Table of Contents

introduction...........................................................................................................................................1
Public Policy on Broadcasting and other Media....................................................................................2
COMMUNICATION.............................................................................................................................2
POLITICS AND COMMUNICATION......................................................................................................2
MEDIA POLICY...................................................................................................................................3
MEDIA POLICY- EARLY YEARS.............................................................................................................3
ROLE OF MEDIA IN MAKING AND EXECUTION OF PUBLIC POLICY IN INDIA......................................5
NEED FOR A MEDIA POLICY...............................................................................................................9
MEDIA POLICY AND FIVE-YEAR PLANS.............................................................................................12
POLICY PERSPECTIVE: EMERGING ISSUES........................................................................................13
media education in india.....................................................................................................................14
MEDIA EDUCATION- EARLY YEARS...................................................................................................14
PRESENT SITUATION........................................................................................................................16
MEDIA EDUCATION IN SCHOOL AND OUT-OF-SCHOOL...................................................................20
DECLINE IN INTERNATIONAL INTEREST...........................................................................................22
COMMUNITY-CENTRED MEDIA EDUCATION...................................................................................23
GOING BEYOND GRUNWALD...........................................................................................................24
REGULATION OF MEDIA IN INDIA........................................................................................................25
ACCOUNTABILITY OF MEDIA............................................................................................................28
PRACTICAL ASPECT OF SELF-REGULATION IN INDIA........................................................................31
FACTORS REQUIRE FOR CORRECTIVE MECHANISM.........................................................................32
CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................................................35
bibilography.........................................................................................................................................36
Media education, regulation and public
policy in India
INTRODUCTION
The Government of India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting banned the
transmission of two satellite/cable television channels for a period of three months each:
AXN, Sony’s channel for action movies, and FTV, the fashion channel from Paris. This was
perhaps the first time in the history of Indian broadcasting that a satellite channel had been
banned, without any prior notice or warning, and even more surprisingly, without any public
discussion of the law that the two channels had infringed. Apparently, the two channels were
flouting the guidelines of the Programme Code of the Cable Television Networks
(Regulation) Act of 1995.1 The Act provides detailed guidelines on obscenity and violence in
programming. Sony and FTV did not challenge the ban, nor did any public interest or civil
rights group. The English language media protested vehemently against the ban in their
features and editorials, but the Ministry stuck to its guns. After the period of the ban expired,
the two channels were promptly on the air again, back at their old game of testing the
obscenity law as represented in the Programme Code. On earlier occasions, cable operators
used to be requested by State Governments or political groups or even Hindu fundamentalist
groups to stop transmitting the Pakistani television channel, PTV, during times of war and
conflict. Most cable operators did oblige but there were others who openly challenged the
request. India does not as yet have a media regulatory body like OfCom (Office of
Communication). Each mass medium or information and communication technology (ICT)
has its own regulatory authority: the press is monitored by the Press Council of India,
telecommunications is regulated by TRAI (Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of
India), cinema by the CBFC(Central Board for Film Certification), advertising by the ASCI
(Advertising Standards Council of India), but broadcasting media, though operating under the
AIR Code and the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act (1995), do not have similar
regulatory or monitoring bodies. After the ban on AXN and FTV Indian broadcasters have
got together to evolve a non-governmental self-regulatory mechanism.

1
Kumar, Keval J (1995) Media Education, Communications and Public Policy: An Indian Perspective, Bombay:
Himalaya Publishing House.
PUBLIC POLICY ON BROADCASTING AND OTHER MEDIA
It is first essential to define the concept ‘Policy’.  This denotes, among other things, guidance
for action and may take the form of (a) a declaration of goals and objectives; (b) a declaration
of courses of action; and (c) a declaration on societal values.  A policy may be general or
specific, broad or narrow, simple or complex, public or private, written or unwritten, explicit
or implicit, discretionary or detailed and qualitative or quantitative. 

COMMUNICATION
Communication is the dissemination of information and has been the part and parcel of
human existence and so very vital for an individual’s survival.  It is the foundation for all
other fields of inquiry and is the vehicle for human action 2. The system of dissemination of
communication in the present day has undergone great changes with the development of the
state of art technology and technological advances in the field of mass communication. Media
forms a vital part of Communication systems globally today and takes two essential forms –
the Print Media and the Electronic Media.  The basic function of mass media is to provide
information, education, instruction and entertainment to the people. The media also motivates
people, directly or indirectly in any community.

India is experiencing a rapidly changing media environment.  The new vistas evolved in the
‘communications revolution’ with satellite broadcasting and other advances in technology cut
across national boundaries, putting the media beyond the reach of Governments and social
institutions such as the family and community.  While the globalisation of the media offers
the promise of greater interaction among peoples, it can also create and reinforce images,
attitudes and behaviour.

POLITICS AND COMMUNICATION

The fact that politics and communication have a natural kinship because they are essential
parts of human nature was well recognised over 2300 years ago by Aristotle in his

writings Politics  and Rhetoric.  In the former he establishes that humans are ‘political beings
[who] alone of the animals [are] furnished with the faculty of language.’ 3  And in the latter,
he begins his systematic analysis of discourse by proclaiming that ‘rhetorical study, in its
strict sense, is concerned with the modes of persuasion.’4

2
Robert E. Denton Jr.: Political Communication in America (New York: Praeger, 1990)
3
Aristotle: The Politics of Aristotle (Tr.) Ernest Barker (New York, 1970), p.5
4
Aristotle: Rhetoric (Tr.) Rhys Roberts (New York, 1954) p.  22
MEDIA POLICY
The Media policy is a set of principles and norms established to guide the behaviour of
communication systems and can also defined as a set of laws, rules, regulations and traditions
in the field of mass communication – the rules and regulations that govern the operation of
newspapers, radio, television, video and films.

It is these rules and regulations that determine government media relationship and public
access to media and telecommunication services.  These factors are extremely significant for
enabling masses to avail themselves fully of media services of their choices and preference. 
In fact, the absence of such options will mean regimentation and denial of basic human
rights.

MEDIA POLICY- EARLY YEARS

The Indian mass media today comprises over 300 TV channels (reaching 112 million
households), 50,000 newspapers and magazines (with a readership of over 250 million),
around 300 radio stations, a thousand feature films in 18 languages made every year, and a
plethora of print, electronic, digital and telecommunications media. According to the latest
FICCI-Price-Waterhouse Cooper Report (2007), the Indian media and entertainment industry
is worth over two hundred billion dollars and is projected to grow at the rate of 18- 20% per
annum.5

State policy on broadcasting has been witness to major changes over the last two decades.
Doordarshan, the national television network with 22 channels, and All India Radio, the
national radio broadcaster, are now managed by an autonomous corporation known as Prasar
Bharati (Broadcasting Trust). This means that it is an independent public service broadcasting
service, less subject to state interference but still funded by the national exchequer. However,
the Prasar Bharati rarely asserts its autonomous status and continues to function as a unit of
the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

The mushrooming of private cable and satellite channels in English and the Indian languages
since the 1990s has taken the whole entertainment industry by surprise. This unprecedented
growth has been given a new impetus with the state authorities offering uplink facilities to
both domestic and foreign networks, and even permitting domestic networks to have their
own earth-stations. But most importantly, the impetus has come from digital compression and
the dramatic crash of satellite costs, in the opening up of the sector to foreign direct

5
Kumar, Keval (2002): ‘Redefining the Goals: Reflections from India’ in Bazalgette et al., pp.153-156.
investment (FDI) and the new opportunity of media companies to go to the public for raising
capital.6

The Cable Television Networks Rules (1994) and the Cable Television Networks
(Regulation) Act (1995) were amended to Cable Television Networks (Amendment) Rules
2000. The new rules have made it mandatory for all cable operators – over 30,000 of them in
the entire country – to re-transmit at least two Doordarsahan channels (the national, and
metro channels) and one regional language channel in the prime band.7 Most cable operators
gave little attention to these channels since they were free-to-air and did not fetch any
revenue as the private satellite channels did. Further, cable operators were to be held
responsible for programmes that were offensive as well as for any advertisements of tobacco
and alcoholic beverages. Clause vii (2) of the new Rules prohibits all advertisements which
promote ‘directly or indirectly, production, sale or consumption of cigarettes, tobacco
products, wine, alcohol, liquor or other intoxicants’. Also banned are infant milk substitutes,
feeding bottles or infant foods. But cable operators ask how it is possible for them to stop
overseas channels which carry such advertisements.

The amendment regulates or prohibits the transmission of any programme or channel if it is

necessary to do in the interest of the ‘sovereignty or integrity of India or security of India or
friendly relations of Indiana with any foreign state or public order, decency or morality’.
Central and state government authorities can seize equipment or prohibit any programme or
channel if it is not in conformity with prescribed programme and advertising codes. The draft
Broadcasting Bill (2007), revisits these codes.

The Bill proposes the setting up of a Broadcast Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI).
However, the actual regulation of programme content has been left to the broadcasters
themselves. Each broadcaster is required to categorize content on the basis of theme, subject
matter, treatment, language and audiovisual presentation. Content will be categorized into U
(Unrestricted) , U/A and A (Adult) – as is the case with content in cinema. Adult content will
be scheduled only after 11.00 pm, and U/A content (for those above age 12) only after 8.00
p.m. The BRAI will oversee the work of content auditors appointed by each channel/network.

6
Singhal, Arvind and Everett M Rogers (2001): India’s Communication Revolution: From Bullock- Carts to
Cyber- Marts, New Delhi: Sage Publications.
7
Scrampical, Jacob, Jude Botelho and Ray Kancharla (Eds.)(1997): Media Education in India: Emerging Trends
and Perspectives, New Delhi: NISCORT.
The official bans on AXN and FTV, however, are nothing in comparison with the unofficial
attempts by fundamentalist groups (Hindu, Muslim and Christian) across the country to
enforce their beliefs and cultural values through sheer muscle power. Such groups threaten to
disrupt law and order if their demands are not met. So, rightist groups of Gujarat threaten
theatre owners when they screen ‘Parzania’, an anti-genocide feature film set against the
backdrop of communal riots in February-March 2002, or when art students of the Baroda
University (in mid-2007) are rounded up and put behind bars for experimenting with
religious themes in their art work.

Another area of concern is the growing popularity of social networking sites such as
www.orkut.com , www.myspace.com and www.youtube.com . The user-generated content of
these web portals is worrying the Indian government, intelligence services, nationalists and
also civil rights groups. Separatist groups of North-East India use these portals to disseminate
anti-Indian propaganda, while other groups disseminate hate-material on respected national
leaders like Mahatma Gandhi. Leaders of the religious right have also been targeted. In recent
weeks, Shiv Sena activists h8ave attacked cyber-cafes in a Bombay suburb and owners have
been asked to stop accessing such portals, and the authorities have been urged to put a halt to
these portals. The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team which has the authority to
block offensive sites has been approached by the Bombay police. Complaints have also been
lodged with Google, the company that operates the portal, but Google’s stock response is:
Orkut works on a hosted platform which allows users to create content. Google does not
proactively monitor the content, unless it is flagged. Once flagged, we will review the content
against the terms and conditions mentioned on the website. We will pull out the content if it
violates these’. Media Education teachers in India have had to grapple with such issues.9

ROLE OF MEDIA IN MAKING AND EXECUTION OF PUBLIC POLICY IN

INDIA
The impact of mass communication on the people can be seen by the fact that they are the
most powerful means of shaping public opinion. It is this potential that males for a very
complex relationship of mass communication with power, lobbies and big money. No
wonder, the influence of market and profit, and less by people. It is important to understand
the reasons behind the way news is being manufactured all over the world. Today, we live in
a unipolar world controlled by the power of big capital. Cutthroat competition and profit is at

8
Ibid 6
9
Ibid 7
the centre of this system. It is this heartless system that has come before us in the name of
market. Every human effort and every human quality is up for sale here. We are witnessing
the consequences of this expanding grip of the ideology of the market on all the means of
mass communication, which has replaced people in mass media.

Policy embodies the guideline of action along which the managers and subordinates are
expected to perform their activities in order to reach the goal of the organisation. When we tal
of policy in democracy it refers to public policy. Public policy means the policy of the
government. In a democracy the policies of the government represent the party ideology and
pre-election promises. The nation is confronted with several problems and there are various
issues, which need to be addressed’10. In a parliamentary democracy the election of a
particular party to power broadly indicates the home, foreign defence, economic and
budgetary policies that may be followed by the government.

The policy makers should give priority to the socio-cultural support structures at the time of
policy making. A policy opposed by the society and which is antagonistic to the culture of the
people cannot survive. The policies must be made in accordance with the social, political,
cultural, economic and ethical environment ‘prevailing in the country’. Thus, for its success
policy making needs to be used upon public support.

Media comes into picture. The impact of media on society was probably best summarised by
Noble Prize winner Amartya Sen who famously said that ‘no substantial’ famine has ever
occurred in any independent and democratic country with a relatively free press’.11

Modern politics is largely a mediated politics, experienced by most citizens through their
broadcast and print media of choice. Any study of democracy in contemporary conditions is,
therefore, also a study of how the media report and interpret political events and issues, and
how media itself influences the political processes and shapes public opinion. Thus, media
has become central to politics and public life in contemporary democracy.

Access to media is one of the key measures of power and equality. Media can shape power
and participation in society in negative ways, by obscuring the motives and interests behind
political decisions, or in positive ways, by promoting the involvement of people in those
decisions. In this respect, the media and governance equation becomes important.

10
Agrachov and N. Yemarshikan, New Information system as psychological war, SAGE publica tions, New
Delhi, 1
11
T. K. Thomas, Anatomy for Electronic Media, Konark Pubishers, New Delhi, 1
In a democratic society, therefore, the role of the media assumes seminal importance.
Democracy implies participative governance, and it is the media that informs people about
various problems of society, which makes those wielding power on their behalf answerable to
them. That the actions of the government and the state, and the efforts of competing parties
and interests to exercise political power should be under pinned and legitimized by critical
scrutiny and informed debate facilitated by the institutions of the media is a nonnative
assumption uniting the political spectrum.’12

The face of Indian media has been fast changing with the growth of the Internet, the
phenomenal rise of satellite and cable networks, the continuing growth of regional press,
despite various challenges and the blurring of lines between news and entertainment. There is
a sort of ‘crisis’ in the present media due to processes of commercialization, mercerization
and commodification.

This has led some to present a pessimistic view of the media, to emphasize the ascendancy of
'infotainment' over 'serious' reportage and analysis of politics. It is also often remarked that
the quality of 'serious' political journalism is steadily declining, with a dilution in its
substantive political content to the detriment of the democratic process. An opposite view
asserts not that there is too little serious politics in the media, but too much. This is seen as a
kind of information overload that bores audiences and diminishes public interest.13

Still others have argued that media is an elitist bourgeois construct, reflecting essentially
bourgeois interests and values and conditions of existence, and can thus never serve the
genuine interests of the people as a whole. Despite its democratic facade, it is said that the
media remains exclusive, and people as a whole feel no real involvement in a process which
appears to give them power but in reality does not.

While partially agreeing with both the above stated views, I think that pessimistic or nihilistic
notions of media in India today cannot be stretched too far. They do not sat isfactorily reflect
the complexity, unpredict ability and frequently contradictory nature of the media as it
functions in our times. The public sphere, of which media is a cen tral part, for all its
weaknesses, has evolved over time into something altogether more interesting, and more
useful as a democratic resource.

12
Sudhish Pachauri, Media and Literature, Ra jsuriya Prakashan, New Delhi, 1
13
Richard Collins, Media, culture and Society, SAGE Publications, London 1986
The capacity of our common media system to service and support the demo cratic processes
for the benefit of the people as a whole has strong validity even today. Printed newspapers
and magazines, the broadcasting media and the Internet are vi tal players in India today.
Quantitatively and qualitatively, the information being circulat ed has greatly increased.
Progressive forces cannot dismiss some of these channels by simply stating them to be 'trash'.
Popular does not imply irrational; entertainment can be informative, just as serious news can
also be of great human interest.14

As argued by Carl Bernstein, 'Good journalism is popular culture, but popular culture that
stretches and informs its consumers rather than that which appeals to the ever descending
lowest common denominator. "Today's media audiences are semiologically sophisticated,
active consumers, and interventions in all forms of media by progressive forces are a must to
keep democracy ticking and check authoritarianism.15

The potential of media to encourage democratic development cannot be denied. Media give
people a voice, acting as a balance and watchdog to potential government misconduct.
Without a voice, citizens cannot be heard with a voice, they cannot be ignored. Media
provide a window into the inner workings of the government, thereby increasing transparency
and reducing corruption. Not only are countries more democratic with free and independent
media, but their governments are also more account able.

Media's impact is not limited to the political realm. A country's economy benefits by being
more open. By having access to economic information, citizens are better informed about
what is happening in their communities and in commercial and financial markets, allowing
them to make better informed choices. Overall society benefits, too. In addition to current
events, media educate the public on issues related to health, the environment, women,
children, and minorities. Independent media give voice to those whose often are not heard
and engage marginalized groups in a more participatory discussion of programs that impact
their lives.16

However, there is a growing concern that the Indian mass media are not fulfilling these
functions properly. Indian media critics claim that commercial mass Indian media controlled
by a few multinational conglomerates have become an anti-Indian democratic force
supporting the status quo The news are more entertaining than informing, supplying mostly

14
5. Yuri Kashlav, Information imperialism, Sabdhkar, New Delhi,1984
15
6. SujataRoy, National awakening and Hindi Journalism, Anamika Prakashan, New Delhi, 1996
16
7. J. Keane, Media and Democracy, Polity Press, Cambridge, 1991
gossip, scandals, sex, and violence. Political news are more about personalities than about
their ideologies. In the absence of serious debate, voters are left with paid political
propaganda containing only meaningless slogans making them disinterested and cynical
about politics. It is also claimed that the watchdogs are barking of the wrong things.

NEED FOR A MEDIA POLICY

The debate on whether to have or not a media policy is an old one.  Time and again, policies,
often called guidelines have been framed for different media activities, but a comprehensive
media policy encompassing a holistic approach has never been attempted.  ‘Perhaps, the idea
of having guidelines, and not a definite policy, was to provide room for manoeuvring and
manipulating the media according to the convenience of the powers that be.’17

A free media of communication is a pre-requisite of a democratic State.  The media

channelises information between the citizen and government, communicates the
governmental decisions and helps the citizen shape their reactions besides acting as the
primary source of information for the government on the public reactions to contemporary
issues.

Being the channel of communication, it is important to determine whether the media is

politically biased in its presentation of information.  The government’s decisions and actions,
if presented with bias to the public and similarly the public opinion to the government, the
very concept of democracy is distorted.  The media, therefore, should be of a high standard of
reliability.18 The twin notions that (a) reporting may influence policy and (b) reporters want to
influence policy through the act of reporting – are ingrained in the nature of modern
journalism.  The reporter’s impact on policy whether intentional or accidental was obvious. 
He can illuminate policy and notably assist in giving it sharpness and clarity; just as easily, he
can prematurely expose policy and cause its destruction.19

The present day ‘communication be no longer regarded merely as an incidental service and
its development left to chance.  Recognition of its potential warrants the formulation by all

17
Nandini Prasad: V.S. Gupta & Rajeshwar Dyal (Ed.):National Media Policy(New Delhi, 1996)  VI, p. 46

18
R.K. Sapru: Public Policy – Formulation, Implementation and Evaluation (New Delhi, 1994) p.51
19
Washington reporter Douglass Cater – quoted Robert J Spitzer in Media and Public Policy, (Connecticut,
1993) I, p. 2
nations, and particularly developing countries, of comprehensive communication policies
linked to overall social, cultural, economic and political goals’.20

There has been a phenomenal expansion of mass media structures in the country since
independence, and more so during the last two decades.  Apart from the traditional mass
media, print media and the radio – the advent of television and subsequently satellite
television, video and now foreign satellite channels through cable television has completely
changed the media scenario in the country as never before.  This has been perceived as a
cultural invasion in many quarters since the programmes once available on their satellite
channels are predominantly western and totally alien to our culture and way of life.  The
established media policy of India, thus unwittingly, stands reversed now i.e., to entertain, to
inform, to educate and to instruct.  The foreign electronic media have heralded the era of
information in India, overloading us with information, thus paving the way for us to pass
from the age of information into the age of communication noise.  Determined as they are to
teach us the Indians at large, the art and craft of consumerism and creating an advertisement
blitz to create a society purely driven by ‘market forces’, consequently bringing about the
distortion of the value orientations of the Indian society.

The foreign electronic medial also exerts an indirect influence on us by influencing the very
behaviour of our media.21 Thus, either in their effort to be in the race, or in their eagerness to
learn from their foreign counterparts, the domestic electronic media too, will only reinforce
the overall design of the foreign electronic media on India.  All these new found realities in
the Indian media scenario are sure to falsify what Mahatma Gandhi had said:” I want the
cultures of all lands to blow as freely as possible in India, but I refuse to be swept off my feet
any of them.”  Now, the pious wish of the Mahatma stands shattered by the invasion of the
foreign electronic media.22

The haphazard growth of the broadcast media in India is attributed to their role, as that of the
media generally, not being perceived as part of a well defined national communications
policy which embraces everything to do with articulation, including education and culture,
and physical movement.23 Mehra Masani attributed the lack of progress in organised

20
Report of Sean Mac Bride Commission (1982) – quoted V.S. Gupta & Rajeshwar Dyal (Ed.):  National
Media Policy (New Delhi, 1996) preface

21
P.C. Chatterji: Broadcasting in India (New Delhi, 1993)
22
ibid
23
Akash Bharti Report, 1978 - quoted Ibid
broadcasting to the absence of communication policy 35 years after start of organised
broadcasting; radio listening is still very restricted in spite of the extension of the radio
network.24

The need for formulation a media policy has of late been increasingly felt due to the
astoundingly phenomenal strides that have been taken in national and international
communication and media scenario, besides being a fundamental requisite for a country’s
image and PR effort. The importance and necessity for a Media policy is further augmented
because of the increasingly complex nature of various global communication systems and
require more planning and supervision and the expansion of international communication has
to be supported by internal measures.  The policy does not necessarily imply rigid, centralised
planning, but may simply constitute a favourable framework for the coordination of activities,
allowing flexibility and a wide choice of approaches to communication strategies.25

The formulation of communication policies should (a) serve to marshal national resources;
(b) strengthen the coordination of existing or planned infrastructure; (c) facilitate national
choices with regard to means; (d) help to satisfy the needs of the most disadvantaged and to
eliminate the most flagrant imbalances; (e) emphasize universal and continuing education; (f)
help in strengthening cultural identity and national independence; (g) enable all countries and
all cultures to play a more prominent role on international scene.26

The Constitution of India guarantees freedom of press under Article 19(i)(a), yet the state of
the national media policies is indeed intriguing.  While the print media, particularly the daily
press, are under the control of the private sector and operate as individual enterprises like
other private industrial units, the national electronic media are under direct control of the
union government through information and broadcasting ministry.  In addition, whereas the
private daily and periodical press is basically profit-motivated and generally abide by
journalistic norms, standards and social responsibilities, for the state-owned electronic media,
perpetuation and dissemination of the national government’s policies and programmes are the
prime functions. 

24
Mehra Masani: Broadcasting and the People – quoted Ibid.
25
Mac Bride Commission: op. cit. p.11
26
ibid
MEDIA POLICY AND FIVE-YEAR PLANS27
 The First Five Year Plan (1950-56) recognised the necessity to develop all the available
methods of communication and the people be approached through the written and spoken
word and above all, steps will have to be taken to provide literature and information for the
people in simple language and on a scale equal to the needs of the country.

            The Second Five Year Plan document stressed that ‘the plan has to be carried into
every home in the language and the symbol of the people and expressed in terms of their
common needs and problems.’  It also outlined the measures for expansion of plan publicity
through the mass media of communication.

Intensification of the existing arrangements for bringing home the implications of rapid
development and carrying the message of the plan to the masses throughout the country was
proposed in Third Five Year Plan.

            The Fourth plan felt the need to inform the people in the rural areas and particularly
those in backward regions, about the specific schemes in agriculture, forestry, road
construction, marketing, the supply of credit and other inputs so that the benefits of these
programmes are more widely stressed.

            Expansion of television network to provide much needed support to education and to
promote social and economic development was stressed in the Fifth Five Year Plan.

            From the Sixth Five Year Plan onwards, fund allocation for electronic media and
particularly television progressively increased which led to massive expansion of television.

            The objectives of the media policy in the Seventh Five Year Plan were: (i) national
and emotional integration of various regions of the country; (ii) utilisation of the medium as a
means of development and social uplift; and (iii) dissemination of information and
entertainment.  The plan envisaged the objective of the television reaching the remotest parts
of the country through a three-tier service – primary service, national service and local
service.  The major thrust of the Seventh Plan relating to information and broadcasting sector
was on raising the level of consciousness of the people.  It laid emphasis on skilful synthesis

27
The Five Year Plans, New Delhi: Planning Commission, Government of India – quoted V.S. Gupta &
Rajeshwar Dyal op. cit. VII pp.55-56
of traditional and folk forms of communication on one hand and modern audio-visual media
including satellite communication on the other. 

            The thrust of the Eighth Five Year Plan has also been to consolidate the achievements
of earlier plans by suitably augmenting the production facilities at the existing centres and
replacing equipment, which has outlived its useful life.  The Eighth Plan visualised an
unprecedented growth in terms of extension of coverage, satellite services, software schemes
and production facilities. 

Even in the earlier Five Year Plans the role of media had been greatly emphasised to provide
communication support and inform the general public about the objectives, targets and
benefits of the plans.

POLICY PERSPECTIVE: EMERGING ISSUES

The first and foremost objective of India’s media policy should be to preserve and strengthen
the democratic way of life besides disseminating the information to the masses about the
developments taking place in national and international spheres affecting their daily life and
should thus quicken the process of development.  It should also help, inspire, motivate and
enthuse the people to support and cooperate in nation-building, economic progress, social
development, imbibe national cultural values and education.28 The policy has to assist
coordination and cooperation among the multifarious national and international agencies;
promote rational thinking and deal with national problems in a logical and systematic
manner.  The most crucial objective, however, is to bring about overall wider acceptance of
programmes for national development keeping the fast changing global communication
scenario.29

Mass communication efforts should be directed at inculcating an abiding faith among the
people in democratic institutions such as free and fair elections, rule of law, independence of
judiciary, freedom of press, secular character of state, etc.  Media policy should be directed
toward the provision of those goods and services, which meet basic needs and the yardstick
for measuring the degrees, and effectiveness of development should be some index of the
extent to which the basic needs are fulfilled.

28
P.C. Joshi: Communication and Nation Building: Perspective and Policy. Sardar Patel Memorial
Lectures (New Delhi, 1985)

29
ibid
Any policy of culture and communication should be built within a paradigm, which is both
holistic and integrative, so as to combine the local reality, people’s perception and needs and
desired aspects of change. 

Media strategies for rural development will have to be essentially geared to the ethos and
relevance to the people whom development plans are intended to benefit.  The basis of media
strategies should highlight the localness of approach and dissemination of culturally
appropriate and user-friendly technology thereby would succeed in creating the right kind of
climate and environment of development only within the parameters and constraints, which
are associated with the rural population; these strategies would have to be innovative, realistic
and shaped to the aspiration of the people specifically inhabiting rural and remote areas.30

The need for a media policy, therefore, is emphatic in the present day context of growing
exasperating rural situations.  There is a need to divert the media with the specific focus on
rural sector and its communication through local dialect.  

 The new communication technologies being relatively expensive exacerbate inequalities in

access to information between the information rich and information poor in a system, since it
is only the socio-economic elite who can afford these new media.  This widening of
information chasm will continue unless strategies are explicitly followed to prevent it.

No media policy can succeed without defining political and economic goals explicitly and
implicitly.  Democratic planning under a parliamentary democracy has been defined as
‘democratic persuasion to bring about the participation and co-operation of all’ and should
involve all groups from the villages to the National Government at all levels and has to use
and strengthen democratic institutions to administer for a speedy development.

MEDIA EDUCATION IN INDIA

MEDIA EDUCATION- EARLY YEARS
Media Education had its beginnings in India in the early 1980s. The pioneers, most of whom
were part of media institutes established by the Catholic Church, were largely influenced by
the efforts in Media Education in Australia and the U.K. The work of Canavan, Horsfield and
Masterman was most influential. Much of the active support came from UNDA, the
30
Vir Bala Aggarwal: Mass Media in Rural Development: Some Research Issues. Communicator, (December,
1992), pp. 14-15
international association of Catholic communicators (now called SIGNIS), with headquarters
in Brussels. The association is affiliated to UNESCO. So, in a way, UNESCO provided the
inspiration and the support for most efforts in Media Education, especially in the developing
world. (Interestingly, UNESCO has now begun talking about the need for ‘media and
information literacy’ rather than Media Education).31

The MacBride Report which argued for the establishment of a new world information and
communication order (NWICO) was of course a powerful influence. But there were also
‘nationalist’ reasons for advocating media education during the early years of growth. In
Scotland, it was the resistance to the media imperialism of England which helped a critical
approach to find favour among government and school authorities. Media Education quickly
became a school subject in the education system of Scotland, and teachers themselves led the
movement. This was also the case in Canada. The national resistance to the media from the
United States found expression in the media education movement. Montreal and Toronto, of
course, developed their own different approaches but what was common was their resistance
to the media from the South. Latin American educators too had little love for the United
States media.32 In India, it was not surprising to see that the States of the South pioneered the
Indian movement in media education. What they resisted primarily was the domination of the
North Indian language, Hindi, and the North Indian culture centred in Delhi and Bombay. 33
This anti-imperialistic stance was also in some way responsible for the origins and growth of
media education in Australia, the Philippines and South Africa. It appears that subject
peoples and subject nations have been converted to the movement much earlier than those
parts of the world that dominated the media. So, it should come as no surprise that the United
States was one of the last countries to join the media education bandwagon, though it must be
admitted that pioneers of media education like Edgar Dale (1940) were from the United
States.

The mass media during those pioneering efforts in Media Education in India were dominated
by cinema and the press, with television beaming only one channel, the government-run
Doordarshan. The media were not seen as a political or moral threat; also, they could easily
be controlled as exemplified by the Censor Board for films, the AIR Code for radio and
television, and the Press Council of India, the regulatory body for the press. The satellite

31
Scrampical, Jacob and Leela Joseph (2000): Teaching Media Education, New Delhi.
32
Masterman, Len (1985): Teaching the Media, London: Routlege.
33
Singhal, Arvind and Everett M Rogers (2001): India’s Communication Revolution: From Bullock- Carts to
Cyber- Marts, New Delhi: Sage Publications.
invasion of Indian television in the early 1990s challenged the government control of the
media. It led to cross-border television and to multiple channels beamed from Hong Kong,
Russia, London and elsewhere. Soon, Rupert Murdoch (Star Network), Ted Turner and Time-
Warner (CNN, CNBC) the BBC, MTV, NBC and a host of international players firmly
established their footprint across the sub-continent. ABC-Asia Pacific (from Australia), DW-
TV (from Germany), TV5 and FTV (from France), CCTV (from China), and numerous
American channels for kids, music, movies, travel, nature, history and lifestyle bombarded
the Indian viewer. National business groups launched satellite television channels in different
Indian languages across every region and state.34

Political parties too followed suit, launching their own channels to propagate their own
ideologies. By mid-2007, most major political parties in North and South India could boast of
their own TV channels. Thus, the fundamentalist Hindu party, the BJP, the Marxists of
Kerala, the DMK and AIDMK of Tamilnadu, the Congress Party, and even the Catholic
Church had their own TV channels. Meanwhile, the dramatic growth of the economy, the
rapid rise in literacy especially in rural areas, and the improvements in transport and other
infrastructure, has given rise to what Robin Jeffrey(2000), an Australian political scientist,
calls ‘India’s Newspaper Revolution’, as also the phenomenal growth in mobile telephony
( at the rate of 6.5 million cell phones sold every month), access to the internet through a
network of cybercafés and ‘e-choupals’ and the expansion of private commercial FM radio
channels, are witness to the ‘communication revolution’ in India.35

PRESENT SITUATION
When dealing with media education, the issue is not about how to apply media but on how to
apply critical learning about the media to issues of democracy, civic participation, etc. It is
particularly important in the case of democratic countries like India where vast inequalities
exist alongside opportunities. In a fast changing media environment as the one in India, to
fulfill societal goals, the population needs an understanding of the nature of information and
media technologies that produce them. Since the liberalization of the economy in the 1990s,
there has not only been an increasing trend towards deregulation and privatization of
telecommunications, commercialization of communication services, and the entry of global
media in India but also a wide reaching change in the media scenario itself. Despite the
growth of media technologies, the globalization of media markets and the development of
34
Masterman, Len (1985): Teaching the Media, London: Routlege.
35
Scrampical, Jacob, Jude Botelho and Ray Kancharla (Eds.)(1997): Media Education in India: Emerging
Trends and Perspectives, New Delhi: NISCORT
ICT technologies in India, one still finds that a significant sector of the population cannot
avail itself of any of these opportunities and hence faces exclusion. Yet, there are significant
changes in the rural areas too.

For instance, by 2000, nearly half of all Indian villages were connected by telephone, a huge
difference compared to the 4percent in 1988.36 However, Indian society seems to be caught in
a paradox, as the mostly urban media are churning out popular representations of the rural or
the traditional world (according to their choice and perspective). They are also caught in
socioeconomic inequalities in society and reproduce them. Poor adherence to democratic
practices, along with widespread inequality, is coupled with the many problems that the
minority and marginalized communities face. The cultural and religious issues in India also
require citizens to interrogate responsibly some of the many realities those are marketed as
media products. The media are in the midst of different actors -the state, organizations in civil
society, representatives of global capital, domestic capital, economic institutions and so on-,
which creates immense possibilities and risks. This environment provides an opportunity to
make thoughtful, critical uses of the wide array of information available, so as to meet
individual as well as community needs. Yet, despite such needs, media education in India
remains an almost unexplored field of research with a few exceptional workshops by NGOs
and religious groups like WACC (World Association for Christian Communication) or
UNDA-OCIC, two international Catholic Organizations for electronic and cinematic media. 37
Some communication education research looks at media and communication education needs
in terms of the effectiveness of media training that is the skill efficiency required to meet
market expectations.38 However, media education is more than a mere focus on media skill
efficiency. A survey of media training institutions revealed that almost 80% of them stressed
that media education must focus on the goals of advancing society. Explaining the nature of
the media industry and organization was seen as an equally important goal, rather than just
meeting manpower needs.39 This takes on all the more significance as India has a large
amount of young people. So media education must not only be embedded in the needs of
children in society but also in the local community, with the larger goal of benefiting the
country as a whole. However, media education, in India, is only undertaken by individual
persons, a few NGOs as well as some religious bodies who deal with certain specific issues,
36
ibid
37
Kumar, Keval J (1995) Media Education, Communications and Public Policy: An Indian Perspective,
Bombay: Himalaya Publishing House.
38
Raja, Joshva and Jerry Kurian (Eds.)(2005): Media Education: A Guidebook for Teachers, New Delhi:
ISPCK.
39
ibid
especially the moral implications of some kind of media. Childhood in India has not received
as serious scholarly attention as womanhood.

Although a few scholars have highlighted the perspective of modern conjugal couple as the
core of the modern family, such studies are European-centred and an attempt to extend and
universalise Aries’s (1962) construction of modern childhood, as rightly pointed out by
Gupta (2002). Viruru (2001) makes an attempt to capture the history of childhood through the
schooling system.40

But his analysis paints a gloomy picture whereby childhood is a victim of modern education
system undergoing the process of self-alienation imposed by colonialism and perpetuated
through the post-colonial education system. As Oberoi (2006) summarises, Indian modes of
child socialisation produce individuals who are inappropriately socialised for their role as
agents of the developmental agenda of the modern nation state. But the patterns of Indian
child socialisation are bound to change as processes of modernisation and lately
globalisation, proceed apace. As Murphy (1953) points out, Indian children are friendly,
responsible, artistic, cheerful and spontaneous –a result she believes of the acceptance of
children in the everyday pattern of family living, the easy participation of people of any age
in the activities of the rest. But she adds that Indian children over the age of eight or nine
-anticipating the fully socialized Indian personality-, lacked both the stimulus to problem
solving and the practice in cooperative thinking and planning that would match the
spontaneity and capacity for relationships.41 Through her ethnography, suggests that
expansion of schooling, any particular type of schooling, might lead to qualitative
transformation at the cost of losses in the development process. Several scholars, following
Murphy’s work, have explored child-rearing practices in India and comment on over-
indulgence childhood, maternal enthrallment and a very different cultural model of
upbringing in comparison with the West. Although there are very few studies on childhood
per se, hardly any scholarly study exists on children’s participation in media, except research
done in a roundabout way, for instance, on the impact of media violence on children, on
viewing habits and their effects on studies, and so on. Most of these constructions are adult-
centric; children’s views are rarely expressed and respected.42 How children use media and
participate in media are rare prerogatives within academia, except for a few child rights

40
Kumar, Keval (2002): ‘Redefining the Goals: Reflections from India’ in Bazalgette et al., pp.153-156.
41
McDougall, Julian (2006): The Media Teacher’s Book, London: Hodder Arnold
42
Raja, Joshva and Jerry Kurian (Eds.)(2005): Media Education: A Guidebook for Teachers, New Delhi:
ISPCK.
groups that raise the issue and bring it to the limelight. But such voices do not cause much
stir because of the vulnerability and dependence of the child on the adults in India There have
been many examples elsewhere in the world that demonstrate how children’s participation in
media brings about greater social justice and civic engagement. In fact, many of the goals of
media education are realised through children’s participation in the media: a real media
participation in the community strengthens the children’s ability and curiosity, gives them a
critical understanding of the media, increases their knowledge of the local community and
inspires social action. Media education is also about a struggle for information, a striving for
social justice and critical citizenship. In a democratic society, decisions are AOC, UNESCO,
EUROPEAN COMMISSION, COMUNICAR made on the conceptions and impressions
people receive through the varied media around them. So, media education is about
retribution of political and social power, an opening up for creative and critical dialogue,
participation and action. When included in a process of learning and practice, it gives all
groups and individuals in society the right to self expression, to development and liberation,
independent of age, gender, socio-economic conditions, culture, religion and language.43

In India, there is a clear distinction between the terms media education, educational
technology and professional education in media. The term educational technology includes
all teaching techniques as wells as the use of media in school lessons; the term professional
education in media refers to a mixture between schools of journalism and film. Media
education considers learning about media while educational technology is learning by using
media. Educational technology is integrated into the curriculum of the Indian teacher training
institutes to enable teachers to make use of media in their lessons whereas media education is
not part of training. There are only a couple of educational institutions including universities
that look into media education, and offer projects and conferences. According to Kumar,
media education should lead to democratic communication. He defines media education as a
teaching method that uses formal, non-formal, and informal approaches to impart a critical
understanding of various media in order to lead to greater responsibility, greater participation
in the production of media as well as to a greater interest in the sales and reception of media.
Kumar identifies some of the difficulties that media education faces in India: the exam-
oriented curriculum, the dependence of media education on government policy, and a
problem within the subject of media education itself: focusing on it as a subject would lead to

43
Gonsalves, Peter (1995): Exercises in Media Education, Bombay: Tej-Prasarini.
overvaluing the media and separating them from their social context (and so a crosscurricular
approach would be best suited, but more difficult to implement).44

As Thomas writes, media education in India is still in an experimental stage with very little
feedback. Besides the concepts of media education are rather geared to the Western
hemisphere and India being a developing country has very different concerns about
development. These kinds of changes in the Asian context demand an alternative definition
and approach to media education to the one outlined by Master man (1985). This new and
different paradigm can be examined in the context of research and theories of the popular
developed in Latin American countries as well as in relation to new social movements,
around the struggle for the right to information and to communication.

The definition from the Toulouse Conference in 1991 reads that, Media education is an
educational process/practice that seeks to enable members of a community creatively and
critically to participate (at all levels of production, distribution and exhibition) in the use of
the technological and traditional media for the development and liberation of themselves and
the community, as well as for the democratization of communication. This approach places
the development and liberation of the community as a whole rather than on the production of
critically autonomous individuals and the democratization of communication which entails
participation by all members of a community at levels of planning, production, distribution
and exhibition too. An alternative approach to media education, especially for developing
countries, needs to lay the emphasis on principles of social justice, pluralism in culture,
language and religion and on the fundamental right to communicate.

MEDIA EDUCATION IN SCHOOL AND OUT-OF-SCHOOL

It is only in the southern states of Kerala, Tamilnadu, and Karnataka that Media Education
has become a part of the school curriculum; in states like Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra it
is taught outside school hours; in most other efforts in Media Education, NGOs, Social
Action Groups, some women’s groups, some members of SIGNIS, have taken the lead.

Media Education kits have been put together for teachers in these states. It is unlikely that
schools from other states of India will introduce courses in Media Education in the near
future. At the college and university levels, there is little Media Education; the priority in
most courses is to train professionals for the various media, especially television, cinema, the
press and the internet. Over 60 universities and a hundred private media institutes offer
44
Kumar, Keval J (2007) Mass Communication in India, Bombay: Jaico Paperbacks, Revised Ed., 3rd Revised
Ed. .
professional courses in advertising, public relations, and media production to meet the needs
of the phenomenal growth in television, FM radio, the press and cinema. Critical education in
the media finds no place whatsoever in such professional education.45

Media Education kits have been put together for teachers in these states. It is unlikely that
schools from other states of India will introduce courses in Media Education in the near
future. At the college and university levels, there is little Media Education; the priority in
most courses is to train professionals for the various media, especially television, cinema, the
press and the internet. Over 60 universities and a hundred private media institutes offer
professional courses in advertising, public relations, and media production to meet the needs
of the phenomenal growth in television, FM radio, the press and cinema. Critical education in
the media finds no place whatsoever in such professional education.46

So, what kind of Media Education is relevant in the context of the current media scenario in
India? Though there have been ample developments and growth in the ‘new media’ (such as
the internet, mobile telephony, cable and satellite TV), the traditional media (like television,
the cinema and the press) continue to dominate the Indian mediasphere. The unabashed
commercialization and politicization of the various media suggests that there is urgent need
for a critical evaluation of the mediasphere at all levels of public education. Brave attempts
like that of the UNESCO-supported website www.thehoot.org (launched by the veteran
journalist B.G. Verghese – who was a member of the MacBride Commision) is only a
beginning. Voluntary groups and some committed individuals as well as organizations like
SIGNIS have also made other attempts at conducting courses in Media Education outside
school hours. Few schools include such courses as part of the formal school curriculum.
However, a national movement in Media Education (except perhaps among Christian
communities) continues to be a distant reality.47

Some newspaper publishers, under the pretext of doing ‘media education’ have entered
schools to market their products. Such is the attempt of The Times of India, one of the
foremost national dailies,(with a circulation of over a million copies every day), to market the
paper in the schools of New Delhi, Bombay, Pune and Bangalore. The experiment is termed
‘Newspapers in Education’ (NIE), and is taught during regular school hours, not by school

45
Raja, Joshva and Jerry Kurian (Eds.)(2005): Media Education: A Guidebook for Teachers, New Delhi:
ISPCK.
46
Gonsalves, Peter (1995): Exercises in Media Education, Bombay: Tej-Prasarini.
47
Raja, Joshva and Jerry Kurian (Eds.)(2005): Media Education: A Guidebook for Teachers, New Delhi:
ISPCK.
teachers but by young men and women carefully recruited by the Response Department (read
‘Advertising Department’) of the publishing house. The newspaper is used to instruct
children about history, geography, science and current affairs. Children are required to buy
copies of the paper in school; copies of other papers are not available in school nor are they
referred to in any way by the ‘visiting’ teachers. In the city of Pune, parents have protested
against their children being asked to buy copies of the paper in schools but to little effect;
rival city dailies have got into the act too. They have offered to publish supplements with
drawings and articles by school children, each issue of the supplement devoted to different
schools. Another Times of India innovation in marketing is ‘Medianet’, the practice of selling
editorial space in newspapers (especially in the city supplements) to Public Relations
agencies.48

DECLINE IN INTERNATIONAL INTEREST

At the international level there has been a definite decline in interest in Media Education. As
the President/Chair of the Media Education Research Section of the International Association
of Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) from 1997 to 2006 I have sensed this
decline, not only in the number of abstracts submitted to the Section over those eight years,
but also in the topics and themes taken up for research by the participants. The majority of
submissions continue to be from the developing world, particularly from South America and
Asia. There has been a mere sprinkling of submissions from North America and Europe. The
submissions – around 18 each year – have shifted their focus (and this should surprise no
one) from old to new media, but more significantly, from Media Education to professional
education in computing, multimedia and the internet.

At the World Summit on Media Education held in May 2000 in Toronto, over 1300 delegates
participated, but it was evident even then that the numbers could not make up for the decline
in the political fervour of the pioneers. One Australian pioneer frankly admitted that they had
reached a point of exhaustion. The Media Education Section of the IAMCR continues to
receive around 18 papers every year for its annual conference, though one must quickly admit
that not all those deal directly with media education. At recent IAMCR conferences in
Taiwan (2005) and Cairo (2006), for instance, most of the papers read were on the
professional teaching of information technology rather than on media education.

48
Singhal, Arvind and Everett M Rogers (2001): India’s Communication Revolution: From Bullock- Carts to
Cyber- Marts, New Delhi: Sage Publications.
COMMUNITY-CENTRED MEDIA EDUCATION
At the Toulouse Colloquy in 1990 I pleaded for an alternative definition of Media Education,
stressing the need for a community-oriented approach vis a vis an individual oriented
approach. I argued that developing countries needed to develop their own approach to critical
media education, in terms of their information needs, media experiences and cultural
experiences. The community’s local needs and available facilities had to be taken into
account.49

Much of the focus in media education in India, however, continues to be on the mass media
(the ‘old media’). The ‘new’ interactive media such as satellite radio and television,
computing, computer games, the internet, mobile telephony and other digital devices are
rarely touched on. In Indian courses in media education, for instance, the focus so far has
been on the local press, the mainstream Indian cinema, and advertising. The transnational
media and the transnational elements in indigenous media are not usually discussed. The vital
role of advertising and public relations in media programming also does not get any attention.
Media economics is completely overlooked. Further, the stress has been largely on the
‘deconstruction’ of texts in the press, the cinema and television, with very little attention paid
to music, telecommunications, computing and the internet.50

The focus will now need to shift to national and multinational media conglomerates that are
shaping the form and substance of practices and texts of the multifarious media industries.
Further, in earlier experiments a primary concern was government ownership and control
over broadcasting, and the kind of effect this had on programming and policy. With the
privatisation of television, radio, telecommunications and computer technologies in many
Asian countries, the focus will need to be shifted to the media moghuls who have taken over
international broadcasting, film production and distribution, telecommunication services,
computer networks, and information databases. The covergence of the various media in
recent years as well as their ‘globalization’ (read, multinational hegemony of a handful of
media moghuls) has changed the very dynamic of each medium; this new dynamic has yet to
enter media education classes. The 'new' media education in Asia will have to take these
changes into serious account.

49
Kumar, Keval J (2007) Mass Communication in India, Bombay: Jaico Paperbacks, Revised Ed., 3rd Revised
Ed.
50
Singhal, Arvind and Everett M Rogers (2001): India’s Communication Revolution: From Bullock- Carts to
Cyber- Marts, New Delhi: Sage Publications.
The whole approach to the teaching of media education in India needs a new radical
rethinking. New strategies need to be evolved so that a critical interpretation of the old and
the new media both as technologies and as sources of information and media content become
an integral part of education at all levels – school, college and university. Discrete courses in
media can be taught at higher levels of education, but up to the secondary school an
integrated approach works more efficiently.51 More importantly, such an approach at the
school level, is more likely to be accepted by educational authorities as part of the training in
literacy. For this, media education will have to be introduced in the schools of education
where courses in educational technology are mandatory. Until then short media education
courses outside school hours should be continued.

As in other countries where media education has become a national movement, the objective
of the pioneers and promoters in India too has been to launch courses in as many schools and
cities as possible. Further, there is little concern with the theory and research in the subject.
This has meant that we have taken our cue from theorists and researchers from the developed
countries. Even in countries where media education is mandatory in schools, teachers have
not been too concerned about theorising or doing research. Manuals, textbooks, workbooks
and media kits have proved to be a greater priority. One does not see much concern for
education for citizenship and democracy. Nor is there any attempt to connect media education
to ‘national development’.52

GOING BEYOND GRUNWALD

We have certainly come a long way from Grunwald. The UNESCO Declaration on Media
Education, by representatives of 19 nations meeting at Grunwald in1982, exaggerated the
‘undoubted power of the media’ and the role they could play in the process of development,
and as ‘instruments for the citizen’s active participation in society’. It called for ‘political and
educational systems to recognize their obligations to promote in their citizens a critical
understanding of the phenomena of communications’. The reasons for doing Media
Education today largely remain unchanged though there has of course been a huge scale
change, particularly where the proliferation of media and the globalization of media content
are concerned.53 Convergence of the various media technologies has made content available

51
Kakar, S. (1978). The Inner World: A Psychoanalytic Study of Childhood and Society in India. Delhi: Oxford
University Press.
52
Sanjay, B.P. (2002). Communication Education and Media Needs in India. A Study Conducted by Asian
Media Information and Communication Centre of India. Chennai: AMIC-INDIA.
53
Murphy, L. (1953). Roots of tolerance and tensions in Indian Childhood, in Murphy, G. In the Minds of Men:
The Study of Human Behaviours and Social Tensions in India. New York: Basic Books/UNESCO; 45-58.
on a host of platforms; this has led to the further commercialization and politicization of the
media. Control and regulation, especially of the ‘new’ media has become problematic
because of the global scale of access and reach. National governments would like to control
and regulate them but there are few international laws that assist them. The technology for
blocking content on both the old and the new media is easily available, and search engines
like Google can be pressurized to toe a given line (witness the case of Google bending to the
demands of the Chinese government). However, few democracies like India would like to be
seen restricting the freedom of speech and expression of their citizens, even where the threat
to national security and to law and order exists, as in the case of separatist movements in
Kashmir and the North-East. But religious and political fundamentalist groups offer far
greater threats to human rights and the freedom of the media. 54 What role Media Education
can play in this new media environment where there is the constant fear of coming under
attach from these fundamentalists, is extremely limited. How to maintain this balance
between the democratic freedoms and the threat to them from such pressure groups and
lobbies, who unabashedly take the law into their own hands, is the vital challenge of the
media educators of tomorrow. Thus the community, especially the minority and oppressed
community, remains at the heart of any media education programme. For, it is the community
(even the electronic community) that is the target of attack of these new terrorists. There is,
therefore, the imperative need to go beyond Media Education, to mobilize forces to build up a
media users’ movement at the local, national and international levels to re-appropriate the
media so that they serve the public interest. Media activism has thus to become an integral
part of Media Education; a political project rather than just an academic or vocational course
where the primary goal is the creation of ‘critically autonomous’ individuals.

REGULATION OF MEDIA IN INDIA

Communication is a fundamental human requirement and is the underpinning of all human
dealings since it is the mode through which humans exchange information. 55 The free
exchange of ideas and knowledge take place when there is unrestricted full-fledged
communication. It is guaranteed through the “freedom of speech and expression”, the most
cherished fundamental right, as envisaged under various international covenants and most of
the constitutions including the Indian Constitution. The right to freedom of expression has a

54
Kumar, K.J. (1995). Media Education, Communication and Public Policy: An Indian Perspective. Bombay:
House.
55
G. Adams, John Foster et.al., Policymaking, Communication, and Social Learning: Essays of Sir Geoffrey
Vicker 56 (New Brunswick Publishing, New Jersey, 1987).
wide ambit which includes the freedom to hold opinions, freedom to impart information, the
freedom to receive information and even the freedom to dissent against the democratically
elected governments of the day. It is also related to free thinking, imagination and
deliberation which are prerequisites for a human being’s self-realisation. Moreover, it is a
vital right to form a good democratic government where citizens are well informed about
political happenings.

Speech, according to many scholars, serves a self-fulfilment function. 56 This theory explains
that satisfaction that arises out of speech is related to the individual’s ability to think,
visualise, and generate ideas. Many thinkers placed the right to free speech and expression at
a higher pedestal. To Joseph Raz, communication – oral, pictorial, or musical communication
of speech - is an essential right involving people to contribute in civic activities. 57 Professor
Edwin C Baker stated that speech is the realisation of an individual’s earnest desires and
competence. The potentiality of each human being is very exclusive and differs from person
to person.58 The jurist Wellington states that the freedom of speech is not a self-defining
phrase - what cannot be abridged is what is protected. 59 To him, the American first
amendment that deals with free speech and expression is to be interpreted on what is
protected and how extensively it is protected. Freedom of expression plays a dual role; one as
freedom to converse one’s voice to the public, second as the freedom to develop a unique
voice of one’s own. The development of one’s self-determination is possible with application
of speech and expression and demonstrating it onto the world.

John Stuart Mill’s free speech theory is grounded on three reasons: firstly, it helps to evolve
the truth, secondly it helps to mould good governance and democracy, and thirdly it promotes
individual autonomy. Mill extended the liberal tradition of ideas commenced by Milton and
Locke in the course of a broader notion of freedom of the press. Mill who got influenced by
utilitarian beliefs stated that only free speech can inspire a society to challenge the traditional
beliefs and notions so as to reveal the truth. The freedom of the press or media was derived
from his concept of individual liberty as explained in his free speech theory. He had foreseen
a reliable medium which is free from all coercion that could enable the public to know the
performances of the government and the state. This press freedom under the aegis of freedom
of expression facilitates full and open debate on all issues of public importance. This liberty
56
Melville B Nimmer “Introduction-Is Freedom of the Press A Redundancy: What Does it Add To Freedom of
Speech?” 26 Hastings Law Journal 639 (1975).
57
Joseph Raz “Free Expression and Personal Identification” 11 Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 301 (1991).
58
Edwin C. Baker, “Scope of First Amendment Freedom of Speech”, 25 U.C.L.A. Law Review 964 (1978).
59
Harry H. Wellington “On Freedom of Expression” 88 The Yale Law Journal 1105 (1979).
of communication and expression though guaranteed to the public, citizens in particular, it is
through press and media that the information is disseminated in the form of news. Hence, it is
universally accepted that media is the tool through which the freedom of speech and
expression is attained. Though press and media are used interchangeably, the basic difference
is that one is in print form and the other is in electronic form. Both serve the same purpose of
gathering, processing and disseminating information to be provided to the pubic. For this
reason, media is definitely the fourth estate functioning in the domain between the state and
the citizens and thus acting as a channel of information which makes people sufficiently
informed.

From a democratic society’s point of view, the media plays a pertinent role by providing
information which is indispensable for two reasons. Primarily, it ensures that citizens
formulate proper and updated views by analysing the authentic and genuine facts as provided
by media. Secondly, it provides information as a “checking function” 60 by guaranteeing that
the chosen government and its representatives act upon electoral promises and achieve the
desires of those who chose them. Media thus plays a central role since it is the single means
through which public opinion is engendered.61

The stability of a country is assessed by the way the media report the news of that country.
Thus, it becomes the obligation of the media to circulate only applicable and valid facts
locally and globally. In some societies, there exists an antagonistic relationship between press
and administration that might persuade media to spread negative influences in the society. 62
Often it happens that media reports give rise to revolutions, rebellions and violence, for
example, the problems of the uprising in Libya leading to Civil War in 2011. Many jurists
severely condemned this as negative media reporting. Hence, media activities are to be
observed meticulously so that the information circulated would not give any negative effect.
However, the fact is that, to monitor and watch the watchdog, there is no proper authority.

The role of media has been changing from what it was perceived. The neutrality of news in
reporting is missing in the mainstream media today because of the hidden agendas that many
press and media outlets hold.

60
Vishwanath Iyer, The Indian press 45 (Padma Publications, Bombay, 1945).
61
Shefali Bedi “Responsibility of media in a democracy”, 7 International Research Journal 235 (2009).
62
A Fog, “The supposed and the real role of mass media in modern democracy” 35 Duke Law Journal 63
(2004).
Taking an illustration of India, reading or watching news is an ingredient of people’s daily
routine. As the rate of literacy is rising, the press is attaining a robust foothold in the country
even in the rural regions. There is extensive coverage of local, national and regional news
which transmits the reports from nook and corner of the country on a daily basis. They also
print in the form of periodicals or weeklies which proffer news in affordable price. 63 Though
today there is a paradigm shift from traditional media to digital media, the web media is
popular among the new generation educated group although the belief is that print media is
the more trustworthy source since the professional journalists write the reports that are fact-
checked by assigned editors.

Every profession functions by certain standards and a set of standards applicable to media
should also be developed. Media is a universally recognised pillar of democracy that is
considered to act itself in maintaining certain practice of professionalism.64 It is also labelled
as watchdog since it checks and balances the power of the other three branches of
government i.e., the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. The free press facilitates the
individuals to partake in all pertinent matters affecting them. It has been universally accepted
that only an autonomous press or media can endow citizens with a diversity of information
and views on matters of public significance. The liberty to impart information is vested with
media. Freedom of expression and communication through mediums including a variety of
electronic media or published materials is an application of the individual human rights
principle on freedom of expression. Therefore, the freedom of the press or media is very
essential since this enables the public to know the performance of the government, the state,
financial system, social systems and other matters of public concern.

ACCOUNTABILITY OF MEDIA
Media play an essential task in intensifying awareness in all people about human affairs in a
society. The right to freedom in article 19 of the Constitution of India guarantees the freedom
of speech and expression, as one of six freedoms. Although article 19 does not expressly
provide for freedom of press, the fundamental right of the freedom of press is implied in the
right to freedom of speech and expression. The media being in the vocation of gathering and
circulating information is supposed to hold dominant position, a position that makes it very
responsible and answerable to public at large.65 This implies that several moral customs are

63
S SivaKumar, “Fourth Estate: A Shield or Sword of Human Rights?” 1 Lanka Vigil 34 (2005).
64
R. D Wimmer, J. R Dominick, et.al., Mass Media Research: An introduction 23(Wadsworth Publishing
Company, California, 2003).
65
Van Cuilenburg “Media Policy Paradigm Shifts” 18(2): European Journal of Communication 207(2003).
vital to an appropriate working of journalists and media practitioners. The gathering of
information by media is done on behalf of its citizens and the public and while doing so, it
has the utmost duty to be attentive against misleading and distorted information. Therefore,
media practitioners should be principled and responsible in news broadcasting. For these
reasons media need to be accountable.

The scheme of media accountability also embraces an assortment of methods that are not
openly linked to determining complaints from viewers. For instance in Canada- ethics codes
to guide journalistic behaviour are one such means, and numerous Quebec news institutes
have moral codes.66 At the same time it is analysed that the media sector has become
increasingly professional in recent years and impact assessment methodologies became
sophisticated and effective. In several countries, assessments are made by non-state
institutions and these decisions are taken into account or overseen by media authorities. Some
countries have applied systems which would look like coming under the working description
of co-regulation, several are organising the switch from traditional command and control to
novel forms of authority. Take the example of the broadcast regulatory bodies of Britain,
New Zealand or Canada. The regulatory authority has come up with guidelines relating to
subject matters such as aggression, obscenity, advertisements and bogus claims. If any of the
above matters were broadcasted causing disturbance among public, necessary actions would
be taken against the concerned media. The codes were drafted with some contribution from
subject matter experts and taking into account public opinion.67

The general notion was that press should not be given complete freedom since it could
generate mischief afterwards. Hence, a need for a correctional mechanism was felt. The idea
of regulation arose from that logic. In general, there are four types of regulation. The first one
is complete regulation wherein no freedom is given to media and the government keep
checking its contents and can ask for amendments in media reported. This is seen in Turkey
or United Arab Emirates or China. The second one is co-regulation wherein a non-state
regulatory system links up with state regulation similar to the one developed in Australia
much early. Then comes statutory regulation wherein there are specified regulations being
administered and enforced by the state through the statutes. India, having the Press Council
Act claims to be following statutory regulation. However the Press Council of India has a
limited role and therefore India is often listed in the self-regulation list. There comes the
66
6 Valerie Alia and Brian Brennan, “Deadlines and Diversity: Journalism Ethics in a Changing World” 22 CJC
42 (1997)
67
Beata Klimkiewicz, Media Freedom and Pluralism (Central European University Press, Budapest, 2010).
explanation of the fourth type of regulation that is self-regulation which involves regulations
being administered and enforced by the bodies themselves through internal policies. 68 In the
first two cases, there are such situations where the regulations governing reporting are made
as per the serving governments’ convenience. Further, the concerned officials are not obliged
to give an explanation or interpretation to why certain news is regulated. In such instances,
journalists would have no idea what is permissible and what is not. Self-regulation involves
self monitoring of the work one does where the working body comes up with its own rules
and regulations. The well-acknowledged sites of this method of self-regulation in Europe are
the press councils that may be seen in mainstream EU member countries today. This can be
achieved through various ways such as co-operative regulation, delegated regulation,
devolved regulation and facilitated regulation. It has norms made and decided by the persons
and organization to which they will be relevant and the development of procedures and
mechanisms for enforcing them.

The general postulation was that if the press came under government control, it would
intervene or interfere with media independence and autonomy. To avoid that, self-regulation
was considered to be the most desirable option for India. Apparently, this is a universal
phenomenon seen in almost all democratic countries, starting with Sweden in 1916, Britain 69,
in 1953, and India70, in 1966, began to establish a self-regulatory organisation called the Press
Council.71 In India, a statutory body -- the Press Council of India (PCI) -- governs the conduct
of the print media. The chairman, a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India, heads the
PCI. It is a statutory, quasi-judicial institution that works under the aegis of the Press Council
Act of 1978. Regarding complaints against authorities by the press the study shows that there
is a steady increase in such complaints. 72 The complaints are disposed of mainly in two ways,
either dismissed or adjudicated. The complaints which may appear to be serious are taken up
for adjudication. But when the inquiry committee further examines the complaint it may drop
it owing to many reasons. Sometimes the complaints may lack substance at a closer
examination. Further, a complainant may not show much interest to pursue it. The respondent
68
Denise E. DeLorme, “Early Journalists and the Evolution of Publicists’ Stunts: From Circus Ballyhoo to
Professionalism” 2 Journal of interdisciplinary & multidisciplinary Research 27 (2008).
69
In Britain the Press Council has been replaced by the Press Complaints Commission in 1991.
70
The Press Council was abolished in 1975 and re-established in 1978.
71
In 1975 the number of Press Councils was twenty-five according to Clement James, the famous editor and
member of the Commonwealth Press Union. In 1980 the figures of Media and Press Councils rose to fifty
according to the MacBridc Report. Notable among the countries where press councils, press regulator}' bodies
or similar organizations exist are Korea, Netherlands, Germany, Indonesia, Belgium, Denmark, Australia,
Canada, Portugal, Norway, Cyprus, Sri Lanka etc. See UNESCO, Report of the MacBride Commission
International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems (Oct, 1982).
72
See the adjudications of PCI from 1979 to 1996-97
may make some settlement with the complainant outside the council. Moreover, the
noncompliance of formal statutory requirements by either of the parties may make the
council drop the case.

However, it does not have any legal powers vested in it and therefore it proved unsuccessful
in developing a system of journalistic rules. The government does not need to comply with its
recommendations. Neither is it representative of the views of the media, nor does it have any
legal power to take any penalising or remedial act against publishers providing wrong news.
It has merely been an authority that brings out reports analysing the behaviour and working
pattern of the media. These reports are published as government documents which are not
adopted. Thus it exists as a merely superficial body in the present day.

The electronic media has to comply with ‘The Central News Media Accreditation Guidelines,
1999’ which says that if a media organisation is held to have provided any false or fraudulent
or forged details or documents the representative media organisation shall be debarred form
accreditation up to a maximum of five years but not less than two years, as decided by
Central Press Accreditation Committee (CPAC).73 Likewise, there is pre-publication
substantiation done by editors in news papers and media prior to the news assigning to public
domain. Apart from that, an internal mechanism for adherence to authenticity of information
is sought to be ensured through mechanisms such as Media Council of Peers and Media
Watch Groups, Readers Editor or Internal Ombudsman, ‘letters to the editor', all of which are
intended to highlight and address the wrongs done by media-persons, reporters or the
management.74

PRACTICAL ASPECT OF SELF-REGULATION IN INDIA

The freedom of speech and expression or freedom of press is present in all statutes and
constitutions but not appropriately practiced. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the
importance of press freedom and the type of regulation followed in a country. The principle
of self-regulation entails regulation by itself where the media does not have a regulatory body
under it. The primary rights of reporters and editors under freedom of expression have to be
acknowledged and at the same time their reports should not be detrimental to the functioning
of state. There comes the dilemma of who maintains the checks and balances in what is
written and published. Theoretically speaking, leaving the regulation to the media itself
73
See The Central News media Accreditation Guidelines, 1999
74
Letter to the Editor connotes letter addressed about issues of concern about published pieces from its readers
that could be on any editorial or commenting about any news items published or commenting about the news
that was factually wrong or any critical analysis of any recent topic.
would generate the likelihood that it may subjugate regulatory aims to its own business goals.
For instance, cross-media ownership by big corporate companies has assumed alarming
proportions. Early 2013 saw the leak of the Radia tapes which disclosed the shocking and
unholy links between journalists and politicians, lobbyists and business groups. The Press
Council of India through its Chairman addressed this issue; however, no stringent measures
had been taken. That depicts the incapacity of Press Council of India. It cannot suspend the
journalists for the unfair work they do.75

Presently, there is no qualification prescribed by the Press Council for journalists, although
there is such a situation prevailing in the Bar Council Act for advocates and Medical Council
Act for medical practitioners. The Bar Council of India and the State Bar Councils have
control to remove45 a member from the profession for professional misbehaviour and
infringement of professional principles. The Medical Council also has similar powers. But the
Press Council does not have any power beyond warning or censuring delinquent journalists.
Thus in India, there is no self regulation in reality. Proper self-regulation can be done in many
forms, including information movement, examination charters, in-house complaints
management division and procedures, accreditation, licensing and association certification,
quality guarantee arrangement, standards, regulations and dispute resolution format. In fact,
in India, there is no single medium on media regulation and redressal. The Press Council of
India as discussed has very limited power. The television media has associated its own ‘self’
regulatory mechanism - News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA). However, there are
issues such as cross media ownership, inaccurate news being published, creating
sensationalism, absence of journalistic ethics, paid news, advertisement oriented news being
released for profit, privacy violation, unnecessary news on celebrities and superstardom being
circulated, unethical sting operation being held for publicity and so forth that are never
addressed.76 At this juncture, it is high time to mull over whether the failure to evolve a code
of conduct is the fault of any competent authority or of journalists themselves.

FACTORS REQUIRE FOR CORRECTIVE MECHANISM

Media ethics is a topic of grave apprehension in general. There has to be an unequivocal
thought process on what issues are to be dealt with in the legislation of the Press Council of
India (PCI Act) since not all areas of journalistic rights are a theme of legislation. Further,
equilibrium is to be maintained as to editorial liberty and the liberty of journalists so as to
75
4 Dunja Mijatović, Media Self-Regulation Guide Book (OSCE publication, Vienna, 2013).
76
S Sivakumar, Press law and Journalists: Watchdog to Guidedog (Universal Law Publications, New Delhi,
2015).
adopt editorial decisions. Management and the officials need to assure freedom to reporters
and journalists so that they can also report the news as it is with no persuasion from political
or governmental departments. The Press Council should come up with course formats in
cooperation with notable journalism training establishments and associations that make issues
of ethics prominent topics to be solved. The need of the time is to draft a common code of
conduct for journalists - reporters and editors - separately taking ideas from working
journalists across print, TV and web, retired veteran journalists, and those affiliated with
media. It can be concluded that if the government really believes in self-regulation, it should
have taken efforts to mandate or facilitate the coming together of the broadcasting fraternity
under one umbrella. It should have formalised the self-regulatory code and penalties by
consensus and by giving some sort of legal recognition for the decisions of self-regulatory
bodies and thereby limiting the applicability of extant laws and by prescribing some
minimum standards to be followed by them in the interests of viewers.77

Competition has led the media to turn out to be increasingly working solely for public
attention and rating points. Self-regulation would be workable only if due acceptance is given
to it by the press and it should remain committed to it. Only such commitment and
acceptance will gives the Press Council some teeth. Press councils and such regulatory bodies
across the world have played a more proactive role in setting industry standards, undertaking
regular studies, organising regular public consultations and also empowering readers. The
existing model of PCI is, therefore, an ineffective comparison or benchmark for ongoing
discourse on regulating broadcast content. Any self-regulatory system needs to be prompt,
proactive, participatory and, above all, one to which the newspaper and magazine publishing
sector is committed and accountable. There is a clear need to re-look at accountability
systems across media, including print. It is a shocking revelation that from 2003 to 2016 PCI
received more than 7000 complaints while from 1990-2000 it received more than 9000
complaints. Of the complaints received most (average 70%) complaints are against the press.
Roughly 25% are adjudicated upon, and around 60-70% are dismissed. While many cases
keep awaiting their chance as the council takes inordinate amount of time over its
interventions. This also happens because the council is largely Delhi-based. These are some
of the factors that may account for these successes and failures. 78 The Indian media in the last
seventy years has transformed rigorously. The transformation can narrowly be classified into

77
Tilak Jha “Critique on Press Council of India” 92 Bar Council of India Review 38 (2012).
78
Avialable at : http://presscouncil.nic.in/Content/WhatNew/7_WhatNew.aspx
two categories- the positive accomplishments of the media and negative impact the media
had created.

Our system should also follow the policies of German Press Council. There, nearly half of all
issues were dealt with at an early stage through conciliations devoid of any formal decision
by the complaints commission. Only in the next stage, the Press Council of Germany
intervenes between the parties concerned. The German Press Council has its own complaints
commission that looks into the issues related to editorial pages of news papers to see if it
infringes any norms, if so, they take suo moto actions. The unique quality about the
commission in Germany is that they have another branch evaluating the public’s complaints
even if it is anonymous. This procedure compelled most media establishments in Germany to
voluntarily accept the press code as the ethical guideline which eventually compelled them to
publish the reprimands from readers. The data protection is the other area that the German
Press Council had involved in. It facilitates a reader to make a complaint to the Press Council
if he or she believes that data pertaining to them have not been handled correctly. The
expanded Press Code will automatically apply then and complaints regarding the
contravention of individuals’ rights are then dealt with accordingly. Additionally, an index
with safety measures for data protection has to be published in editorial offices mandatorily.79

Apart from this, some recommendations that can be adopted are :-

1. There is a need for having the contracts made and drafted among media and
journalists or guest contributors that lay prominence on clear requirement to follow
the Code of Practice. Each media establishment should have concerned branch to see
if it is followed strictly.
2. Sufficient amendments are to be incorporated and that are to be put up under the Data
Protection80 which must be an indispensable part of contracts of employment service
for journalists, editors, freelancers who write as guest columnists;
3. There should be a universal code of ethics made and those should be distributed to
staff journalists without impediment; assets and income or earnings of the news paper
company, the editors, journalists are to be made public. There should be meticulous
appraisal controls for cash payments.

79
Jenifer Whitten-Woodring, “Watchdog or Lapdog? Media Freedom, Regime Type, and Government Respect
for Human Rights” 53International Studies Quarterly 595–625 (2009).
80
Information Technology Act, 2000, s. 43A of provides for the protection of sensitive personal data or
information (‘SPDI’). Also, s. 72A protects personal information from unlawful disclosure in breach of contract.
The author feels that these sections need to be interpreted widely
 4. There should be an independent ombudsman appointed to solve any issues pertaining
to newspapers and channels. This can be done assessing the circulation or viewership
and further on the basis of revenue threshold. The ombudsman should act as a support
system for reporters who are asked to refrain from covering any matters, and
additionally for readers to lodge complaints.81
5. There is a necessity for media training that can be commenced by media
establishments as part of journalism courses. New approaches need to be developed
where students will be well informed about the current affairs, the working of press,
media and that inculcates interests in them.82

CONCLUSION
It is a fact that no human activity is feasible without some form of control. No institution can
work progressively if it is self regulated. Primary to self-regulation is the theory of intended
conformity. The self-regulatory bodies cannot function unless it is free from bureaucracy,
industrial and particular interests; unless a random check is done within the institution; unless
it has the authority to oblige moral permit, for instance the publication of a rectification or an
asking for forgiveness. In the light of these, it needs to be scrutinized as to how far self
regulation for media is justified. Therefore, the assumption is that just leaving the regulation
to the media itself would create the possibility that it may subvert regulatory goals to its own
business goals.

It is the need of the hour that our government nudge owners to invest in training for media
journalists. For the reason of the importance of media freedom, currently western
governments have offer workshops to train journalists. It is true that a number of prominent
governmental and nongovernmental organisations have brought forth guides of press
freedoms. This needs to be judged neutrally to gauge effectively how they have contributed
to media reform. It is witnessed that in countries where government hinders the media,
individuals know lesser about essential political issues and are less politically involved.
Politically uninformed and unconcerned individuals do not know adequately about political

81
Keval J Kumar, Media Education, Communications and Public Policy: An Indian Perspective, (Himalaya
Publishing House, Bombay, 1995). Avialable at : http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/IMG/pdf/KevalKumar.pdf
82
4 Here, the author means training and not marketing by media. There was an allegation that some news paper
publishers, under the pretext of doing ‘media education’ have entered schools to market their products. Such is
the attempt of The Times of India, one of the foremost national dailies,(with a circulation of over a million
copies every day), to market the paper in the schools of New Delhi, Bombay, Pune and Bangalore. The
experiment is termed ‘Newspapers in Education’ (NIE), and is taught during regular school hours, not by school
teachers but by young men and women carefully recruited by the response department.
activities or partake enough politically to observe efficiently the activities of self-centred
politicians.

Essentially, media accountability through self-regulation can be achieved when reporters and
management unite to frame norms of journalistic conduct thereby assuring that these rules are
complied with. As part of this, there should be mechanism developed to offer a means by
which aggrieved persons due to any news or information item can approach a fair tribunal. A
voluntary accord of media professionals, journalists and management or broadcasting group
should thus devote to craft excellent journalistic standards to avoid any sort of inconvenience
to public for whom they disseminate news. It is just like following the proverb, Prevention is
better than cure.

BIBILOGRAPHY
 Keval J. Kumar, MEDIA EDUCATION, REGULATION AND PUBLIC POLICY IN
INDIA
 Singh, Lavayana. “ROLE OF MEDIA IN MAKING AND EXECUTION OF
PUBLIC POLICY IN INDIA.” The Indian Journal of Political Science, vol. 74, no. 2,
Indian Political Science Association, 2013, pp. 309–12,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/24701115.
 Meera Mathew, MEDIA SELF- REGULATION IN INDIA: A CRITICAL
ANALYSIS
 http://socialsciences.in/article/media-policy-and-governance
 Kumar, K.J. (1995). Media Education, Communication and Public Policy: An Indian
Perspective. Bombay: House.
 Singhal, A. & Rogers, E. (2001). India’s Communication Revolution. From Bullock
Carts to Cyber Marts. New Delhi: Sage
 Dr. G M Purani, R Lathangi, Examining Media Education in India,
https://www.ijrrjournal.com/IJRR_Vol.3_Issue.4_April2016/IJRR0012.pdf