National Press Day is celebrated every year as as symbol of a free and responsible press in India on November 16. This was the day on which the Press Council of India started functioning as a moral watchdog to ensure that not only did the press maintain the high standards expected from this powerful medium but also that it was not fettered by the influence or threats of any extraneous factors.
Though there are several Press or Media Councils world over, the Press Council of India is a unique entity in as-much-as this is the only body to exercise an authority even over the instruments of the State in its duty to safeguard the independence of the press.
Recommending the establishment of a Press Council in 1956 the first Press Commission had concluded that the best way of maintaining professional ethics in journalism would be to bring into existence a body with statutory authority, of people principally connected with industry whose duty it would be to arbitrate. To this end the Press Council of India was established and the body that has evolved since November 16, 1966 has not belied the objective.
November 16 therefore personifies a responsible and free press in the country. All those who cherish it, so commemorate the day. In the sidelines of the event the conferring of the National Awards for Excellence in Journalism and mark the occasion Souvenir is released.
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