Editorials are vanishing from dozens of Kashmir dailies, an indication of the pulls and pressures the media face after the Centre’s decision to revoke Jammu & Kashmir’s special status on August 5.
Prominent dailies such as Greater Kashmir and Kashmir Observer resumed publications from August 17, after an unusual six-day holiday on the occasion of Id, but without the editorials.
Though Greater Kashmir resumed editorial space on Wednesday, dailies such as the Kashmir Age are still skipping editorial pieces.
“Absence of communication lines and the staff’s difficulty to move around is making it difficult to come up with the content on a daily basis,” a GK staffer told The Hindu.
In all dailies, there is an absence of any opinions or editorials on the Centre’s latest decision to suspend Article 370.
Many smaller dailies have stopped writing editorials and instead publish syndicated columns.
However, there are a few newspapers such as the Rising Kashmir and the Brighter Kashmir, which have not ceased writing the editorials.
“It is like walking the razor’s edge to balance your editorial position. Many newspapers have decided not to publish editorials fearing the ax will fall on them in case of any imbalance. We have decided not to express our opinion,” said Farooq Wani, the editor of Brighter Kashmir.
Originally published on www.thehindu.com