A journalist and his family have acid thrown on them because of his reports on gutka smuggling. He was threatened twice before the actual attack.  GEETA SESHU asks what we are doing about ensuring the safety of journalists

Two young women are arrested for expressing their opinion on Facebook about the city's shutdown after Sena leader Bal Thackeray's death.  A chilling reminder of intolerance and excessive police reaction, says GEETA SESHU.

Two young women are arrested for expressing their opinion on Facebook about the city's shutdown after Sena leader Bal Thackeray's death.  A chilling reminder of intolerance and excessive police reaction, says GEETA SESHU.

Could the government have been more transparent? How can websites defend themselves against a govt ban?  APAR GUPTA and PRANESH PRAKASH provide some answers to MIR UBAID

The attacks on journalists on Saturday in Mumbai left media persons shaken, not so much because of its unexpectedness or its brutality but because of the naked hostility towards the media,  says GEETA SESHU

Incredibly, news reports quote crime branch police sources (unidentified, of course) who state that the case against Vora became stronger when the gangster himself called up several journalists and businessmen, telling them that Vora passed on information about Dey to him!  Media coverage of the entire issue has been found severely wanting, says GEETA SESHU

More than 500 journalists have died in the line of duty since 1992 and killers roam scot-free,  secure in the knowledge that they will remain so, says GEETA SESHU

In rural areas journalists have absolutely no protection. The anti-socials they write about know where the journalist lives, the cell phone number and the journalist’s movements. So where can the journalist hide?  GEETA SESHU speaks to district journalists in Maharashtra.

There was stiff opposition from within the Maharashtra cabinet that journalists should not be accorded any ‘special’ status and that malpractices of journalists must also be included in any proposed legislation.  GEETA SESHU reports on the state government’s draft legislation to protect journalists. Pix courtesy: NDTV

The dastardly killing of J Dey, Mid-Day’s special investigations editor, in Mumbai, the second since January this year, underlines the precarious lives of crime reporters,  says GEETA SESHU