Mass media has a prominent role to play in modern society. It can bring about radical changes and improve social situation as it influences our social, civil, cultural, political, economic and aesthetic outlook. Modernization has converted media into an indispensable feature of human activity. However, factors like age, education, economic condition, personal needs and availability of proper components decide the quantum and frequency of media use.
It is rightly said that media use is an index of development. The greater the use, the higher will be the level of education. As social beings, humans are sustained by mutual interactions, exchange of ideas, information and views with the fellow beings. Illiteracy, which is nothing but absence of education and information is a tentative block for any aspect of development-social, economic, political, cultural and even spiritual. Media has become the forerunner of development through the removal of these roadblocks and the provision of information and knowledge.
In a democratic country, the ultimate power lies with the people. But a democratic society needs vigilant and informed people who are able to see through the gimmick of political parties and politicians. Media creates such valuable citizens. Besides, media has done much good to society by exposing various scams, scandals, frauds, embezzlements and many other cases of corruption leading to initiation of enquiries and other processes of prosecution against the perpetrators of these crimes. History is witness that press has been instrumental in putting an end to atrocities and bringing the downfall of ruthless dictators.
In democratic countries, a special relationship exists between media and government. Although the freedom of the media may be constitutionally enshrined and have precise legal definition and enforcement, the exercise of that freedom by individual journalists is a matter of personal choice and ethics. Modern democratic government subsists in representation of millions by hundreds. For the representatives to be accountable and for the process of government to be transparent, effective communication paths must exist to their constituents. Today these paths consist primarily of the mass media, to the extent that if press freedom disappeared, so would most political accountability. In this area, media ethics merges with issues of civil rights and politics.
However, media too suffers from some pitfalls; growing consumerism and materialism have adversely impacted our media. The partisan attitude, sectarian outlook and biased individualism in some sections of media are a testimony that media too is susceptible to harmful influences. Often, in fierce rivalries, ethics of journalism are thrown out of the window to settle old scores. Running after opportunistic gains is another malady our media suffers from. The incidents of throwing are against the ethics of media. Deliberately creating sensational stuff to attract with reality- is another tactic that media must avoid.
Media has a very big role to play in a democracy and its stature is in no way less than that of politicians. Hence it is rightly called the fourth Pillar of democracy i.e. Fourth Estate. It is through media that people become aware of so many aspects of life of which they are normally ignorant. Democracy is meaningless without a free, neutral and active media. Media carries with it a huge responsibility in a democratic setup which it has to fulfill very carefully without any bias toward anyone by bringing out the real facts before the public.
Responsible media is the essence of fostering democratic setup. Regarding the aforementioned facts, a higher degree of leniency is observed in many democratic countries towards an independent and responsible media. The case is otherwise in Afghanistan, where an elevating restrain is put over nascent media, curtailing its democratic and independent functioning.
The recent media laws' amendments drafted, raise serious questions about the Future of the freedom of expression. The proposed law, which would replace the 2009 media law, was recently circulated by the Ministry of Information and Culture to other government bodies for comment before it goes to parliament. Many believe that it would greatly increase government control over the media by the information and culture minister, deputy ministers, and other officials within a complex set of regulatory bodies. The minister would be director of the High Media Council, which would have expanded powers to set policies and modify implementation of laws governing the media and to influence the composition and budgets of all other media oversight bodies.
A number of provisions in the draft law would undermine free expression. It would reduce the number of journalists on the nongovernmental Mass Media Commission, restricting the current role of experienced and independent journalists in providing media oversight. Expressing his apprehension on this unwise initiative, Asian director of Human Rights Watch, Brad Adams said, "Press freedom has been one of Afghanistan's most important success stories since 2001," "The Afghan government should be acting to solidify media gains, not seeking to placate forces hostile to free expression."
An international media watchdog said the nascent media industry in Afghanistan, working under political and economic pressure, was likely to face a momentous task once NATO-led forces left the country.
Political elites considering, free and vibrant media, threat to prolongation of their rule, suffers pragmatic leadership qualities.
This fallacious perception, enacted in media law will create evils to their political and social activities in the time to come. Therefore, one has to imbibe the crucial connotation and purpose of the free press, as enunciated by key founders, was to keep the citizenry informed, engaged, and in dialogue with one another about the crucial issues of the day. The health of any democracy can be diagnosed by the degree to which information flows freely in the culture. Anything that interferes with that free flow of information is a form of censorship, which acts to derail, distort, and deny the efficacy of any true democratic experiment.
The political leadership of Afghanistan should understand by now, that media occupies the most vital position in a democratic setup and forms the very bedrock of democracy without which democracy is an aimless, futile exercise and never fulfill the aspirations of the people in real terms. The role of media in a democracy is as crucial as that of the politicians and should never be underestimated. If a democracy is to run smoothly in any country, it is a must that the media in all fairness should be given full autonomy and a free hand it deserves in airing its views among the people and no unnecessary restrictions should be imposed on it.