Journalists on Thursday got an angry mail from information officer of the heavy industry and public enterprises minister Anant Geete for not giving any coverage to his press conference.
Journalists on Thursday got an angry mail from information officer of the heavy industry and public enterprises minister Anant Geete for not giving any coverage to his press conference.
It is rare for a senior officer of the Press Information Bureau (PIB) to write such a mail to journalists for not giving publicity to a minister’s conference. “I am totally disheartened and disparate over the literally zero coverage of the press conference of minister of heavy industry and public enterprises Anant Geete held yesterday. What does it mean It appears that either I am not a serious guy for you or there are other important issues for you,” said the mail. He told the journalist, “If you have to come just for asking questions and there comes nothing then why I should trouble you ”
The information officer asked journalists to come to press conferences or interviews of minister or other senior officers in the ministry “only when you are really serious to do a story and you have enough guts to get space in your publications”. “Or please don’t ask for recommendations from me (for the interviews),” said the mail. Mr Geete had held a press conference on Wednesday to give an account of the initiatives and achievements of his ministry during the last two years of Modi government’s rule. However, one reporter from a new agency replied that she had in fact filed two stories on minister’s conference.
In the evening the information officer retracted his statement. “I must express my deep regrets for the mail and it was not my intention to interfere in your journalistic duties. Once again I regret the same,” said the mail sent in the evening.
