I am happy to
join you as we celebrate the National Press Day. The Press Council of
India was established on November 16 and this day is rightfully
commemorated throughout the country. It recommends and honours the
values of ethical and free reporting. It is the objective and the purpose of
the Press Council of India, which has strongly upheld the principles of ethics
and self-regulation. India
is the world’s largest democracy, and despite its imperfections, remains
a good example of a functioning, vigorous, constitutional and democratic State
structure. Like most other liberal democracies, our functioning is predicated
on the separation of powers between the Executive, the Legislature and
the Judiciary, and a significant role for the Press and Media. The underlying
principle of freedom of speech and expression within the four corners of
the law defines our democratic identity. (140) Both are guaranteed as a Fundamental
Right by our Constitution. Freedom of the Press and Media is a (160)
logical corollary. The Press Council of India is a mechanism for the Press to
regulate itself. Its purpose of existence is rooted in the concept that
in a democratic society the Press needs at once to be free and responsible. The Press and Media in India give vigorous expression to
different perspectives on political, developmental and social issues. The
number of publications in numerous languages, the number of audio-visual
channels and the growing availability of information through social networks
and digital communication, add both to the complexity of the profession and the
growing outreach to an increasingly larger number of readers, viewers
and netizens. Today we have over 90,000 registered publications and over 1000
TV channels under both news and(280) non-news categories. Doordarshan
itself has 37 channels with over 250 FM radio stations and numerous internet
websites. The Press and Media scene in India
veers from reasoned debate, understated expression and moderation in views to
polemical overstatement, hysterical outpouring and(320) plain
misinformation. When this happens in a number of languages, over a wide
geographical spread and virtually around the clock, it constitutes the din of
democracy and often creates more confusion than intended. It nevertheless
upholds the principle of free expression within the law, and remains an
essential part of a functioning democratic system. Apart from being the world’s largest
democracy, our demographic profile makes India perhaps the democracy which
has the largest number of young people. Nearly 52 per cent of India’s
population is below 35 years of age. It is estimated that in the next general
elections due(420) in 2019 there will be over 30 per cent
of the electorate who will be first-time voters and will seek to reflect their
aspirations and anxieties at the hustings next year. They would need to
understand the functioning of our democracy, the manner of its impact
on their lives, and their responsibilities as citizens. At this
moment, two questions come(480) to my mind. Firstly, should the
right to freedom of expression not carry with it the responsibility of
ethical conduct, of reasoned persuasion, and a projection of values and
priorities that strengthen our institutions? Secondly, should it not be the
responsibility of the Press and Media, apart from parents and teachers, to
inform and educate the youth so that they become aware of their rights,
and their responsibilities towards their families, their community, their
State, their region, their nation, and(560) to the global order?
The Press and
Media clearly has a role both as communicators and as persuaders, so that the
national debate can be enriched and the democratic structure strengthened. There is another aspect of the
responsibility of the Press and Media that I wish to highlight. This relates to
the need to articulate consistently and effectively the Indian discourse on a
wide range of global issues in a world that is increasingly becoming interdependent
and in which the(640) weight of India has grown over the decades. India’s Press has a long and venerated
history and played an important role in the freedom struggle. Mahatma
Gandhi himself was perhaps the most influential editor and journalist of
his time. He used his writings to give Indians a sense of pride and dignity,
apart from motivating them to unite and fight(700) for freedom. We
have every reason to be proud of the strength and diversity of the
Indian media. All indications are that our Press and Media will continue to
grow and continue to carefully adopt and adapt to the new digital technologies
of communication to widen its viewer base and leverage the growing numbers to
increase both its influence and revenues.
But what remains crucial is the credibility and commitment of the Press
and Media to objectivity and to that elusive search for truth. The concept
itself can be elusive, has hidden pitfalls, and requires closer
scrutiny. I recall a(800) passage I had heard some years back
that was telling and worthy of being shared with this audience: “The administrative truth was passed on to
the Media. Media took the official truth and transformed it into media truth. The Judiciary(840) accepted the official and the media truth
and transformed it into judicial truth. Media praised the judicial truth,
without attending the trial.”
It has been
noted by a careful observer that the two roles that newspapers have played are
credible-informational and critical-investigative-adversarial. The two can
complement each other, and thereby build trust so essential for retaining
readership. Public education is one aspect of it; analysis and criticism is
another. The latter also leads to discovering happenings in need of correctives
and thereby to public good. Some
disconcerting developments in relation to the Media have also been
noticed. The Chairman of the Press Council of India had observed sometime back
that the Media often diverts attention from real issues to non-issues, (960)
often divides the people and at times promotes superstition. Perhaps the
regional media shoulders a greater share of this(980) avoidable
burden. In relation to economic
liberalization in the post-1991 period, the mainstream media has generally
adopted a laudatory tone and tended to underplay its negative socio-economic
effects, though of course there have been excellent exceptions. The need
for presenting a more balanced picture is essential. There are also larger systemic issues that need
to be considered as they directly affect the Media’s objectivity and
credibility. These relate to cross-media ownership, the phenomena of
“paid news”, Media ethics and need for effective and viable self-regulatory
mechanisms, the decreasing role of editors and their editorial freedom, and the
need to improve the working condition of Media personnel including their safety
and security. Each of these is the subject of vigorous on-going debate.
There is an imperative need to put in place the required correctives. The
general corrective, to my(1120) mind, is to be found in a
simple statement that I found on the website of the Press Council of India:
“If the Press is to function
effectively as the watchdog of public interest, it must have a secure freedom
of expression, unfettered and unhindered by any authority, organized bodies or
individuals. But, this claim to press freedom has legitimacy only if it is
exercised with a due sense of responsibility. The Press must,
therefore, scrupulously adhere to accepted norms of journalistic ethics and
maintain high standards of professional conduct”. The focus is on the
unavoidable need for journalistic ethics and professional conduct. Would this
audience have serious disagreements on defining and implementing these
terms in letter and spirit? If yes, how are these objectives to be attained?
Talk of external correctives has entered the public discourse. A philosopher(1260)
once said that freedom is the appreciation of necessity, in this case the
appreciation of discipline, to attain the norms to which(1280) the Media
autonomously subscribes.
In
the twenty-first century, education is a critical tool for developing a modern
economy, a just society and a vibrant polity. It provides skills and
competencies for economic well-being and social mobility. Education strengthens
democracy by imparting to citizens the tools needed to fully participate in the
governance process. It also acts as an integrative force in society, imparting
values that foster social cohesion and national identity. A well-educated
population, equipped with the relevant knowledge, attitudes and skills is
essential for economic and social development in this century. It is estimated that developed economies and
even China will face a
shortage of about 40 million highly skilled workers by 2020, while India
is likely(1400)
to see some surplus of graduates in 2020. Thus, India could capture a higher share
of global knowledge-based economy work, if there is focus on higher
education and its quality is globally benchmarked. The challenge is to combine access with(1440)
affordability and ensure high-quality education in order to realize the potential of
the country’s demographic dividend. The future expansion of
education would have to be carefully planned so as to correct regional
and social imbalances, reinvigorate institutions to improve standards and reach
international benchmarks of excellence, match demand with supply by improving
employability, and extend the frontiers of knowledge. In the coming decades,
when technology and innovation would further reduce physical distances,
competition would progressively emanate from all corners of the planet.
Political or geographical boundaries will provide no protection against them.
We, as a nation, have to be prepared for the emerging challenges of
globalization so that these can be addressed comprehensively for India
to take its rightful place as a modern, prosperous and progressive nation-state
amongst the community of nations. A failure to do so in good measure could lead
to a demographic disaster. (1587)
