Battle against curbs on media can’t be fought by media persons alone

By Sandeep Sahu

On World Press Freedom Day, comes some good news for the Indian media. India’s rank in the global press freedom index announced by the Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF), aka Reporters without Borders (RWB), has jumped eight places this year over its rank in 2024. But wait! Before you start celebrating this ‘quantum jump’, here is a dampener that puts things in perspective. Even after the leap, India still ranks 151st in a list of 180 countries!!

Short Shrift to Press Freedom

Just about the only ‘consolation’ for Indians, if it can be called that, in this year’s ranking announced today is that India’s bete noire, Pakistan, currently under fire for the Pahalgam terror attack, has dropped eight places to 158, seven below India. But this ‘consolation’ fails to gloss over the fact that India’s rank in the list has been falling steadily over the years, from 140 in 2019 to 142 in 2020 and 2021 and 150 in 2023 before hitting rock bottom (161) in 2023. Though its rank improved marginally in 2024 (159), the fact that India has never ranked within the top 100 since 2002, when RSF started ranking press freedom in countries, is certainly cause for serious concern for a country that prides itself on its democratic credentials. That press/media freedom is the most authentic indicator of the strength of democracy in a country is a no-brainer. What the rankings through the years also prove is that governments of all hues have given short shrift to press freedom in the country, though the fact remains that the fall has been particularly drastic under the present regime. During this period, India has been ruled by a BJP-led coalition (Atal Bihari Vajpayee government), followed by the 10-year reign of a Congress-led coalition (Manmohan Singh regime) and then another BJP-led coalition (Narendra Modi government) for the last 11 years.

Two to three journalists killed on average

Of particular concern is the finding that with an average of two to three journalists killed for their work every year, India is ‘one of the world’s most dangerous countries for the media.’ Even without taking the killings into account, attempts to gag the media through all possible means, including the use of advertisement as a weapon to make media houses toe the government line, by governments of all parties, whether at the Centre or in the states, are too glaring to miss. While political coercion has been a fact of life for as long as one can remember, what has changed in recent years is the gradual take-over of all independent media houses by corporate sharks who, by their vary nature, would never allow anything that may be even remotely critical of the government, both at the national and the state level. In the event, just about the only space left for independent voices in the media is the internet. But of late, even this limited space has been sought to be further limited by a combination of legislative measures and coercive action.

Telltale signs visible to anyone who cares

Dismissing the findings of the global non-profit body made entirely of journalists, as ‘flawed’, ‘biased against India’ or a ‘global conspiracy to defame India’, as the Government of India has sought to do in the past, will not wash because tell tale signs of the shrinking freedom of the Indian media is visible to anyone who cares. One doesn’t really need the annual RSF ranking to know that media freedom is under a grave threat. The fight against the emasculation of the media cannot even begin if we bury, ostrich-like, our heads in the sand and refuse to see the writing on the wall. But it will be a losing battle if the fighting army consists only of the soldiers of the media. The only hope we have of restoring a semblance of freedom - and improving India’s rank in the RSF ranking in the years ahead – is if all those who love democracy join the battle and fight alongside the media fraternity.

The battle against curbs on media can’t be fought by media persons alone!