A manipulated media is the assassin of democracy.
The Supreme Court criticized the anchors for sparking hate and the government for being a “mute spectator.”
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court strongly criticized TV anchors for promoting hate speech and held the anchors to be supreme. The court stated “that it is the responsibility of the anchors to prevent hate speech or discord among people the moment it starts.”
These speeches on mainstream media or social media are unregulated. Freedom of the press is important… Ours is not as free as the US, but we should know where to draw a line, “Justice KM Joseph observed.
The court also questioned the government for being a mute spectator and not taking a hostile stand against them.
During the hearing, Justice Joseph noted that freedom of the press was important. He referred to noisy debates on news channels and said, “TV content is for the benefit of the listener. How will they make up their mind when there’s a babble of voices?”
While commenting on how anchors promote hate speech, Justice Joseph said, “They are not being dealt with firmly. They can be taken off air, fined, if such a sanction comes… Any anchor will have their own views and won’t be divorced from the channel’s business lines.
What is wrong is people invited not being allowed to express their own views, being muted or run down. Their right is less than that of the listener,” he said.
While commenting on why hate speech interest viewers, the court said, “Hate speech is layered. Like killing someone, you can do it in multiple ways, slowly or otherwise. They keep us hooked based on certain convictions.”
The matter will next be heard on November 23.
An eye towards the current scenario:
The intelligent population of India has already stopped watching the news because they have understood the propaganda of the media. But this is such an unfortunate thing for the media and people.
It is regarded as the fourth pillar of democracy, and people who lose faith in the media harm not only the right to free expression but also democracy as a whole.
Then comes the other side of people who are blindfolded by whatever they are being shown by the controlled media channels. Such people are not to be blamed because it is the responsibility of the media to provide the public with unbiased and unfiltered news.
The scenario has become so tainted that you can tell by the level of debate that they are delving into their audience. It is full of hate, promoting disharmony among people and making them fight on the basis of their religions and castes.
It is the duty of the TV anchors to make the audience see through the rays of light from every aspect. But that isn’t the case. They provide the audience with filtered news and are taking sides in the open.
The scenario even degrades when the mics of opposing people are also muted. There are certain anchors who won’t let anybody speak other than them. Most of the time, they try to fuel anger in the hearts of people.
As per the World Press Freedom Index 2022, India’s ranking dropped to 150th position from last year’s 142nd rank, which is an alarming factor.
Way Forward:
It would be the sanest thing to act upon the judgement of the Supreme Court. If the media serves the people in power rather than the general public, India will no longer be a democratic country where people are free to express their opinions and views.
Changes are screaming to come out or it would lead to an ultimate disaster for our nation.
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