This article has been written by Vishwas Agarwal, a final-year law student at the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata.

Among the objectives of a newspaper is to comprehend and articulate the popular mood; yet another is to stimulate among the public certain desired attitudes; and the third is to courageously reveal the popular flaws.

-Mahatma Gandhi

INTRODUCTION

Media is the plural equivalent of “medium”, which generally describes any communication route. This includes everything from printed to digital information, as well as journalism, art and educational material, among other kinds of data. Digital media, which comprises an ever-increasing proportion of contemporary communications, consists of signals that are carefully encoded and transferred across a variety of virtual and physical media, including the fibre optic cable and computer networks. As per Burke, the media constitutes “The Fourth Estate of Democracy”. Media possesses the ability to influence individuals more readily than any other medium due to its Broad reach and Direct impact; through which it may swiftly transform a person’s viewpoint in the direction they like. It further manipulates the sentiments of the society in order to secure ‘unfair advantages’ and increase revenues. Though it has previously served as the ‘Eyes’, ‘Ears’, and ‘Mouth’ of community; it is however, deceiving our society today through its inaccurate and falsified news content. Though our Constitution does not directly address the media, yet Article 19(1)(a) of the same might be interpreted as such. In any civilised society, a “Free and Impartial” media seems fundamental, and any form of media-repression is intolerable, wrong and poses danger to the ‘Freedom of Speech and Expression’. Further, media acts as the ‘Voice of the Populace’. It is the forum where voices are created, disseminated, and heard like a wildfire in the forest. Even though the media plays an important role considering its positive aspects, the negative aspects however, have become so prevalent that the positive aspects are being swamped implying that no one denies the importance of the media, but the problem still exists “Whether it is the same media where people used to say, the pen is mightier than the sword, or whether will it simply act as the puppet of the government and those with the most money”.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS: MEDIA IN CURRENT TIMES

The phrase Press-Freedom is though not specified within the Supreme Law, it is however, implicit within Art. 19(1)(a), which aims at protecting every citizen’s fundamental right enshrined therein which is also effectively exercised by the press. Although such freedom within the media is not officially protected as a fundamental right, it is implied within the Indian Constitution.  This freedom has always been a concern in all democracies and cultured nations. In the recent years, however, the fourth-pillar requires urgent repair due to its negative impact. Once considered as the ‘People’s Voice’, but nowadays it has grown synonymous with falsehoods, hostility, misinformation, extorting, etc., indicating that the media’s quality has declined by an enormous amount. Consequently, new legislations, norms, frameworks, or guidelines are required to regulate the deleterious impact of the media, revive its former splendour, and reinsert it into the mainstream of contemporary India.

Freedom of the press

The ‘Indian Press Commission’ has specifically declared that the Democracy may flourish not only under the ‘Watchful Eyes’ of the legislature, but also under the supervision and guidance of the public opinion, and the press is such medium through which opinions of the public can be well articulated. 

According to Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar’s speech, he asserted, that “the Editor or the manager of press is solely practising the Right of Expression. Further, he asserted that since the expression of the Freedom of the Press is practically a part of the freedom of speech and expression under the Indian constitution consequently, no special mention for the Press-Freedom seems necessary”.

Power of Media

The media has the ability to disseminate and influence the population through any false information or news regarding any circumstance. It moreover plays a crucial function in manipulating the public’s perceptions.

The Hindu (newspaper, 25 May 2018) stated that journalist Ravish Kumar had received calls threatening to assassinate him and rape the women in his household. In accordance with the ‘Committee to Safeguard Journalists’, various journalists have been attacked in diffrent parts of the country including:

• Naveen Nischal, a Dainik Bhaskar journalist who was struck and killed by a speeding SUV 
• Chandan Tiwari who worked for the Hindi daily AAJ in Jharkhand, where he was reportedly murdered for revealing irregularities in a government programme.
• Shujaat Bukhari, a veteran journalist and editor at Rising Kashmir who was fatally shot by suspected terrorists in J& K.

 India’s poor rating in the International Press Freedom Index is a reflection of various violent attacks on Indian journalists resulting in their deaths. The majority of these deaths have been attributed to BJP supporters, illustrating the dangers Indian journalists confront while performing ground-reporting.

Media and Democracy

The freedom of speech is the cornerstone of all democratic institutions. Furthermore, this freedom is the “Ark of the Testament of Democracy” since public condemnation is essential for the functioning of its institutions. It also serves the greater objective of the rights of individuals to be apprised of a broad range of facts, opinions and perspectives. 

The press (media) has a crucial role in uncovering the facts and galvanising popular opinion, particularly in the context of crime and corruption. The “Freedom of expression” is a favoured right that is vigilantly protected by the honourable courts. In the case of Odyssey Communications (Private) Limited versus Lokvidayan Sanghatana, the Apex Court ruled that the rights of citizens to screen movies on the State Channel Door darshan is a fundamental right protected under Article 19(1)(a). 

The court determined that the right was comparable to a citizen’s right to broadcast his opinions in any other medium, such as magazines, newspapers, ads, billboards, etc.

Further, this right is not constrained to national limits In the landmark judgement of Maneka Gandhi versus Union of India, the Honourable Supreme Court explored the issue of “Whether an Indian citizen’s “Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression” expands beyond the geographical borders. In this precedent-setting decision, the Highest court ruled that this right knows no geographical-boundations and carries with it the right of a citizen to seek information and discuss perspectives not only within India, but also overseas. The court further noted that the “Freedom of speech and expression” further includes the freedom to obtain information, talk and articulate and to share views and ideas with individuals both within India and abroad. The Court also stated that the makers of the Constitution had consciously chosen not to employ language constraining the right by abstaining from the inclusion of words “within the Indian territory” while concluding the aforementioned Article 19.

Pre-Censorship is violation of Article 19(1)(a):

The question of pre-censorship is connected with the general public order. The restriction of access and circulation, or pre-censorship of the journal or newspaper, or media-telecasting, may impede the press-freedom. An investigation of the viewpoints rendered in the dual cases of Brij Bhushan and Romesh Thappar v. State of Madras reveals that the challenged statutes were deemed unconstitutional because the restrictions on entrance and circulation and pre-censorship were deemed irrational, which rendered the legislations ipso-facto unconstitutional because they were not related to one of the purposes listed in Article 19(2). Consequently, the media, especially the e-media, have a significant role in moulding the perceptions of society and determining how individuals behave and think.

Trial By Media

An ‘Independent fiduciary’ and a ‘Free, Responsible Press’ are requirements for the maintenance of law and order in society. The term “Trial by Media” is commonly used to characterise the influence of televisions and newspapers coverage on a person’s reputation by generating a broad sense of guilt, independent of any judgement. Further, the press has the right and responsibility to notify the community regarding offenses and basic facts on probes, arrests, etcetera.  The petitioner in Prabha Dutt versus Union of India wished to interview the sentenced inmates. The court determined that the media does not have an unfettered or unlimited access to information and that individuals are not required by law to provide this information. It was also recognised that interviews with the victims are vital or else the meaningful information might not be gathered. Even so, such accessibility must be managed, and press members are not authorized to “Unrestricted Interviews”. Therefore, with the victim’s permission and cooperation, the media and the press have an unambiguous entitlement to interrogate them.

CONCLUSION

The ways in which Indian media faces the society’s vengeance is obvious. Once upon a time, the media was regarded as one of the most crucial factors for raising and hearing one’s voice; nevertheless, the industry’s declining credibility is mostly due to shifting values and more financial investment. The rules and regulating organisations enacted to limit the undesirable parts of the media appear to be a bit slapdash. It has the ability to alter a person’s perception on everything it distributes. It has a huge capacity to affect personal opinions and therefore is able to alter the overall dynamic as a result of the many perspectives it elicits. In order to regain its reputation, the media must criticise wrongdoing and praise right doing based on their respective merits, and it must place a greater focus on fair reporting. The media is a critical component for the people, and as such, it should place greater emphasis on the basic concerns of the community and represent them to the public in a manner that is more realistic and devoid of the negative consequences that the media now carries. It must recognise its essential freedom and adhere to the legislation; it must not commandeer the authorities of the State and the Judiciary, nor stray from its impartial and objective reporting. While it must also recognise that unwarranted control of the press in a democracy endangers society as a whole, the law must be interpreted in conformance with the society’s evolution to ensure that the media is aware of its rights and responsibilities without violating any provisions of the Law of the Land.

                                                          REFERENCE

•  INDIA CONST. art. 19, cl. 1(a).
•  Ruhella Hassan “Freedom of Media in India”.
•  DR. JAI NARAYAN PANDEY, “CONSTITUTIONAL LAW OF INDIA” 207 (54th Edition 2017).
•  Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar speech in constitutional assembly debate, VII, 980.
•  “Indian Journalists Killed” https://www.thequint.com/news/india/list-of-all-journalists-attacked-in-india-in-2018.  
•  Bennett Coleman & Company & Others v. Union of India & Others (1973) 2 S.C.R. 757.
•  A.I.R. 1988 S.C. 1642
•  A.I.R. 1978 S.C. 597.
• Ibid
•  A.I.R. 1950 S.C. 124
•  INDIA CONST. art. 19, cl. 2.
•  (1982) 1 S.C.R. 1184.

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