The ranking based on the World Press Freedom Index, unveiled by Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) on the 30th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day, presented a dismal state of the media industry, globally. The report revealed that an unprecedented number of 31 countries are under a ‘very serious situation’. A couple of years ago, this number stood at 21. Owing to governments’ efforts to muzzle the press, there is ‘more red’ than ever before on the map. In the words of UNESCO’s global head on freedom of speech: “Physical attacks, digital attacks, the economic situation, and regulatory tightening — we are facing a perfect storm.” Even amid this global downslide, India has been listed among the worst faring countries. The ranking of India has dropped starkly from 150th position in 2022 to 161st position in 2023 — relegating from a ‘problematic’ to ‘very serious’ situation. The total number of countries assessed by RSF is 180. Notably, the definition of press freedom, as per RSF, is “the ability of journalists as individuals and collectives to select, produce, and disseminate news in the public interest independent of political, economic, legal, and social interference and in the absence of threats to their physical and mental safety.” The report and ranking by RSF is compiled on five variables including political indicator, economic indicator, legislative indicator, social indicator and the security indicator. The security indicator “evaluates the ability to identify, gather and disseminate news and information in accordance with journalistic methods and ethics, without unnecessary risk of bodily harm, psychological or emotional distress, or professional harm”. India is reported to be faring very badly on this front. It holds 172nd position, leaving just eight countries behind. Pointing out how unsafe India has been for journalists, the report highlighted that “three or four journalists are killed in connection with their work every year”. Overall, India is placed much lower than media-averse countries like Pakistan (150) and Afghanistan (152). More worryingly, India’s situation is persistently deteriorating rather than improving. India’s slump, however, may not be completely surprising. Media organisations have been under brazen attack across the country in multiple ways. Very recently, in the follow-up to the release of a controversial documentary on the Indian Prime Minister, a “survey action” was conducted on the offices of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), citing financial irregularities. Reputed journalistic bodies, including the Editors Guild and Press Club of India, expressed serious reservations against the government’s move, terming it to be an intimidation tactic. Rather than being an isolated incident, the BBC episode could be seen as an extension of a regressive trend continuing for quite some time. Around a dozen acts of device searches were conducted during the past five years. It may not be tough to recall the veiled onslaught against several reputed media organisations in the country over the years. Apart from organisations, individual journalists, too, have been allegedly harassed by state machinery. Be it the cases of Md Zubair, Fahad Shah, Rupesh Kumar Singh and Siddique Kappan or the stopping of Pulitzer-winning Kashmiri Journalist from leaving India to receive the prize, a confrontation between the media fraternity and state is ostensibly visible. The incidents of slapping of sedition and other stringent charges have become so scattered and frequent that individual cases take the backseat, and a general change in paradigm is taking shape, for the worse. Apart from these exacerbating threats, the deep-rooted problems of concentration of ownership and absence of adequate diversity in newsrooms are showing no signs of abatement. As highlighted by the RSF report, emergent phenomena like misinformation and artificial intelligence have also come with their own set of challenges. While ‘critical voices’ continue to face threats, ‘praising voices’ have resorted to unprecedented levels of self-restraint and self-censorship. In totality, India’s media industry may be headed towards a perfect storm. Neither India’s democracy nor its society can be left untouched by the downgrade of the fourth pillar. Indian media organisations need to develop some spine and stand united. Only a few can’t be left to defend the integrity of the industry. Greater number of organisations need to join the cause of protecting the press.