ABSTRACT

This article attempts to examine the critical role of the media in disseminating news in the context of self-regulation. It seeks to scrutinise the powers vested with the Press Council of India that has been criticised for being a toothless body and not serving the purpose for which it was constituted. Further, it evaluates the reliability of the free flow of information and the authenticity of a news item in the existing proliferation of news media. It aims to briefly assess the need for standards to resolve all issues pertaining to the regulation of the media, particularly self-regulation, and provide some suggestions towards developing these standards. In a nutshell, this article seeks to verify the effectiveness of the present self.

INTRODUCTION

Communication is a fundamental human requirement and is the underpinning of all human dealings since it is the mode through which humans exchange information. The free exchange of ideas and knowledge takes place when there is an unrestricted full-fledged communication. It is guaranteed through the “freedom of speech and expression”, the most cherished fundamental right, as envisaged under various international covenants and most of the constitutions including the Indian Constitution.

Media plays a basic undertaking in escalating the knowledge of individuals about human issues in the public arena, the privilege to opportunity in Article 19 of the Constitution of India concedes the ability to speak freely. Media frameworks of the world differ from one another according to the economy, commonwealth, religion and culture of various social orders. The mechanism followed by some of the nations with a rigid mentality, like that of the former USSR or takes the present scenario that depicts the condition of the media which is subjected to multiple confinements and restrictions. Everything said by the media in such nations is controlled and censored by the central authorities, and the media houses have to abide by the regulations laid down by the authorities due to the fear of severe penalty instilled in them.

Moving onto the Indian viewpoint and its arrangement of Parliamentary Majority rule system, the facts demonstrate that the Press is free yet dependent upon certain sensible limitations forced by the Constitution of India, 1950. Prior to Globalization’s impact on our society, broad communication channels were constrained by the administration. This limited the media houses to venture only into those areas which the authorities deemed fit for the general public to see.

Be that as it may, with the beginning of globalization and privatization, the circumstance has experienced a humongous change.

Media in India is mostly self-regulated. Regulatory bodies in India are subdivided into parts: Firstly, statutory bodies like the Press Council of India and Secondly, self-regulatory organizations like News Broadcasting Authority. These regulatory bodies issue standards which are no less than rules and regulations that need to be abided by the media houses to maintain a morally and legally sound media working environment. Recently, the Chairman of the Press Council of India, former Justice of the Supreme Court, Mr M. Katju, has argued that television and radio need to be brought within the scope of the Press Council of India or a similar regulatory body.[i]

PRESS COUNCIL OF INDIA ITS POWERS

The Press Council of India (further referred as PCI) was established under the Press Council of India 1978 for the purpose of preserving the freedom of press and maintaining and improving the standards of newspapers and news agencies in India.

The PCI consists of a chairman and 28 other members. The Chairman is selected by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and a member elected by the PCI. The other members of the council included three members of the Lok Sabha, two members from the Rajya Sabha, six editors of newspapers, seven working journalists other than editors of newspapers, six persons in the managing newspapers, one person who is engaged in the managing news agencies, and three persons with special knowledge of public life.

Limitations on the powers of the PCI

1. The PCI has limited powers of enforcing the guidelines issued. It cannot penalize newspapers, news agencies, editors and journalists for violation of the guidelines.

2. The PCI only overviews the functioning of press media. That is, it can enforce standards upon newspapers, journals, magazines and other forms of print media. It does not have the power to review the functioning of electronic media like radio, television and internet media.

Is there a process of self-regulation by television channels?

Today news channels are governed by mechanisms of self-regulation. One such mechanism has been created by the News Broadcasters Association. The NBA has devised a Code of Ethics to regulate television content.[ii] The News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA), of the NBA, is empowered to warn, admonish, censure, express disapproval and put a fine on the broadcaster of a sum upto Rs.1 lakh for violation of the Code. Another such organization is the Broadcast Editors’ Association. The Advertising Standards Council of India has also drawn up guidelines on content of advertisements. These groups govern through agreements and do not have any statutory powers. 

Need for Statutory Regulation of Content of News Broadcast in India

With almost 400 News Channels registered for lawful broadcasting, India is undoubtedly the world’s hub of news market activities.[iii] In such an enormous market, there is a high chance of failure in keeping a check on the quality as well as the credibility of news content. In absence of any statutory code for regulating news content the onus falls on the above-mentioned self-regulatory bodies. Although self-regulatory bodies have performed well but there are still areas which need to be worked upon and cannot be covered by these self-regulatory bodies. One of the major drawbacks of the self-regulatory bodies is the presence of office bearers of leading news channels at the decision-making table, which raises doubts about the transparency in the functioning of the said bodies. Secondly, the self-regulatory bodies act only when a complaint is filed by the aggrieved party and does not take any suo-moto action which allows the news houses to carry out their functions without any supervision. Unfortunately, due to lack of required supervision, the news content is losing out on its quality and is gradually becoming opinionated, ill-informed.

Therefore there is an urgent need to regulate the News Broadcaster Sector in India. It would be necessary in order to rebuild the trust of the people as well as the spotless image of the media houses. It must be noted that there is a difference between regulation and censorship, where the latter would obstruct the existence of “free media”. Regulation would in no way have any such obstructive impact, rather would focus mainly on the quality of the content. It would focus on paid, fake and biased news content which in simple terms is unreliable sources of information. All news viewers have a right to access free, unbiased and factual news content which can only be achieved if the news content is properly regulated.

-Suvandna Kalra

Amity University Noida

[i]http://ibnlive.in.com/news/media-deliberately-dividing-people-pci-chief/197593-3.html

[ii] http://www.nbanewdelhi.com/pdf/final/NBA_code-of-ethics_english.pdf

[iii]https://mib.gov.in/broadcasting/master-list-permitted-private-satellite-tv-channels-30092018pdf