Press freedom in India is at precarious crossroads, as journalists and media organisations are operating under an increasingly coercive and dangerous environment.
To begin with, governments have increasingly become insular and intolerant towards critical questioning, and they flex muscles in varied ways and forms. The legal apparatus under which media operates, which was as it is extremely cumbersome and onerous with respect to press freedom, has become even more intrusive and draconian, especially with the passage of new laws to regulate online media. State and law enforcement agencies have been misusing criminal law provisions as well as other statutes in an effort to intimidate and harass journalists. The business model of media itself is such that it doesn’t allow for much financial independence.
And then there are the deep underlying issues with media’s own conduct with respect to ethics, ideological prejudices, diversity, and so on.
Consequently, there are existential questions on the independence and integrity of media in India. What is the road ahead for protecting and nurturing the space for an independent and responsible press? How can press institutions fight for preserving this space? And what are the introspective issues that we as journalists need to grapple with and address in order to maintain our own integrity.
The conclave “Press Freedom in India: Present and the Future”, seeks to bring together representatives from across media organisations, press associations, civil liberties organisations, legal fraternity, and state actors, in an effort to shed light on these critical issues, and discuss possible solutions.
Day 1: March 15th: Main Plenary
Program | Subject | Topic Descriptor/ Problem Statement | Format | Speakers | Moderator |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
8:45 – 9:30 | Registration- Tea and Coffee | ||||
9:30 – 10:00 | Inauguration | ||||
10:00 – 11:10 | Introspection by Media | Has Media in India let down itself and the profession: Practices, Ethics and Attitudes. Navigating where conflict of interests crosses journalistic intergrity | Panel | Mrinal Pande (Senior Journalist/Author), Om Thanvi (Senior Journalist/Author), K N Hari Kumar (The Deccan Herald), Prem Shankar Jha (Senior Journalist/Economist) | Seema Mustafa (The Citizen) |
11:15 – 11:30 | Diversity in newsrooms | The skewed composition of the newsroom and the consequent biasis in news coverage. How can Indian newsrooms be more representative to cover issues across class, caste, gender, and ethnicity? | Talk | Sudipto Mondal (The News Minute) | |
11:30 – 11:45 | Tea Break | ||||
11:45 – 12:45 | Challenges in Digital Era | Misinformation/disinformation, and fake news in the digital space, and the emerging threat from AI. What is media’s response to the question of regulation? | Panel | Ritu Kapur (The Quint), Dhanya Rajendran (The News Minute), Aditya Berlia (Apeejay Education), Nikhil Pahwa (Medianama) | Jyoti Malhotra (South Asia Awaaz) |
12:45 – 13:45 | LUNCH | ||||
13:45 – 14:35 | Nationalism, Propoganda, and Media | Has media become a handmaiden in the project of nationalism, and a tool for propoganda. How can it be rescued? | Panel | Smita Gupta (The Hindu), Hartosh Singh Bal (The Caravan), Suhasini Haider (The Hindu) | Siddharth Varadarajan (The Wire) |
14:40 – 15:25 | Reporting Beyond the Metros | Challenges before Independent journalists and media organisations operating in the hinterland. Safety and protection of journalists. | Panel | Parag Karandikar (Maharashtra Times), Sugata Srinivasaraju (Senior Journalist/Author), Kunal Majumdar (Committee to Protect Journalists), Amar Sangno (The Arunachal Times) | Ruben Banerjee (Senior Journalist/Author) |
15:30 – 16:15 | Empowering the Indies | How can independent journalists be empowerd to become self sufficient, with respect to funding, protection, and overall sustainance | Panel | Naveen Kumar (Article 19), Meena Kotwal (Mooknayak), Sabrina Daryanani (FT Strategies) | Abhinandan Sekhri (Newslaundry) |
16:20 – 17:30 | Media and Laws | A module on India’s increasingly coercive legal system and solutions ahead | |||
16:20 – 16:30 | Media and Laws: Talks | An overview of new laws to govern online media, broadcast, data, and telecom | Talk | Nikhil Narendran(Advocate) | |
16:30 – 16:40 | An overview of the implications of new criminal laws with respect to press freedom. | Talk | Abhinav Sekhri(Advocate) | ||
16:40 – 17:30 | Media and Laws: Panel | What are the possible interventions to protect the space for press freedom with respect to the legal framework, inlcuding the new digital laws, and the criminal laws- new and exisiting? | Panel | Shyam Diwan (Senior Advocate), Abhishek Singhvi (Senior Advocate), Tathagata Satpathy (Dharitri/OrissaPOST) | Anant Nath (The Caravan) |
17:30 – 18:00 | Tea and Coffee |