Accountability in Media An Analysis of Regulatory Mechanism with Reference to Newspaper and TV Reporting in India

Abstract

Media, here by referred to as Newspaper and Television news channels, plays a critical role in the development of society in India by educating, informing, entertaining, and influencing the people in every sphere of life. It is media through which the individuals try to realise some of the fundamental democratic liberties including the right to free speech. The deep impact of the media in the country s democratic setup can be gauged from the fact that even from municipality to the parliamentary elections, it is the media that creates, generates, or builds opinion in public, swaying their mind to choose the future policy makers of the country. Itcannot be denied that the expression Modi Wave coined by the media in 2014 had led to the first-time landslide victory of the BJP in the 2014 parliamentary elections and the impact of media creation, Modi Wave syndrome was also evident in 2019 Indian parliamentary polls when the saffron party repeated in power with more seats. Besides this, the media also influences maintaining the social fabric of the country. Small misinformation in the media can disturb the entire social setup of the country. The deep impact of media in every sphere of life not only confers the status of fourth pillar of democracy on media but also keeps it on the top of three others--legislative, judiciary and executive in India. People in the legislature, judiciary and executive are either chosen by the public through direct elections or they come through some strict competitive examination having several parameters. If those in the legislature, judiciary and executive do not perform as per the settled norms of expectations, they can be removed or can be corrected through the prescribed procedure. People in Media, which has been referred to as the fourth pillar, are chosen by media houses. Although there is academic and professional training available to become a media person but the rule of business for their selection or functioning is governed by the media houses.