During the months of lockdown brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, one experienced a jarring side of the media. Explicit news reporting on the suicide, suspected murder case of actor Sushant Singh Rajput left viewers disturbed as anchors, reporters and commentators across television news channels went berserk. Similar was the case in some criminal cases involving rape, murder, politics, religion and communal issues. To cut a long story short, all ethics and laws of journalism were violated. And that steered the spotlight towards the alarming crevices in a sector that is expected to carry the onus of morality.

Ethics and laws

   Ethics is important, and pertinent to areas such as medicine, education, business, politics, and the media. Ethics are distinct codes of conduct stemmed from religion, beliefs and culture followed by individuals, groups of a particular region, society and nation—codes that affect how people make decisions and....