.
SREERAM SAI PRANITHA
Supervised by Dr. Sailaja Petikam,
Associate Professor,
sailaja.petikam@gmail.com
KLEF College of Law,
KLEF Deemed to be University
Guntur, Andhra Pradesh-522302
INTRODUCTION
In
society, millions are exposed to a variety of messages each day. Every
community consists of groups with diverse backgrounds of social class, economic
status, and potential or religious affiliations. Society needs some communication
system so its various organizations may perform their designated functions. Communication
is a process of sharing or exchange of ideas, information, knowledge, attitude, or feeling among two or more persons through certain signs and symbols.
Media came
into existence in 1780 with the introduction of a newspaper namely The Bengal Gazette and since then it has matured by leaps
and bounds. Media has a solemn responsibility or obligation to present the true
situation. It has been playing a significant role in shaping human minds.
MASS MEDIA
‘Mass’ means ‘enormous numbers of people’. ‘Media’
(plural of ‘medium’) means ‘that by something is done’. ‘Mass media’ means as
the name suggests, media that reach the mass spread over a vast area
simultaneously. Any media that multiply messages and takes them to many people simultaneously
is called ‘mass media’.
IMPACT OF MEDIA ON
DEMOCRACY
The backbone of any democracy is independent and responsible media. Media plays a crucial role in shaping a
healthy democracy. The word “democracy” comes from two Greek words that are “demos”
(people) and “Kratos” (rule). It is like a mirror, which shows us the bare
truth and harsh realities of life. Access to media is access to public opinion,
so essential to protect and preserve democratic institutions. It is advantageous to both the leaders and the masses. A leader can address the masses depending upon their convenience. One of the chief
advantages of media access is that it helps to correct distortions in facts,
views, and attitudes.
The media’s most key role in
democracy is first, it ensures that citizens make responsible, informed choices
rather than acting out of ignorance or misinformation. Second, information
serves a “checking function” by ensuring that elected representatives uphold
their oaths of office and carry out the wishes of those who elected them.
INFLUENCE OF MEDIA ON
GOVERNMENT
Media
can make and unmake the government. Example- 1977 General elections in India,
where a political party ruled as a monarch was ruled out and non – congress
government came into existence. Media have long had a voice and a role in
politics. The media supplies information to the public by its reporting of and
commentary upon the proceedings within the Parliament, the operations of the
Government, and the views and alternate policies of the opposition. Freedom of the Press is the way of social and political intercourse.
Media
sometimes highlights certain problems that the state may not be aware of. As in the
case of Gulzarilal Nanda, a 94-year-old man was thrown out of a rented house by
the property owner for not paying the rent. The old man took his belongings inside.
A journalist passing by stopped and saw the whole scene. He thought it would be
useful to publish the matter in his newspaper. The journalist went and told his
press owner about the incident. The owner of the press looked at the pictures
and was shocked. He asked the journalist, “did he know the old man”? The
journalist said no.
The next day the big news appeared on the front page of the newspaper.
The title was “Gulzarilal Nanda, the former Prime Minister of India, leading a
miserable life”. The next day the Prime Minister sent ministers and officials
with a fleet of vehicles to their homes. By the above example, we can
understand the significance and distinguished role of media, in bringing unknown issues bright into the light.
The main object of press media is the transmission of information. However,
media is not only a mere source of information, but it enlightens, educates,
empowers, and arouses awareness of different issues among the masses. Media
also influences electorates. Media cannot be passive, though the government and representatives may be passive. If media is dynamic, automatically the state
will be alert.
IMPORTANCE OF FREE MEDIA
Free
media promotes open discussion of ideas that allows individuals to fully take
part in political life, making informed decisions and strengthening society as
a result – especially in a large democracy such as India. With free media,
people will be able to exercise their rights by questioning the decisions of the government. Such an environment can be created solitary when freedom of the press
is achieved.
Hence,
Media can be rightly considered as the fourth pillar of democracy, the other
three being legislature, executive, and judiciary.
FREEDOM OF PRESS
“Freedom of the Press” means the absence of interference by the state except as far as it is
authorized by the constitution and by law.
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 provides
that “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right
includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and
impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”.
Lord
Mansfield says, “The liberty of the press consists in printing without any
license subject to the consequences of law”. The liberty of the press means the liberty
to print and publish what one pleases, without earlier permission.
In
1950, the Supreme Court in Romesh Thappar v. State of Madras observed that
freedom of the press lay at the foundation of all democratic organizations.
Presently, the fundamental right to look for and disseminate
information through an independent press is under attack, and part of the
assault has come from an unexpected source. According to Freedom House’s in the
World data “media freedom has been deteriorating around the world over the past
decade, with few norms of repression taking hold in open societies and,
authoritarian states alike”.
CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTION
OF FREEDOM OF PRESS MEDIA
The
Preamble of the constitution of India promotes, Liberty of belief, faith,
expression, thought, and worship, liberty of expression is guaranteed as a
fundamental right. The constitution Part lll Article 19 (1) (a), provides that
all citizens shall have a right to freedom of speech and expression. A citizen under Article 19 means only a natural person and not a legal person and alien. Freedom
of speech and expression includes freedom of the press.
Dr. Ambedkar,
in his speech in Constituent Assembly Debates, says, “The press has no special
rights which are not to be given or which are not to be exercised by the
citizens in his individual capacity. The editor of
a press or the manager are merely exercising the right of expression, and
therefore, no special mention is necessary of the freedom of the press”.
The fundamental
principle involved in the right of freedom of speech and expression is the
‘people’s right to know’. In democratic countries with the participation of the
people in the administration, Governments function with more caution in their
actions.
REASONABLE RESTRICTION ON
THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND EXPRESSION
Article 19(2)
states that laws made by the state to impose restrictions on freedom of the press and
expression should be reasonable. It is for the courts to decide what is
reasonable. The court's power in examining the question of reasonableness is
unlimited. The court must determine the
reasonableness of a restriction by an objective standard and not by a subjective one.
In Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India, [AIR 1978 SC 597], the Supreme Court
held that if the state action sets up barriers to its citizen's freedom of
expression in any country in the world, it will be taken as the infringement or
violation of the freedom of speech and expression, guaranteed by Article 19 (1)
(a).
And some examples on which basis there will be reasonable restrictions
are – the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the state,
public order, in relation to contempt of court, defamation, incitement to an
offense, decency or morality, friendly relations with foreign states, etc.
ETHICS/ VIRTUES OF PRESS
MEDIA
·
Truth
and Accuracy
·
Independence
·
Fairness
and Impartiality
·
Humanity
·
Accountability
Apart
from the above discussed, the three important virtues of media that media
follows are
·
Transparency
·
Neutrality
·
Credibility
CONCLUSION
As we can conclude
from the earlier statements, the press has a huge responsibility on its
shoulders. They need to be vigilant and honest. And a press can easily
manipulate the public’s opinion. This is why we need responsible journalism to
refrain the media from reporting false facts which may harm the harmony and
peace of a country.
“If you don’t read the newspaper,
you’re uninformed. If
you read the newspaper, you’re
misinformed”.
-
MARK
TWAIN
“MEDIA INFLUENCES THE BRAIN NOT ONLY
EYES”
REFERENCES
Ø Media Law by Dr. S.R. MYNENI
Ø Constitutional Law of India by Dr. J.N.
PANDEY
Ø Drishti IAS website
Ø The Hindu News Paper
Ø Times Now News Article
Ø The Express Tribune News Article