Thread by @PSainath_org

1/5. At the very moment people need journalism the most, and media are declared an essential service, media owners throw out 1,200 journalists and media workers. And subject thousands more to savage salary cuts

#journalism #PaidMedia #media #MediaMonopoly #Sacked

2/5. True, some smaller outfits, crippled by an advertising collapse, did try to retain their workers. But it’s the giants, highly profitable companies rich in cash reserves, who have unleashed the worst of the job-slaughter

#journalism #PaidMedia #media #MediaMonopoly #Sacked

3/5. Corporate media report job losses in the IT sector, in Uber, in Swiggy… But are silent on the slaughter within – not a word about how they’ve laid off 100s of journalists some of whom have served them 15-20 years

#journalism #PaidMedia #media #MediaMonopoly #Sacked

4/5. Nor do they allow the sacked journalists any voice in the publications/channels they’ve served for many years. Freedom of the Press, as A.J. Liebling said ages ago, is for those who own one. In short: Freedom of the Purse

#journalism #PaidMedia #media #MediaMonopoly #Sacked

5/5. At the same time, journalists doing their jobs face an unprecedented assault from the state; FIRs, arrests, show cause notices, harassment under absurd laws, and terror from non-state actors the state plays footsie with

#journalism #PaidMedia #media #MediaMonopoly #Sacked