Bangalore Defence Journalists Simmer At HAL, Former Spokesperson Announces Campaign Against "Iron Curtain" Media Policy

There's some very unseemly tension brewing between defence journalists in Bangalore and Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL). It all began with some apparent intrigue/bungling by the folks at HAL, resulting in only a small group of reporters being invited for the Hawk deal signing event. It apparently took complaints to the Defence Ministry by a handful of the uninvited, and last minute intervention at the MoD-level to bring things back on track.

As it stands, Bangalore-based defence journalists say they feel ignored already, and that HAL's new media policy of intrigue has only fuelled their anger. Former HAL spokesperson Anantha Krishnan M has more on his blog and has decided to start a campaign against what he calls HAL's "iron curtain policy on the media". In October-November last year, I'd posted extensively on HAL's inexplicable decision to shut down its press division, making it the only defence public sector firm without a formal spokesperson. Considering some of the stuff being said out there, things could get pretty ugly soon. Watch this space.

Labels: , ,