Challenges to Press Freedom in India

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kalyani Chadha ◽  
Sachin Arya
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Physical Violence ◽  
Press Freedom ◽  
Current Affairs ◽  
Economic Forces ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Media ◽  
Government Data ◽  
The Right ◽  
Annual World

Since the late 1990s, the news media landscape in India has experienced widespread and arguably transformative shifts that are manifest in the explosive growth of media outlets and consumption at both national and regional levels. As of 2021, the country has over 100,000 registered periodicals and newspapers, with 17,000 dailies that report a combined circulation of over 240 million copies according to government data, as well as an estimated 400 news and current affairs channels and numerous news-related websites. Yet despite the existence of a seemingly dynamic and expansive news landscape, many observers have expressed significant concerns about the independence of the Fourth Estate in the world’s largest democracy. According to the annual World Press Freedom Index, compiled by the media watchdog group Reporters without Borders, India has experienced a steady decline in press freedom since 2015, slipping from a position of 135/180 in 2015 to 140/180 in 2019, and 142 in the 2020 report. At present, India ranks behind most of its neighbors, including Afghanistan (122), Bhutan (67), Nepal (112), and Sri Lanka (127). Thus, even though the writers of India’s constitution clearly recognized the right to the freedom of the press as an essential part of the freedom of speech and expression as guaranteed in Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, and this right has generally been upheld in court, the space for the free expression of views and critique by the press—widely recognized as crucial to democratic functioning—has been shrinking consistently in the Indian context due to a variety of threats ranging from physical violence and intimidation of journalists, and government pressure on news outlets to structural economic forces.

scholarly journals The suitcase, the samurai sword and the Pumpkin: Asian crime and NZ news media treatment

2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-204
Author(s):  
Sarah Baker ◽  
Jeanie Benson
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
News Media ◽  
Chinese Student ◽  
High Profile ◽  
First Case ◽  
Current Affairs ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Media ◽  
Young Daughter

In 2005 and 2007, two high profile crimes were reported in the New Zealand media. The first case invovled the murder of a young Chinese student, Wan Biao, whose dismembered body was discovered in a suitcase. The second case involved domestic violence in which a Chinese man murdered his wife and fled the scene with their young daughter— who the press later dubbed 'Pumpkin' when she was found abandoned in Melbourne, Australia. The authors discuss how news and current affairs programmes decontextualise 'Asian' stories to portray a clear divide between the 'New zealand' public and the separate 'Asian other'. Asians are portrayed as a homogenous group and the media fails to distinguish between Asians as victims of crimes as a separate category to Asians as perpetrators of crimes. This may have consequences for the New Zealand Asian communities and the wider New Zealand society as a whole. 

LEGAL BASIS OF PRESS FREEDOM IN IRELAND

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (XX) ◽  
pp. 19-44
Author(s):  
Michał Kaczmarczyk
Keyword(s):  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Press Freedom ◽  
Legal Basis ◽  
Legal Tradition ◽  
Freedom Of Establishment ◽  
Media Freedom ◽  
Media System ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Right

The concept of freedom of the press is closely linked to freedom of expression. Freedom of the media is an instrument of free speech and is derived from the freedom of expression, independence of thought, opinion, ideas and judgement. Freedom of the media is possible only if the state ensures real independence of expression, access to reliable information, freedom of publication and publishing. Respecting media freedom through non-interference by public auReceived thorities is an important part of the European standard of democracy, and is aligned with the essence of the liberal democratic regime. Ireland has a diversified market of newspapers and magazines, created by private entities, operating on the basis of well-developed guarantees of freedom of establishment that are deeply rooted in the Irish legal tradition. Freedom of speech, which is also enjoyed by the media, is enshrined in the Constitution, and appropriate institutions have been established to protect it, defending the right of the media to obtain and disseminate information, but also to safeguard the principles of law and ethics in journalism, combining the right of the press to express opinions and freely describe reality with the right of the beneficiaries of this activity (readers) to obtain information that is reliable, true, honest and credible. This article attempts to characterize the legal basis of press freedom in Ireland (both domestic and international) and to describe the institutions that uphold this freedom, ensuring that the media system functions properly as one of the subsystems of the social system.

scholarly journals The Right of Privacy and Freedom of the Press: The Concept of Legal Justice in Indonesia

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
Abdul Haris Nasution
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
Press Freedom ◽  
Freedom Of The Press ◽  
Final Decision ◽  
Moral Sanction ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Right Of Privacy ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact

This study aims to describe the problems faced by the party who feels aggrieved or impaired by his personal rights due to media coverage. The dilemma arises because based on the legal system of the press, the media are given protection from lawsuits. This is to guarantee the position of freedom of the press in a democratic system. However, the impact that has been caused due to defamation cannot be resolved simply by using the right of reply. This study aims to explore how legal mechanisms provide justice for victims due to media behavior in line with the principle of press freedom in Indonesia. The results show that the Indonesian Press Law does not have a clear system of legal liability. The rule of conduct in the Press Law is absolutely not regulated. Thus, the right of reply that is contained in the media consciousness or "order" of the Press Council is not a binding and final decision because the Press Council's body only gives an opinion. Violation of the ethics of the press should not only have a moral sanction but also a legal sanction with all its consequences.

Media Law

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Butt ◽  
Tim Lindsey
Keyword(s):  
Press Freedom ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
High Profile ◽  
The Right To Privacy ◽  
Electronic Transactions ◽  
The Press ◽  
Information Law ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right

The Indonesian media is vibrant and expanding, although ownership concentration is a significant problem. This chapter describes the regulatory framework governing the media that was developed after Soeharto’s system of tight control was abolished. It pays particular attention to the Press Council and the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission. It also covers journalists’ associations, press freedom, censorship, and the right to privacy; and the law of defamation and related provisions in the law on electronic transactions and information. Freedom of information law and laws protecting state secrets are also covered. The chapter discusses two high-profile defamation cases that created controversy in Indonesia—those involving Prita Mulyasari and Tommy Soeharto. These reveal serious flaws in the current legal regime governing the media in Indonesia.

How to Tell the Truth without Outraging the Press?

MedienJournal ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Li Xiguang
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Public Affairs ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
The Public ◽  
News Stories ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
Chinese News Media

The commercialization of meclia in China has cultivated a new journalism business model characterized with scandalization, sensationalization, exaggeration, oversimplification, highly opinionated news stories, one-sidedly reporting, fabrication and hate reporting, which have clone more harm than good to the public affairs. Today the Chinese journalists are more prey to the manipu/ation of the emotions of the audiences than being a faithful messenger for the public. Une/er such a media environment, in case of news events, particularly, during crisis, it is not the media being scared by the government. but the media itself is scaring the government into silence. The Chinese news media have grown so negative and so cynica/ that it has produced growing popular clistrust of the government and the government officials. Entering a freer but fearful commercially mediated society, the Chinese government is totally tmprepared in engaging the Chinese press effectively and has lost its ability for setting public agenda and shaping public opinions. 

The Architecture of Our Discontent

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yochai Benkler ◽  
Robert Faris ◽  
Hal Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Political Communication ◽  
News Media ◽  
The United States ◽  
Online Media ◽  
First Year ◽  
Media Ecosystem ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Right ◽  
Integrated Media ◽  
Presidential Election Campaign

This chapter presents the book’s macrolevel findings about the architecture of political communication and the news media ecosystem in the United States from 2015 to 2018. Two million stories published during the 2016 presidential election campaign are analyzed, along with another 1.9 million stories about Donald Trump’s presidency during his first year. The chapter examines patterns of interlinking between online media sources to understand the relations of authority and credibility among publishers, as well as the media sharing practices of Twitter and Facebook users to elucidate social media attention patterns. The data and mapping reveal not only a profoundly polarized media landscape but stark asymmetry: the right is more insular, skewed towards the extreme, and set apart from the more integrated media ecosystem of the center, center-left, and left.

scholarly journals The Strategic Bias: How Journalists Respond to Antimedia Populism

2021 ◽  
pp. 194016122110226
Author(s):  
Ayala Panievsky
Keyword(s):  
Prime Minister ◽  
Press Freedom ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Best Response ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
The Media ◽  
Right Wing Populism ◽  
Strategic Bias ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
The Right

As populist campaigns against the media become increasingly common around the world, it is ever more urgent to explore how journalists adopt and respond to them. Which strategies have journalists developed to maintain the public's trust, and what may be the implications for democracy? These questions are addressed using a thematic analysis of forty-five semistructured interviews with leading Israeli journalists who have been publicly targeted by Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. The article suggests that while most interviewees asserted that adherence to objective reporting was the best response to antimedia populism, many of them have in fact applied a “strategic bias” to their reporting, intentionally leaning to the Right in an attempt to refute the accusations of media bias to the Left. This strategy was shaped by interviewees' perceived helplessness versus Israel's Prime Minister and his extensive use of social media, a phenomenon called here “the influence of presumed media impotence.” Finally, this article points at the potential ramifications of strategic bias for journalism and democracy. Drawing on Hallin's Spheres theory, it claims that the strategic bias might advance Right-wing populism at present, while also narrowing the sphere of legitimate controversy—thus further restricting press freedom—in the future.

scholarly journals A day for freedom

1996 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 84-85
Author(s):  
Reporters Sans Frontieres
Keyword(s):  
Annual Report ◽  
Press Freedom ◽  
Freedom Of The Press ◽  
The Press ◽  
The World ◽  
The Right

On 3 May 1996, International Press Freedom Day, Reporters Sans Frontieres published its seventh Annual report on freedom of the press throughout the world, which gave an account of infringements of the right to be informed in 149 countries.    

Health and the Right to Privacy

1999 ◽  
Vol 25 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 193-201
Author(s):  
Paul Starr
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Sexual Relations ◽  
Right To Privacy ◽  
The Right To Privacy ◽  
The Press ◽  
Right Of Privacy ◽  
The Right

When Louis Brandeis and Samuel Warren introduced the phrase “the right to privacy” as the title of an article in the Harvard Law Review in December 1890, they were primarily concerned about a right of privacy from the news media. “The press,” they wrote, “is overstepping in every direction the obvious bounds of propriety and of decency. Gossip is no longer the resource of the idle and of the vicious, but has become a trade, which is pursued with industry as well as effrontery. To satisfy a prurient taste the details of sexual relations are spread broadcast in the columns of the daily papers.”

Freedom of the press and perceptions about government corruption

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 554-566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Flavin ◽  
Fielding Montgomery
Keyword(s):  
Political Corruption ◽  
Press Freedom ◽  
Freedom Of The Press ◽  
Free Press ◽  
Present Evidence ◽  
Government Corruption ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Media ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Relationship

The media can play an important role in the relationship between citizens and their government by acting as a watchdog and providing timely information about malfeasance and corruption. We examine whether citizens’ perceptions of government corruption are closer to country experts’ assessments in countries where there are higher levels of press freedom. Using data on citizens’ perceptions of government corruption and country expert evaluations of levels of political corruption for over 100 countries, we present evidence that the relationship between expert measures of corruption and citizens’ perceptions is heightened as the level of press freedom increases across our sample. These findings suggest that a free press can play an important role in bringing corruption to light, educating citizens, and potentially allowing them to better hold their elected officials accountable.

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