IJU demands Centre solve UNI crisis

Hyderabad, Sep 23: The Indian Journalists Union (IJU) today strongly protested against the decision of the Board of Directors of United News of India (UNI) to sell majority stake in the premier news agency to the Zee group.

In a press release here, IJU Secretary General K Srinivasa Reddy said UNI was established in 1961 and was the only news agency which has services in English, Hindi and Urdu.

Calling upon all the organisations of the journalists and other newspaper employees to raise their voice against the decision of the UNI management, he said the decision of the Board amounts to surrendering the news agency to one group. UNI was owned by multiple newspaper groups without any group having the controlling stake.

If one group gets majority stake, it would negate the very purpose of the news agency for which it was established, the IJU Secretary General added.

Strongly urging the Union Government to immediately intervene as there was no regulatory authority in this field and save the news agency, Mr Reddy demanded that the government protect the interests of the journalists and other employees of the agency.

UNI

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