Why AP DGP likes only some scribes

Given a chance, the Police Department would like to have just stenographers (not hard-nosed newshounds) during annual ‘press conferences’ organized for giving the lowdown on the crime scene. For, scribes worth their salt put inconvenient questions for writing an engaging copy.  Andhra Pradesh Director-General of Police KV Rajendranath Reddy, who organised the annual crime briefing a few days back, appeared to have been choosy when it comes to the composition of the scribes who got the invite for the presser. Few journos attended the briefing, while most of the ace reporters from print and electronic media as well as some social media activists were conspicuous by their absence. The fell-good message that was sent out from the presser was that there has been ‘a significant dip in the crime rate in AP’. What went unreported (for obvious reasons) was that the DGP expressed his discomfort when some among even the chosen few put questions regarding the significant number ‘missing person’ cases during 2023. Subsequent social media posts filled the gaps in the projections regarding crime rate made by the DGP.