Rising threats to journalists

Press freedom declines as journalists are harassed, targeted and face legal charges for criticism

The recent incident involving Union women and child development minister Smriti Irani threatening a journalist in Amethi once again highlights the growing intimidation faced by media personnel in India. This prevailing intimidation significantly hampers journalism and restricts the free flow of information in a democracy.

A video of the incident on June 9 shows Irani responding to persistent questioning by a reporter by stating that she would “call up the owner of the paper” and tell them that no journalist has the right to insult the people. Conflicting reports have emerged regarding the conversation between the reporter and the minister, and it is not clear what irked the minister. While the reporter claimed to be from Dainik Bhaskar, the publication denied the claim.

Regardless of the reporter’s affiliation and the causes of the minister’s ire, any form of threat constitutes uncivil behaviour and is unacceptable.

It is important to point out that a journalist’s duty is to ask questions. A minister can either choose to answer or not. Separately, does asking pertinent questions amount to insulting people?

“The minister’s threat to call newspaper owners and couch journalistic questioning as an affront to the public was a clear intimidatory tactic,” stated the Editors Guild of India in a released statement.

Also Read | World Press Freedom Index: India slips to 161st rank; Pak, Afghanistan improve to 150, 152 respectively

The Guild expressed deep concern over the minister’s intimidatory conduct, highlighting that threats against journalists impinge upon press freedom.

It is a sad irony that despite being the world’s largest democracy, with a constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech and expression, and having one of the largest and most diverse media industries globally, journalists in India constantly face harassment and threats. Not only are some journalists subjected to regular harassment, but those from the Muslim community or those advocating for minorities are also targeted. In recent years, there have been reports of how journalists, previously targeted with civil defamation charges, were now being tried with criminal defamation and then with the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

More recently, several senior journalists have left their jobs at well-known media houses due to various pressures, including changes in ownership and a stifling work atmosphere. Several senior anchors, including the founders of India’s first private channel, NDTV, have quit over the last few months, to cite one instance.

Unsurprisingly, India’s ranking has slipped to 161 from 150 in the latest (2023) World Press Freedom Index published in May. The press freedom report is published annually by global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF), covering 180 countries.
“The violence against journalists, politically partisan media, and concentration of media ownership all demonstrate that press freedom is in crisis in the world’s largest democracy, ruled since 2014 by prime minister Narendra Modi, the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the embodiment of the Hindu nationalist right,” RSF said.

That India is performing poorly in terms of the safety of journalists is disturbing, to say the least.

With an average of three or four journalists killed in connection with their work every year, India is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for the media, noted RSF, adding that journalists are exposed to all kinds of physical violence, including police violence, ambushes by political activists, and deadly reprisals by criminal groups.

RSF specifically makes reference to the targeted harassment of women journalists online and the ongoing police interference in the treatment of the media in Kashmir.

Alarmingly, even legally, journalists face harassment by those in power through various charges, such as sedition or criminal defamation.

“Indian law is protective in theory, but charges of defamation, sedition, contempt of court, and endangering national security are increasingly used against journalists critical of the government, who are branded as anti-national,” RSF said.

It is ignominious that India’s ranking in the World Press Freedom Index has been slipping consistently in the last few years. Even neighbours Pakistan and Afghanistan have performed better than India, securing ranks of 150 and 152, respectively. Bangladesh is just behind India, ranked 163.

Fortunately, the independent media—a few newspapers, magazines, and online news platforms—in India, braving all odds, is pulling out all the stops to hold the truth to power by exposing misrule, corruption, and wrongdoings at a time of growing authoritarianism and swirling misinformation.

But as long as this environment of intimidation—which includes not only threats and arrests of journalists but also raids and vilification of independent media houses—remains, the fourth estate will continue to suffer.

(The writer is a Bengaluru-based senior journalist)