With the Union government of India having nominated 13 media professionals to fill vacancies in its statutory and autonomous print media surveillance and rights body, the journalist fraternity now hopes for better days ahead in the world's largest democracy. After a prolonged delay that drew severe criticism from various quarters for failing to complete the Press Council of India (PCI), the central government in New Delhi on 7 October 2026 reconstituted the 15th Council, adding six editors—Pradeep Kumar Jain, Sayed Raza Husain Rizvi, Ankur Dua, Aparna Shukla, Raj Parwana/Narender Singh, and Vinod Bajpai—and seven working journalists—Vinod Kohli, Geetartha Pathak, Prajnananda Chaudhuri, Kingshuk Pramanik, C K Nayak, Prasanna Kumar Mohanty, and Bijoy Kakchingtabam—representing newspapers and news agencies. The PCI, led by Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai (retired), had 14 members, including lawmakers, representatives from the Bar Council of India (BCI), the University Grants Commission (UGC), and the Sahitya Akademi, along with a few newspaper owners. However, the 29-member 15th Council will expire on 18 December 2027.
For months, the quasi-judicial PCI functioned without representatives of the working journalist (including editor) category. Even a Rajya Sabha member, Sasmit Patra, raised the issue, asking the government to complete the current PCI. The Biju Janata Dal leader asserted that constituting a full-fledged Council after the term of the 14th Council (which expired on 5 October 2024) was necessary for a free, fair, and responsible press. Besides the chairperson, the PCI comprises 28 members, of whom 13 represent the journalist fraternity.
Until now, the PCI was functioning with members including Sudhanshu Trivedi and Brij Lal (Rajya Sabha lawmakers); Dr Sambit Patra, Naresh Ganpat Mhaske, and Kali Charan Munda (Lok Sabha members); Prof Ashwini K. Mohapatra (UGC); Manan Kumar Mishra (BCI); Dr K Sreenivasarao (Sahitya Akademi); and Sudhir Kumar Panda, MV Shreyams Kumar, Gurinder Singh, Arun Kumar Tripathi, Braj Mohan Sharma, and Arti Tripathi (who either own or carry on the business of management in small, medium, or big newspapers).
The crisis for the PCI began when some national journalist bodies, including the Indian Journalists Union and the All India Working News Cameramen's Association, legally opposed a change in PCI rules to select members from various press clubs instead of the national forum of working journalists. They argue that press clubs are essentially recreational bodies whose coverage areas are normally confined to a particular region, city, or town.
Many press clubs offer memberships to non-working journalists—such as academicians, writers, film personalities, and even diplomats—to enhance their influence, and hence their members may not do justice to professional media personnel at crucial junctures. The robust Indian print media fraternity comprises over 100,000 publications, endorsed by the Registrar of Newspapers for India, in various frequencies and languages.
The billion-plus South Asian nation also supports nearly 400 satellite news channels, along with thousands of portals, WhatsApp channels, and other digital media outlets. Revenues collected by Indian newspapers from sales and advertisements continued shrinking after the Covid-19 pandemic, when alternate media outlets began dominating the financial market space.
However, many print observers believe that traditional media will slowly recover its abrupt losses. A resurgence in readership is expected as digital fatigue–driven consumers soon turn back to print media outlets for reliable information. It is estimated that Indian print media will nearly double its number of readers by 2030.
The greatest irony is that the PCI has the authority to accept complaints against any newspaper, news agency, editor, or working journalist for professional misconduct that deteriorates the standard of journalistic behaviour. It has, however, limited power to enforce its guidelines by penalizing print outlets as well as their editors and working journalists for violations. Many media professionals are demanding that the PCI be reorganized—with a change in nomenclature to the Media Council of India—with the inclusion of television channels, radio, and digital platforms under its jurisdiction.
As the Press Council enjoys the authority to make observations if the conduct of any government is found to be inappropriate with regard to the freedom of the press guaranteed under the Constitution, the journalist fraternity asks for an empowered and enhanced Council with larger coverage. Should it not happen a little early?
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*Senior journalist based in Guwahati
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