Role of the Press - A Citizen's Viewpoint

Role of the Press

- A Citizen’s Viewpoint



While the nightmare or emergency is behind us, two question continue to stare us in the face - one, “Why the emergency ?” and two, “How to prevent its recurrance ?” The answer to the first question can really, only be provided by those who enacted that high drama, though a number of plausible explanation have been put forth by those who were close to the scene of action. The answer to the second question, however, must be sought and provided by each and every citizen of our country. Succeeding generations will not forgive us if we do not take any corrective actions ; history will despise us.

Our representatives in Parliament are working on the legal and constitutional safeguards for preventing such safeguard would be to overhaul the social climate itself which permitted such abuse of power to take place with little challenge or resistance or protest ; which made us all so docilely submit to authority we knew to be wrongly exercise and which we roundly condemned after the emergency. It is in this task of building up a strong sense of democratic values and creating a reservoir of courage to stand up to and resist authoritarianism that the press has a crucial and vital role to play.

The emergency has underlined the importance of having a free and unfettered press which would keep the government aware of the people’s moods and reactions. It is a widely held view, to-day, that had the press been free, during the emergency, to mirror the people’s feelings may of the excesses would not have been committed. True, but what about the periods before the emergency ? There were no felters on the press then. If only the press had, at that time, taken upon itself to faithfully report to the people about the goings on in the government, if only it had discharged its function of exposing corruption and inefficiency wherever they occurred, if only it had educated the people about the principles of democracy and the dangers of their about the principles of democracy and the dangers of their about the principles of democracy and the dangers of their about the principles of democracy and the dangers of their abuse, if only it had emphasised the value of freedom and the agony of its absence, if only it had cautioned the people of impending authoritarianism and what it would lead to, it is conceivable the people may not have been numbed it is conceivable that people may not bave been numbed into such a state of shock as they were. It is possible into such a state of shock as they were. It is possible that the spark of resistance ignited by an informed and aroused public an inflamed by the courage and defiance of the news media would have spread a big enough conflagration that would have contained and arrested the tide of despotism which engulfed us all for nineteen moths. But all that is history now. It is the future we must look to and how we can protect it.

If, however, the performance of the news media during the five months after the emergency is any indicator, then it appears that no lessons have yet been learnt. Newspapers continue, as before, to be fully taken up with only reporting events. There seems to be very little effort at informative analysis (as opposed to opinion-expressing in editorials), information giving or educating or investigative reporting or racket-busting or exposing corrupt practices and so on. These are some of the more important features of any responsible newspaper which distinguish it from the routine news sheets. All that one sees in the newspapers these days is more reports of “What happened yesterday” and authentic (!) accounts of “What happened during the emergency”. There is hardly and attempts to go into the ‘why’ of things, to investigate incidents / controversies, to probe alleged scandals, to regularly and systematically inform the people about how the government is functioning, if at all, and such things.

Consider the Belchi incident, for instance. All that we have got so far is a report of the Belchi M. P., Mr. Gupta’s version and Mr. Ram Dhan’s version and Mr. Charan Singh’s version and MP’s team’s vesion. Where, may one well ask, is the newspaper’s version ? Why cannot the newspapers send their own journalists for an on-the spot and detailed investigation and let the people know their findings. Indeed, a team journalists drawn from various newspapers/news magazines could do a joint study and report. Such a report would not only carry a great deal of conviction and thus clear the confusion but put pressure on the governemnt to expedite its own enquiry into this and such matters. Similar individual / joint investigations could also be done on the widespread labour unrest and violence in the country, campus troubles, the working (or non-working) of the campus troubles, the working (or non-working) of the enquiry commissions, the Poona demonstrations against the Prime Minister, the violence in and around industrial areas in Poona on that occasion and such other incidents.

Consider another example. All newspapers have been dutifully reporting the massive under-utilisation of import licences for edible oils by the traders as also the alleged selling of oil meant for import to third parties abroad. And what is the source of their (the news papers) information ? - only statements made from time to time by Shri Mohan Dharia. How many newspapers of magazines have reported anything in this matter which they themselves have uncovered ? Why has no newspapers attempted to do its own detailed investigation in the matters to give the people a clearer and more complete picture of the whole affair ? Why is no attempt being made to unmark the cartal (if there is one) which is holding almost the entire country to ransom ? Organised corruption at influential levels and by moneyed people is not capable of being fought by the government alone. The government requires active co-operation and support, of all sections of the people, especially a vocal medium like the press, to weed out this malaise. Similarly, alleged scandals of cement hoarding, high vegetable prices, gulf employment agencies, college admission wrangles, actual election expreses of selected candidate who are known to have spent very large sums, etc. need to be thoroughly investigated and the offenders exposed. A newspaper is its task also lies in investigating matters of public interest and exposing law breakers so that not only do the people come to know who the real culprits are but also the fear of public exposure may desist many from indulging in such activities. it is hardly necessary to emphasize that such investigations must not degenerate into witch-hunting or lead to harrassment of innocent people - the only casualty in such a case would be the press credibility.


This is so far as investigating and exposing is concerned. There are still other important roles for the press. Educating is one. We talk a lot about democracy and its relevance to our conditions of life and so on and so forth. But what does and should it mean to a common man, has anyone bothered to explain ? How does our democracy work, what does it comprise of, what are its advantages and disadvantages, what rights does it bestow and what obligation does it cast upon a citizen, has anyone tired to explain to him ? who are our representatives in Parliament and assemblies, what is their background and previous record are things which many educated urbanites are not aware of, much less a common villager. With this level of ignorance and lack of awareness of such matters it is not difficult to relise why there is so much apathy towards the affairs of the country by large sections of the people. It also explains the considerable indifference of the large majority of the people towards the imposition of the emergency - a factor which decidedly made the things much easier and smoother for those who imposed it. If democracy is to strike permanent roots in our country it is essential that a basic training in democracy be imparted to the people and the news media is admirably suited to play this role.

To begin, with all MPs elected in the March elections should be introduced to the people through brief life sketches, listing, among other things, educational qualifications, political activities / background, special attainments / interest as also their addresses so that the people know who their representatives are, what their calibre is and where they can be contacted. To-day, save for the Union Ministers (and that too not all) and a fe prominent MPs, people hardly know even the names of other members of Parliament ! A similar exercise should also be done for all the legislators of states where, recently, elections were held.

Next, there could be a more detailed / elaborate reporting of the Parliament / Assembly sessions regarding both the debates and the question hour where a lot of useful information is given. These reports should also comment on the attendance in the House viz., how many members present at the start of the day’s proceedings, how many present during the course of the day, say, immediately after lunch, as well as total present and participating whenever a bill/motion is voted on. The people are entitled to know whether or not their representatives are doing the work they were electedd for, which when the Parliament / Assembly is in session, is primarily legislating. Similarly MPs/MLAs with less than 3 days attendance in a week’s session of Parliament / Assembly should be named (An explanatory remark should be added only for those who are ill). Such a report, it is expected, will have a salutory effect on members who treat their legislative functions lightly.

Further there could be a series of articles on various facets of democracy like the election process, the distortion it produces, safeguards and remedies against election malpractices, the functioning of Parliament and Supreme Court, the structure of government at district and panchyat level, the planning process and how a citizen can contribute to it, the five-year plans, the citizen’s avenues for redressal of grievances, especially against violation of his civil / fundamental rights by those in authority and other related topics.

One more equally important area of activity for the press is ‘informing’ (not to be confused with reporting of recent events). In this field, newspapers should regularly report on the functioning of each and every ministry, functioning of various National Laboratories and Central Research Institutes, review periodically the actual receipts and expenses on different items of the budget, the deviation from the budgeted estimates and the reasons thereof, review periodically the progress of work on various projects (dams, steel plants, road networks, community welfare schemes) which are started with much fan-fare before every election and then conveniently forgotten, the actual expenditure incurred till date on such projects as composed to the expenditure estimates for the whole project as composed to the expenditure estimates for the whole project made when the project was started, a periodic comparison of standard economic / social / other indicators with our immediate neighbours, countries in this region and developed countries of the world, and other information of general interest. Apart from keeping people informed of what is happening to the tax-payer’s money, the fact that such reports are going to be published for public consumption is bound to have a salutory effect on various public bodies concerned and keep them on their toes. More-over, this will. Induce in the latter a habit of periodic review (which doesn’t seem to be very common now) and thus enable them to detect deviation from plan at an early stage itself which would be beneficial for taking necessary corrective actions.

The task of nation-building is a collective responsibility and so single agency or group can do it alone. Nevertheless in the conditions obtaining in our country to-day, the new media, which has the largest reach as a single group, has a very significant role to play and will have a very decisive bearing on the shape of things to come in the future.

Our recent traumatic experience has shown that ignorance of and indifference to public affairs are the surest breeding grounds for totalitarianism and dictatorship with all its associated evils. In the recent elections the people have cast a clear verdict against authoritrianism, but unless the basic reasons which permitted those in power to get away with its abuse are tacked we will continue to remain vulnerable to reimposition of the kind of rule we went through during the emergency.

If we wish to follow the democratic path, if we value our freedom and individual dignity and wish to safeguard these, then, it is the twin enemies of ignorance and indifference which must be attacked first. And it is here that the news media must play a vigorous role. The emergency showed up the strengths and weaknesses of our news media - unfortunately more of the later than the former. The present affords an opportunity to the news media to retrieve its former credibility and prestige. Let this chance not be lost by default again.


H. K. Varma
11th August, 1977
Bombay.