FREEDOM OF PRESS IN INDIA (1).pptx

Freedom of press

1. FREEDOM OF PRESS IN INDIA BY SUHAVI KUMAR, SHRUTI RANJAN, ADITI KHANNA AND SAKSHI KASHYAP

2. CONTENT

3. INTRODUCTION 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 freedom of the press, protected by the First Amendment, is critical to a democracy in which the government is accountable to the people . A free media functions as a watchdog that can investigate and report on government wrongdoing.

4. WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY FREEDOM OF THE PRESS Freedom of press or media refers to the rights given by the constitution of India under the freedom and expressions of speech in ARTICLE 19[1][a]. It encourages independent journalism and promotes democracy by letting the people voice their opinions for or against the government’s actions. Article 19 was brought to light after the Romesh Thappar vs State of Madras case highlighted the importance of media being the fundamental basis of all democratic organizations.

5. However, it recognized the ‘public safety and public order’ under ARTICLE 9[1-A] and dismissed the case. Venkataramiah J. of the Supreme Court of India in INDIAN EXPRESS NEWSPAPERS [BOMBAY][P] Ltd. v. UNION OF INDIA has stated; ‘In today’s free world , freedom of press is the heart of social and political intercourse . The press has now assumed the role of public educator making formal and non-formal education possible on a large scale , particularly in the developing world, where television and other kinds of modern communication are not still available for all sections of society.

6. HISTORY Central, Northern and Western Europe has a long tradition of freedom of speech, including freedom of the press. After World War II, Hugh Baillie, the president of United Press wire service based in the U.S., promoted freedom of news dissemination. In 1944, he called for an open system of news sources and transmission, and minimum of government regulations of the news. His proposals were aired at the Geneva Conference on Freedom of Information in 1948, but were blocked by the Soviets and the French.

7. Media freedom is a fundamental right that applies to all member states of the European Union and its citizens, as defined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights as well as the European Convention on Human Rights.

8. WHAT ARE THE RIGHTS OF THE MEDIA Freedom of the Press is nowhere mentioned in the Constitution. It is believed to be covered under Freedom of Speech and Expression. Hence, the rights of a common citizen are the same as the rights of a media or press house. The media has certain rights to challenge the government and showcase the issues gaining rapid attention by the people through various media sources and houses.

9. SOME RIGHTS ARE ;- . Freedom of speech and expression . Right to publish and circulate . Right to receive information . Right to conduct interviews . Right to report court proceedings . Right to advertise

10. However, there are certain restrictions in Article 19[2] to protect the nation and its integrity. They can be imposed in case of threats against ;- . Sovereignty and integrity of India . Security of the State . Friendly relations with foreign states . Public order, decency or morality . Contempt of court . Defamation . Incitement of an offence

11. WHY IS FREEDOM OF PRESS IMPORTANT IN INDIA . FREE EXCHANGE OF IDEAS – The press inspires people to think beyond the social norms and gives a platform to exchange ideas and thoughts that deserve to be heard by people all around the nation. . VOICE OF THE PEOPLE – The press acts as a channel which writes and speaks the thoughts of the majority of people. . FOURTH PILLAR OF DEMOCRACY – Since the media is an independent body that challenges the government, it can be referred to as fourth pillar of democracy alongside the judiciary, legislative and executive bodies of the government.

12. WHAT IS THE CURRENT STATE OF THE PRESS Although there has been some progress from the time when ‘freedom of the media’ can be estimated, the situation today is not very good. There have been lots of cases of hate crimes, false accusations, trial due to wrongful portrayal, fake news, etc., in the recent years. Let’s take a look at the following; . FAKE NEWS – We have all fallen victim to fake news which is so widely circulated that we believe it to be the truth.

13. . PAID NEWS – Due to journalism and news reporting being a low-paying job, some professionals often publish false news in exchange of a payment. . BIASED MEDIA – High paying criminals and politicians often pay media companies to cover ‘good’ and charitable moments of themselves. This leaves the audience biased, especially when it comes to elections. . CRIMES AGAINST JOURNALISTS – As of 2021, 6 Journalists have been killed because of their work. India is among the 4 countries with the most number of deaths on record. Whether it is on job or off the job, they have been targeted and attacked due to their work.

14. CASE STUDY DANIEL PEARL Daniel Pearl was an American Jew who was working in Mumbai, India as the South Asia Bureau Chief of The Wall Street Journal. He went to Pakistan to investigate the links between British citizen Richard Reid and Qaedat – al Jihad. He was abducted on January 23, 2002, and was found dead on February 1, 2002. His body, however, was discovered only on May 16, 2002.

15. SUBHASH KUMAR MAHTO On May 20, 2022, Subhash Kumar Mahto was returning from a family dinner in a small Bihar district when he was shot in the head by four men who fled the scene. Saurabh Kumar, a stringer at a national channel told The Wire, ‘In the election of a ward member, Mahto had supported a candidate and that candidate won. Apart from this, he was continuously reporting against the liquor mafia as well as the sand mafias. These can be the reasons behind his murder.

16. REVIEW OF LITREATURE Summarized by Aditi Khanna In Kunal Kamra’s case his anti establishment stand gets amplified because of a number of a things his very popular talk show called ‘shut up ya Kunal’ is a case in point. Anti nationalism has become a moralizing cloak which tends off not just anything critical of the establishment but also all those things that are even remotely linked. WRITER – Suraj Kumar Thube

17. Kabul attack suggests ISIS is now targeting journalists Increasingly, this has become even more dangerous as extremist groups like the Islamic states have shifted tactics to specifically target journalists. The Afghan Journalists Safety Committee warned of an unprecedented increase in threats and violence against journalists in a 2017 report. Reporters without Borders says 30 for journalist sent media focus of died in attacks by the Islamic state and Taliban in Afghanistan since the start of 2016. The situation has become so dire that the group has called on the United Nations to appoint a special representative, dedicated to protecting the lives of journalists. WRITER – Colleen Murrell

18. STOP KILLING JOURNALISTS IN COMMONWEALTH The record of commonwealth countries concerning the rising number of killing of journalists. whose work holds a mirror up to the societies they live in - points to a dismal failure by the authorities in some members states to protect the lives of journalists targeted for their work. Five years up to the end of 2017, Pakistan 23, India 18, Bangladesh 8, Nigeria 3 and one Each in Kenya, Malta, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. UN statistics also saw that and all but a few cases the killers are shielded from facing justice by a climate of judicial impunity. Where the the ‘rule of law’ in that ? Questions Horseley. WRITER - Nupur Basu

19. IMPUNITY PREVAILS, BUT WHAT IS THE SOLUTION Being a journalist is increasingly dangerous business. Both at home and abroad. Where there is injury to life and limb, perpetrators are almost never brought to book. Which is why the UN observes since 2013 an ‘End Impunity for crimes against journalists day’ on November 2nd. When journalists are targeted, societies as a whole also pay the price. The kind of news that gets silenced- corruption, conflicts of interest, illegal trafficking is exactly the kind of information the public needs to know. WRITER - Geeta Seshu and Sevanti Ninan

20. LIKE MOST JOURNALISTS, HER ONLY BIAS WAS TRUTH AND NON - VIOLENCE According to the committee to protect journalists, Gauri Lankesh is the 41st journalist since 1992, to be killed in India. The total number does not include 27 other journalists, who were also murdered, but motives of their killers is yet to be confirmed. The CPJ monitors press freedoms and threat to journalists around the world. In 2016, India was ranked 13th on the infamous list of countries by journalists could be killed for doing their job. In South Asia, India is one of the most dangerous places for journalists along with Afghanistan (7), Pakistan (8), and Bangladesh (11). All of us who are proud of India’s constitutional democracy must take a pause and think hard. WRITER - Anup Kumar

21. IMPLICATED BY THE MEDIA Summarized by Suhavi Kumar In the Aarushi Talwar murder case, the media had scaled new heights of irresponsibility by spreading canards and defamatory stories. The Talwars have now been acquitted by the Allahabad High Court. The murder had no witnesses, yet everyone assumes they know what happened. So convinced are some about the guilt of the parents that they see the trial as not a judicial examination of evidence to determine the facts but a legal formality that must necessarily culminate in conviction. This seems to have worked in favour of the prosecution who are demanding ‘speedy justice’ even though the evidence it has produced so far fails to hold up to scrutiny. Take for instance, their reconstruction of the crime. WRITER - Shohini Ghosh

22. SO MUCH MEDIA YET SO LITTLE MEDIA The military authorities had ensured that there was a media blackout during the arrival of Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Sharif in Lahore from London on July 13 after being sentenced to 10 and seven years respectively in prison, over allegations of disproportionate wealth as revealed in the Panama papers. Internet and telecommunication links were also snapped at that time. This blackout on Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) leaders was widely critiqued in the media. Jailing the father and daughter duo and blanking out the media glare from them may have been counterproductive critics point out. “Since then there has not been even a single picture of Maryam in the jail where she is housed in solitary confinement – and the absence of such a photograph is leading to more gossip and speculation and creating a sympathy wave for her and her father.” Rehan said. WRITER - Nupur Basu

23. THE WAGES OF REPORTING CORRUPTION IN POLAVARAM Increasingly, reporting on corruption is becoming a high risk job for reporters, particualrly regional reporters. If you work in a small town the consequences can be immediate and far reaching, as even a small news item can open the floodgate to the larger scheme of things, and bigger sharks have to be safeguarded. T Srinivas Rao, a part-time reporter working with Sakshi newspaper for the last three years covering Kukunuru Mandal in West Godavari district, could not have learnt this better. WRITER - Malini Subramaniam

24. NOW CHHATTISGARH POLICE USE SEDITION AGAINST JOURNALIST The charge of sedition still hangs like the proverbial sword of Damocles over Chhattisgarh journalist, Kamal Shukla, as the Chhattisgarh High Court deferred a hearing on a petition seeking a quashing of the FIR against him to June 25. Advocate Kishore Narayan told The Hoot that the petition also prayed for interim relief on the arrest. In any case, there is a committee comprising government officials and prominent journalists in Chhattisgarh which reviews all cases against journalists, and this is looking into the matter. Ironically, as convener of the Patrakar Suraksha Kanoon Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti, Shukla was amongst the prime movers of this committee following a number of cases against journalists in the state. The Press Council of India has also taken suo moto notice of the issue and has asked both the Chhattisgarh government, as well as Shukla, to file their responses giving full details of the case. Shukla is also editor of a registered newspaper Bhumkal Samachar. WRITER - Geeta Seshu

25. THE CHINESE MODEL OF NEWS CONTROL SPREADS ACROSS ASIA The Chinese model of state-controlled news and information is being copied in other Asian countries, especially Vietnam and Cambodia. North Asia’s democracies are struggling to establish themselves as alternative models. Violence against journalists is increasingly worrying in Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and the Philippines. The Asia-Pacific region still has the world’s worst violator of the freedom to inform: North Korea (180th). The recent widespread adoption of smartphones in North Korea has unfortunately been accompanied by draconian control of communications and the national intranet. The state news agency KCNA is the only authorized source of news for all of the country’s media. Just reading, viewing, or listening to a foreign media outlet can lead to a spell in a concentration camp. WRITER - A reporters Sans Frontiere

26. WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY; IN INDIA ;- World Press Freedom Day, argues that over the last 16 months, there has been an ‘overall sense of shrinking liberty not experienced in recent years.’ The report states that at least 54 journalists have been victims to attacks and 7 journalists have lost their lives – one of the seven deaths have journalism as the motive. The data is for the period January 2016 to April 2017. However, the cases of violence against journalists could actually be much higher, given that in the period 2014 – 2015, there were 142 attacks, according to data released by MoS Home Hansraj Ahir . WRITER – Hansraj Ahir Summarized by Sakshi Kashyap

27. WHY IS INDIA FALLING IN THE WORLD PRESS FREEDOM INDEX India fell eight places in the World Press Freedom Index, down to 150. ‘The violence against journalists, the politically partisan media and the concentration of media ownership all demonstrate that press freedom is in crisis in the world's largest democracy, ruled since 2014 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the embodiment of the Hindu nationalist right," the report said. The indicators used by RSF were based on a quantitative survey of press freedom violations and abuses against journalists and media, along with questionnaire responses from hundreds of press freedom experts. WRITER - Murali Krishna

28. PRESS FREEDOM DOWN, 3 JOURNALISTS KILLED IN 2018; REPORT Press freedom in India has deteriorated in 2018 and three journalists have been killed in the first four months, media watchdog. India ranks 138th among 180 countries on this year's World Press Freedom Index, published by Reporters Without Borders. India's rank was 136th in 2017 and 133rd in 2016. The number of documented attacks on journalists and media workers across the country during the period was 13. It includes three in West Bengal. In 2017, documented attacks stood at 46. WRITER - HEERA GOYAL

29. UNESCO MARKS PRESS FREEDOM DAY On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day on 3 May, UNESCO, in association with Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), along with media partners The Statesman and Go News, organised ‘Critical Minds for Critical Times: Media’s Role in Advancing Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies’. The Press Freedom Report for South Asia (PFRSA) is the definitive annual review of the media environment and issues related to media freedom and the safety of journalists in eight South Asian countries. The report highlights issues related to the infringement of fundamental and human rights on account of arbitrary shutdowns of the internet and networks. WRITER - Arpita Singh

30. CHHATTISGARH, UP AND TN WORST STATES IN INDIA FOR PRESS FREEDOM On the occasion of 'World Press Freedom Day' on May 3, the vulnerability of working journalists in India, particularly those who work at the district level. Stating that three states - Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have been particularly bad for press freedom, as defamation cases and assaults on journalists are frequent, it goes on to highlight more individual cases of harassment on journalists. The greater vulnerability is for journalists in districts and small towns. WRITER - Shri Ranjit Singh

31. A BRAHAMINICAL YOUTUBE Summarized by Shruti Ranjan Award-winning documentary film-maker Anand Patwardhan was in for a rude shock when he got a message from YouTube a couple of days ago to say that his acclaimed film ‘Jai Bhim Comrade’ was now age-restricted! YouTube’s decision to flag the film for age restrictions on the basis of a report or complaint by a viewer is a strange attempt to impose a strange kind of half-censorship on the film, which has already garnered thousands of views. The film has got a certificate for public exhibition for all ages, so YouTube’s decision is completely inexplicable. WRITER - Geeta Seshu

32. THE ‘URBAN NAXAL’ PRESS CONFERENCE While Republic TV and Times Now were going gaga over the nationwide raids on and arrests of activists and lawyers; a completely different spectacle was observed at a media interaction held by defenders of the activists in Mumbai. While the defenders defended, the media was surprisingly docile. However unusual, that does seem to have been the case. Some journalists present there wondered why the same scepticism towards the police version was not being shown when it came to the Hindutva activists arrested in Maharashtra and alleged to be members of the Sanatan Sanstha. But none of them formulated this into a question. WRITER - Jyoti Punwani

33. IF THE PM IS CONFIDENT WHY IS THE PMO SO PARANOID Of late all segments of media have reported evidence of Big Brother watchfulness and attempts to control the narrative on government performance. The prime minister just made a rousing Independence Day speech about a nation progressing on many fronts and striving to be a global achiever. If the rhetoric is genuinely backed by a confident sense of achievement, then he is a man ill-served by a paranoid PMO (Prime Minister’s Office). If many of them succumb to having their script written for them, this government will go into an election without enough honest feedback from the ground on the real state of the nation WRITER - The Hoot

34. NOW MIB SAYS BETTER NOT TO USE THE TERM ‘DALIT’ Between courts and government, an evocative term with a rich history is sought to be replaced with ‘scheduled caste.’ After the intensive reporting of the past week or more on the arrests of human rights activists, it now transpires that use of the word ‘Dalit’ to describe the some of the activists among the so-called ‘urban naxals’ had been advised against early in August. The MIB advisory to television channels flies in the face of this struggle by dalits for dignity and self-respect. If television channels blindly comply, they will only exacerbate an already discriminatory, unfair and inaccurate situation. WRITER - GEETA SESHU

35. RECKITT AND COLMAN OF INDIA Ltd. V. M.P. RAMCHANDRAN and Ors . IN JUDGEMENTS DATABASE 06/08/2018 On 19th February, 1996 when the present application was taken up for hearing as Motion (New), the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the defendant no. 1 submitted that I should vacate the order passed by me on 1st February, 1996. In support of the said submissions the learned counsel for the defendant no. 1 contended that in law and on the facts as alleged in the plaint and in the petition, the plaintiff was not entitled to such an injunction. The learned counsel for the defendant no. 1 on that date also cited a few authorities on the subject. After hearing such submissions and the reply thereto given by the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the plaintiff, I retained the order dated 1st February, 1996 and refused to vacate the same. WRITER - Barin Ghosh

36. FINDINGS . www.drishtiias.com . www.legalservicesindia.com . asu.thehoot.org . Indiankanoon.org

37. ANALYSIS The ability of journalists to report freely on matters of public interest is a crucial indicator of democracy. A free press can inform citizens of their leaders’ successes or failures, convey the people’s needs and desires to government bodies, and provide a platform for the open exchange of information and ideas. When media freedom is restricted, these vital functions break down, leading to poor decision-making and harmful outcomes for leaders and citizens alike.

38. CONCLUSION Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exercised freely. In c onclusion, the freedom of speech, press, and society are all important in order for the smooth function of America. The freedom of speech grants humans their basic right to express their opinion and to speak freely without government restraint.

39. THE END..