GUWAHATI: November 16 is celebrated as National Press Day across the country to highlight the importance of media in a democratic country as large as India.
National Press Day commemorated the establishment of the Press Council of India, the highest regulatory body of press media in the country. It ensures that the fourth pillar of democracy remains intact via independent and unbiased reporting across all matters.
The duties of the Press Council of India are two-pronged. Firstly it protects and safeguards all journalists in the country in their endeavour to bring the truth to the general public. Secondly, it maintains a check on the work done by journalists and ensures that journalistic ethics are followed by all members of the community.
The need for an independent governing body for the press was realised soon after India's independence. These led to the formation of the First Press Commission in the year 1956. It recommended the formation of a statutory authority for realising and establishing journalistic ethics in the country. And this lead to the formation of the Press Council of India ten years later on November 16, 1966.
The Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting and Youth Affairs and Sports of the Government of India Anurag Thakur wished everyone over Twitter. He said, " On National Press Day I extend my warm wishes to all mediapersons. It is a day of reaffirmation of our collective commitment to responsible journalism without fear or favour. I look forward to media playing an increasingly constructive role in our democracy. #NationalPressDay2022."
But since its formation about five decades ago, the news-scape of the country has changed manifold. Greyscale prints became full colour, and weekly, fortnightly, monthly, quarterly and biennial publications became common with the passing of time. Then came the age of television and satellite channels and now is the time for digital media houses. Information now reaches the readers in the blink of an eye. Thus making things harder for any monitoring agency in the country.
World Press Freedom Day is celebrated on May 3 since the year 1993 to mark the signing of the Declaration of Windhoek. This year's celebration was held in Uruguay with the theme 'Journalist Under Digital Seize'
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