facilitate an informed society.
According to the memorandum of the six editors, in the face of increasing political and economic instability, the Nagaland newspapers are entirely dependent on revenues generated through advertisements and newspaper sales for their financial sustainability.
It then mentioned that the Nagaland state government is one of the agencies that regularly avails the newspapers’ services to place advertisements at the government’s set rate. The newspapers, in turn, publish the advertisements in good faith with the understanding that the government will make the payment within a 45-day period. However, the newspapers have experienced inconsistencies, negligence and extreme lapses in the state government’s responses to the newspaper’s requests for payments, the memorandum added.
According to the memorandum, the newspapers have been patient and sensitive to Nagaland state’s precarious financial situation, but now the newspapers are compelled to draw the line. “Our repeated appeals and reminders to the various government departments to release payments for previously published advertisements has fallen on deaf ears, thus, in turn jeopardizing the stability of newspapers,” it added.
The editors then urged the Chief Minister to intervene to release all pending payments of advertisements that have been published up to September 30, 2014, by November 30, 2014.
It also said the Government of Nagaland will implement in letter and in spirit its own policy, which includes the release of any future advertisements and payments need to be routed through the Directorate of Information and Publicity Relation (DIPR) and all payments of published advertisements must be made within 45-day from the date of publication
