An analysis of independence of Media in India and its impact on social discourse

Abstract

It is for this reason that to understand the health of Democracy, it is essential to understand the health of independence of the media. The independence of media is impacted by various stakeholders involved and for varied reasons. Be it the indigenous government, the corporates or even foreign institutions in some cases, there are often vested interests in regulating or modulating the flow of information through the media. When this happens, it is at the cost of collective social interest. The independence of Media in India has been a subject of scrutiny for years. There have been changes in administration and legal frameworks, but certain questions have always remained unanswered. In recent times, the questions of media’s independence have been bolstered due to slippage in certain indicators and a general uptrend in instances of press stifling. India’s Press Freedom Index ranking has gone down from 131 in 2012 to 142 in 2020, below other South Asian countries of Afghanistan and Myanmar. There has been a rise in arrests of Journalists in the country and even fringe attacks on them.