The Press: Noose on the News

"Every bloody so-called journalist in this country looks to the government," cried dhoti-draped Ramanath Goenka, India's top newspaper owner (eight dailies, three weeklies), last week. "I will definitely close down my papers if I have to. There is nothing else to do. They think I'm bluffing." Goenka's outburst was aimed specifically at a government move to raise the wages of Indian newspaper employees. But beyond that, it was aimed at a general situation that last week saw Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's government taking a new hitch in the noose it has placed around the neck of a free press.

The noose has...

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