Regulation of media Dr. Anand Pradhan Associate Professor

Regulation of media means restrictions/controls on freedom of expression and creativity. True False

Regulation of media is irrelevant in the era of new media. True False

State regulation impinges the citizen’s freedom of speech and expression. - True - False

Private control destroys the country’s culture, values, norms and polity. -True -False

Media is heavily regulated in India? True False

There are two contradictory concerns related to media regulation: 1.State regulation may impinge the citizen’s freedom of speech and expression 2.Private control may destroy the country’s culture, values, norms and polity

There is no philosophical basis for the regulation of media. True False

Philosophical basis of regulation Noted philosopher Isaiah Berlin proposed two notions of liberty : Positive Liberty Negative liberty

Positive liberty The Positive liberty involves the right of unbridled action with few or no social or institutional restraints. But it also carries a potential for excess. The consequences of positive liberty were too terrible to contemplate. Berlin advised that the concept be jettisoned as a basis of democratic liberalism.

The Negative liberty According to Berlin, far more manageable was negative liberty which demarcated a zone of inalienable freedoms where sovereignty of the individual could not be breached.

Rationale for regulation In all the debates about the media and its social role, freedom is necessarily balanced by a notion of responsibility. The global events in recent years have shown that the right to free speech is both contentious and elusive in its definition - The case of cartoon caricature of a revered figure published by a Danish newspaper.

Rationale for regulation… In most liberal democracies, different media have been subjected to different forms of regulation in the public interest. The Broadcast media have been more actively regulated because they utilise a scarce public resources, the airwaves. The Indian constitution speaks of article 19 freedoms as necessarily qualified by “reasonable restrictions”. - The “reasonable restrictions are”: the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of state, friendly relations with foreign state, public order, decency/morality, contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence.

Concerns related to media regulation How to restrict monopoly in media and ensure diversity and plurality in news media? Citizen’s access to media and their right to know. Content regulation to ensure decency, good taste, morality and values and restrict vulgarity, obscenity and indecency. Ensuring objectivity, accuracy, balance, fairness and honesty in journalism

Forms of regulation and Regulators State regulation Vs. Independent regulation And Self regulation

Self Regulation When news media follows ethical norms and code of conduct voluntarily and develops mechanism to ensure proper implementation of those ethical standards. But self regulation is not censorship or even self censorship. It establishes minimum principles on ethics, accuracy, personal rights and so on, while fully preserving editorial freedom on what to report and what opinions to express.

Importance of self regulation By promoting standards, self-regulation helps maintain the media’s credibility with the public. Media self-regulation helps convince the public that the free media are not irresponsible. Self-regulation protects the right of journalists to be independent, and to be judged for professional mistakes not by those in power but by their colleagues when it comes to correcting factual errors or violations.

Five reasons for the media to develop self-regulation 1. It preserves editorial freedom; 2. It helps to minimize state interference; 3. It improves the quality of content; 4. It is evidence of media accountability; 5. It helps reader’s access to the media

Self-regulation helps the media to respond to legitimate complaints, and correct mistakes in a trial-and-error way. A complaint mechanism is set up to deal with justified concerns in a rational and autonomous way. Self-regulation can be set up both industry-wide and in-house.

The Regulators -Press Council of India -Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI) -Ombudsman/Readers Editor -News Broadcasters Association

Press Council of India The Press Council Of India is a statutory body which governs the conduct of the print media. Press Council of India was first set up in 1966 by the Parliament on the recommendations of the First Press Commission. Its objective is to preserve the freedom of the press and also maintain and improve the standards of press in India.

It is a statutory, quasi judicial body which acts as a watchdog of the press. It adjudicates the complaints against and by the press for violation of ethics and for violation of the freedom of the press respectively. It can only censor but has no punitive powers.

News Ombudsman A news ombudsman receives and investigates complaints from newspaper readers or listeners or viewers of radio and television about accuracy, fairness, balance and good taste in news coverage. He or she recommends appropriate remedies or responses to correct or clarify news reports. In India, newspapers like ‘The Hindu’, ‘Rajasthan Patrika’ and ‘Sakal’ have instituted the system of news ombudsman.

Advertising regulation Most countries have strict laws and guidelines about what can or cannot be advertised. But in many countries, generally content of advertisement is not regulated by a statute but by self regulatory bodies. Self regulation is better than external regulation as it allows greater autonomy and carries more credibility. As the ASCI motto says, “ Regulate yourself or somebody else will.”

Areas of advertising regulation The ASCI mainly regulates in four areas: -Honesty ( No misleading, no distorting, no manipulation, no unfair or unjust comparisons ) -Decency ( No vulgarity or indecency and follow the norms of good taste and decency in the society ) -Social safeguarding ( No to inciting violence, hatred or intolerance, no glamorizing of criminality etc ) -Fairness of competition

Thank you.