Editorial: Media in fetters

Self-regulation is the way forward to protect the independence of the media and uphold the freedom of expression

Hyderabad: The fall in India’s position in the latest World Press Freedom Index reflects the sorry state of affairs. The country has slipped 11 places – from 150 to 161 – in the 2023 Index of 180 countries released annually by the Paris-based international non-profit organisation Reporters Without Borders (RSF). In the 2022 report, India’s rank dropped from 142 to 150. The trend suggests that the situation in India is getting worse each year. The reports of Hindutva forces, emboldened by the ideological position of the ruling dispensation at the Centre, trying to muzzle the voices of dissenting media are causing alarm. No wonder the opposition Congress in poll-bound Karnataka has promised to ban Bajrang Dal if it is voted to power in the Assembly elections. The RSF index’s report notes that with an average of three or four journalists being killed in connection with their work every year, India is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for the media. This is a poor commentary on the state of media freedom in a country that takes pride in being the world’s largest democracy. The World Press Freedom Index highlights the degree of freedom that journalists, news organisations and netizens have in each country, and the government’s efforts to respect such freedom. In the last two decades, India, which was ranked 80th on the index in 2002, has seen its press freedom ranking progressively plummet. The country profile by RSF on India also says that the Indian press used to be seen as fairly progressive but things changed radically in the mid-2010s when Narendra Modi became Prime Minister.

It is highly deplorable that Indian journalists are exposed to all kinds of physical violence, including police violence, ambushes by political activists, and deadly reprisals by criminal groups or corrupt local officials by supporters of Hindutva. More specifically, journalists are being prosecuted under counterterrorism and sedition laws. There has been a consistent crackdown on critics in the media, academics, civil society groups and protesters while the NGOs involved in the investigation of human rights abuses continue to face threats and legal harassment. As a mature democracy aspiring to play a larger role on the world stage, India can ill afford to belittle the concerns over deteriorating media freedom. Past experience shows that any attempt by the governments to gag the media in the name of regulation had boomeranged, be it the infamous Press Bill of the Rajiv Gandhi government in 1988 or the Emergency period restrictions. Self-regulation is the way forward to protect the independence of the media and uphold the freedom of expression. Along with job insecurities, journalists are facing increasing attacks on their freedoms. Freedom of the press is integral to the functioning of a vibrant democracy and the media must come together to reclaim its role towards the realisation of this objective.

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