The Press Council is the mechanism for overseeing the newspaper industry itself. The reason for the existence of this unique institution is based on the idea that in a democratic society, the press must be both free and responsible.
In order for the press to effectively defend the public interest, it must enjoy safe freedom of speech that is not restricted or hindered by authorities, organized institutions, or individuals. However, this requirement of freedom of the press is only legal when it is implemented with a proper sense of responsibility. For this reason, the press must strictly abide by the recognized standards of journalistic ethics and abide by high professional standards of conduct.
When the rules are violated and freedom is tarnished by unprofessional behavior, there must be some way to control and control it, but the control of the government or official agency will destroy this freedom, so freedom is the best way to prevent it from happening. Method To become a professional, become a colleague, get the support of some discerning laymen, and supervise it through a well-structured and fair representative mechanism. Therefore, the Press Committee.
Authorities and the press around the world have long recognized the need for this mechanism, and their exploration led to the establishment of the first printing committee, the Court of Honor. In Sweden in 1916. This idea was quickly accepted in other Scandinavian countries, then the rest of Europe, Canada, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Four dozen or more countries.
The basic concept of self-discipline on which press committees and similar media around the world are based was put forward by Mahatma Gandhi, who was also an outstanding journalist: "The only purpose of journalists should be the press. It is a powerful force. But just as a steady stream of water flooded entire fields and destroyed crops, uncontrolled spring will only cause destruction. When external control comes, it is more toxic than lack of control. It can only be profitable if it is done internally. "
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who defends freedom of the press, warned of the dangers of using freedom of the press irresponsibly and emphasized: "If there is no responsibility or obligation, freedom will gradually disappear. This applies to the freedom of the country. This applies to the media and any other groups, organizations, or individuals.
The First Press Committee (1954) found various examples of pornographic news in certain sections of the press, and defamatory articles are usually Targeting communities or groups, greed, bias in news reports, and lack of accountability in the comments. ..., profanity, vulgarity, and personal attacks on people. However, the committee found that these newspapers are well known. Maintain high standards of News reporting. They avoided the “feeling of cheapness and unreasonable invasion of privacy.” However, he pointed out that “no matter what the news law, there will still be a lot of unnecessary news. Although it is beyond the scope of the law, it still needs to be revised. . "He believes that the best way to maintain the professional standards of journalism is to form a person who is mainly related to the industry. Their job is to deal with controversial issues and review everyone who violates the law. Journalism ethics standards. The
The committee recommends that journalism The committee's tasks include "ensure freedom of the press", "ensure that news maintains a high level of public taste and promote proper understanding of both. The rights and obligations of citizens "harmony" promote the sense of responsibility and public service of all those engaged in journalism. The committee recommends that a council be established based on legislation. The foundation is that the council should have the legal power to conduct investigations, otherwise every member and the council as a whole will be threatened by legal proceedings. He wanted to punish them through exposure.
The committee stated that the committee should be composed of people who generally trust and respect the industry. In addition to the chairman, the committee should have 25 members. The President must be someone who has been or has been a judge of the High Court and must be appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India.
The Press Council of India was first established on July 4, 1966. It is an autonomous, legal and quasi-judicial institution, chaired by the then-Supreme Court Judge Sri JR Mudholkar. The Press Council Act of 1965 listed the following functions of the Council to achieve its goals:
● Assisting newspapers to maintain their independence;
● Establishing high professional standards of conduct for newspapers and reporters;
● Ensuring that newspapers and reporters adhere to high standards of Public taste and promote the correct understanding of civil rights and obligations;
● Promote the sense of responsibility and public service awareness of all journalists;
● Review any changes that may affect the public interest and pay attention to the transmission and dissemination of information;
● Continue to investigate Indian newspapers or news The agency received assistance cases from foreign sources submitted by the central government.
The premise is that nothing in this clause prevents the central government from censoring any support from any foreign source as deemed appropriate by any newspaper or news agency in India by other means; promotes the establishment of common news delivery and distribution service for newspapers, because It considers appropriate from time to time;
● Provide adequate education and training for journalists to create conditions;
● Promote appropriate functional relationships among various personnel involved in newspaper production or publication;
● Investigate situations that may lead to newspaper monopoly or concentration of ownership Development, including checking the ownership or financial structure of the newspaper, and proposing solutions when necessary;
● Promoting technical or other research;
● Performing other operations that may accompany or help perform the above-mentioned functions.
The objectives and functions of the council
The objective of this press council is the same as that of the 1965 Act, and there is no need to repeat it here, but its functions are different from those listed in the previous 1978 Act because it is considered to be the council. Think heavy.
These are related to the following:
(a) Promote the creation of public services to deliver and distribute news in newspapers that sometimes seem desirable;
(b) Create conditions for adequate education and training of journalists;
(c) Promote technology Or other research.
In addition, the 1978 Act lists two new tasks for the council:
(i) research on foreign newspapers, including the distribution and influence of newspapers, carried out by embassies in India or other foreign representatives;
(ii) entrust to the council Research and comment on any matter submitted by the central government to the council.
Other functions are the same as those listed in the 1965 Act.
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