In 2021, I went to the annual conference of the International Press Institute in Vienna. It was my first time at this massive gathering of journalists and editors from across the world, and I was curious to listen to them. Oddly, I felt comforted as editor after editor from country after country spoke about the threats they faced. Their stories sounded eerily similar: governments tightening rules to smother press freedom, rising animosity against the media, vile online groups, government, police and mafias causing physical harm, and the ruse of branding the media as anti-national, 'Soros agents' etc. Indian media isn’t alone in the world, everyone is going through the same pressures, I consoled myself.
However, back home, each passing day, many of us are feeling increasingly isolated.
It isn’t just about the government's arm twisting, or about the lakhs of people who have the mandate of running down journalists who are asking questions to those in power. It is also about the isolation within the industry. Often, I can’t even recognise journalists who were once friends. I can understand organisations forcing people to choose silence or toe a line — but when they completely ignore power hierarchies, ignore the voices of the oppressed and even take on the role of the oppressor, I wonder if there is any coming back for those friends. Do they even wish to?
When the Union government introduced the Digital Media Rules in 2021, the first petition against it was by The Wire and me. It was followed by a slew of petitions, primarily from small media houses — not the behemoths.
It isn’t comfortable or easy to push against the tide. Life would be trouble-free if we choose to sit back and parrot the lines given by those with power — whether it is governments, caste groups, industry leaders, the police… Life would have been cushy if we decided not to push the envelope. No IT raids for one, no defamation suits, no online lynching. And each one of us has had the opportunity to choose the easy way out. But we didn’t.
We didn't, because we believe in India’s democracy, in India’s Constitution and we believe that in whatever small way possible, we will contribute to ensure that these events are chronicled for posterity. Chronicled from the eyes of the oppressed and the marginalised, not just the powerful and privileged.
The media is the fourth pillar of democracy, and I'm proud to say that my team and I have decided to stand up and be counted among those who hold that pillar up. With that decision, we have chosen to keep you, the citizen, aware and conscious. Because we know — as you do — that it is the people who make a country. It's your faith that can keep democracy alive. It's every citizen's refusal to accept that hate is normal that fuels the institutions that make India.
Here's a reminder though: if we are to do our chosen jobs, you have to choose us. The free press, like democracy, like Constitutionalism, like justice, equality and fraternity, are ideas that are kept alive by the people. A country doesn't exist because of a Constitution, or a government, or a free press. All of these ideas exist because of the country — they exist because citizens believe they exist, want them to exist.
And this belief is a choice. Every day that you choose to share a factual story that reporters and editors have spent hours, days, perhaps months over, you make that belief stronger. Every time you speak about press freedom, you make the press a little bit more free with your belief. Every instance you choose to clap back at an abuse and stand by a journalist telling the truth, you give us courage to keep doing our jobs. When you support the free press, with your words, actions, and money, the free press continues to breathe.
This Independence Day, I truly hope every citizen in this country realises the power their belief and imagination holds. Happy August 15!
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