Plight Of Journalism In India

Abstract

Democracy is a government to the people, for the people, by the people. Hence, in any such
political structure, efficient features are needed for the coordination between the rulers and the
ruled. Journalism fills the space or at least tries to. Journalism's dictionary meaning tells us that
it is an activity or profession that involves investigation, collection, and reportage of facts.

Introduction

India, a country with varied cultures, traditions, and a rich demographic dividend, is a
complicated polity. Everything works from the top to the lower stages of the political diaspora in
a very interconnected fashion. Information becomes paramount for the citizens to be aware of
the country they are living in.

Journalism, a multi-staged, multi-lingual, complex intricate profession, plays a very important

role in our country. The responsibility of the media in our country is very serious. As an
independent press can prove to be a robust pillar of any democracy. On the other hand, a
suppressed, biased one can lead people to misinformation and the country to ruin. Hence, the
importance of the media is quite clear.

Therefore, it's healthier for a functional democracy and its people to have a better understanding
of the system that reports facts to them and claims to behold the powerful accountable.

The current situation, however, has been quite critical for the media and people involved in it.
This is a time when India is under a government that enjoys a brute majority, a really strong
public support. Its journalist diaspora is comparable to that of War ridden Iraq. What’s the
connection? Between a vibrant democracy with a populist government and a theocratic state in
war?

Objectives

To understand journalism and its intricacies in India.

To understand the problems faced by regional journalists.

To get an intuitive idea of the shift in the field under the current government.
To study the history of suppression of free media in the country

Review of Literature

Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman(1988), in their work, have explicitly broken down the
notion of a media as the fourth estate of democracy. They strongly inferred:
Democracy is staged with the help of media that acts as a propaganda machine.
Their examinations give us the five filters of Self Censorship through which the media
manufacture our consent.

These are

Ownership, Advertisements, Flack, The Media Elite and a Common Enemy.

Justin Lewis, Andrew William and, Bob Franklin in 2008 concluded, "any meaningful
independent journalistic activity by the media is an exception rather than the rule". Though the
research paper was focused on the media agencies based in the UK, parallels can be drawn to
evaluate the Indian system too.

P Raman(2014), in his work, has explained how the functioning of media has changed over the
years. He states ,”Journalist as an independent entity is a thing of the past, and they are better
explained by the term 'Clerical Coolis' of the ministers”.

Magsaysay Award winner Ravish Kumar(2014)has highlighted, the scrutiny critical journalists
face under the current political establishment. He also puts forward, the examples of some
gruesome instances that took place post-2014 (when Indian union elected a government with an
astounding majority) to ensure an environment of silence and terror. He talks about various
measures of the government due to which media institutions have fallen in line with it since the
decisive verdict.

Not A New Trend

Journalism, no matter what the scale of the system is, has always played a crucial role in the
overall communication between the rulers and the ruled. It also has constantly been subject to
extreme scrutiny under the governments that enjoy hardcore power in their states of jurisdiction.

The Emergency of 1975 was one of the most famous assaults on Indian Civil Liberties and
Dissent. Media naturally suffered a great deal. Television and radio were under full government
control. There were no private news TV channels. So, blacking out a news transmission was not
under consideration then. Media was mostly in print, which depended heavily on electricity
supply to release their editions. Power supplies, controlled by government companies, were
disrupted in a manner to severely delay or cause cancellation of the print for next day edition.

The government used a three-tier approach to control the media.

1. It blocked advertisements to publications that were critical of it.
2. Four major privately owned news agencies were merged to regulate the information flow.
3. Embedded fears in the minds of journalists, by taking stringent legal actions against selected
few to set examples.

Former Prime Minister Nehru was also known to have censored content(not as extreme as his
daughter), that was controversial or critical.

The current Modi government has also faced a lot of criticism for interfering in the matters of
private news channels and trying to regulate the news content that is consumed by the general
public. Some stark revelations have been made in numerous interviews about it’s handling of
the media.

On a collective evaluation, it can be inferred that the times of suppression of the media have
always coincided with the tenure of governments that enjoyed a much greater authority than
what is ordinary.

What does Law offer?

Every democracy has features in its constitution that safeguard the rights of its media
functionaries. India’s share comes from Article 19 of its constitution. Article 19 of the constitution
provides freedom of speech, which is the right to express one's opinion freely without any fear
through oral/written/electronic/broadcasting/press.

There was a time when India’s Freedom of Speech was so liberal that a judge on the case held
that “if a person were to go on inciting murder or other cognizable offenses either through the
press or by word of mouth, he would be free to do so with impunity because he could claim
freedom of speech and expression”.
The first amendment applied some limitations to this liberalism, and things went downhill ever
since.

The Current Predicament

India ranked 140th in terms of press freedom in 2019 in research by RSF(Reporters Sans
Frontieres). The research drew its conclusions from the answers to the questionnaire consisting
of 87 questions prepared by the organization.
The aspects addressed in the research include Pluralism, Media Independence, Environment
and Self Censorship, Legislative Framework, Transparency, Infrastructure, etc.
Journalism, as an ethical profession faces an existential crisis in India and the world beyond.
The changing political expression is an inherent process in all societies, but the
hypernationalism that is dominating these changes is something that needs our concern. The
questioning of the government or the military has become anti-national in the general narrative,
reporting uncomfortable truths is an exception rather than the rule. People constantly consume
incomplete or biased information that is in line with pre-existing passionate notions in people.

Causes

The Ethical Journalism Network, an international journalism watchdog published its report on
the problems of journalism in 18 different countries. A Paneerselvam (reader’s editor of The
Hindu) was the author of its India chapter. The report focuses on five daunting problems the
Indian Media is facing.
1.The Paid News
Numerous instances have occurred where journalists are paid to cover events and write about
them. Recently the Jharkhand government gave advertisements in the newspapers for
journalists to write and submit articles praising its work and get paid for it. Such instances
undermine the integrity of the press.
2. Opaque Private Treaties
Many agreements which facilitate advertisements of certain types in the media fall under these
categories
3. Blatant Blackmail
Senior editors of the television channel Zee News were arrested for allegations of demanding
Rs 100 crore from Jindal Power and Steel Ltd. They offered to stop their network’s campaign
against the company for involvement in the coal scam, in return for the payoff.
4. Widening Legal Regulatory gap
The Press Council of India is the legal organisation that media houses are answerable to. The
Council lacks the legal strength necessary to have an impact on the activities that clog the
transparency of the media.
5. Flawed measurements of audience reach
The parameters to measure the success of publications and digital media houses are dubious at
the least, as per the report. There have been instances where Television Channels have paid
off the Rating Consultants to tamper the system. The Indian Readership Survey of 2013, found
that the readership of English newspapers fell by 20% without attributing any reasons for the
fall. The survey also found that the leading English paper in Nagpur, Hitvada didn’t have a
single reader while it had a verified circulation of more than 60,000.
Regional Journalism

Journalism in small towns is a far less lucrative profession than it is in Metropolitan cities.
Columbia Journalism Review, in its research, found out that regional journalists are hired more
as advertising agents than reporters. Reporters are required to get advertisements and stories
preferred by the authorities printed in their newspapers regularly. In return, some SP of the area
would feed them information on a story worth reporting.

“There is no incentive to do news at all,” says Rajan, a freelance reporter in Jharkhand in an

interview with the CJR. Having to maintain good relationships with the authorities is a
prerequisite for journalists at the lower levels. This makes critiques impossible.

A Seminar held in the Centre of Economic and Social Studies in Hyderabad on the topic:
Changing face of Indian media highlights further problems reflects

Salaries of local language media staff differ in mammoth amounts than those of the English
staff. The revenue generated through advertisements is much higher in English Newspapers
than the Vernacular Newspapers, even with the viewership of the latter being higher.
Moreover, local language media houses do not have separate toilets for women in their offices.
This directly subtracts the participation of almost half of the demography in fact-finding and
reporting.

Crimes against Journalists

“If they wanted to arrest me, they could have done just that. Why did they have to beat me up
and set me on fire?”
● Jagendra Singh, Freelance Journalist from Shahjahanpur district of Uttar Pradesh says
on his deathbed.
The case was closed without any convictions. His sons stated in court that their father had
immolated himself. A key witness took a U-turn and said that it was a suicide. The then Chief
Minister, Akhilesh Yadav stayed silent throughout. Jagendra Singh’s last statement was
recorded in a video where he alleged a member of the ruling SP(Samajwadi Party) to have
attempted to end his life.

Rajdev Ranjan in 2016 and Gauri Lankesh in 2017 are more recent examples whose lives were
forfeited because of their integrity for Journalism. According to Gauri’s lawyer, the murder was a
sinister pre-planned attack by Hindu Extremist groups. Her tabloid was famous for its criticism of
Right-Wing Extremism. Prime Minister Narendra Modi follows some accounts on twitter that
celebrated the killings, made derogatory remarks about her after her death. Warnings followed
from different Right-Wing extremist groups that any journalist who tries to raise voices against
them would meet the same fate as Gauri.

Committee for Protection of Journalists(CPJ) has found in its research that 75 journalists have
been murdered since 1992, 44 with confirmed motives.

Victor Ansal, 2016, concludes:

“Democracy allows for and encourages increased investigative reporting, which, in turn, can get
journalists killed. Alternatively, journalists are not at as great a risk for murder in autocracies not
because autocracies make them “safer” but because there are fewer incentives or opportunities
for them to pursue stories that would put them in mortal danger”.

Woodhull and Snyder,1998, point out:

“Next to tough and timely reporting that establishes the facts of a case, nothing protects a
journalist so much as public outrage and public support. Ordinary citizens can play an enormous
role by pressuring thugs and tyrants who would like to stifle the freedom of the press.”

This paper will take a look at the public opinion and understanding in a separate section.

On a list made by IFJ(International Federation Of Journalists), in 2016 on threats to journalists

in different countries, India was 8th worst in a list topped by Iraq.

Journalism in Conflict Zones.

In regions like Kashmir, Nagaland, and Manipal, where Anti India sentiment is strong, journalists
face wrath from both sides. The insurgent forces, as well as the state, hollow all possibilities for
safe and secure fact-finding and reporting.

Administration bans journalists with the reason that, 'It can cause incitement of acts of violence
and disturbance of public Tranquility'.

Recently, after the dilution of article 370, Kashmiri Journalists were censored and detained on
large scales. Security concerns are imperative, but blockading any scope for reporting of the
truth is not justified. The administration should have had a better strategy.
The problems for Kashmiri Journalists are multidimensional. The truth stands as much against
the state as it does against the insurgents. The people that still choose to stand by it and report
it either get detained by the state or murdered by the terrorists.
Northeastern states have a different problem. Insurgent groups have rivalries among
themselves. Journalists have another dimension of threats here as sometimes they find
themselves stuck between these rivalries.

“It is reiterated that any article which projects the demands of NSCN (K) and gives it publicity is
a violation under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967, and should not be published by
your newspaper”.
● A diktat by Assam Rifles, a paramilitary force under the Ministry Of Defense, October
2016

In the following month, on November 16, the National Press Day, three prominent local
newspapers published blank editorials in protest.

“When journalists, or even media houses, are targeted by either the military or the militants,
each government of the Northeastern states has reacted and responded differently, especially
depending on the kind of relationship these governments have with the militants. When the
Assam Rifles issued a directive on what to publish or not to publish, the Nagaland government
remained a silent spectator,” says Monalisa Changkija, editor of the Nagaland Page.
Akum Longchari of the Morung Express stated in an interview with the BBC that the “Naga
newspapers are accused of favoritism by both the army and rebel groups.”

Areas prone to Naxalism are no different. If the police find anything, not to their liking, they
accuse journalists of being Naxalites. Naxalites return the favor by calling them police informers
whenever something against them is reported. That is the thing about truth. No matter what side
you are on if you are a liar, you hate the truth.

Siding with the government can be beneficial for these ground-level reporters. They freely
publish handouts given to them by the police about fake Maoist encounters. Reports of rapes of
tribal women are suppressed. They get contracts for construction projects and other favors that
help them financially. Lack of financial support turns out, inflicts some very deep scars on the
integrity of the profession.

Journalism in Non Conflict Zones

Things are as bad, if not worse, in the non-conflict zones of the country. As mentioned above,
poorly paid work affects the quality of journalism in India. Journalists resort to different activities
to help their financial needs.

The vacuum of violence created by the absence of insurgents and Naxalites is filled by the
Mafia in Non Conflict zones. Mafias are present in almost every sphere of the trade. Coal, sand,
mining, you name it and you find a complex criminal nexus.

Various criminal cases including murder attempts are regularly reported in such areas. Report
by the media watchdog, The Hoot and Indiaspend tell us that five of the ten journalists murdered
in India between March 2015 and March 2016 were from UP. Jagendra Singh mentioned above
was murdered because he wrote stories against a powerful local politician.

Threats Online

The Indian media scene grew exponentially after the liberalisation of 1991. The formation of
private enterprises led to the creation of opportunities. Growing literacy rates only added to the
positives. With the advent of the internet, things have skyrocketed. Rapid connectivity increased
coordination between the regional and the national media, and nothing remained hidden
anymore. But just as every coin has a flip side, this did too. With the increased hype around the
stories, journalists were a bigger deal than ever. This put their lives under a whole new level of
threat.

The speed at which stories travel these days also opens wide possibilities for rumours and fake
news. Numerous incidents just short of rioting have been reported throughout the country just
because of the rumours that were planted. Political Parties have IT cells that have only one
agenda, which is to plant and spread rumours. Parties fight elections on rumours and form
governments. The ruling party BJP has an estimated 7 lakh, active members, in its IT cell. The
current Home Minister, then party chief has boasted on record about how their IT cell spread a
rumour against another political party in Uttar Pradesh that the party concerned had to release
an official statement dismissing it. Issues are made to trend on twitter. Major News houses pick
up issues from the social networking sites and spend hours debating on topics that are
insidiously planted by the IT cells of different political parties. The opposition parties like
Congress have built one of their own rather than trying to come up with moral ways to correct
the situation.
Trolling is another menace brought by the age of the internet. Journalists are trolled extensively
if their work is against a political group.

Political Blame Game

One thing that is common in almost all controversial political systems is name-calling. The
journalists that are supportive of the government are called names, the journalists that are
critical of it suffer the same.

Adolf Hitler explains with a lot of conviction in his autobiography, that the ruins in Germany were
the results of an incompetent political system and its media. He outrightly blames the media
functionaries for Germany's loss in the first world war. He calls their reports and articles
anti-national. It is stated that their journalism was intended to hollow Germany's structure, and
then make gains from the situations that emerged. And for final seasoning, he names them, "the
Jewish Press". As far as modern-day politics has worked, this is the classic way of constructing
structural propaganda in favour of the powerful, and against any political or social group. We all
know how successful Hitler was in shaping his narrative. We all know what he made of
Germany on the foundations of his ideology. Rising right-wing trends in politics across the
globe, have rekindled the flame for such propaganda based name-calling.

For India specific, a research paper submitted at Oxford University concluded that growing
passions of hypernationalism have had a serious impact on the whole journalist society. Donald
Trump used the term, “lugenpresse” to abuse the media channels he claims to be biased
against him. The term had lost its use post-Hitler. India’s current Prime Minister has also time
and again, used name-calling to question the credibility of those critical of him. The questioning
media in India is accused of being leftist, urban Naxals. The term “seculars” is often used to
mock people as if it is a derogatory term.

Mukul Kesavan writes in an opinion piece:

“While all governments aim to manage and massage the fourth estate, there is a rhetorical
difference in the relationship between the state and the news media, before 2014 and afterward.
I cannot remember a time when there was as strong a rightward tilt in television as we have now
and the worrying thing is that it makes sound business sense, not just in terms of political
access but in terms of advertising, revenue and profits,”

In July 2017, writer and columnist Sadanand Dhume wrote this in The Wall Street Journal:

“Things have nonetheless deteriorated on Mr. Modi’s watch. This government is particularly
ruthless about cutting off access to reporters it deems unfriendly. The BJP also appears to at
least tacitly encouraging social-media to become lynch mobs that go after any journalist seen to
be stepping out of line. No other major political party appoints trolls to responsible positions.”
Use of Legal Machinery against The Media

Sedition, a colonial law continues to exist even today and, various Indian Governments use it to
stifle dissent. This feature of Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code is used against those
critical of the establishment.

Criminal Defamation is yet another law that is regularly used by the State and Big Corporate
Houses to regulate the information whenever it harms their interests.

The recent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act Amendment Bill was passed by the Indian
government which is yet again an exercise in the direction of stifling dissent.

The Supreme Court of India withheld the validity of Criminal Defamation Law in 2016.

Public Matters!

As mentioned in the beginning, public opinion plays the most important role in a democratic
society. Status quo will persist if the public deems it to, it will perish if the public demands. The
Indian public is found to be divided on the matter of journalism.

The new environment around the culture of asking questions is disturbing. People asking
questions that politicians find hard to answer are labeled as Anti Nationals. Kiren Rijiju, Minister
Of State for Internal Affairs once said, "First of all, we should this habit of raising doubt,
questioning the authorities and the police. This is not a good culture".
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a speech declared, “ There is a new trend of questioning the
government in the country”. We should keep in mind that the Prime Minister himself gained
popularity because he asked the right questions from the authorities in his time. Questioning the
powerful and amplifying the voices of the powerless is Journalism 101.

According to the survey done for this research to understand the general public awareness of
journalism gives the following trends
The public opinion mostly turns out as divided in a survey that included mostly college students
from different parts of the country. The questions asked in the survey intended to get an insight
into an individual's opinion on the world of journalism and the outputs it produces, in our times.

The opinions on the basics of journalism seem to be very clear among the general public. The
majority of them believe that the job of the media is to question the government, investigate,
analyze, and then report the truth to the people.

We have to keep in mind that the people involved in this survey are aware of various digital
platforms and means to get their information. Hence, the results of this survey do not completely
reflect upon the content of the conventional media sources like vernacular newspapers and tv
channels.
The trends around fake news are quite interesting. Even though the survey included students
that have multiple access, resources and knowledge to be able to verify the information they
receive, it turns out that 78 percent of them were influenced by fake news in the past.
Naturally, 84 percent of them feel that the fake news represents a threat to our democracy.
In conclusion, this survey generally reflects that the youth of the country is predominantly
disappointed with the way news media have worked. The awareness among the students about
the basic ideals of journalism seems very concise and clear. But, it still lacks the conviction and
priority in their minds that is required for a radical change.

Conclusion and Suggestions

Journalism in India was always a risky job. Journalists faced a ton of problems to perform their
tasks with integrity, and never got the respect they deserved for it. Nothing has changed to this
day. Even though the overall trends were always in the same direction, the downfall under the
current political situation has increased drastically.
Politics always meddle with the people who try to hold the system accountable.
Some measures that can ensure the revival of this degraded structures are:

1. More power in the hands of the Press Council of India, which will enable the Council to
take decisive actions to strengthen the media in our country.

2. Strengthened Press Associations across the country will result in an increased political
significance for the community.

3. The courses for journalism in India have American textbooks published in the 1960s.
Revision of subject matter is necessary for such a dynamic subject.

4. Indian governments have never responded to UNESCO's requests for the judicial status
of journalist killings, as stated by the CPJ. Taking action in this direction would be a huge
affirmative for Indian Society.

5. Laws for the regulation of online content will help in curbing fake news as well as trolling
on large scales.

6. Though the supreme court validated Criminal Defamation Law, the fact that it only
serves the state, rich and powerful sections of the society reflects that it needs
rectification.

7. The Major News Organisations should step forward and arrange for the safety of their
employees. Steps like providing backup to reporters on dangerous assignments, giving
adequate training and education about self-defense and safety measures will go a long
way.

The problems faced by journalists throughout the country are very intricate and complex. These
problems can not be terminated at once but the efforts should persist. It is required also of the
common people to stand up for free speech as much as they expect the media to stand up for
them. It is also important that the ideas and ethos of democracy are planted in the minds of the
younger generation. A society where people know the value of free speech and are aware of the
struggles reporters go through will be a society that takes decisive steps to ensure their safety.

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