Media is an important place in the democratic system. It is considered as the fourth pillar of democracy after the executive, legislature and judiciary. Media has an important role in promoting free expression, reaching the voice of the disadvantaged sections to policy regulators, and reaching the necessary information to the general public.
Arguments in favor of self-regulation of media:
- Certainly the self-regulation of media is necessary so that the media without any external intervention can encourage free expression.
- The self-regulation can make the media accountable to society itself. Appointing better talent can bring significant improvement in the services it provides.
- The steps taken by the executive and the legislature through the media are introduced to the general public and the executive is also kept in control so that no action can be taken by the executive not in line with democratic principles.
- In such a situation, if the media is appointed by the executive in place of self-regulation, the situation of conflict of interest will arise. Probably the media will not be able to work independently.
- If the media is self-regulated, there will be no pressure on censorship on it. Most of the media, in the absence of censorship, the media will be able to present the correct analysis of events.
Legal controls on the media with self-regulation are also required:
- Nowadays, media houses are broadcasting self-interest news, which results in unbiased news. Legal control is required on the media to control self-directed media houses.
- The trend of paid news has increased rapidly in the media, due to which the tendency of broadcasting news has increased. To control this tendency, there is some legal control over the media.
Conclusion:
It can be concluded that self-regulation is very important for the media, but it is also necessary to have some legal control as well as with self-regulation, so that control of trend like paid news can be established.
