Reporters' Diary: When PR manager changes WhatsApp group setting to gag reporters

Reporters would use the WhatsApp groups administrated by the public relations manager to raise queries or clarification about the department’s service but recently, the settings of the group were changed so that only the admin could post messages on it. 

It all started a couple of weeks ago when a photojournalist posted a message about the disruption of services creating problems for passengers. The PR manager immediately denied any such disruptions of services and removed the photojournalist from the group. But, a few minutes later the manager himself posted a message saying that there was a disruption in the services owing to some technical glitches. 

Even after a reporter in the media group pointed out that admin had removed the photojournalist from the group for posting the service disruption message and he himself had acknowledged it, the PR manager neither responded nor added the photojournalist back to the group. 

A few days later, he changed the group’s setting to allow only admins to send messages, eliminating any kind of interaction in the media group. The once vibrant group has now been reduced to monologues now.