• Sonalika Nigam
• Faiz Ayat Ansari

India is an abode to multi-talented and ambidextrous media covering wide range of ‘flammable' issues. The recent past has made us to believe that our life is incomplete without the presence of media, especially be it social media or be it the electronic media. India considers media to be the 4th pillar of democracy. Even though there is nothing official about this statement, it has many folded aspects involved. In the past few years, the great Indian media has gone through a number of changes which have directly led to the wide-spread destructions among the public. It has imposed a very big and genuine question on the credibility and authenticity of the media whirling around us. Resultantly, the society has become prone to the content offered by the media in the guise of news. The right to freedom of speech as well as appearance is guaranteed below Article 19 of the Indian Constitution. The researchers, through the present research paper, shall test the hypothesis whether the Indian media has stayed true to its role of being the fourth pillar of democracy in the COVID-19 era. This shall be carried out by analysing the topics discussed in prime-time TV coverage of some of India’s prominent news channels like Republic TV, Times Now, NDTV India, Aaj Tak and Zee News during the ongoing COVID-19 era from March 2020 to July 2021.

COVID-19, Freedom of Speech, Indian Media, Fourth Pillar, Prime Time TV.

"The Erosion of The Fourth Pillar: A Critical Legal Analysis of The Indian Media Coverage In the COVID-19 Era", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 3, page no.148-154, March-2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIRFL06019.pdf

"The Erosion of The Fourth Pillar: A Critical Legal Analysis of The Indian Media Coverage In the COVID-19 Era", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 3, page no. pp148-154, March-2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIRFL06019.pdf