Mighty laws!!

All journalists must know essential Media Law and Regulation boundaries for what they can do and what they cannot. This may include Press Complaints Commission and Ofcom codes of practice. This even covers all the media law essentials as well as an introduction to court reporting.

India’s media have grown tremendously in the past two decades. From a handful of state-owned channels run by Doordarshan, a few radio stations including the BBC World Service and Voice of America, the electronic media environment in the country has changed beyond recognition since 1991. Foreign-owned channels and joint ventures from Star and NDTV to Zee and MTV abound, and there has been talk of raising the trp. Alongside international and foreign channels and websites, national, regional and local broadcasters have multiplied, often owned and run by Indian capital linked to powerful elite interests, including regional and national politicians and large newspaper groups.

There is currently no single Indian media body which oversees either the content and ethics or the ownership of all of these diverse media platforms. In fact unrestricted cross-media ownership has at times raised red flags with government bodies. For instance, the Telecoms Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) However, a range of unethical and even illegal practices point towards the urgent and unavoidable need for strong, well-thought-out and sustainable regulatory mechanisms, codes and frameworks. The following have all become all too common in Indian media: media misreporting and sustained defamation of particular social groups or individuals; threats by elites and political interests to the independence of journalists and citizen sources; scandals involving millions of rupees in exchange for favorable coverage of particular political and investment interests;etc.

The Indian media industry, including both information and general entertainment channels, are often in the news for violations of industry ethics codes. Entertainment channels often air inappropriate content and exceed the number of advertising minutes per hour as prescribed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. News channels, too, have been in the limelight because of the paid news phenomenon, which has been the subject of a Parliament report, and their complicated ownership structures that belie a deep connection between business and politicians.

The Indian media industry itself has been unequivocal in stating that it is capable of self-regulation.  However, the heads of the currently regulatory bodies pointed out that despite the current system of self-regulation, many channels simply opt out of voluntary membership of these associations if they do not want to follows its rules or pay fines. It is clear that regulators in India are of the view that even if self-regulation is the way forward, it cannot be voluntary. The lack of professionalism in journalism, ‘trials by media’, and the urban slant of national news channels have led to skewed and uneven growth in the Indian media industry.

In this age of media explosion, one cannot simply remain confined to the boundaries of the traditional media. The media world has expanded its dimensions by encompassing within its orbit, the widening vistas of cyber media etc. As a consequence, the laws governing them are also numerous. It is not within the scope of this Article to deal with the whole subject of media laws, but this Article makes a person aware of the various important legislations affecting the various branches of Media Communication, making him aware of his rights and facilitating him to exercise them within the framework of law existing in India.