SRINAGAR, NOV 16: The Hurriyat Conference has alleged that reports that the army funded some local dailies in Jammu and Kashmir were aimed at maligning local journalists and called upon the media fraternity in the state to identify such elements among them if any.``The report appears a conspiracy aimed at making the local press suspect,'' a spokesman here said, adding that it is the media's moral duty to ensure that such elements do not find a place among them. This is a major development in the world of press, the spokesman said, days after The Indian Express published a report that the army had funded some local dailies in the state.``Journalistic ethics forbid reporters to accept any favours of this sort. However, if this happens it constitutes a slur on truthful journalism,'' the spokesman averred. The report, which was picked up by some local dailies here, created a storm in the press corps here. A senior journalist and owner of a local daily, speaking on conditions of anonymity, said the report should have identified the dailies it was referring to. The Express had reported that after experimenting unsuccessfully with funding some local Urdu dailies, the army was planning to start a fortnightly in Urdu, to highlight its development work in the state.Earlier, a Delhi-based paper had alleged that local journalists were involved in the November 3 Laskhar-e-Toiba attack on the army's Public Relation Office in which the entire PRO wing, including Major Purusottam were killed, creating ripples in media circles here.
