The Fate of Press Freedom in India Over Years

The Current Scenario

The freedom of speech is considered one of the first condition of liberty. It occupies an important and preferred position in the hierarchy of liberty, It is also said that freedom of speech is the mother all liberties. Let’s us look at how India fares in this department as compared to other nations.

In the press freedom rankings-2018 released by Reporters Without Borders (RWB) India slipped two points to 138, just ahead of Pakistan. The declining trend was present in the previous year as well. India ranked 136 in 2017 slipping 3 points from the year 2016, on the World Press Freedom Index meanwhile, chairman of the Press Council of India (PCI) Chandramauli Kumar Prasad rejected this worrisome trend of continued low rankings. According to him these rankings “were based on opinion or perception” and not on statistical data. This is a sad turn of events not only for the Indian press but also for Indian democracy. Since the press is considered as the fourth pillar of all healthy and true democracies.

The threats to the freedom of the press

This declining trend in India’s ranking in press freedom has been linked to the existence of a sedition law that encourages self-censorship particularly in a period of heightened nationalism. Thus the present scenario is quite grim for critical media due to the following reasons:

• The journalists are being threatened
  Gauri Lankesh, a senior Kannada journalist was shot dead. She was known for her criticism of Hindu extremism. This incident raised the question on freedom of press and challenges that Indian press is facing in the present scenario.
• finances are being controlled
• and outreach is being limited,
• Unofficially imposed censorship.

Now let us understand various dimensions and aspects related to Press in India: What is freedom of the press? Why we need it? What is its role and future in India? Etc.

What is Freedom?

The freedom means right and privileged to speak according to the will and express one’s opinion freely without any fear or interference.

What is the Press?

Press and media are the vital way to express and speech some views and opinions in the democratic country. It is the medium of expressing an opinion of the people. It justifies the individual right to speech and expression, a coveted right enshrined in the Indian constitution and the law of the other country on the globe.

Sources of press

• The print, electronic and online press and media is the medium of expressing the opinion of the people
  Newspaper (Print media)
• Television and Radio Broadcasting (Electronic Media)
• Online news websites and blogs (Online Media)

Freedom of Press

It implies right to information and access of pressmen to it, including the right to exposures affecting matters of public and national interests. The reporters are provided access to all the ministers and bureaucrats and enjoy the right to question and seek explanations and clarifications on specific points in course of a course of an interview or during a press conference.

• The constitutional significance of the freedom of speech consists in the preamble of the constitution and is transformed as fundamental and human right in Article 19(1) (a) as “freedom of speech and expression. Freedom of the press has been treated as part of the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by Article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution.

• Freedom of speech is also supported by various international conventions such as by Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights etc. These declarations discuss about the freedom of speech and expression.

The historical role of the press in the Indian freedom struggle

All mass movements or a popular upsurge in the world have always been aided by the media especially the print media. And Indian independence struggle is no exception.

Many of the tallest leaders of the Freedom movement turned journalists. They used the press as an instrument to propagate their ideas to the masses. The following list of publications run by some of the leaders would illustrate the point:

• Rastiguftar run by Dadabhai Naoroji
• Kesari and Mahratta both edited jointly by Bal Gangadhar Tilak. For this Tilak Maharaj was tried and convicted for sedition, and exiled from the country for six-year
• Hindustan run by Madan Mohan Malaviya.
• Punjabi,Bandemataram,The People – all by Lala Lajpat Rai.
• Young India, Navajeevan and Harijan – all edited and run by the Mahatma himself to communicate his views with his followers.

Right from the time of India’s First War of Independence in 1857, regional journals like Payam-e-Azadi and Samachar Sudhavarshan supported the struggle for freedom. In retaliation the British hit back with the notorious Vernacular Press Act. Popularly known as the Gagging Act, it imposed innumerable restrictions on the Indian press. For instance, Amrita Bazaar Patrika faced the Government’s ire and was forced to close down in 1871.

Why freedom of the press in necessary?

• Press and media scrutinise Government and Administrators decisions and policies. Thus keeps a check on the use of power by government and administrators.
• At the national, regional and local level, it is the public’s watchdog, activist and guardian as well as educator, entertainer and contemporary chronicler.
• The duty of a free press is to raise voice against any social ill or wrong. In India, the media has always played an important role in criticising the existing social and economic evils.
• It works towards strengthening the sovereignty and integrity of a nation and cultivating unity and harmony.
  A free press is fundamental to a democratic society. It is necessary for the fulfilment of the democratic ideologies. Since it provides the platform for a multiplicity of voices to be heard.
• Press and media can also raise voice against any dictatorship, corruption and malpractices.
• It plays a great role in the iteration of public opinion. It also acts as a regulator and reflector of the same, interacting between the people and political parties and in between government of the country and the people.

Hence, if the press of a nation is healthy, the democratic system will be more transparent to the ground realities on side of government and what are the views and reactions of the people in respect thereof.

What are the restrictions available on Press?

• Freedom of the press is not absolute in India. The restrictions that apply to the “freedom of speech and expression” also apply to the “freedom of press and media”.
• Article 19(2), provides reasonable restrictions on the following grounds:
  In the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India.
• Security of the state, public order, decency, or morality, or in relation to contempt of courts, defamation,

Control over the freedom of the press

It is a well-established fact that the freedom of the press is very crucial for a country. But sometimes the freedom of the press is curtailed by their owners as well. Especially, in India, the press is frequently alleged for the excessive control by their owners. It is a danger for the press

The journalists are being deprived of adequate freedom for collecting and disseminating facts and offering comments due to the undue pressure of the capitalistic owners. This pressure is less in the case of newspapers which depend to a large extent on revenue from advertisements. This unofficial censorship by the economic management of the press suggests that press are not free.

What are the challenges that the Indian press is facing today?

The government exercises its power to restrict access to press one way or the other. It can be done in the name of official secret, top graded documents, sensitive matters, apprehension of breach of peace, ‘likely to cause’ communal disharmony and hatred between the communities and on plea of national security etc. in such cases only the version of the official agency or the specially designated unit at the state level is permitted to be published in the newspapers. The district administration if finds any news item against the public interest contained in any newspaper confiscates the entire copies of it throughout its jurisdiction. Defamatory cased are also filed against the staff reporters and representatives of the newspaper by administrative officers.

• Instances like in the case of NDTV shutdown for reporting during Pathankot attack, weak whistleblower protection act, defamation suits etc have restricted the freedom of the press.
• Paid News: a nexus between media, business houses and politicians seems to have taken roots in India. The Election Commission is reported to have identified more than 1,400 cases of paid news between 2009 and 2013.
• Biases of reporters, editors etc have dented the image of news channels and newspapers.
  Corporate and political lobbying and ownership
• The advent of social media; Competition for instant and quick attention-grabbing news and reporting without first checking the facts.
• Yellow journalism: Unnecessary sensationalisation of issues to fetch TRP meddles with the real content of news and dilutes the true picture.
  Weak regulation: only a self-regulating body like PCI(Press Council of India) has little power or legislative backup to regulate the press.
• Media trials: Often media declares the verdict immediately after an allegation. This is contempt of court and also violates the right to reputation of an accused who later gets evicted.

What India need the most today is a fair, impartial, and unprejudiced and honest press. The press which not dishonest or biased in the coverage of news and events connected with different socio-political quarters and the government at large. We need a press which is not subservient to the vested interests of any section. The versions of the reported news should not be tempered, distorted, sponsored, or otherwise politically initiated.

What needs to be done for securing freedom of the press?

• The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in India runs a Press Information Bureau (PIB) to deal with the press matter and photographs to cater the needs of print media. Then there are Press Relation Officers and official spokespersons. Where there are no independent Press Relation Officers, Public relation Officers deal with the information to the press on specific queries concerning their respective departments.

• The Supreme Court is the “Upholder and Protector of the Constitution. It is essential that proper reform is brought about by way of Legislation or Precedent by the SC to ensure the legitimacy of news and the “Freedom of the Press”.

• The legislative backup should be created for PCI to give it more power for regulation.

• A statutory regulatory body comprising both media persons and government bodies should be established to give media accountability and give the power to avoid undue pressure from politicians and other sections of society at the same time.

• Reform should come from within the media especial from senior editors and journalists. They should have an internal authenticity auditing mechanism and process. They need to come forward and start exposing cases of fake news, conflict of interest, making the working of the press more transparent.

Conclusion

Freedom of the press, as such, is symbolic of democracy and a measure to judge the character of the State. What the world needs most today is a critical mirror of the press which reflects all that is wrong in the nation. Be it politically, socially, economically, culturally. But the current socio-political environment seems hell-bent against it. Unfortunately, the battle to keep lit the flame of dissent and spirit of inquiry is growing ever tougher day by day as pseudo nationalism takes the place of rationality.

In a country India which is not only a developing country but also one of the world’s largest democracies. The press has an even greater and bigger responsibility. Not only does the press need to fulfil its required role of dissemination of true information and opinions. But the press also has the duty to fight against backward ideas like casteism and communalism and other social evils. A large section of the people in India are backward and ignorant, so it is necessary that modern ideas are brought to them and their backwardness removed so that they become part of enlightened India. Thus, the free and fearless press plays an irreplaceable and important here. And it liberty must be protected at all costs. Government is aware of the effective and strong role of the press and can no longer afford to ignore it.

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