Right to freedom and the role of Media

The right to freedom is one of the most important fundamental rights under the Constitution of India. A country cannot be considered a truly democratic state if it does not give people the freedom they need to develop and grow. The six fundamental rights inscribed in our constitution are considered essential for the functioning of Indian democracy. The right to freedom gives citizens basic freedom of speech and expression, of forming associations, the freedom of personal liberty etc. The Constitution protects six rights concerning the freedom of:

• Speech and expression

• Assembly

• Association

• Movement

• Residence

• Profession

Freedom of the press on media refers to the rights given by the constitution of India under the freedom and expression of speech and article 19 1a. The Constitution encourages journalism to promote democracy by allowing it to voice people's opinions on the government. Press and media are widely recognised however it does have reasonable restrictions under Article 19 2a to protect the safety of the people of the nation as well as the interest of the nation. Article 19 states 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 regardless of frontiers.’

Importance of media:

The media is part of our daily lives and has a huge influence on our society. The importance of media is growing every day due to globalization.

The Importance of Media includes

Awareness

Through sources of media, we receive information on what goes on in the country as well as the world. This information helps us to be aware of and to understand what is happening around us. By analyzing the information we receive, we create our own opinions about different topics and concepts.

Developing Critical Sense

The media is very important for education, as it helps to develop a critical sense. The media puts forth a vast number of opinions of different people. People criticizing those opinions with which they disagree with this also gives an analytical sense.

Knowledge Contribution

Thanks to its enormous power, the media brings forth knowledge about several different topics. This serves to bring children and teenagers closer to various sources of information and develop curiosity about what they want to learn.

The Right to Know the Truth

Democracy is so far the fairest system of government that exists today. It allows the people to elect their rulers and then control what they do as public officials.

The media play a fundamental role in this process. Journalists must strive to tell the truth about the lives of politicians and show them as they are. In this way, every citizen can evaluate politicians. According to each one’s criteria, he or she will vote for the one he or she finds most honest and capable.

They Determine Our Place in the World

The media greatly influences society. They inform people about what is happening. The media moves the masses, creating different social movements. In turn, each member of society indicates the future changes that are coming.

The media plays a very important role in exposing various social problems, thanks to which different solutions can be deduced, in addition to responding to those who do not fulfil their tasks. In this way, authorities in different areas of government are evaluated according to their work.

Promote Change

Undoubtedly the media accompany the masses during each of the changes that take place. Over the years people have changed their way of informing themselves, preferring some media and leaving others aside.

One of the most important changes that have taken place in the media is the popularization of the use of social networks. People interact with other users, create opinions, and set trends, among other behaviours.

What comes under the freedom of the media?

To preserve the democratic way of life people must have the freedom to express their feelings and to make their views known to the people at large. The press, a powerful medium of mass communication, should be free to play its role in building a strong viable society. Denial of freedom of the press to citizens would undermine the power to influence public opinion and counter democracy.

Freedom of the press is not specifically mentioned in article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution and what is mentioned there is only freedom of speech and expression. In the Constituent Assembly Debates, it was made clear by Dr Ambedkar, Chairman of the Drafting Committee, that no special mention of the freedom of the press was necessary at all as the press and an individual or a citizen were the same as far as their right of expression was concerned. The right to freedom of the press includes the right to propagate ideas and views and to publish and circulate them. However, the freedom of the press is not absolute, just as the freedom of expression is not. Public Interest has to be safeguarded by Article 19(1)(2) which lays down reasonable limitations to the freedom of expression in matters affecting:

• Sovereignty and integrity of the State

• Security of the State

• Friendly relations with foreign countries

• Public order

• Decency and morality

• Contempt of court

• Defamation

• Incitement to an offence

Development of freedom of media

Historically, the origin of the concept of freedom of the press took place in England. From the earliest times, in the West, persecution for the expression of opinion even in matters relating to science or philosophy was restored to by both the Church and the State, to suppress alleged hearsay, corruption of the youth or sedition. Such restraints, through licensing and censorship, came to be accentuated after the invention of printing towards the latter part of the 15th Century, and the appearance of newspapers in the 17th Century, - which demonstrated how powerful the press was as a medium of expression.

Shortly after, newspapers came to take up the cause of the Opposition against monarchical absolutism, which in turn, led to different methods of suppression. It is in protest against such governmental interference that freedom of the Press was built up in England. Opposition to governmental interference, which had been brewing for some time, was supported by logical arguments by Milton in his Areopagitica (1644), for instance, that free men must have the ‘liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties’. Any form of censorship was intolerable, whether imposed by a royal decree or by legislation. freedom of the press, in England, means the right to print and publish anything which is not prohibited by law or made an offence, such as sedition, contempt of court, obscenity, defamation, or blasphemy.

Criticisms:

Mass media has been having its influence on societies in several ways. Due to its impact in shaping society it at the same time faces severe criticism from all around. People who resist change in lifestyle and social norms are not seeing the mass media as doing more service to society as it is proving destructive.

Conceals more than it reveals

The foremost charge on the media, especially the news media, is that it only tells people half-truths. The better part of a story is falling victim to gatekeepers or those who filter facts before passing them on to

common people. In crisis times like wars or political chaos media only tells facts that the interest groups want to appear before the masses. Media hardly believe, or make an effort, to tell the whole truth about any matter of general interest. Leaving people guessing about the untold part of the story is tantamount to a serious offence.

Exaggerates

It has become a habit of the media to blow up out of proportion some issues of sensitive nature which creates so much panic among the people (authorities) who instead of finding a lasting solution to those issues just try to hush up the matters. Government departments and many other agencies which counter these situations frequently are finding no way to stop the media from doing so.

Biases

Media bias at times is too clear to be ignored. Siding with political parties, or showing despise to certain government functionaries, at times persons like ministers – is a common sight. But it works both sides; the government-controlled media in all the countries show a visible tilt towards the government while giving a bashing to the opposition and on the other hand private sector media – newspapers and TV

channels, remain occupied to lash out at the government's actions and allow the opposition to drag

matters in the public which should have been talked about in the parliament.

Private life,

All people, including the ones living in hall-of-fame, have a private life. Media for its interest keeps peeping into the private life affairs of famous people.

Blackmails governments

Media is blamed for blackmailing even the strongest of governments. At times autocratic governments find no way but to get blackmailed by popular media. Little wonder if there is a general perception that media

stand for arm-twisting of people who are at the helm of political or financial authority.

Article Written By:

Niharika Birari (Writing Associate, TAO) Design By:

Vaidehi Rajesh (Design Associate, TAO) Edited By:

Soham Agrawal (Managing Director, TAO)