The Editors Guild of India will be sending a team of three senior journalists to Manipur in a fact-finding mission “to study and document the inconsistencies in the media’s coverage of the violence, and the role this could have played in spreading divisiveness during this critical period.”

The Guild stated that it had received several representations, including from the Indian Army, regarding “uneven and biased reportage” by local and national media on the ethnic clashes in the strife-torn Manipur and that “incorrect reporting, wrong facts, and fake news” had further “fanned the flames of violence in the state”.

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The senior journalists who will be visiting Manipur from 7-10 August are Seema Guha, Bharat Bhushan, and Sanjay Kapoor, the Editors Guild informed.

The terms of reference are to examine:

1. The reportage of the violence by the media
2. Whether media was indeed biased and divisive as alleged by several stakeholders, and togather evidence
3. To understand and document the way media’s coverage deepened the fissures
4. Impact of internet shutdown on the ability of the media to function

Further, the Editors Guild requested for cooperation from all stakeholders and to support “this exercise of truth seeking and introspection on the conduct of the press in such a critical situation.”