Jalandhar, 23 July 2025:
Members of the Electronic Media Association (EMA), under the leadership of President Sandeep Sahi, met with Mayor Vineet Dhir today to discuss the growing menace of fake journalists operating in the city.
During the meeting, President Sandeep Sahi informed the Mayor that several individuals are falsely posing as journalists and are misusing the name of the media to blackmail citizens. These individuals are not affiliated with any recognized media organization and are simply exploiting the label of “journalist” for personal gain.
The EMA delegation expressed concern that these imposters have begun filing baseless complaints at the Municipal Corporation office—sometimes targeting people’s homes, and other times their shops—causing unnecessary harassment to the public.
The Association urged the Mayor to ensure that no action is taken on such complaints without proper verification, especially when filed by unverified individuals claiming to be journalists.
“Reporting news is the job of a journalist, not filing complaints against citizens,” the Association stated firmly. They also pointed out that some Municipal Corporation employees appear to be colluding with these fake journalists. Mayor Vineet Dhir acknowledged this issue and admitted that a few corporation staff members are indeed involved.
The Mayor assured the Association that he will collaborate with them to launch a campaign to protect citizens from such harassment and to expose and curb the activities of these fraudulent individuals.
Prominent members present during the meeting included Narinder Nandan, Pawan Dhupar, Paramjit Singh Rangpuri, Ashwani Malhotra, Vinay Pal Jaid, Naresh Bhardwaj, Sudhir Puri, Rajesh Sharma, Madan Bhardwaj, Manish Sharma, Pankaj Soni, Atul Sharma, Praveen Sharma, Sandeep Sharma, Kush Chawla, Jaspreet Singh, Pradeep Sharma Nonu, and others.
