The Press Club of India (PCI) and the Indian Women Press Corps (IWPC) on Tuesday said attacks on press freedoms had seen an exponential rise and that India did not fare too well in this regard, ranking 150 out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index compiled by the Reporters Sans Frontières .
On World Press Freedom Day, the PCI said journalists had been incarcerated under draconian laws for flimsy reasons, and on some occasions, faced threat to their lives as well from "self-styled" custodians of iaw In the social media space.
"The freedom of the press is Integral to the functioning of a vibrant democracy. The media has to come together to reclaim its role towards realisation of this objective," they said in a joint statement.
"May 3 is celebraled as World Press Freedom Day. It is also a day to introspect and take stock of where press freedoms are located In a vastly globalised world. The attacks on the media the world over have grown in myriad ways including in advanced democracies. The freedom of the press has been subject to growing conservatism and increasing corporatisation of the industry itself. The extraneous and internal pressures have distorted the notion of a free press today," it said.
"While job insecurities have grown so have the attacks on press freedoms seen an exponential rise," said the statement.
