Press Freedom: Why It Matters for Democracy and Society

Introduction

Media plays a vital role in a democracy. It plays a critical role in forming the public opinion regarding various events. Due to the emergence of radio, cable, internet, etc., the impact created by media has increased. Media is responsible for informing the public in a proper fashion and with honesty. This is why is freedom of press important essay where this topic will be considered. 

The very gist of a democracy is a free media which honestly keeps the public well informed in a legal and the right way. Hence, the responsibility on the media is quite essential. The constitution of India recognizes the importance of a free press and respects the fact that a free media is one of the pillars of foundation in a democracy. Hence, if the media is controlled by a person or some organization it completely kills the very soul of a democracy as the person or the organization controlling the media will in a way be controlling the country. The media is responsible for bringing the wrongs of the functionaries in front of the public, hoping that those wrongs will be corrected. The judiciary has also benefited on various occasions from ethical and informative journalism by relying on the information provided by the media. The second side of this coin is based around the fact that with great power comes great responsibility. With all the freedom the media exercises and enjoys is connected the accountability which is expected from them. Now the media has also become corrupt. Like every other thing, with competition in the press market the competitors in the market use malpractices and are dishonest in order to surpass the competition in the market. This leads to misinforming the public which makes the public form wrong opinions about various events. Such wrong and irresponsible journalism ends up effecting the interests of the parties involved in litigation before the courts. Such irresponsible journalism and fake stories published by the media cannot be justified or defended under the freedom the constitution has given to the media. The press media is taking an advantage of the freedom they have been given by the constitution just to earn a competitive edge over the competitors. There have been times when the cases are still pending in the court, but the media has already declared that who is guilty and who is innocent, but the court has still not passed its judgement. This does not end here, even after the judgement, which is opposite to the verdict passed by the media. The innocent person who was declared guilty by the media still suffers and along with him/her suffer his/her family and friends. This is was is known as media trial. The initial purpose of supplying the information to the public was transparency and to inform the public about the truth of the case but now it has started interfering with the system in place to attend such issues. 

Repercussions of Media Trial

One of the most important aspect of a free media is the freedom of speech as it plays a crucial role in forming the public opinion regarding the issue. In the case of Indian Express Newspaper, Venkataramiah, J. of the Supreme Court of India stated, “freedom of press is the heart of social and political intercourse. The press has now assumed the role of the public educator making formal and non- formal education possible in a large scale particularly in the developing world, where television and other kinds of modern communication are not still available for all sections of society. The purpose of the press is to advance the public interest by publishing facts and opinions without which a democratic electorate [Government] cannot make responsible judgements. Newspapers being purveyors of news and views having a bearing on public administration very often carry material which would not be palatable to Governments and other authorities.” This highlights the importance of freedom of press in a smooth functioning of a democracy. Hence, every citizen has a right to discuss the general things freely and make their choices freely. Freedom of press stems from freedom of expression which is guarded by the constitution, many jurists have a similar view regarding the freedom of media. The opposing principle to media trial is fair trial. A fair trial would mean a trial without any useless pressures and an uninfluenced trial. Every citizen has a right to a fair trial. Therefore, a journalist may be held liable for contempt of Court if he does anything that might in any way affect the trial process or the judgement of the case by tampering with the impartiality of the court. The principle of natural justice plays a vital role in the formation of the provision of contempt of court. The principle of natural justice states, ‘every accused has a right to a fair trial’ and the principle that, ‘justice may not only be done it must also seem to be done’ complements it. 

Constitutionality or Unconstitutionality of Media Trial

Freedom of press is not a separate right like any other right in India but in nations like United States of America freedom of press is a separate and a definitive right. Though, in India, the Supreme Court has recognized, time and again, freedom of press under the ambit of Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India. Article 19(1)(a) talks about the right every person has to express oneself and to speak freely. Further, it also includes the right to information and the right to spread information through any and all types of media. In a case, the Supreme Court recognized media as “an essential prerequisite of a democratic form of government” and further called it “the mother of all other liberties in a democratic society”. The media in a way keeps the judge and the system of law in check by keeping them on their toes and as the public is being supplied with the information which is enabling transparency, whenever the system of law goes wrong somewhere the public will be there to point it out and will not let the system get away with it. But boundaries need to be drawn in every case, the media needs to know its limit and not spread any unhealthy information or any information in an unhealthy manner. As was spoken about in the previous paragraph, any information or anything done by the media which interferes with the justice system and the trial constitutes contempt of court. There have been cases in which the court proceedings are still pending but the media has declared who is guilty. This adversely affects the wrongly accused person and his friends and family. Further, such irresponsible journalism may tamper with the impartiality of the court and especially the judge. This jeopardizes the right for a fair trial of the accused. In the case of Aarushi Talwar, the media cooked up stories and started spreading false information regarding the events and tampered with the justice system, but they were immune and were not held accountable for anything. Moreover, the Supreme Court, in a case, stated “the primary function of the press is to provide comprehensive and objective information of all aspects of the country’s political, social, economic and cultural life. It has an educative and mobilizing role to play. It plays an important role in molding public opinion”. The main purpose of media is to enable public participation. Which further forms a transparent system in which nothing can stay hidden and if something wrong happens it can be pointed out and corrected. Jeremy Bentham said, on secrecy in the administration of justice, “in the darkness of secrecy, sinister interest and evil in every shape are in full swing. Only in proportion as publicity has place can any of the checks applicable to judicial injustice operate. Where there is no publicity, there is no justice. Publicity is the very soul of justice. It is the keenest spur to exertion and the surest of all guards against improbity. It keeps the judge himself while trying under trial.” The main and the most essential objective of Press Council Act, 1978 is to preserve the freedom of the press and to maintain it by improving the standards of the news organizations. The Press Council Act, 1978 dictates and ensures that the news agencies maintain a proper standard and respect the laws and their boundaries. Further, it ensures that the news agencies understand crucial responsibility they have upon them of informing the public honestly and in a proper manner. It further lays down the rules and regulations for the conduct of a journalist, which every journalist needs to abide by. 

A Necessary Evil

Many jurists have called social media trial a necessary evil. Due to the transparency created by the media in the ongoing issues, nothing stays hidden and the public is supplied with the relevant information which keeps the justice system on its toes and even makes them more efficient. If something wrong is done, then the public will be well informed and can raise their voice and make the wrong right and will not let the justice system get away with any such thing. Hence, the media keeps the justice system in check all the time. As it was very aptly put by Jeremy Bentham, “the judge is under trial while trying a case”. This means, media keeps the judge on toes while trying the case as the judge knows that the media will ensure full transparency and the whole world in a sort of way is watching and following the trial. Moreover, due to such vast coverage of the media the people of the nation are becoming more and more aware of their constitutional rights. But the media needs to keep reminding themselves time and again that trial by media should be done in public interest and not their own personal or manipulative reasons. If the organizations are putting their own personal interests above the public interest, then it completely defeats the primary purpose of social media trial. Hence, social media trial can be called a necessary evil as it may be an evil if not carried out within the boundaries and sometimes within the boundaries also it may cause distress. But at the same time, it is necessary as it keeps the justice system on its toes by enabling full transparency so that the public is aware of the ongoing events. Therefore, if the media is doing its job in a morally correct manner and abiding by the law then it indeed is a necessary evil which keeps checking the justice system.

Conclusion

Media has a great influence over the public and the opinion that gets created in everyone’s mind. Therefore, it is quite important to regulate the freedom of media in a manner so that it does not tamper with the justice system and does not affect the right to a fair trial which ever citizen possesses. Hence, media should be allowed freedom of speech and expression till it does not affect the trial in any manner. The rising competition in the media market has increased malpractices and crossing of boundaries. Organization, in order to gain a competitive edge over its competitors, turn to malpractices and use wrong means just to increase their viewers and earn profit. Instead of informing the public honestly and enabling proper transparency, the media ends up fooling the public which completely defeats the main purpose of social media trial, which is to keep public rightly informed about the ongoing events. Earlier, the type of journalism used to be responsible, the journalists used to study the information in a proper manner, without jumping into conclusions. Only after properly studying the collected information would the journalists make any accusations and with proper information backing those accusations. But now the media has become self-centered or is controlled by one person or some organization which defeats the purpose of a free media and social media trial. The media after irresponsibly assessing the information hands out media verdicts and media punishment, which is not legal and is way outside the boundary of the media. No doubt, the media follows the police investigations and the trials closely, keeping the system on its toes, and the media has helped in many cases by providing the court with relevant information. But still the media should know their limit and should not tamper with the process of justice and the fair trial which every citizen has a right to. Hence, it is the medias duty to show the truth and the relevant truth. If the journalists or any organization tampers with the justice system or the fair trial, the journalist or the organization can be held in contempt to court. Like a media tied down with government rules and regulations is unhealthy for the nation, similarly, a media without any regulation and working irresponsibly is also unhealthy for the nation. The courts and the justice system also recognize the importance of the media, but the freedom given to the media needs to be regulated in a proper. In such a manner, where it does not create any hindrance in the process of administration of justice. Hence, we can understand and conclude that social media trial is indeed a necessary evil. Even though social media trial showcases the freedom of speech and expression in a democracy but our nations media and public is still not there, where they know their boundaries and they voice their opinions but at the same time do not hinder the administration of justice and the process laid down by the law. A free media is a critical part of a democracy, but it will only work to the benefit of the nation if the media knows its responsibilities and functions responsibly, keeping their selfish motives aside.