ABSTRACT
Upon independence, India adopted a liberal version of press freedom; Article 19(1) of the Indian Constitution recognises freedom of speech and expression as a fundamental right. Although there is no specific constitutional mention of the freedom of the press, the idea of press freedom has gradually evolved through legislation and reports of various government-appointed bodies like the Press Commission.1 The relations between the government and the press in the initial postindependence period were friendly and cordial, and the press was generally able to function without political pressure (Verghese 1978: 220). In the 1960s, however, the press became more critical of government policies and its adversarial role gained momentum in the period 1969-75, when Indira Gandhi’s government introduced newsprint quotas and licence requirements for the import of printing machinery in an attempt to check the growing influence of the press (Dunnett 1988: 243). Things got worse during the ‘National Emergency’ (1975-77) when the government suppressed individual freedoms, censored the press, curtailed the jurisdiction of the courts and rendered the Constitution invalid (Bhaskar 1989: 71). Even after the end of the Emergency in 1977, the government maintained a monopoly over the electronic media, with state-run radio and television channels. It was also during this period that the circulation of newspapers and periodicals increased by leaps and bounds.2 However, with the advent of satellite television and the Internet in the 1990s, the government’s control over news coverage began to decrease gradually and the Indian media today is generally regarded as plural, independent and a role model for the Third World. After a general overview of the press in India, this chapter goes on to examine the nature and extent of coverage of drought and starvation deaths in Kalahandi in the English-language (national) and Oriya (local and regional) press, respectively.
