The demand was placed at a recent regional meet of cable operators, held at ISI Hall, Sadar, which included operators from Vidarbha.

Director of the Central India Institute of Mass Communication, Sunil Mishra, a special guest at the meet, said that though the cable business was ``treated honourably'' in developed countries, this was not the case in India.

Since cable operators took information and entertainment to the public, they should be accorded the status of a journalist, he said.

President of the Nagpur Union of Working Journalists (NUWJ) T B Golhar reiterated the demand, and said cable operators engaged in news collection should be accorded the status of journalists. The NUWJ, he added, would consider the demand.

Former deputy director (Information and Public relations) Prabhakar Mahajan lauded the development of the cable business in thecity. He appreciated the standard of local news programmes and assured cable operators of help in sorting out their problems.

Meanwhile, cable operators who participated in the meet decided to extend the ban on the ESPN channel to other parts of Vidarbha.

In this context, Mishra warned that other pay channels were likely to follow suit and raise their fees. Such moves should be resisted strongly, he said.