The Editors Guild of India on Thursday said that biased reporting by media outlets cannot justify violence against journalists, adding that such attacks could have “disastrous implications for our tenuous society”.The guild issued the statement after videos on social media showed reporters from television channels being attacked and heckled while covering the youth protests demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.The press body also condemned the “brutal suppression of the peaceful protest” by the security forces.In the past few days, several videos have emerged showing protesters attacking reporters from television channels. One of them showed Times Now reporter Dev Kotak standing on a street in Delhi with his shirt torn.Dev Kotak, a reporter with Times now, was attacked by a mob of protesters at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. This is absolutely disgraceful. You can request a reporter to leave the spot if you don't want him/her around but resorting to violence is absolutely unjustified. pic.twitter.com/wCsTEswJ8t— Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) July 21, 2026
“I was slapped and punched from at least six directions, and was also hit with water bottles,” Kotak can be heard saying in the video. “They [protesters] even snatched my spectacles. They took away my mobile, watch and spectacles.”The Times Network alleged that two more reporters, Shafali Nigam and Jyoti Mishra, were also attacked while covering the protests.Zee News alleged that in Patna, protesters attacked its correspondent Prashant Jha and cameraperson Shahnawaz Alam, leaving both of them injured.A video from Mumbai showed protesters heckling a reporter from Zee Media.Yesterday, the protesters gave the Zee News reporter a reality check.Prime-time journalists spread propaganda, hate, and lies, but it is the reporters on the ground who end up facing the public's anger. pic.twitter.com/SihZSMCO5f— زماں (@Delhiite_) July 23, 2026
