The recent report that Tarun Tejpal of Tehelka.com will issue an apology to Major General Ahluwalia for accusing him of corruption in 2001 has many seething at the brazenness with which the media functions. They ruined his reputation, destroyed his career, and after two decades will issue an apology?

Journalism perhaps is the only profession in the world that requires no prior qualification and has no accountability for what it does. Politics requires no prior qualification too, but they are accountable to the people and can be voted out every five years. The law requires prior qualification and accountability is a whole separate debate. Given the impact that journalism has created and will create it is quite remarkable that this profession has gotten away with impunity on several occasions without being held accountable.

Freedom of Expression, the fourth pillar all sounds lofty but when journalism invariably over the years peddles one agenda over another, executes hit jobs targeting select individuals in the public domain and dishes out speculative and incendiary content to fan flames while baking their bread it is time this profession too comes under the purview of law.

It is time that the Government of India introduces a Journalistic Accountability Bill (JAB) and votes for it to become the law of the land. While the usual suspects namely international watch bodies, the media cabal here aided by a desperate opposition in an existential crisis will cry hoarse and accuse this government of curbing freedom of the fourth pillar it is imperative that we must look at the willful and slanted episodes of misleading news with the intention to harm the polity, the fabric and the security of India. Here are some instances:

• Tehelka slander of Major General Ahluwalia after ruing his life and career by slandering him about corruption had the court award INR2Crore as damages after two decades of a legal battle which they had the audacity to challenge and now agree to issue an apology ¹.
• Shekhar Gupta ran a speculative story in 2012 in the Indian Express insinuating that the Indian Army is planning a coup².

Indian Army is well regarded as one of the most professional forces in the world and to plant a whole story basis little does warrant accountability; it has been over a decade.

• Rajdeep Sardesai (loathed for his slanted agenda) stated that Uttarakhand government denied permission to cremate during the Covid wave³.

The state government refuted stating that “Bhainswara Farm is the site designated by the administration for cremation where the dead bodies are being cremated as per COVID-19 protocols. This story has not been verified and is sensational in nature “

• In another instance Rajdeep Sardesai did not even spare the President's office. He tweeted stating that the portrait of Subhash Chandra Bose unveiled by the then President Ramnath Kovind was the portrait of a Bengali actor who played the role of Bose⁴.

Rashtrapati Bhavan rebuked Indian Today with a letter calling out this irresponsible reporting and stated that they will review all engagements with the India Today group. He simply deleted the tweet without offering an apology.

• Shekhar Gupta was at it again recently in the context of the Mira Road (Mumbai) disturbances by putting out a tweet stating that the Bulldozer action on illegal establishments was not legal and that the state government is sliding into Jungle Raj⁵.

He had no view when one community was the aggressor in that area where even innocent women were attached but came up with a unilateral claim without any evidence against the Government of Maharashtra’s action.

• The now marginalized Barkha Dutt via her new propaganda platform has the U.P government come down heavily on her by filing an FIR under multiple sections with the intent to disturb and cause riots regarding the death of two Dalit girls.

The FIR was registered at the Sadar Kotwali police station in Unnao under Section 153 of the Indian Penal Code (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) and Section 66 of the Information Technology Act and is registered against @MojoStory.

• In December 2023, an op-ed in Tribune Chandigarh claimed that the Telecom bill was introduced as a Money bill whereas it was not and rebutted by the GoI.

• An obscure channel called “Ab Bolega Bharat” claimed that EVM machines are being hacked ahead of elections which was rebutted by the Election Commission.

The advent of social media has played a significant role in exposing the agenda-driven, insinuating and fake stories of mainstream journalism as it has made it a two-way discourse. The Government of India instituted a Fact Check via the Press Information Bureau (PIB) calling out such instances on a daily basis, but this is not enough.

The damage that mainstream journalism has caused over the years needs stringent scrutiny and accountability. The days of fact-based reporting are long over and all we are subjected to is malafide stories laced with perfidy. This will continue till journalists are held accountable under the Indian Law. No such framework exists and hence it is imperative and overdue that the Government of India introduces a Journalistic Accountability Bill (JAB) at the earliest and enacts it into a law.

Let the media cabal, international watch bodies and all forces inimical to India whine but as a sovereign nation, we are well within our capacity to enact laws in the interest of India’s polity, fabric, and security. The instances listed above are a mere microcosm of the so-called freedom of expression which Journalists abuse at will as they know there are no consequences.

Legal experts would be best placed to draft this bill, to my mind the bill needs to track and rate media houses and journalists who twist facts, slant, and incite subtly and overtly. They need to be issued notices and any repeat offenders must be booked and placed behind bars based on the severity of the offence.

This menace needs to end, and journalism must be held accountable, a JAB is needed.

References

1. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/journalist-tarun-tejpal-to-publish-apology-over-defamatory-article-against-top-army-officer-hc-told/articleshow/106769778.cms?from=mdr
2. https://indianexpress.com/article/news-archive/web/the-january-night-raisina-hill-was-spooked-two-key-army-units-moved-towards-delhi-without-notifying-govt/
3. https://organiser.org/2021/05/22/24035/bharat/india-todays-rajdeep-sardesai-does-it-again-spreads-fake-news/
4. https://thelogicalindian.com/fact-check/fact-check-portrait-unveiled-by-president-ram-nath-kovind-at-rashtrapati-bhavan-is-of-netaji-subhash-chandra-bose-26379
5. https://twitter.com/ShekharGupta/status/1750185669698507170

Image source: Non-Profit Quarterly