What is the Importance of Free and Independent Media

Having a free and independent media is the cornerstone of democracy. Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution includes the freedom to express one’s ideas through any media like words, writings, pictures, paintings, visual representations, gestures, signs, etc. This includes publishing and propagating ideas. Thus, the freedom of media, i.e., the press and the audio-visual media (radio, podcasts, television news channels, YouTube, etc) is also protected under the freedom of expression. 

In India, unlike in the United States, there is no separate constitutional provision for freedom of the press but it flows from Article 19(1)(a).¹ As a result, the freedom of the press in India stands on the same footing as the freedom of speech of a citizen, and the press is subject to the same set of reasonable restrictions under Article 19(2). Media freedom includes a bundle of rights. Some of these rights are:

• Right to Publish
• Right to Circulate
• Right to Report Court Proceedings

1. Virendra v. State of Punjab, AIR 1957 SC 896; Express Newspaper Ltd. v. Union of India, AIR 1958 SC  578 (614); Indian Express Newspaper v. Union of India, (1985) 1 SCC 641 [↩]