Media, the singular form of Medium. It is the means used to communicate with the general public. Journalism is professionally defined as, “The activity or profession of writing for newspapers or magazines or of broadcasting news on radio or television”. It is an activity of gathering, assessing, generating, and presenting news and information. It is also the product of these activities. Individuals who compose journalism are called ‘Journalists’. They may work for daily papers, websites, magazines, TV channels, or radio stations. As of now, India has 82,237 newspapers in various languages and around 110 national television news channels. Press, is one of the four pillars of Indian democracy. Exactly 50 years ago from today, the Press Council of India came into existence. Yes, today is the golden jubilee of our nation's renowned PCI. And this day is celebrated as national press day in India.
On the 16th of November, 1996, PCI started functioning as a moral watchdog to make sure that not only did the press maintain the high standards expected from this powerful medium, but also that it was not chained by the influence or threats of any inessential factors. It’s not like Indian press begun to play its part only after 1960. Print media in India got started in 1780 with ‘Bengal Gazette’ newspaper. And right from the time of India's First War of Independence in 1857, journals like Payam-e-Azadi, Samachar Sudhavarshan, supported the struggle for freedom and urged people to throw out the British rulers. This thing provoked British rulers to hit back with the notorious Vernacular Press Act, popularly known as the Gagging Act, imposing many restrictions on the newspapers and periodicals of the day. Besides, many of the big leaders of the freedom movement themselves turned into journalists and used the press to propagate their ideas to the masses. Minor, informal library movements leaped up in every part of India, wherein the villagers would gather around a cot to read and discuss the day's newspaper. The Hindustan Times, Bande Mataram, Kesari, Bombay Chronicle, were some of the popular newspapers during Indian independence struggle. During this critical time, the media and newspapers were not established as profit-making business ventures but seen as rendering national and public service. There was hardly any prominent leader who did not edit or write for a newspaper those days. Tilak's name is most commonly mentioned in the context of the role of the Press as he went to jail twice for some of his columns. Those were the days when India’s prominent leaders put their lives at risk through press & broadcast media. But as a great philosopher from Greek quoted – “The only constant is change” and press media is no exception. Journalism and Journalists, the more they are away from the dirty ground of politics, the more profitable it is for the growth of the nation. Nowadays press, Mainstream media, is more about exaggerating things and less about focusing thoroughly on the actual side of important issues. When India's prime minister Mr. Narendra Modi implemented demonetization a few days ago, some well-known news channels tightened their laces to increase TRPs out of it. One popular news channel posted a tweet that was something like this – “If you are struggling in long queues of banks and ATMs, then wherever you are, you can send us your video on the following number or Email". Here the sad part is, rather than telling people to keep patience they strived to grab the audience’s attention towards their channel at such a crucial time. This was just a small example. Sometimes, it gets worse when for some of the journalists it’s all about Television rating points, or simply getting paid for propagating false news.
The truth is, from the time we started having multiple newspapers, numerous channels and social media platforms; we began to question various things which are taking place altogether in the environment we live in. Admit it or not, we are now at that point where we are no longer loyal to only one section. We gulp what we like and discard whatever we don’t comprehend. For some news channels and newspapers, ‘Being the voice of people’ like 100 years ago, is no longer a subject of moral value in this cut-throat competition. No wonder why many broadcast channels nowadays are extremely interested in the politics and entertainment industry. The 3rd U.S. president Thomas Jefferson once quoted – “Where the press is free and every man is able to read, all is safe.” Can this quote be applied in today’s world too? Press is the reflection of people. Misappropriation of the power of the press is not less than a crime. As long as some journalists are the prisoners of politicians, as long as news media continues to seek for self-profit, as long as the common public like us tend to make opinions way too quick, press media in India cannot be strong & utterly true. when all these things will be eliminated from our society, the fourth pillar of our nation’s democracy will regain its esteem once again. “A free press is not only a right, and not only a privilege, but an organic necessity in a great society.”
~ Walter Lippmann (Writer, reporter, and political commentator)
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