PolicyNEWS & CONTEXT

Thirteen journalists named to Press Council after prolonged membership gaps

The notification names six editors and seven other working journalists, following repeated calls to restore representation.

CF
The Civic Frontier8/10/2026, 10:48:21 am IST · 1 min read
Representative archive photograph of stacked newspapers, 2007; not a photograph of Press Council proceedings.
Representative archive photograph of stacked newspapers, 2007; not a photograph of Press Council proceedings.. Daniel R. Blume from Orange County, California, USA · Representative archive: newspaper copies, 2007. · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Cropped for display.

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has notified 13 journalists as members of the Press Council of India, addressing a prolonged gap in representation from the profession. The October 7 gazette notification names six newspaper editors and seven working journalists other than editors, The Indian Express reported on October 8.

The council had operated at roughly half strength for nearly a year without its editor and working-journalist members. It had sent three reminders over the vacancies, while the Editors Guild of India had also pressed for reconstitution.

The statutory council has a chairperson and 28 members, with members serving three-year terms. The latest notification is a significant step in restoring its composition, but the appointment of 13 people should not be read as proof that every seat is now filled.

For readers and news organisations, professional representation is an important part of the institution's credibility. The immediate development is the formal notification of these appointments; claims about a fully restored council or particular future decisions would go beyond the information available.