Open Access Research Article
UNPROFESSIONAL AND UNETHICAL JOURNALISM AS A FORM OF PRIVILEGED CLASS DEVIANCE: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ROLE OF THE PRESS COUNCIL OF INDIA
Abstract
ABSTRACT
The Indian press occupies a paradoxical position in
constitutional democracy: it is simultaneously the self-styled "Fourth
Estate", a watchdog against the abuse of power, and, increasingly, a site of the very deviance it claims to expose. This article argues
that unprofessional and unethical journalism in India manifesting as paid news, trial by media,
communally coloured reportage, fabricated stories, and privacy
invasions is best understood not as episodic
misconduct by errant individuals, but as a structural pattern of
privileged class deviance analogous to white-collar crime. Drawing on Edwin
Sutherland's foundational insight that persons of respectability and high
social status commit crimes in the course of their occupation, the article
extends this framework to media professionals and media houses, who enjoy
constitutional protection, social prestige, and economic
power, yet remain largely insulated
from meaningful sanction.
The article undertakes a
critical, doctrinal examination of the Press Council of India (PCI) established
under the Press Council
Act, 1978 as the principal
statutory mechanism for regulating press conduct, and demonstrates that its advisory-only
character, its narrow jurisdiction confined to print media, its dependence on
the very industry it is meant to regulate, and its complete want of punitive
teeth render it structurally incapable of checking privileged deviance within
the press. The article situates this critique within comparative
press-regulation models, surveys judicial and legislative responses to media excess,
and concludes with proposals for institutional reform
aimed at closing the accountability gap between
the power the press exercises and the responsibility it is made to bear.
Published Paper
Author Details
Authors: SNEHA JEYAKUMAR
Registration ID: 1013193 | Published Paper ID: IJLRA13193
Year: Sep-2026 | Volume: 3 | Issue: 6
Approved ISSN: 2582-6433 | Country: Delhi, India
Page No.: 1146-1164
Article Information
UNPROFESSIONAL AND UNETHICAL JOURNALISM AS A FORM OF PRIVILEGED CLASS DEVIANCE: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ROLE OF THE PRESS COUNCIL OF INDIA
Authors: SNEHA JEYAKUMAR
- Journal IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Volume 3
- Issue 6
About Journal
International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis
- AbbreviationIJLRA
- ISSN2582-6433
- AccessOpen Access
- LicenseCC 4.0
All research articles published in International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis are open access and available to read, download and share, subject to proper citation of the original work.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis.