North-east media looks forward for an active PCI

A six-decade old Assamese daily newspaper changed its ownership as the management failed to pay salaries and other benefits to hundreds of its employees including journalists for months.

- NAVA THAKURIA

The affected employees' union publicly stated that the prestigious media house was not receiving a huge amount of money, due from the Assam government against the published advertisements for many months, which prevented the management in releasing the wages on time. The helplessness indicated how they slipped into depending on government revenues, and not the contributions from its valued readers (subscribers), for survival.

This daily is not alone, the newspapers across northeast India continue to face enormous troubles in their existence. The rapid growth of digital media, which defied the limitation of newspapers reaching remote locations with native languages, has already posed a serious challenge towards the traditional media houses. The Covid-19 pandemic made the situation more complicated causing a drastic fall in circulation and readership of all newspapers across the region. Some of the prominent newspapers faced closure and some others were sold. The remaining media groups, publishing hundreds of newspapers in different languages including English, Hindi, Asomiya, Bengali, Mizo, Meitei, Khasi, Bodo, Karbi, etc to cater to the rational needs of over 60 million population, continue facing mammoth challenges in day to day affairs.