{"id":234205,"date":"2023-03-24T20:35:40","date_gmt":"2023-03-24T15:05:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=234205"},"modified":"2023-03-24T20:35:40","modified_gmt":"2023-03-24T15:05:40","slug":"press-must-remain-free-if-a-country-is-to-remain-a-democracy-cji-chandrachud-at-rng-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/press-must-remain-free-if-a-country-is-to-remain-a-democracy-cji-chandrachud-at-rng-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Press must remain free if a country is to remain a democracy\u2019: CJI Chandrachud at RNG awards"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Source-<\/strong> The post is based on the article \u201c\u2018Press must remain free if a country is to remain a democracy\u2019: CJI Chandrachud at RNG awards\u201d published in the \u201cThe Indian Express\u201d on 24th March 2023.<\/p>\n

Syllabus: <\/strong>GS2- Polity<\/p>\n

Relevance<\/strong>– Issues related to media<\/p>\n

News<\/strong>– CJI DY Chandrachud gave a speech as the chief guest at the RNG awards.<\/p>\n

What is the importance of media?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Promoting debate and discussion<\/strong>– Debates and discussion<\/strong> are the first steps towards action. All societies inevitably become dormant, and immune to the problems<\/strong> faced by them. Journalism pushes them out of this collective inertia<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The media has always played an important role in shaping the course of current events<\/strong>, and the course of history<\/strong> itself. For example, the #MeToo movement had cascading effects all over the world and it was a watershed moment in history.<\/p>\n

Importance for democracy<\/strong>– The media is the fourth pillar of the State, and an integral component of democracy.<\/p>\n

A functional and healthy democracy<\/strong> must encourage the development of journalism as an institution that can ask difficult questions to the establishment.<\/p>\n

Vice of common man<\/strong>– Local or community-based journalism<\/strong> has played an important role in encouraging social cohesion and political activism<\/strong>. It has the ability to raise the little-known concerns<\/strong> and set the agenda for debate on those issues at the policy level.<\/p>\n

Community journalism opens the avenues for the members of marginalised communities to raise their own issues.<\/p>\n

Relevance in emergency situations<\/strong>– The relevance of the media was best highlighted during the period of the Covid-19 pandemic. Electronic, print, and social media facilitated the State to disseminatethe relevant information to the general public<\/strong> during the lockdown.<\/p>\n

The media highlighted administrative loopholes and excesses<\/strong>. Various high courts and the Supreme Court of India relied on news reports in taking suo motu cognisance<\/strong> of instances of violations of people\u2019s rights during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

How did the media play an important role in pre-independence India?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

India has a great legacy of newspapers. They have acted as catalysts of social and political change. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Prior to independence, newspapers were run by social reformers and political activists<\/strong>. The objective was to raise awareness and outreach to people .<\/p>\n

For instance, Dr. Ambedkar launched several newspapers such as Mooknayak<\/em>, Bahishkrut Bharat<\/em>, Janata<\/em>, and Prabuddha Bharat<\/em> to create awareness about the rights of the most neglected communities<\/strong> in India.<\/p>\n

The newspapers and other publications of pre-Independence India also give us a picture of the detailed history<\/strong> of those times.<\/p>\n

How is the media landscape changing?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Recently, social media<\/strong> has become a game changer<\/strong> for journalists by providing opportunities to individuals to launch their own online media channels. In that way, online platforms have led to the democratisation of the media. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Earlier, the paucity of space<\/strong> was a constraining factor. Now, it is the paucity of reader patience<\/strong>. Readers have short attention spans. News is reduced to shorts on YouTube or reels on Instagram.<\/p>\n

In recent years, we are also witnessing a rising interest in legal journalism. Legal journalism is the storyteller of the justice system, shedding light on the complexities of the law. It is thus essential for journalists to provide a complete picture of events, rather than presenting a one-sided view. Journalists have a duty to report accurately and impartially.<\/p>\n

What are the challenges faced by the media?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Fake news<\/strong> poses a serious threat to the independence and impartiality of the press<\/strong> in the current society.It has the capability to create tensions <\/strong>between communities by misleading people.<\/p>\n

Another issue affecting the media is that of legitimac<\/strong>y. A diverse and representative newsroom <\/strong>is essential for media institutions to provide well-researched and complex stories.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Selective quoting of speeches and judgments<\/strong> of judges by journalists in India has become a matter of concern. This practice has a tendency to distort the public\u2019s understanding<\/strong> of important legal issues. Judges\u2019 decisions are often complex and nuanced.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What is the way forward to ensure a robust media?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It is the collective responsibility of journalists as well as other stakeholders<\/strong> to weed out any element of prejudice from the process of reporting events.<\/p>\n

Journalists should provide a neutral view, in case of reporting on legal matters.<\/p>\n

A comprehensive fact-checking mechanism<\/strong> should be in place to verify all news items before reporting.<\/p>\n

As citizens, we may not agree with the approach of a journalist. But disagreement must not distort into hatred<\/strong> and hatred must not be permitted to evolve into violence. The Supreme Court of India has emphasised on the rights of journalists<\/strong> in a number of judgments.<\/p>\n

Media institutions need to ensure that their newsroom culture<\/strong> reflects the diverse news content<\/strong> they are producing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source- The post is based on the article \u201c\u2018Press must remain free if a country is to remain a democracy\u2019: CJI Chandrachud at RNG awards\u201d published in the \u201cThe Indian Express\u201d on 24th March 2023. Syllabus: GS2- Polity Relevance– Issues related to media News– CJI DY Chandrachud gave a speech as the chief guest at… Continue reading \u2018Press must remain free if a country is to remain a democracy\u2019: CJI Chandrachud at RNG awards<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[212,10500],"class_list":["post-234205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-indian-express","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":2,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1700320782},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234205\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}