Mightiest of the mighty is the press. The chief function of a newspaper is to provide news from all over the world. It tells us the story of the world from hour to hour and day to day.
If one is without a newspaper, one feels as if one were cut off from the real affairs and current of life. It means something of interest and meaningful for an educated person.
The newspaper provides various uses and satisfies the need for different people. We have so many columns there. The unemployed feel thirsty of seeing the seeing vacant columns.
The unmarried look over the matrimonial columns. A sportsman is interested in having a glance over the sports columns. Similarly, are interested in the businessmen and agents and picture goers in the respective columns of their choice.
The editors write articles in which they express their own opinions about the current affairs. They carry on propaganda in favour of their own country. The readers go through them. If they are convinced about the soundness of the views they become wedded to them.
Thus the editor can mould the opinion of the readers in whatever direction he likes. He has, therefore, a great responsibility to shoulder. The government of a country is in no way blind to what is being published in the newspapers. It sometimes takes stern action against the newspapers if they are preaching unwholesome ideas.
The newspapers can do a lot of good or harm to a country. By supporting certain policies of the government, it can make them a success or utter failure by going against them. Nowadays the press is sometimes directed to propagate selfish motives and even employed to deceive others.
We have so many papers in India in English and vernaculars. Every state has a newspaper in its regional language. Most of the vernacular papers or commanding sales simply by inciting the public against the Government or one section of people against the other. This is very bad and must be restrained.
The newspaper is a batter source of propaganda and understanding a thing than the radio. In the newspaper, we can read the news over and over again and keep cutting if it pertains to some important event in life. This is not the case with radio where news once broadcast cannot be repeated.
Today the press controls public opinion and public opinion controls the government. The newspaper should be free from party attachment and should express everything impartially and independently. It is only in this way that the newspaper conserves the people well.
