CHALLNGES FACED BY MEDIA DURING TIME OF EMERGENCY

With freedom of speech being suspended as a fundamental right as then Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi declared the emergency, the newspaper printing presses were raided and
for the next two days newspaper went out of circulation.

In the early hours of June 26, 1975, then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed declared a
state of Emergency in India citing threat to the national security by "internal
disturbances". The then prime minister Indira Gandhi suspended the civil liberties - free
press among other things - and the Constitution was amended and altered. During the
emergency, journalists, Opposition leaders, and activists were thrown in jail under the
Draconian rule of Indira Gandhi government.

The Indira Gandhi Government laid out some ground rules for the journalists across the
country and they were told about certain “guidelines” to follow. By the time they came to
know what exactly was happening in the nation, many leaders and activists were in jail.
Among many rules, one was - “Where news is plainly dangerous, newspapers will assist
the Chief Press Adviser by suppressing it themselves. Where doubts exist, reference may
and should be made to the nearest press adviser.” As the media was under an attack in
the country during the 21-month emergency period, the foreign media was on its heels to
get the stories out about the situation in the country where Constitutional rights were
suspended.
The Indian media was informed not to pay heed to the rumours. All the newspapers in
the country were asked to take permission before publishing any piece by the Chief Press
Advisor, a position that was created to censor the news.
 
Most of the mainstream media newspapers and magazines were under the wrath of
Emergency. The scissors of censors cut through big publishers
like Himmat, Janata, Frontier, Sadhana, Swarajya among many others. Some were
threatened to be thrown out of publications and others were put in jail. The Indian
Express and The Statesman were first ones to protest through their editions. 

As a revolt, The Indian Express and the Statesman left their editorial pages empty. This

move was soon followed by other publications too. According to IE, journalists from The
Times of London, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times were expelled. The
Guardian and The Economists correspondents flew back to the United Kingdom after
receiving threats. 

Mark Tully, the voice of BBC, was also withdrawn by the channel. According to the Home
Ministry, in May of 1976, almost 7,000 journalists and media personnel were
arrested.

Journalist Kuldip Nayar was arrested by the police for protesting against the emergency
with other scribes in Delhi. The Opposition leaders were also fighting the same cause
across the country. One of them was a veteran Bharatiya Janata Party, the then Janata
Party leader LK Advani, who spent months in jail during the Emergency. 

Advani’s words ring in the ears of every Indian after the Emergency was lifted. He
addressed the media and said: “You were asked only to bend, but you crawled.”
 CHALLNGES FACED BY MEDIA IN TODAY’S TIME
As media influence grows beyond human reach, the fourth pillar of democracy takes
pride in being fair, impartial, and presenting the facts. However, as recent events
demonstrate, media is confronted with several challenges that jeopardize its very own
function, including the current test of nationalism in the name of religion, hate crimes,
and social evils; the media has played a disastrous role, whether it is through the
propagation of religious ideologies, poor reporting in sensitive cases or investigative
cowboy journalism that harmed the media's credibility.

With time, the media's methods of disseminating its views, viewpoints, evidence, and
knowledge have expanded. Nowadays, knowledge is exchanged in a variety of ways
including blogs, WhatsApp groups, YouTube channels, television channels, newspapers,
magazines, smartphone and desktop apps. India has grown into one of the world's
largest media markets. Some of the Major Challenges that plague Indian Media today
are:

1. A Handful Ownership of Media:

Transparency in the inner workings of Indian media organizations is diminishing

resulting in the jeopardization of the media's reputation.
The majority of Indian media outlets are owned/ operated either by politically connected
individuals or businessman having their political influence inclined towards one political
party. For instance, Subhash Chandra, a BJP Member of Parliament, owns the Zee
Network, which includes the channels Zee News, Wion, and others.

2. Attack on Journalist:

With the rising hate crimes and threat calls faced by a journalist in today’s era becomes
a very serious issue for the media industry to provide fair reporting in any subject matter
especially after the death of Gauri Lankesh - news reporter; hence it becomes an
impediment for the current lot of journalist to provide fearless journalism.

Therefore in any large scale democracy; dissent is the safety valve of the democracy
as said by Justice Chandrachud; but still these ground reporters are faced by NSA
(National Security Act), UAPA (Unlawful Activity Prevention Act) wherein they have to
face serious legal issues. An example being the Uttar Pradesh incident of ground
reporting showing the incompetence of Mid-day meal schemes of state government
wherein the reality was as shocking as reported by the media person.

3. Lack of Diversity in Reportage:

There are 800 television channels in India, as well as 36,000 weekly magazine
publications and thousands of web portals. On the surface, there is a dearth of variety in
news coverage as a result of the 'tyranny of distance'. For instance, many remote areas,
such as the northeast, south India, and tier-3 cities, receive little coverage in the
national media. With such impediments to journalistic freedom, it is important to
consider the strength of the fourth pillar of our democracy's base.
 4. Paid News:

It is one of the most serious challenges to media. It is fundamental ethical media to be

truthful and fair since a vast number of people will eventually see it and shape their
opinions based on it.

5. Media Trial:

A media trial is a trial similar to a court of law in which the media house declares an
individual innocent or guilty before the court's final judgment based on debates and
discussions. Additionally, it results in the formation of beliefs in the minds of
individuals, thus impacting the case's meritocracy. The media trials were visible in the
Jessica Lal murder case and the Sushant Singh Rajput drug case, among others.

Conclusion
The media is critical to the country's governance and overall growth. The same has been
emphasized on several occasions in the past whether it be the Emergency era of 1975 or
today’s era of widespread protest of Farmer, CAA-NRC etc. Numerous media outlets are
doing admirable work by disseminating true and reliable facts to the populace. A few
months ago, the Supreme Court took cognizance in response to the controversial Farm
Bills passed by the Union government. On the other hand, it has been repeatedly
highlighted that many media outlets do not prioritize verifying information firstly and
instead prioritize delivering it as quickly as possible for their breaking news and
commercial advertisements in gaining TRP. Due to a variety of factors, including the
sponsorship of media outlets by large corporations and politicians, ethical practices of
media have been undermined in the past and at the present.