Punjab Press Club, Jalandhar was founded in 2005 by working journalists who wanted something the city’s press did not yet have — a place of its own. Not an office of any newspaper or channel, but common ground, where a reporter from a Punjabi daily, a camera operator from a news channel and an editor from a web portal could sit at the same table as equals.
Two decades on, the club stands beside the historic Clock Tower in Nehru Garden — the green heart of Jalandhar that most residents still call Company Bagh. It is a location the club did not choose by accident. Anyone in the city can find it, and that matters for an institution whose doors are meant to be open.
What the club is for
A press club is easy to mistake for a building. It is really an agreement between colleagues: that the work of reporting is worth defending, that the people who do it deserve dignity, and that they are stronger speaking together than alone.
In practice that takes three forms.
Standing up for the press. Journalists in Punjab are sometimes obstructed, pressured or treated unfairly in the course of doing their job. The club takes such matters up with the authorities concerned, and makes sure a member facing difficulty is not facing it by themselves.
Looking after members. Accreditation and identity documentation, support during medical or family hardship, and a standing forum where working journalists can raise the issues that affect their livelihood — the practical, unglamorous work that keeps a fraternity together.
Keeping the conversation going. The club’s hall regularly hosts press conferences, panel discussions, seminars, felicitations and training sessions. Public officials, subject experts, authors and office bearers of other organisations come here to be questioned. That is the point of the room.
The membership
The club today has 613 members — journalists from print, broadcast and digital newsrooms across Punjab. Membership is open to working journalists and is granted after an application is placed before the Scrutiny Committee, in accordance with the club’s constitution.
Members come from Punjabi, Hindi and English publications, from regional and national news channels, from radio, and increasingly from web portals and news apps. The mix has changed a great deal since 2005, and the club has changed with it.
How the club is run
Punjab Press Club is a registered body governed by its constitution and run by an elected Governing Council. Office bearers are chosen by the members at the Annual General Meeting. The constitution sets out the rights and duties of members, the categories of membership, the conduct expected of them, and the process by which disputes are settled.
Every member is bound by it, and every member is entitled to read it. It is published in full on this website.