Raising concerns about press freedom in the country, Subhash Chandra, Chairman, Essel Group on Monday urged all stakeholders, including viewers and regulatory bodies to stand together against the “threats of press freedom”.

Addressing a press meeting, he pointed out that while the media is considered to be the fourth pillar of democracy, it is facing “increasing pressures from the “governing class” which includes legislature, executive and corporates.

“There are structured attempts by them to align the media to achieve their agenda. The governments exert pressure on media through advertising influence or use of state machinery to threaten so that the press can be prevented from publishing factual information,” he stated.

The allegations

These comments come in the backdrop of allegations that the Punjab government “forced a blackout” of the group’s channels after Zee News did not telecast an interview with Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal due to “objectionable content.” Chandra added that some portions of the interview were telecasted but the AAP spokesperson insisted the entire interview should be published.

He added that this resulted in the Punjab government’s forced blackout of its channels “leveraging the monopoly of a particular Multi System Operator.” “Zee Group could not provide news or entertainment to viewers of Punjab for eight days,” he said, adding that the company took legal recourse for getting the channels restored on May 31.

Stating that the media provides a “feedback mechanism” to the governments, he added that if this is suppressed it is more of a loss to those who govern rather than those who are governed. At the same time, tags such as “godi media” and “designer patrakar” have sprung up over the past few years, which is not good for all in the industry, he added.

Responding to a query on whether consolidation is creating monopolies in the markets, he said, “This is a very difficult question to answer as there is no right or wrong answer to this.” Asked if the group could look at partnering with another media company in the face of heightened competition, he said, “Not at present as we speak”.

World Press Freedom Index

Talking about India’s rankings on the World Press Freedom Index, Chandra said, “Unfortunately, many of the news channels, newspapers, social media and digital platforms have started accepting the pressure as part of life, instead of resisting or voicing out their disagreement. This is one reason why India ranks 159th out of 180 in terms of press freedom. The natural blame gets inclined towards the government, but the media itself is equally responsible.”

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