Divay Kathuria
There would be just a handful of news that break the barriers of nationality, religion, caste, culture and connects the population. As these headlines have vast power, they must be used with extreme care and caution. Therefore the main question is to determine whether these news portraying personal tragedies override basic rights of those who are being photographed.
Article 21 of the Constitution of India guarantees to every citizen right to life and liberty. The right to privacy is the inherent right under article 19 of the Indian constitution where as article 19(1) (a) guarantees freedom of press. So it is necessary to consolidate freedom of press with the personal dignity of individuals. With the growth of internet, there is a rapid transmission of information and news. When it comes to publishing, personal tragedies such as the rape cases can help the public to understand the importance and depth of these issues however, exploiting a personal tragedy of a person may raise a concern for their individual rights. It might break a individual’s right to privacy or could violate personal dignity. Also citizens might be distressed seeing these personal tragedies. It may confuse people more rather than clearing up a public debate on a particular topic. The depiction of violence, exploiting personal tragedies captures complete attention of readers which hurts the sentiments of the public and make them more aggressive. This leads to violence. Also choosing to publish personal tragedies present several risks such as aggravating political issues. Therefore broadcasting personal tragedies bring us to a dilemma between the public’s right to be aware and an individual’s dignity and right to privacy. Media should report personal tragedies to raise public awareness as freedom of press is the core to democracies after taking into considering consent, human dignity and privacy.