WHY IN NEWS?
• Recently, A SC Court three-judge bench headed by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud had asked the government to file an affidavit seeking its response on the
need to regulate electronic media.
I. Sudarshan News, a TV channel, aired the trailer for a show – ‘Bindas Bol’ – in which the anchor claimed to reveal how Muslims have
“infiltrated” the civil services, and called it a form of ‘jihad’.
• Recently, The Bombay High Court on urged the media to exercise restraint in reporting of the investigation into the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
I. The most disturbing element how the media in general has discarded all norms of ethics, decency and objectivity by its sensationalism and biased coverage.
The term media, which is the plural of medium, refers to the communication
channels through which we disseminate news, music, movies, education,
promotional messages and other data.
• It includes physical and online newspapers and magazines, television, radio,
billboards, telephone, the Internet, fax and billboards.
• It describes the various ways through which we communicate in society. • Because it refers to all means of communication, everything ranging from a
telephone call to the evening news on television can be called media.
• When talking about reaching a very large number of people we say mass media. • Local media refers to, for example, your local newspaper, or local/regional
TV/radio channels.
Stephen Hawking, a British theoretical physicist,
cosmologist, author and Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology within the University of
Cambridge, once said: “The media need superheroes in science just as in every sphere of life, but there is really a continuous range of abilities with no clear dividing line.”
• Media can be broken down into two main categories: broadcast and print.
I. The Internet has also emerged as a major player, as a rapidly-growing number of people globally get their news, movies, etc. online.
II. Print Media includes all types of publications, including newspapers, journals, magazines, books and reports.
III. It is the oldest type, and despite suffering since the emergence of the Internet, is still used by a major proportion of the population.
IV. Broadcast Media refers to radio and TV, which came onto the scene at the beginning and middle of the 20th century respectively.
V. Most people still get their news from TV and radio broadcasts.
VI. The Internet – specifically websites and blogs – are rapidly emerging as viable and major channels of communication as
more and more people seek news, entertainment and educational material online. VII. The term ‘viable,’ in business, means capable of generating profits for many years.
I. Social media is a collective of online communication channels where communities interact, share content and collaborate.
II. Websites and apps dedicated to social networking, microblogging, forums,
social bookmarking, wikis and social curation are examples of some types of
social media.
The most famous social networking companies are Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Instagram.
WHY MEDIA IS CALLED AS
• The merit of the democratic system is that it gives freedom of expression and a
space is given to each individual.
• The democracy is balanced by the three pillars of Democracy namely o The Executive,
o The Legislative and o The Judiciary
• but now in this era Democracy is lined towards the fourth pillar that is Media. • Media is used to aware about various social, political and economic activities. • Media is like a mirror to the world which reflects the true and harsh realities of
the world, as media is being trusted by everyone and people always trust actual and honest news.
• The media has its own opinion but they can publish it in their editorials where
public can assessment it.
• The main purpose of the media is to provide the accurate news to all types of views in front of people.
Media is important pillar to lend its valuable support to the system and hence is regarded as “Fourth Estate”. The “Fourth Estate” performs its multi-Pronged
functions in linking the three main systems and correlating them with the social needs to bridge the gulf between the governors and the governed.
IT IS BEING SAID THAT MEDIA DERIVES ITS INDIRECT
POWERS FROM CONSTITUTION.CRITICALLY ANALYZE
THE CONSTITUNAL AND STATUTORY PROVISIONS
WHICH ARE A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION FOR MEDIA?
What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or in the holy name of liberty or democracy? -Mahatma Gandhi
Freedom of the press in India is legally protected by the Amendment to
the constitution of India while the sovereignty, national integrity, and moral
principles are generally protected by the law of India to maintain a hybrid legal
system for independent journalism.
The media crime is covered by the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which is applicable to all substantive aspects of criminal law.
In order to give effect to this objective, “freedom of speech and expression” has been guaranteed as a fundamental right
under Article 19(1)(a) available to all citizens, subject only to restrictions which may be imposed by the State under clause
Facets of Speech and Expression
under Article 19 (1) (a)
In order to give effect to this objective, “freedom of speech and expression” has been guaranteed as a fundamental right
under Article 19(1)(a) available to all citizens, subject only to restrictions which may be imposed by the State under clause
(2) of that Article.
a) Right to Circulate: The right to free speech and expression includes the right not only
to publish but also to circulate information and opinion.
I. In Sakal Papers v. Union of India the Supreme Court held that the State could not make laws which directly affect the circulation of a newspaper for that would amount to a violation of the freedom of speech
II. In Bennett Coleman & co. v. Union of India the Supreme Court held that newspaper should be left free to determine their pages and their circulation.
b) Right to receive information: The freedom of 'speech and expression' comprises not
only the right to express, publish and propagate information, its circulation but also to
receive information.
c) Right to broadcast: The concept speech and expression includes the electronic and the broadcast media.
In Odyssey Communications (P) Ltd. v. Lokvidayan Sanghatana, the Supreme Court held that the right of a citizen to exhibit films on the State channel ‘Doordarshan,’ is part of the fundamental right guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a).
d) Right to advertisement (commercial speech): A product or a service may be advertised through a variety of methods
such as hand bills, circulars, direct mail, billboards, signboards, sky signs, roof signs, loudspeakers, mechanical or electric devices, newspapers and magazines, radio, television, the internet and so on.
e) Right to conduct interviews: This is a limited right, subject to the willing consent of the person being interviewed. f) Right to report court proceedings: The right to report judicial proceedings, stems for the necessity for transparency. g) Right to expression beyond national boundaries: The right to expression transcends national boundaries.
h) Copyright versus the freedom of expression: The law of copyright is indeed to prevent plagiarism and unfair exploitation
of creative work.
I. It is a natural extension of the freedom of speech and expression protected under Article 19(1)(a) of the constitution.
i) Right to criticize: Acceptance by Government of a dissident press is the measure of the maturity of a nation” Freedom of
speech and expression covers the right to criticize Government, the requisite of a healthy democracy.
I. Freedom of the press has to be reconciled with the collective interest of the society, which is known as “public
HOW THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MEDIA AND
GOVERNMENT CHANGED POST-INDEPENDENCE?
• The Indian government’s stance on the role media has been hotly debated, ever since constitution makers started framing the Indian Constitution.
• With the attainment of independence, the role and responsibility of the media was enhanced and although it was controlled and owned by the State.
• During the framing of the constitution, there was a confusion regarding the
status of media in India, whether there was a need to frame an article under the Fundamental Right of Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression or to have a separate provision for freedom of the press as was the case in US Constitution.
• In a diverse country like India, it is difficult to have detailed legislation on the
role of media in the democracy, as was pointed out by Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar.
• News Broadcasters Association (NBA) is a government body that has laid
down the guidelines to be followed by media
• During the emergency of 1976, the activities of media were strongly regulated
and harsh orders were issued against the media houses and their independence was completely shattered.
• In aftermath of emergency the media along with providing information to the
people started educating them.
Thus, it becomes important for media to ensure that the information that they are broadcasting should not be a biased or tampered in a way to boost the channels TRP.
“If it were left on me to decide
whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a movement to prefer the letter.” – Thomas Jefferson
HOW MEDIA IS REGULATED IN INDIA?
IDENTIFY THE LOOPHOLES IN MEDIA REGULATION.
DO YOU THINK THAT SELF-REGULATION IS THE
• Media in India is mostly self-regulated.
• In India, a statutory body — the Press Council of India (PCI) — governs the conduct of the print media. • The chairman, a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India, heads the PCI.
• It is a statutory, quasi-judicial institution that works under the aegis of the Press Council Act of 1978.
• The electronic media has to comply with ‘The Central News Media Accreditation Guidelines, 1999’ which says that if a media organisation is held to have provided any false or fraudulent or forged details or documents the representative media organisation shall be debarred form accreditation up to a maximum of five years but not less than two years, as decided by Central Press Accreditation Committee (CPAC).
RECENTLY THERE HAD BEEN A HUE AND CRY ABOUT
THE ROLE OF MEDIA FROM PAID NEWS TO
INFOTAINMENT AND YELLOW JOURNALISM. IN THIS
BACKGROUND MENTION THE ISSUES ASSOCIATED
Under the Constitution of India, freedom of the media is part of the freedom of speech guaranteed by Article 19 (1) (a). However, no freedom can be absolute, and reasonable restrictions can be placed on it.
Paid News: Advertisements camouflaged as
news, denial of coverage to select electoral candidates, exchanging of advertisement space for equity stakes between media houses and corporate and the rise in paid content as manifestations of paid news.
Yellow press newspapers as having daily
multi-column front-page headlines covering a variety of topics, such as sports and scandal, using bold layouts (with large illustrations and perhaps color), heavy reliance on unnamed sources, and unabashed self-promotion.
Infotainment (a portmanteau of information and entertainment) also called soft news, is
a type of media, usually television, that provides a combination of information and entertainment.
The term is usually used disapprovingly against more serious hard news.
• Corporatisation of media, desegregation of ownership and editorial roles, decline in autonomy of editors/journalists due to emergence of contract system and poor wage levels of journalists.
• The exiting regulatory set-up dealing with paid news as inadequate. • Voluntary self-regulatory industry bodies like the News Broadcasting
Standards Authority and Broadcasting Content Complaints Council as an ‘eye wash’.
• The punitive powers of statutory regulators like the PCI and Electronic Media Monitoring Centre (EMMC) are inadequate.
• The conflict of interest inherent with appointment of media-owners as members of the PCI or self-regulatory bodies.
• A third defect is that the media often portray non-issues as real issues, while the real issues are sidelined.
• Penal provisions and jurisdiction: the existing penal provisions have not
served as an effective deterrent for the practice of paid news and stricter penal provisions are needed.
• The lack of clarity regarding the jurisdiction of the designated authority to penalise offenders, given existence of multiple bodies like the MoIB, PCI,
EMMC and ECI.
• Concentration of media ownership: the lack of restriction on ownership
across media segments (print, TV or internet) or between content and distribution could give rise to monopolistic practices.
• There should be establishment of either a single regulatory body for both print and electronic media or enhancing punitive powers of the PCI and setting-up a similar statutory body for the electronic media.
• Such regulator(s) should have the power to take strong action against offenders and should not include media owners/interested parties as members.
• The ECI should have the authority to take punitive action against electoral candidates in cases of paid news.
• It endorsed the ECI’s proposed amendments to the RP Act and urged the government to provide the ECI with more powers to deal with paid news.
• Taking note of the Justice Leveson Report on the press and existing regulatory structure in the UK, MoIB should consider the report’s recommendations and progress of their implementation while dealing with the issue.
