Thread by @KanchanGupta

Media salaries used to be protected by Government of India appointed Wage Board which fixed and periodically revised wage rates based on circulation figures. Journalists (and press workers) in big papers would get paid more for same work done by journalists in small papers. 1n

To cheat on salaries many big papers would either submit fake lower circulation figures or float separate companies and hive off editions. One big paper was believed to have set up two separate companies for City Edition and Late City Edition. 2n

Govt Wage Board also ensured no journalist or press worker could be sacked or workforce reduced. This became a problem for newspaper owners as old printing tech began to give way to new tech, starting with photo typesetting replacing hot metal typesetting. 3n

In 1990s newspaper owners began offering contracts to journalists. To lure them away from Wage Board, contract salaries were thrice or more than Wage Boad salaries. My salary jumped threefold when I left The Statesman to join The Pioneer. Those days it was a king's fortune. 4n

Over a decade contracts became the norm, journalists who held out retired poor; those who opted for contracts, flourished. The unthinkable happened: Journalists began buying homes & cars. As media prospered with growth, contract salaries increased, wage disparity decreased. 5n

Freedom to earn more has given journalists financial security and created wealth beyond the wildest imagination of the Wage Board generation. I know of journalists who held on to Wage Board and resisted 'corporatisation of media' till the end. They died bitter and in penury. 6n

Contract jobs and freedom to choose jobs based on negotiated better remuneration gave journalists the break for a better life. Contract farming and the freedom to sell to anybody anywhere can give farmers, big and small, higher returns and a better life. 7n

Strangely, some journalists who have prospered with contract jobs and 'corporate media' opening new opportunities are loath to concede contract farming with full protection will do good for farmers and the Govt-controlled APMC should die like the Govt-controlled Wage Board. 8n

This could be for three reasons:
1) Political bias (support the #Punjab farmers agitation to screw BJP and help Congress);
2) Ignorance (Some editors and their factotums have not read the #FarmLaws like they never read #CAA which too they opposed); and,
3) Middlemen Syndrome.
9n

This is not about Left/Right. It is about reforming the farm sector for benefit of farmers while protecting them. Farmers are free to choose. They can stay with MSP, sell to mandi middlemen and say no to contract farming.
Some journalists did that by staying with Wage Board. 10n