Formerly, men were known to three pillars of state, namely: executive, legislature and judiciary. Conversely, 21st century has brought with it a fourth pillar of state. As the information age has powered ahead, the fourth pillar has become more and more important. These powers are maintained by a system of checks and balances so that no one pillar may overtake the others entirely.

Media is becoming increasingly popular among people from all walks of life and it certainly has the potential of influencing the thoughts of its readers/viewers to a large extent. Media should, no doubt, be neutral in airing views but it should also strongly desist from airing such views which can adversely affect the communal harmony and give rise to deep suspicion, tension and senseless violence which leads to killing innocent people. The media should make the people aware of the consequences of the various actions of the governments. It is the media which plays a major role in making a politician hero or zero based on his performances. So utmost neutrality is required on the part of media to observe and it must give publicity only to those politicians who are committed to the welfare of the poor and underprivileged and who really deserve it.

It should never hesitate unmasking before public the real faces of corrupt politicians and corrupt people without any fear and in disclosing corrupt practices prevalent in Government machinery but at the same time it should also bring before the pubic the good work done by the Government. If media is committed in its job, democracy is bound to function more efficiently and the loopholes present in any democratic system can certainly be plugged to the fullest satisfaction of the people. No one can become perfect and one can only strive to become so. The same holds true for our media also. Certainly there is still a lot of scope for improvement by which the media can rise upon the aspirations of the people for which it is primarily meant.

In despondent societies like Afghanistan when it comes to disclosure of fraudulent and corruption of elected parliamentarians or public officials a despotic attitude awaits the fate of the journalists. Afghanistan is one the most unsafe country for journalists. During the Afghan presidential election, 2009 there were reports of attacks on press freedom by influential personalities seeking for desired outcome. Due to instability in Afghanistan, journalists have been as highly targeted as shown by instances of kidnapping and death threats both by government and armed oppositions.

Afghanistan has a low readership of newspapers, coupled with the low 28.1% literacy rate. Many newspapers suffer some form of censorship and financial difficulty. 24 journalists were killed in 2012 and large numbers put to barricade on flawed accusation, a deliberate intervention with free flow of information and violation of right to freedom of expression, freedom of speech.

The constitutional provision and 2004 media law prohibits censorship, nevertheless Afghan government didn’t gave up an apparent attempt at railroading through a less than media friendly new Mass Media Law without consultation. The new law’s draft ascribed Media Supreme Council that would set editorial policy would be chaired by the Minister of Information and Culture, an alarming direction that would let the government restricts media activities, especially those of news channels. The draft intended to restrict the ability of media to debate or report on areas such as national security and religion. The government could hand down punishment for any report or talk show which it might not like, using national security as an excuse. The draft law still awaits the parliamentary approval. It is feared that after 2014 pull out, a greater degree of restraints might be enacted in the new media law.

Media occupies the most vital position in a democratic setup and forms the very bedrock of democracy without which democracy is an aimless, futile exercise and never fulfill the aspirations of the people in real terms. The role of media in a democracy is as crucial as that of the politicians and should never be underestimated. The first and foremost job is to bring out before the public nothing but the truth in all matters without twisting the facts and should never be afraid of anyone. If a democracy is to run smoothly in any country, it is a must that the media in all fairness should be given full autonomy and a free hand it deserves in airing its views among the people and no unnecessary restrictions should be imposed on it. The media also on its part should play a very responsible, active and neutral role in discharging its duties without being influenced by any particular political party or few individuals and should treat everyone on a equal footing.

 It is rightly called the fourth pillar of democracy i.e. Fourth Estate. It is through media that people become aware of so many aspects of life of which they are normally ignorant. Democracy is meaningless without a free, neutral and active media. The media can be free only if it dares to differ with the government on such issue on which it strongly feels that government has taken a wrong stand rather than singing and praising always the stand taken by the government. There is no doubt that media has done a commendable job from time to time in making people aware about the harsh realities of life, in exposing corruption prevalent in our society, in increasing the awareness level among the people and a lot more but I feel that still a lot remains to be done.

A free media is imperative for a democratic state to function. The media serves as a watchdog for its people providing information they may not otherwise have access to or seek out themselves. A free media allows individual citizens to question those in power and use that information to make decisions about their future.

Media plays important role in shaping public opinion. In turn, public opinion is the ultimate check in the checks and balance system designed to ensure equal and balanced authorities between the three pillars of government. It can be seen as an equally important pillar to this balance because its role is to ring the alarm bells in cases of abuse of power, corruption etc, and a further way of keeping the system honest.