The International Society for Krishna Consciousness, or ISKCON, has started providing "free lunch" to members and employees of the Bangalore Press Club.
Members of the club received a message from the Press Club president Sadashiv Shenoy and general secretary HV Kiram, informing them that the ISKCON temple had "agreed to provide free lunch" on all days from 1 pm onward.
This is the Bangalore Press Club. They are delighted that ISKCON will provide free lunch to members from now on. Poverty of journalists or that of journalism? pic.twitter.com/EPltoWGnmc
— Sugata Srinivasaraju (@sugataraju) August 25, 2021
Several social media users were mystified as to why this was happening, and pointed out that it might be a conflict of interest.
This is downright shameful. For the Bangalore Press Club to request ISKCON to provide free meals is pathetic. All self-respecting journalists must protest this move. Should a media body accept charityfrom a religious outfit? https://t.co/2esE3Sbj45
— Ajith Pillai (@ajith_southword) August 25, 2021
Whaat? Have not journalists heard the famously famous saying 'there is no such thing as a free lunch.' and definitely not free lunches on all days. How can any press club agree to this? https://t.co/G9b2V8iDma
— PatralekhaChatterjee পত্রলেখা চ্যাটার্জী (She/Her) (@patralekha2011) August 25, 2021
Paid media can now be called sattvik media
— Dr. Sylvia Karpagam (MD Community Medicine, MBBS) (@sakie339) August 25, 2021
Or both https://t.co/wOQPz2mpXc
And these 'journalists' will carry reports of the corrupt ISKCON's so-called mid-day meals to school children devoid of eggs, onion or garlic. Attn Dr Sylvia Karpagam @sakie339 @cynstepin @vinaysreeni @clifroz @thaiyaan https://t.co/f5BCgFjcup
— N_Jayaram (@N_Jayaram) August 25, 2021
“This is a journalistic institution and should remain this way,” senior journalist Sugata Srinivasaraju told Newslaundry. “It’s an endorsement of the fact that the Bangalore Press Club has moved in the wrong direction. It’s shocking and as journalists, we should all be ashamed.”
Srinivasaraju said this would affect the independence of journalists and the club itself. "Tomorrow, will you not do a story on ISKCON if you get a free lunch from them?" he asked.
However, general secretary HV Kiran told Newslaundry the lunch was free only on a "trial basis" and that the club would charge a "minimum amount" after a week or two. He also said this was actually an old scheme from six years ago, that had gone on "successfully" for four years, and was now being restarted.
“We are getting subsidies for the employees. ISKCON is not giving it for free,” he said, adding that it was introduced for employees of the Press Club initially, and then the members.
Kiran denied that this was a conflict of interest and pointed out the low-paying salaries of journalists make it hard to survive in metropolitan cities and that several journalists had lost their jobs during the pandemic.
Also Read: The journalist as neta: Inside the heady world of Press Club politics
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