Kashmir Pen News Bureau
Srinagar, July 18: Even as scores of existing newspapers in Jammu & Kashmir face economic strangulation through selective denial of government advertisements, a far graver injustice is unfolding—a silent crisis impacting dozens of emerging newspapers that have been continuously publishing for nearly a decade without ever being empanelled, and thus, without receiving a single rupee in state advertisement support.
Several of these publishers, who began their journals after 2015 with the hope of contributing to informed public discourse, allege a complete policy freeze. Despite fulfilling eligibility criteria, they remain in a limbo, awaiting empanelment for over ten years, while their applications gather dust in the corridors of the Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR).
“These are not fly-by-night publications,” said a veteran editor of a weekly newspaper. “We have been consistently publishing—week after week—for nearly a decade. We’ve followed all norms. Yet we receive nothing. No response, no inspection, no rejection—just complete silence.”
The issue has taken a severe financial toll on these papers. Without government ads—the primary source of media revenue in the region—many operate on a shoestring budget. Reporters, layout designers, photographers, and distribution agents work without regular salaries, some even contributing voluntarily to keep the idea of free and independent journalism alive.
“This is no longer just about advertisements,” said the editor of another unempanelled publication. “This is about recognition and respect for our democratic role. We are being punished for simply existing outside the favored list.”
The problem intensified after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. Since then, media owners say, both existing and aspiring newspapers have seen DIPR policies turn opaque and arbitrary. The few that are empanelled report delayed or drastically reduced ad volumes, while many others—especially those with no political or bureaucratic patronage—have been entirely blacked out.
Several affected publishers are now uniting to make a fresh appeal to the Lieutenant Governor’s administration and the Union Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, urging them to take urgent corrective steps. They are demanding:
• Immediate scrutiny and processing of long-pending empanelment applications;
• Transparent, merit-based criteria for empanelment and advertisement distribution;
• A clear public timeline for empanelment decisions and ad disbursements;
• Formation of an independent grievance redressal mechanism for media houses.
“It is ironic,” said one editor, “that we are expected to uphold democratic values, yet the very system denies us the support essential for survival. Media in Kashmir is not asking for charity—it is demanding fair access to what is a public resource meant for outreach and awareness.”
In the absence of any meaningful outreach from the government, both empanelled and unempanelled newspapers say they are being suffocated by design—a strategy that critics describe as economic censorship.
Without an urgent policy shift, many warn, the valley could soon witness the disappearance of diverse journalistic voices, reducing public discourse to a few select narratives—and that would be a grave loss for democracy itself.
