Modi regime’s press crackdown stifles young journalists’ future in IIOJK
Srinagar: Young journalists in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir are facing a severe crisis, caught in a stranglehold of a rapidly shrinking job market amid intense government pressure, which has collectively muted the territory’s once-vibrant press.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the journalism landscape in the occupied territory has been dramatically transformed, with newsrooms hollowed out and traditional career paths for reporters virtually obliterated.
Graduates entering the field confront a stark reality where viable and independent employment platforms have all but disappeared, stifled by a climate of surveillance, slapping of draconian laws on journalists and shrinking press freedoms.
The crisis is so profound that it has deterred new students from even entering the profession. University faculty report alarmingly low enrollment in journalism departments, with only 25 to 30 students completing their degrees annually.
They cite the trifecta of severely restricted professional opportunities, the declining prestige of the field under intense pressure, and the prohibitive cost of education for a career with diminishing returns as the primary reasons for this decline.
