India 2018

Mass Communication 437
its freedom. Where the Council is satisfied, after inquiry, that a newspaper
or a news agency has offended against the standards of journalistic ethics or
public taste or that an editor or working journalist has committed any
professional misconduct, the Council may warn, admonish or censure them
or disapprove of their conduct. The Council is also empowered to make
such observations as it may think fit in respect of the conduct of any
authority, including Government, for interfering with the freedom of the
press. The decisions of the Council are final and cannot be questioned in any
court of law except by way of writ under relevant article of the constitution.
Complaints before the Council
During 2016, Press Council of India received 848 complaints, of which 260
cases were filed by the press while 588 were filed against the press carrying
over previous pendency. Of these the Council adjudicated 1520 cases
(including 4 matters placed directly before the Council).
Press and Registration Appellate Board
Section 8C of the Press and Registration of Books Act,1867 entrusts to the
Press Council of India, the Appellate Jurisdiction over the Magisterial
Orders of non-authentication of a Declaration under Section 6 or its
subsequent cancellation under Section 8B of the said Act. The Board consist
of a Chairman and another member to be nominated by the Press Council
of India among its members.
National Press Day 2015
The National Press Day celebrated annually centred on the subject ' Reporting
from Conflict Area a Challenge to Media'.
New Media Wing
Set up in 1945, the Research, Reference and Training Division now renamed
as “New Media Wing” functions as information serving unit for the Ministry
of Information & Broadcasting. It provides background, reference and
research material for use of the Ministry, its media units and others engaged
in mass communication.
Social Media
Since its inception in 2012, Social Media Cell of Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting performs various activities to reach out to the last mile. The
Ministry is active on all major social media platforms and has built a strong
relationship with the audience. Social media interactions in various formats
such as Talkathon and Facebook Live are organised regularly to enable
direct communication between ministers, senior officers and general public.
On Twitter, the official handle of the Ministry, @MIB_India has 929 followers
with an average of 6 M impressions per month. The Facebook page of the
Ministry,@inbministry has 1.3 M followers. Recently, the Ministry has started
a Twitter handle in Hindi, @MIB_Hindi to reach out to the Hindi speaking
population on social media space.