Is Press in India Really Free?

Yes they are absolutely free to sing the praise of ruling party and get the abundant Tender Ads of Govt., or twist the critical news items impacting a party or celeb and get a fat pay off from the side that benefits from the twisted version! Rulers in particular are ready to pay anything from say, an year’s anticipated profit of a highly circulated newspaper or much viewed TV channel, for a single effective news item in their favour, during election time! If they would put pro opposition / neutral stories also they would get a good reward from major opposition groups, but run the risk of losing govt Ads in the event of present rulers winning again!! These are all supposed to be no secrets; only the ”rate” varies, season to season, depending upon the sharpness of contest!

FREEDOM OF THE PRESS:-
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials. While such freedom mostly implies the absence of interference from an overreaching state, its preservation may be sought through constitutional or other legal protections. With respect to governmental information, any government may distinguish which materials are public or protected from disclosure to the public based on classification of information as sensitive, classified or secret and being otherwise protected from disclosure due to relevance of the information to protecting the national interest. Many governments are also subject to sunshine laws or freedom of information legislation that are used to define the ambit of national interest.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference, and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers” This philosophy is usually accompanied by legislation ensuring various degrees of freedom of scientific research (known as scientific freedom), publishing, press and printing the depth to which these laws are entrenched in a country’s legal system can go as far down as its constitution. The concept of freedom of speech is often covered by the same laws as freedom of the press, thereby giving equal treatment to spoken and published expression. Besides legal definitions, some non-governmental organizations use other criteria to judge the level of press freedom around the world: Reporters without Borders considers the number of journalists murdered, expelled or harassed, and the existence of a state monopoly on TV and radio, as well as the existence of censorship and self-censorship in the media, and the overall independence of media as well as the difficulties that foreign reporters may face.