Zee group not to influence functioning of UNI: Subhash Chandra

Jalandhar, Oct 8 (UNI) Zee TV Chairman and newly-nominated Director of United News of India (UNI) Subhash Chandra today assured that his group would not influence the functioning of the news agency.

Speaking at the launching of Dainik Bhaskar's Jalandhar and Amritsar editions here, Mr Chandra said that he or his group could not influence the functioning of UNI.

UNI provided news to all subscribers and the fate of the news items filed on the agency's wires is decided and determined by editors of all the subscribing newspapers, he added.

He said that much hue and cry had been made over the issue of purchase of the majority stake in UNI and people had even approached Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi.

Reminding of professional compulsions in the present era of competition, Mr Chandra said that in this era only the fittest would survive.

Elaborating on fallouts of era of competition, Mr Chandra said print as well as electronic media had emerged as the cheapest market with the readers and subscribers getting newspapers and TV channels at just negligible price.

He said credit for the prevailing competitive scenario in media should be given to new young media groups, emergence of which had broken the "monopoly" of a few media giants.

Mr Dasmunsi, Union Minister of State for Urban Development Ajay Maken, former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Punjab ministers Surinder Singhla and Chaudhary Jagjit Singh and Bhaskar Group's chairman Ramesh Chandra Agrawal also addressed the function.

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