On May 3, 2023, prominent journalists gathered in New Delhi to discuss the troubling state of press freedom in India during a panel organized by the Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC) for World Press Freedom Day. The discussion, titled “Safeguarding Press Freedom Amidst Global Upheaval,” highlighted India's significant drop to 157th place in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index, a decline of six spots from the previous year. Waiel Awwad, president of the Foreign Correspondents Club of South Asia, warned that attacks on journalists have shifted from being incidental to deliberate, reflecting a systematic effort to suppress truth. Raghavan Srinivasan, general secretary of the Editors Guild of India, pointed out deep-rooted issues within the media, including ownership-driven bias and editorial pressure, which have become normalized. C K Naik, president of the Press Association, criticized the media's internal divisions, stating that journalists have become their own adversaries due to a lack of coordinated resistance. IWPC president Sujata Raghavan concluded by emphasizing the need for collective action to foster a robust environment for journalism, which is vital for democracy.