Volume 1 Medial Law Review 2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS Message from the Patron ………………………………………..…..Veer Singh i Editorial ………………………………………………………Madabhushi Sridhar ii Articles Tabloidization and Page 3 Syndrome: Unethical practices in media …………………………………………… G.N.Ray 1 The Implications of Informatics on Data Policy ………………….. Jon M. Garon 14 The Mind-Rigging by Media: Electoral Offences and Corrupt Practices …………………………………………..…Madabhushi Sridhar 63 Public Interest in Broadcasting in India- Judicial Trends ….Lakshmi Kruttika Vijay 77 Trial-by-Media: Derailing Judicial Process in India ……………………Zehra Khan 91 Religion and Censorship in the Indian Media: Legal and Extra-Legal ……………………………………………Harini Sudershan 114 Juvenile Justice: The Media Perspectives in US and India ………...Lalitha Gadepally 140 Message from the Patron The National Academy of Legal Studies and Research University of Law aims at excelling in inter-disciplinary research in subjects such as media and law. Any democratic country with Rule of Law as its core value principle must guarantee freedom of speech and expression. It is considered the mother of all freedoms. At times, the right to ask is more important than the right to life. Unless we express, we cannot live. Man as a social being is linked to society through communication in a variety of ways. Human Society is incomplete without communication. NALSAR considers it very important to work on the legal aspects of communication freedom. It has a Center for Media Law and Public Policy, under the leadership of Professor Madabhushi Sridhar, a well known academician and journalist. Media law is currently offered as a seminar course at NALSAR, and as a special P.G. Diploma Course through NALSAR’s proximate education program. This journal is an expression and extension of the work carried out at the Centre for Media Law and Public Policy. It is the social responsibility of any educational institution to further the understanding of democratic governance. It is in this context that a journal like Media Law Review assumes added importance and relevance. NALSAR hopes that this journal would go a long way in reaching out to people across various fields in order to enhance the spread and efficacy of freedom of speech and expression as the most powerful tool in the hands of all citizens and institutions of a civil society. Veer Singh Vice-Chancellor Editorial Today widely proliferated print and electronic media is operating as a most effective watchdog of all democratic systems of governance world over. Its far reaching effect is wonderful. With addition of new media to news media, such as internet, blog writing etc the field of media is now open to any one. It generated millions of citizen journalists. Thanks to information technology, the freedom of speech and expression is really available to every one who can use it. For an author the need of publisher is inevitable and that in fact dictated the freedom of expression. Without printing a book or article, any author can publish his views and invite comments from viewers on it. The technology also made watching media possible and effective. Growing volumes of law in tune with advancing technology accommodated the media law too. Though media persons are subject to general legal regulation, the ‘media law’ is emerging, because of its peculiar specialization. However the media’s spread being beyond boundaries of any nation, the media law assumed international proposition. Because of same reason it also became difficult to control, really making it a ‘freedom’. It is very interesting to note that technology has come to the aid of ‘expression freedom’ generating unlimited space for building opinion to impact the decision makers wherever they are. The interface between media and law is an interesting arena and a fascinating area of research. The National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR) University of Law has launched through its NALSAR Proximate Education program a unique course called PG Diploma in Media Law, which is being taken by students of law, advocates practicing media law related matters, journalists, public relation professionals, advertisement managers, etc. NALSAR also offers media law as optional seminar course for students of 4th or 5th year, wherein they focus on any aspect of media and law interface and submit a research report. The report presented before the class as a seminar, take suggestions and field the questions and prepare final report after improvements. In fact, contributors to this first issue Lalitha, Lakshmi Kruttika, Zehra Khan and Harini Sudarsan are students of media law and these articles are based on their research. There is a center for Media Law and Public Policy in NALSAR 2010] Editorial iii University taking up various research projects and spreading the media law related knowledge among various schools of journalism. Based on this foundation of study and research the Center for Media Law and Public Policy launches this journal to document important views and significant studies for further advanced research into the growing field. The first issue of Media Law Review dealt with aspects of Juvenile Justice, Tabloidaztion of Media, emerging Data policy, the media’s clandestine role in electoral campaign through unethical practice of ‘paid news’, public interest issues in broadcast media, controversial ‘trial by media’ and growing religious censorship on media expression. These are all the vital issues that either threaten expansion of expression freedom or increase the conflict between the free exchange of ideas and the other interests of different public and private institutions. Lalitha analyzed the effect of media reporting on life of juveniles, their growth and socialization. While performing the duty of mirroring truth about youth, the media is expected to protect interests of every child that is being commented upon, which in aggregate make or mar the future of a next generation. G. N. Ray in his capacity as Chairman of Press Council of India expressed serious concern for interests of society and system which are under the attack of comments made with less care and caution. Page 3 syndrome and tabloidization of media are those worry the society mostly. Ray rightly expounded the need for emancipation of readers to criticize ‘criticizing media’. Dealing with Intellectual Property aspects of data, digitalization and data protection, Jon M. Garon has presented the global scenario and advocated for protection of subjects of the data as well as the data itself. His article emphasized the need for international cooperation to provide for comprehensive and standardized protections to both for data and from the misuse of that data. In my article I have tried to analyze the unethical practice of packing news as advertisement. While the candidates contesting election propagate everything aiming at securing majority votes, the media is now indulging in falsity to help them do so for a price. This article also suggests how the election law could be used to curb this paid news practice. Lakshmi Kruttika Vijay has examined the effect of public interest on broadcasting rights, particularly in cases where a party possesses some iv Media Law Journal [Vol. 1 variety of monopoly. She has provided perspective, and has looked at the existing statutory framework as well as judicial pronouncements. Zehra Khan in “Trial-by-Media” has looked at how the Indian judiciary has been under the media’s microscope, particularly with reference to the Aarushi murder case. She has given us a holistic perspective of the media’s impact by looking at various case laws. Harini Sudershan has examined censorship in the media, particularly in the context of the Indian Media. She has looked at the legal framework of censorship, as well as extra-legal dimensions of the same. Madabhushi Sridhar Editor-in-Chief TABLOIDIZATION AND PAGE 3 SYNDROME: UNETHICAL PRACTICES IN MEDIA G.N.Ray Abstract The media is regarded as the fourth estate and freedom of the media is an essential feature of all democratic states. The Press Council of India works to regulate the ethics of the print media and to protect freedom of the press. The first part of this article discusses the standards set by the press council on the recording of court proceedings. The latter part of the article examines the growing trend of tabloidization in journalism. Freedom of the media is indeed an integral part of the freedom of expression and is an essential requisite of a democratic set up. The Indian 3 Constitution has granted this freedom by way of Fundamental Rights. The media, which is obligated to respect the rights of individuals, is also 4 obligated to work within the framework of legal principles and statutes. These principles/statutes have been framed by way of minimum standards and do not intend to detract from higher standards of protection to the freedom of expression. The media is the Fourth limb of a democratic system, the legislature, executive and judiciary being the other three. While legislature prepares the law for the society and the executive takes steps for implementing them, the third stepping-stone is the judiciary, which has to ensure legality of all actions and decisions. The Fourth Estate i.e. the press has to operate within the framework of these statutes and constitutional provision to act in public and national interest. This is indicative of the fact that nobody is above law. When the Constitution of India guaranteed freedom of expression and speech to its citizens, it ensured that the freedom was not absolute and any expression, by way of words, speech or visual medium, did not violate any statutory provisions enacted by legislature and executed by the executive. If the media, electronic or print, exceeded its jurisdiction, Chairman, Press Council of India, New Delhi. 1 Article 19(1)(a) of Constitution of India which guarantees freedom of speech and expressions 2 Article 19(2) of Constitution of India, permits only “reasonable restrictions” in the interests of, inter alia, contempt of court.