Discussing the special and extraordinary situation that prevailed in Jammu and Kashmir, the members “detailed the highs and lows of the crisis that impacted the process of collection, processing, and disbursal of the information directly and indirectly,” a KEG handout said.
They identified the issues and explored the ways and means of solving them, it said.
The newspaper editors said that despite an overwhelming situation, they managed to “keep history on record” in challenging times, a tradition that has evolved over the years.
The members took a strong note of the “vilification campaign that seemingly is revived by the vested interests to undermine the institution of media in Kashmir”.
“These campaigns were always there but these added a noise value in anticipation of the 2019 summer and seemingly have revived now, a year later,” the statement said.
“The members said the Kashmir media has proved its mettle throughout Kashmir’s recent history and will continue to do so. For doing so it even paid the heaviest costs.
“KEG members regretted that the vilification campaigns launched by the vested interests from within the systems of governance, within and outside the wider social media and offshore are aimed at undoing the Himalaya of reportage on which Kashmir’s history rests.
“The members said that the forum must meet frequently to respond to the evolving situations and to revisit the interventions that have taken place in the last more than a year.
“They said that the institution of media was already battling to stay afloat because of the communication curbs and financial squeeze besides onslaught of social media and citizen journalism that the emerging situation added to the challenges.
“The members identified the issues and resolved that these challenging issues will be tackled on a priority basis in the coming days,” the statement said.
The meeting was attended by all the members including Fayaz Ahmad Kaloo (Greater Kashmir), Bashir Manzar (Kashmir Images), Bashir Ahmad Bashir (Srinagar Times), Sajjad Haider (Kashmir Observer), Haji Hayat (Kashmir Reader), Tahir Mohiudin (Chattan), Manzoor Anjum (Uqab), Jeelani Qadri (Daily Afaaq), Manzoor Unjum (Daily Uqaab), Haroon Rashid (Nida-ie-Mashriq), Shafat Kira (Kashmir Vision), Raja Mohiuddin (Tameel-e-Irshad), Masood Hussain (Kashmir Life) and Zahoor Malik (Kashmir Times). Shmeem Meraj (Kashmir Monitor) could not attend the meeting because of his pressing engagements.
