In a country like India, where there are certain rights and duties to be exercised by the citizens, there is a full fledged freedom for speech. The citizens are entitled to freedom of speech, where one can express their feelings and thoughts through various media platforms. Freedom of press or Freedom of media is the right that is exercised freely where the speech is expressed through electronic media or through the publishing of the content through newspapers, articles and magazines, etc.
The information or the content may be governmental and non governmental. The information related to government is of two types- public and sensitive (that shouldn’t be disclosed to the public). The freedom of press also allows writers, reporters, critics, in fact all the citizens to get their information, writings, articles reports,etc published. Though, there is no mention of Freedom of Press anywhere in our Indian Constitution, the Press enjoys Freedom of Expression as every other citizen according to the Article 19 of the Constitution. The Article 19 of the Constitution provids freedom for expression that is, one can express their thoughts and views without any fear through oral, written, electronic broadcasting and press. Hence there is no law that opposes the information or puts barriers for the circulation of the information. Protecting the public interest, the Constitution doesn’t not provide any power to the government to oppose the Press.
There is a key role that is played by the Press in the country. It’s the one of the most important mediums through which the citizens of the country will be aware of all the activities going around and in the country and world. Most of us read newspapers in the morning, watch news in the TV channels, read articles and magazines, be updated with all the latest trends and technology through the help of media that broadcasts the information. We are all enthusiastic to know what’s happening around. And therefore, Press and media have become prominent these days. The Freedom of Press includes three elements and they are Freedom to all sources of information, freedom of publications and freedom of circulation of the information.
In a democratic country like India, though the Press plays an important role there are few restrictions opposed to the Freedom of Press. It keeps an eye on the three organs of democracy i.e. the legislature , the executive and the judiciary. The restrictions that are laid on the grounds of sovereignty, integrity of India, friendly relations with other foreign states, security of India, Public order and morality, Contempt of court. It also states that who ever who tries to bring hatred or disaffection to the country or administration through oral, words or by signs or visual representations are entitled for punishment with a fine and imprisonment for a lifetime.
There are many instances where the reporters and journalists are threatened and assaulted at times for exposing few scandals and scams of many politicians and others. The journalists are continuously harassed at times and they still never give up. Though they have achieved a lot, still Press needs to be responsible and act well. The Press that always works for the welfare of the society, sometimes act irresponsible. For an instance, all the media and press focused about the actress who went viral through a wink and not the condition of the children and others in Syria who were attacked and killed ruthlessly. The Press needs to publish and broadcast the content which is true, decent and useful for the country.
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