-The Indian Express A free press that is able to operate without fear or favour remains an essential cornerstone of a modern democratic society. It plays a fundamental role as the guardian of public interest. By the same token, when certain deficiencies in its role become apparent, public and political furore is inevitable. So it came to pass in Britain, where public anger emanating from a single action — the hacking...

-Tehelka On its fifth and the last day, the Assembly demands recognition of ASHA and aanganwadi workers as govt employees The People’s Assembly being held at Jantar Mantar concluded on Friday 30 November with the release of a draft preliminary manifesto. The manifesto consists of resolutions adopted by the Assembly on issues like health, education, land acquisition and Lokpal Bill, among others. “We will intensify our demands with the People’s Manifesto and...

-The Hindustan Times Two senior journalists of Zee news channel were arrested in New Delhi on Tuesday on charges of trying to extort Rs. 100 crore from Congress MP Naveen Jindal's group for not doing news reports on coal scam linking his firm. The arrests on charges of extortion came following the registration of a case about 45 days ago on a complaint filed by Jindal's company with Delhi Police's Crime...

-PTI Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said censorship was no answer to irresponsible journalism and favoured self regulation by media. "As a country, we believe in complete independence of the media from external control," Singh said in a message on National Press Day on Friday. "It is true that sometimes irresponsible journalism can have serious consequences for social harmony and public order, which the public authorities have an obligation to maintain, but...

-DNA No one believes the news anymore. Who can blame them? The newspapers are so noisy, filled with scams and slanging matches, that even a top newspaper-bureaucrat like your columnist cringes while scanning the morning’s front pages. I too don’t want to read the papers. Then there’s the matter of credibility: the media is barely clinging to the last vestige of public trust, and that’s only because the institution of the...