Press freedom must be reclaimed, not just remembered: Anant Nath

The Editors Guild of India convened the Rajendra Mathur Memorial Lecture after a five-year hiatus, with Anant Nath, President of the Guild, delivering the opening address that reflected on the evolving challenges and responsibilities of journalism in India.

Nath acknowledged that Indian journalism finds itself at a critical juncture, facing “perhaps the gravest” set of challenges in its modern history. These, he said, span a shrinking business model, the unchecked power of digital platforms, rapid technological disruption and the growing influence of algorithms on news consumption.

But the most inward-looking challenge, he noted with concern, lay within the fraternity itself, an erosion of ethics and editorial courage.

“Journalism, long a pillar of democracy and a guardian of truth, is now under siege from multiple fronts,” Nath said, citing emerging technologies, business model constraints and the growing influence of platform-driven consumption. “And the greatest risk of all may be the creeping subservience of journalism to nationalism.”

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Tracing the roots of the Editors Guild of India to 1978, formed in the aftermath of the Emergency, Nath recalled how it was established to uphold press freedom, editorial integrity and the protection of journalists. Over the decades, he said, the Guild has campaigned against draconian laws, challenged defamation provisions and more recently, engaged in judicial advocacy to protect journalistic rights.

He highlighted recent legal interventions by the Guild, including the challenge to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021. The fact-checking unit introduced under the rules, which allowed for content takedown based on government discretion, was ultimately held unconstitutional by the Bombay High Court, a legal win Nath called “a strong precedent.”

He also cited the Guild’s challenge to the sedition law, which the Supreme Court held in abeyance in 2022 and fact-finding missions conducted in Tripura and Manipur in recent years to spotlight intimidation and media suppression.

While acknowledging efforts by the state to regulate digital space, Nath kept the tone focused on the structural and systemic challenges journalism faces, rather than launching a full-throated critique of the government.

Platforms Without Accountability

“The business of journalism is shrinking,” Nath said, pointing to the dominance of Big Tech in aggregating and monetizing content. “Large technology companies, which neither create nor verify content, have become the biggest beneficiaries of news consumption. They distribute and monetize content without bearing the cost of reporting or accountability.”

The impact, he warned, is visible in the decimation of investigative journalism and the weakening of public trust in the media.

With Artificial Intelligence disrupting newsrooms and algorithms shaping what gets seen, Nath urged news organizations to confront both editorial and technological shifts with urgency and innovation.

The Guild President emphasized that the choice ahead is not between nostalgia and disruption, but between irrelevance and reinvention.