Pramod Raman recalls the temporary ban, total ban and the legal battle waged for freedom of speech and a free media.
Pramod Raman, Editor, MediaOne. (Supplied)
On 6 March 2020, two Malayalam television news channels went off the air. The sudden blank screens marked the beginning of the central government’s interference in Malayalam channels’ reportage.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting banned the telecast of Asianet News and MediaOne for 48 hours.
The reason cited was their 25 February coverage of the Delhi riots over the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) sided with a “particular community”.
The ministry made no further communication even as the media, individuals, and organisations across the country decried the attempt to gag professional information disseminators.
The ban did not last long. The channels were up and running the next day. But for the 10-year-old MediaOne, it was just the beginning.
On January 31, 2022, the Centre banned the news channel run by Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited, which has the backing of the Jamaat-e-Islami’s Kerala chapter, on “national security” grounds.
On Wednesday, 5 April, the Supreme Court finally lifted the ban, marking a win for the feisty channel.
“This is a historic judgment. This is not just the victory of MediaOne, but is the victory of the entire independent media organisations in the country,” MediaOne Editor Pramod Raman said in a Zoom interview with South First.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had turned down the channel’s application for telecast rights for the period 30 September, 2021, to 29 September, 2031.
It remained off the air for around seven hours till a single bench of the High Court of Kerala granted an interim stay on the Centre’s order.
But a bench of the same court upheld the decision to revoke its licence after considering the contents of a sealed cover submitted by the Union government.
MediaOne was not granted access to the “confidential” contents. And the channel shifted to YouTube, which is outside the Indian broadcast norms.
Pramod Raman was then relatively new at MediaOne. He joined the channel as its editor six months ago on 1 July 2021.
Refusing to be cowed down, Raman and the channel management threw down the gauntlet. They challenged the high court verdict in the Supreme Court. The Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ), too, joined hands against the ban.
Raman took his colleagues into confidence. He instilled in them the belief that victory will ultimately be theirs. They stood as a team, displaying an indomitable spirit.
Owning up the responsibility for every content telecast on MediaOne, he even dared the central government to arrest him. He was not arrested.
On Wednesday, 5 April, Raman and his team had the last laugh, and the hashtag #MediaWon started trending on social media. It was MediaOne‘s headline.
Media houses across the country keenly followed MediaOne’s legal battle. (Screengrab)
The next morning, The Telegraph screamed it from its front page. Others, too, front-paged the news.
“The critical views of the channel, MediaOne on policies of the government cannot be termed anti-establishment,” the Supreme Court said in its 5 April order, repealing the telecast ban on the channel.
“The use of such a terminology in itself represents an expectation that the press must support the establishment,” the apex court observed.
“The action of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting by denying your security clearance to a media channel on the basis of the views which the channel is constitutionally entitled to hold, produces a chilling effect on free speech and in particularly, on press freedom,” the order read.
“This is the victory of the entire independent media organisations in the country,” Raman said in his Zoom interview with South First, adding that, “we are very happy that this was possible through our fight which gave a positive result”.
The apex court allowed the channel to continue until the renewal of permission was granted.
The hashtag, MediaWon, was a natural response, he said.
Raman said the Supreme Court discussed all aspects of media freedom in-depth as well as issues about topics like national security and sealed-cover jurisprudence.
The judgment has a special significance in post-independent India, he opined.
Referring to the Supreme Court verdict, he said, all justifications for the ban became invalid.
“None of their allegations stood legal scrutiny. Revealing the reasons for the ban would not have created any problem in society or posed a threat to the nation’s security,” he said.
Expressing happiness over the outcome, Raman held the view that no other channel in the country would have gone through the kind of scrutiny MediaOne had undergone.
“Similarly, they cannot find a problem with the functioning of the organisation or its management,” he said.
Perhaps, MediaOne would be the only media organisation that has undergone this kind of judicial scrutiny. There are not many channels that have undergone these many inspections and yet emerge clean at the end,” he pointed out.
Post-ban, MediaOne received overwhelming support from the media fraternity.
“Immediately after the ban order was issued, media organisations within and outside Kerala contacted us and offered their unconditional support,” Raman said.
Media organisations in Kerala went to town with live prime-time discussions. Newspapers ran editorials, examining the ban threadbare and condemning the state’s incursion into media freedom.
In a rare show of solidarity, Kerala stood united behind the channel.
“We got support from various civic groups, and youth organisations regardless of their political and religious affiliations. This was a big thing for us,” Raman expressed his gratitude.
“In Kerala, staying away from political interference and standing up for a media organisation is not easy. It was possible due to some of the important aspects of this issue,” he explained.
“Press freedom is regarded as important as a fundamental right and the reaction was against the move to curtail that freedom. An informed society like Kerala cannot refrain from reacting to the issue,” he added.
The MediaOne editor asserted that the regional media has its strengths.
When a media organisation criticises the policies of the Union government or discusses the representation of a particular community, it is expected that the ruling dispensation might act against that channel.
“Historically this land has grown so strong and that strength is visible in the Malayalam media also. We are the voice of the voiceless. Thus, when you function in that manner, it is expected that the government would take action against you,” Raman said.
When South First sought the channel’s response to the Union government’s charge of “irresponsible reporting”, the senior journalist said allegations should only be considered seriously only when it is substantiated with facts.
Asianet News and MediaOne were banned for 48 hours in March 2020 for “irresponsible reporting.”
“…allegations are allegations, and we need to consider them only when they are substantiated with facts. Asianet News, too, was then also accused of ‘biased reporting’. But the government itself lifted the ban even before the 48 hours. Why? They found that the ban was not by the rules,” he explained.
He added that though he was then not the editor, he was aware that MediaOne telecast factual reports on the events that unfolded in northeast Delhi.
“Let it be the issues in Jamia Millia Islamia University or the issues that occurred in parts of Delhi, we made the actual information public, which is the reason why they called our reporting biased,” he said.
“If we had then taken the legal route, it would have become yet another blow to the government. We did not fight it legally because they lifted the ban even before we took any action,” Raman added.
“If the government wants everyone in the country to follow its ideology and politics, this nation would become homogenous and it would put our democratic system in great danger,” he opined.
Raman said the unity of the MediaOne team, including the staff and the management, provided the much-needed fuel for the legal battle.
“Initially we approached the high court and the single bench dismissed our petition. The division bench also did the same, and we approached the Supreme Court. When our petitions were dismissed, people got the impression that our efforts are going in vain, but it just got proved that it wasn’t,” he said.
He said when the when I&B Ministry imposed a broadcast ban on the channel, the staff, and the management sat together and talked about the issue. They asserted that they are not going to withdraw from the battle as they firmly believed the ban would be repealed one day.
Raman said despite the telecast ban, MediaOne streamed on its social media handles and made an impact on people’s lives.
He cited the reports on numerous students who were stranded in Ukraine after the Ukraine-Russia war broke out. “We were able to help several students return to India,” he said.
“…we had support from everywhere. Our team stood united and we received the services of good lawyers like Dushyant Dave and Mukul Rohatgi. We pinned our hopes on the Supreme Court of India it hasn’t been lost. Our confidence stemmed from our firm belief that we haven’t done anything wrong,” he added.
The veteran journalist told South First that the channel has several plans for the next five years.
“We plan to take up investigative journalism though there are numerous constraints for the channel. But we have decided to take up such initiatives are becoming less among the news channels and we get stuck to the daily grind,” he pointed out
However, Raman said MediaOne will continue its style of reporting since it has done nothing wrong so far.
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