Supriya Mehta, Alliance School of Law, Alliance University
ABSTRACT
The term “Yellow journalism” was coined by Ervin Wardman in the 1890s as a consequence of the conflict between the New York Journal and New York World. Yellow journalism does not have a definition as such, it can be associated with newspapers or any news without proper research or sensualizing the headlines of the news to attract readers. Although, yellow journalism was a method to increase the circulation of newspapers in the 19th century, in the 21st century the concept of ‘yellow journalism’ extends to digital media as well. Unlike print media, digital media use clickbait (which can be considered equivalent to the use of sensualized or exaggerated headline). Yellow journalism posed an imminent threat to society as a whole, which is evident from its role in the Spanish – American War. It can be considered as a threat to the Freedom of the Press and with the emergence of digital media, the consequences are meant to be atrocious.
The Constitution of India implicitly mentions the Freedom of the Press as one of the fundamental rights under Art. 19(1)(a)1, as the Press or Media is considered as the fourth pillar of democracy2 and with one pillar being tainted the whole democracy is meant to plummet. Although print media and broadcast media are regulated by certain ethics and codes, to regulate the content being served to the society but there is no such codes or rules implemented by the government on digital media. On 25 February 2021, The Ministry of Law introduced Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021(hereinafter referred to as Information Technology Rules 2021), for regulating (or controlling) the content available on the internet concerning the news or entertainment and even social media. This research paper tends to find the answers for the presence of yellow journalism and its impact on digital media concerning Information Technology Rules 2021.
