Deep and continuing erosion in the standards of journalistic practice is becoming a universal cause of concern not only for the credibility of the media itself but for the future of democracy all over the world. The problem is not new but the awful dimensions it has assumed in the era of economic globalization and crass commercialism is threatening the very foundation of ethical journalism. This brings into question the legitimacy of the media as the fourth pillar of state and the mainstay of democracy. If the trend persists, media will cease to be trusted as a potent instrument of public good. It was with this distressing realization that this kind of journalism had caused the profession enough grievous loss of public trust and credibility that the first press codes were evolved in the 1920s. The television introduced disturbing new trends in the news media. The scope for harm and hurt of the public interest was extremely limited in the past because there was no satellite communication, no cable TV networks, no globalization of the cultural products, no mega corporations occupying the entire communication space including newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, satellite, films, book publishing, music and entertainment industries; no digitization of media operations and no Frankenstein of the Internet. But, even in that situation, several surveys and studies commissioned by different bodies since the 1980s have more or less repeatedly confirmed that the public is distrustful of the performance or the attitude of the press, more so of the electronic media. One highly reliable study found that three-fourths of all adults have some problem with the credibility of the media and one-fifth of them deeply distrust the news media. “Many people feel that the press is a self-serving, powerful and frightening institution”, it said. Things have since become worse. The communication function of the press is being unashamedly subordinated to its profit-making practices. Wanton intrusion by the commercial interests in the newsroom decisions is no longer a guarded secret. Cases of such glaring lack of professionalism and illegality have been taken to the Press Council in India which has unreservedly condemned these practices. The only choice before the press is to strengthen the mechanism of self-regulation to ensure accountability. Walter Lipmann had rightly said that institutions are destroyed not by invaders from outside but by weakening their foundations from within. A Media Council independent of any direct or indirect control or influence of the government or of any other external dispensation would be the most appropriate mechanism for media self-regulation. It will do media good to remember that its sincere commitment to remain accountable to the people is the best guarantee of its freedom, which the people, in turn, will themselves vigorously defend. Lack of it is a sure pathway to destruction. And, the best way to ensure accountability is self-regulation. Let us strengthen it to strengthen freedom. Keywords : Media Ethics