Lesson - 5

P20415 இதழ்களின் நடத்தை விதிகளும் சட்டங்களும்

Laws & Regulations governing Journalism

    Journals like other fields have to adhere to certain laws and rules. In the year 1923 American Journalists formed a journalist society. This society formulated a list of principles to be adhered to by journalists. The principles are:

• Responsibility
• Freedom of Press
• Independence
• Truth & Accuracy
• Impartiality
• Fair play

    Responsibility is necessary when using various techniques to capture the attention of the reader. The techniques used should not cause communal disharmony or chaos in a society.

    Freedom of Press is where the press can publish news without fear of reprisal and within the guidelines of the law.

    Independence is where journals should be independent in thought. They should not bend towards any particular side of the story. They should be neutral in their stand.

    Journals should publish the true and accurate stories only. A suitable headline should be given to all the published articles.

    Being impartial means that all news published should favour no particular person or party. The published news should also not be used to divert the attention of the reader.

    Fair Play is what stands for fairness in publishing articles. Journals should also accept and correct any mistakes published by them.

    In the year 1966, ‘The Indian Press Council’ was established with the aim of setting a code of conduct for journals. The code of conduct includes

• To refrain from publishing unconfirmed news about any particular Caste or Community.
• To refrain from publishing anything based on rumours.
• To refrain form publishing news that will disturb communal harmony.
• To refrain from publishing articles criticizing the faith and beliefs of the people of any religion.

    UNESCO takes responsibility for code of conduct to be adhered to by journalists across the world. Some of them are:

• Access to news
• Social Responsibility
• People’s Participation
• Respecting the feeling and sentiments of society.
• Understanding and respecting the views of the public.
• Building friendly relationship among nations.

    There are also Indian Penal Codes that cover Journalism. Examples are:

• IPC 124 A - Any news published against the welfare of the nation is a crime.
• IPC 295 A - Publishing any news that would disturb the communal harmony is a criminal act.

    In this lesson we have learnt about laws and rules governing journalism. The principles needed to be followed by journalists and the code of conduct to be adhered to are also discussed. Different Acts passed by the British Government restraining the Press have also been explained in the lesson.