Highlighting the importance of media freedom in a democracy, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said those in politics and government should recognise the right of the Press to “criticise, lampoon us.”
Delivering the inaugural address at the National Consultation in Media Law organised by the Law Commission of India with the National Law University, Delhi, Mr. Prasad said the leaders in his government, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, were those who fought for Press freedom during the Emergency.
Noting that the Indian media has matured during the comparatively short span of its existence, he spoke of his early years as a panellist on TV. “Earlier we used to outshout each other. Anchors spoke more, some still do it. But the process of maturing has started,” he said.
He said “as much as media freedom is necessary and important, for the media self-regulation must be the mode.”
“Paid news is sickening, please find a way out of it. I congratulate The Hindu for its work in bringing this out. Politicians have to realise that Indian voters are mature and cannot be swayed by aggressive promises alone,” Mr. Prasad said.
He said the Press freedom should be equally balanced with right to privacy, so also the right of the media should not hinder the freedom to conduct a fair trial.
“My government recognises the importance of social media. We have no intention to curb this flowering of creativity. But there are reasonable restrictions prescribed under the Constitution, which will be used only in extreme, rare circumstances and with the complete approval of the higher authorities, that too only in serious issues threatening our national or communal framework,” the Minister said.
Speaking at a panel discussion on the topic media regulations, N. Ram, Chairman, Kasturi & Sons Ltd., publishers of The Hindu , said there was hardly any self-regulation for the Press today.
Mr. Ram said The Hindu introduced the idea of a full-time news ombudsman independent of the editor. He said this practice however had not spread to other newspapers, and TV certainly did not have it.
He said how even the Press Council of India was dominated by people from the newspaper industry. He said an independent mechanism, which was also transparent, was crucial for self-regulation.
Senior journalist Siddharth Varadarajan moderated the session.
