Union Budget brings bad news to journalism

Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget has not gone down well with journalists, especially those in the print media.  It’s because of a proposal pertaining to duty on newsprint.  

“Government hikes newsprint duty by 10%. It’s a death knell for all newspapers. Government has shown how to kill journalism,” says Vijaita Singh.  “Exemption of 10% Basic Customs Duty on newsprint withdrawn. Papers, already struggling to stay afloat, will simply sack staff, shut editions, scale back print orders to absorb higher newsprint cost,” writes Kanchan Gupta, echoing a similar view.  

In view of the outrage against it from the media, the NDA government will hopefully roll back the proposal.