Who is a journalist in the digital age? Examine the case for a statutory National Media Council in India on the lines of professional councils such as the Bar Council of India.

Freelance reporters have recently been detained at protest sites where only government-accredited journalists were allowed. This raises a basic question: who decides who is a journalist? Today that decision rests on an executive pass issued by PIB at the Centre or by State information departments [3]. The alternative being proposed is a statutory peer council, modelled on the Bar Council of India.

Who is a journalist in the digital age?

• Function over employer: a journalist is anyone who regularly gathers and reports news for the public. This includes staff reporters, freelancers, camerapersons, and digital or YouTube-based reporters.
• Law lags behind: the Press Council Act, 1978 covers only newspapers and news agencies [1]. Recognition of individual journalists depends on executive accreditation guidelines, not on any statute [3].

Case for a National Media Council

• Peer recognition: as with BCI and ICAI, an elected professional body would recognise journalists, instead of the government they report on.
• Protective gap: the PCI can censure journalists under Section 14 [1]. Against authorities, however, it can only make observations under Section 15 [2]. Complaints must also be filed "by the Press" [1], which may leave out freelancers who have no outlet behind them.
• Representation: 13 of the PCI's 28 members are working journalists [2], but freelancers and digital reporters have no reserved seat.
• Uniform standards: one code for print, TV and digital media would replace the split between Centre and State accreditation.

Concerns

• Licensing risk: reporting is every citizen's right under Article 19(1)(a). Unlike legal practice, it is not reserved for a qualified group, so making enrolment compulsory would invite constitutional challenge.
• Capture: the PCI has itself sought powers to withdraw government advertisements and suspend accreditation [4]. A register of journalists could become one more lever of control.

Way forward

• Voluntary recognition: enrolment should give access and protection, and never act as a permit to publish.
• Independent selection: the council could adapt the PCI's model, where the Chairman is chosen by a panel of the Rajya Sabha Chairman, the Lok Sabha Speaker and a member elected by the Council [2].
• Powers and appeal: it should be able to demand answers from police when a recognised journalist is detained, and refusals of recognition should be open to statutory appeal.
• Wide stakeholder consultation, which the Government has promised for PCI amendments [4].

In the digital age, a journalist is defined by the work, not by the employer or the pass. A National Media Council that is voluntary and independently constituted can move recognition from government to peers and protect freelancers. It must shield journalists rather than license them, upholding Article 19(1)(a) and the press freedom the PCI was created to preserve [1].