Media at crossroads: It’s time to appoint Third Press Commission

BY Satya Prakash

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The Press should be neither a mindless adversary nor an unquestioning ally of the government. Thirty-eight years after the Second Press Commission headed by Justice KK Mathew made this sagacious observation on the role of media in India, the fourth estate appears to be struggling to come up to the expectations of a democratic society it intends to serve.

Both government and private bodies are finding fault with the style of functioning of the media. After the government requested the Supreme Court to direct the media to report its version on Covid19, Jamiat Ulma-i-Hind — an Islamic body in India — complained to it that media had been demonising the entire Muslim community over alleged spread of the pandemic due to Nizamuddin Markaz congregation of Tablighi Jamaat.

Jamiat alleged that the media violated norms of journalistic conduct issued by the Press Council of India (PCI).

While the top court asked the media to publish the government version on the Covid-19 crisis, it refused to gag the fourth estate on Jamiat Ulma-i-Hind’s plea. Instead, it asked the Islamic body to make the PCI a party to the case and posted it for hearing after two weeks.

The PCI was prompt to point out that it had authority to deal with complaints against the print media alone and that it didn’t have jurisdiction over the electronic and social media. “Electronic media, TV news channels, social media i.e. WhatsApp/twitter/Facebook do not come under the jurisdiction of the Press Council of India,” the PCI clarified.

The media industry has witnessed a phenomenal growth, particularly in the past two decades — thanks to the opening up of the Indian economy. According to the Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI), the total number of registered publications as on March 31, 2018, stood at 1,18,239. This included 17,573 newspapers and 1,00,666 periodicals. The largest number of publications were registered in Hindi (47,989), followed by English (14,626).

According to a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) report, the total number of satellite TV channels went up from 524 in 2010 to 875 in 2018. Quite a good number of them are news channels. There are numerous online media outlets. Though a later entrant, social media platforms are hugely popular, particularly among the youth.

The huge expansion of the TV news industry in a relatively short span of time has left it wanting on quality front due to dearth of trained professionals. TV channel debates are often marked by shrill and divisive comments. In many cases, the line between activism and journalism gets blurred and there are allegations of trial by media. Right to privacy — which was declared a fundamental right by the Supreme Court in 2017 — is often ignored, if not violated.

Today, the media industry is at crossroads. A section of the media appears to have become a mindless adversary of the government, while another one an unquestioning ally. It’s becoming too much to expect objectivity. In short, the middle ground is missing.

There is an inherent contradiction in their functioning. While performing their role to inform, educate and entertain; to set agenda for debate and; to act as watchdog for democracy, the media is supposed to run as a profit-making venture as well.

But there is no point in blaming the media industry alone. Successive governments have failed to put in place the necessary regulatory framework. The PCI came into existence at a time when there was no electronic and social media. While the PCI is there to regulate the print media, there is no statutory regulator for the electronic and social media.

Even with regard to complaints against the print media, the PCI is empowered only “to warn, admonish or censure the newspaper, the news agency, the editor or the journalist concerned or disapprove the conduct of the editor or the journalist” if indicted for offending against the standards of journalistic ethics or public taste or committing any professional misconduct.

Be it RNI, PCI or the Working Journalists Act — all these were results of recommendations of the First Press Commission. The Second Press Commission said freedom and responsibility were complimentary and the media should be performing the role of constructive critique. While the advice still remains relevant, there is a need to set up the Third Press Commission to suggest regulatory framework for all sectors of the media industry in the changed circumstances. The sooner the better.