Freedom of the Press: The right to publish and the Right to
privacy
The Indian
Constitution Confers no special rights
or privileges to the Press as does the First Amendment of the United States
Constitution. However, Article 19(i)(a) of the constitution does guarantee
freedom of expressions to every citizen which includes:
(i)
The right to lay what sentiment s/ he pleases before the public, or the to impart
information and the ideas,
(ii)
The right to receive information and ideas others through
any lawful medium.
It is the Article that gives editors and journalists to
right to publish the news or any kind of information and to comment on public
affairs, and the public the right to receive information of which the United
Nations Charter of Human Rights speaks forcefully. These are fundamental human
rights. The Freedom of Press rests on the same fundamental rights and implies
the right to print, publish comment and criticize without any interference of
the state and public authority. It includes the right not to publish or comment
as well. However the freedom of the
Press is not absolute; neither is the freedom of expression. Public interest
has to be safe guarded; so has private interest, and the right to piracy.
Public interest is safe guarded by article 19(2) which
lies down reasonable limitations to the
freedom of expression in matters affecting;
(a)
Sovereignty and integrity of the states
(b)
Security of the state
(c)
Friendly relations with the foreign countries
(d)
Public order
(e)
Decency and morality
(f)
Contempt of court
(g)
Defamation and
(h)
Incitement to an offence
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| Freedom of Press |
The right to
privacy, a fundamental and legal right, is enshrined in Article 21 of the
Constitution which says no person shall he deprived of his life or personal
liberty, except according to procedure estabhshed by law’. The expression
‘personal liberty’, according to Jastic P.C Bhagwati (in the Menaka Gandhi
case, 1978), is of the widest amplitude and it covers a variety of rights which
go to constitute the personal liberty of man’. Personal liberty gives dignity
to the individual, providing him / her the freedom to live his / her own life
and to do his / her own thing. It is the necessary means to creativity, growth,
autonomy, relaxation and mental health That explains why the dignity of the
individual is ensured in the preamble of our Constitution.
Besides the
Constitution, the Law of Tors assures the right to privacy of the individual
This is a branch of law based on various decisions of judges on aspects of
civil wrongs which are not provided by the statutory Laws but which constitutes
the first principal of Law based on various decisions of judges reationg to
civil wrongs.
Further, privacy is
protected by laws relating to defamation, under the Indian Penal Code.
Defamation is making known through words spoken or written, or though signs or
visible representations (e.g. painting , a photograph, a cartoon, an
illustration), an imputation which is intended to harm the reputation of a
person. The exporsure of the private love – lives of films stars in film
periodicals can thus be challenged under the law. However. It must be pointed
out that persons who are in public life cannot claim privacy to the same extent
as ordinary citizens. Sometimes, a case can be made out for the view that such
exposures have been done ‘ in good faith’, and in the public interest or for
the ‘public good’, thus exposures of political scandals by reporters are not
always defamatory. But care has to be taken that the reports or photographs
published are not obscene, do not offend morality or decency, and above all, do
not affect public order, further these parts needs to be substantially correct
so it not defamatory to comment on or criticize the conduct of a public figure
in the discharge of his or her public duties.
There is, then a
confilict between the Right to publish and the right to privacy. Yet both are
equally precious in a free society. While commercial explitation of the private
lives of public figures, and of lesser fry, can help step up sales of
publications, a balance has to be struck between the two rights. Journalists.
Therefore, have to tread warily lest they be hauled up by the law for infringement
of priacy. They have to act in ‘good faith’ and in the public interest’; they must not forget
that they have no legal basis to keep their sources of information to
themselves. Sources have to be disclosed when asked for, either by the police,
or by the Courts of Law. In most cases, however, the law respects the
confidentiality of the journalists’ sources unless public interest and justice
are involved.
In addition to the
right to publish reports on events and individuals keeping in mind the public
interest, a journalist is privileged to publish ‘a substantially true report of
either House of Parliament or the Legislative Assembly’. This ‘ privilege’ was
withdrawn during the intern Emergency, but was reinstated by the 44th
Amendment Act, 1978.
Press Codes and Ethics
Codes of
ethics for the journalist began to be
formulated since the early 1920’s. Today more than 60 countries around the
world have drawn up and are enforcing such codes. Of course they vary in form
and scope in one country or region to another. In some countries, the codes
have been voluntarily drawn up and are imposed by professional bodies of
journalists; in others, they are imposed by the Government in power. Several
states enforce such codes which speak of such high minded principles as
objectivity, impartiality, truthfulness and freesom of information.
The Mac Bride
Report states that all journalists have responsibilities to their own
convictions, but equally important are their responsibilities to tine public .
the report spells out journalists’ responsibilities;
- Contractual responsibility in relation to their media
and their internal organization.
- A social responsibility entailing obligations towards
public opinion and society as a whole.
- Responsibility or liability deriving from the
obligation to comply with the law.
- Responsibility towards the international community,
relationg to respect for human values.
Media Ethics
Journalistic codes usually take into account the following Concepts :
- Safeguarding freedom of information.
- Freedom of access to information sources.
- Objectivity, accuracy, truthfulness or the non –misrepresentation of facts.
- Responsibility to the public, and its rights and interests and in relation to national, racial and religious communities, the nation, the State and the maintenance of peace.
- The obligation to refrain from calumny, unfounded accusations, slander, violations of privacy.
- Integrity and independence.
- The right of reply and of correction.
- Respect of professional confidentiality.
- Consideration for the cultural, social or ethnic codes of individual countries.
The Mac Bride Report says that the adoption of codes of
ethics at national, and in some cases, at the regional level is desirable,
provided that such codes are prepared and adopted by the profession itself,
without Government interference. It recommends that Codes of Ethics aim at the
following objectives:
- To protect the consumer readers, listeners, viewers, or the public in general;
- To protect and inspire the working journalist, broadcaster or others directly concerned with the gathering, writing, processing and presenting of news and opinions;
- To guide editors and others who take full legal responsibility for what is published and broadcast;
- To define the responsibilities of proprietors, shareholders and Government who are in a position of absolute control over any particular form of mass media communications activity;
- To deal with issues of advertisers and others who buy into the services of the media.
See Also :
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February 2017 calendar
February calendar 2017