News broadcasters to get self-regulatory authority

By PARUL CHANDRA

New Delhi, May 19: News broadcasters are going to have a self-regulatory authority in place very soon. The proposed authority will be called the News Broadcasting Standards Disputes Redressal Authority and apart from the chairman will have six members.

Annie Joseph, secretary general of the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) when contacted told this paper, "The association is in the process of constituting an authority." She added that an announcement regarding the setting up of the authority would be made shortly.

Officials of the Union ministry of information and broadcasting while welcoming the proposed authority said that viewers would still be able to approach the government with their complaints under the Cable Television Network (Regulation) Act, 1995 like they do at present.

A similar practice is followed in the case of advertisements wherein viewers can complain either to the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) which is a self regulatory voluntary organisation of the advertising industry or to the ministry.

Officials said that ASCI has worked so well over the years that in August 2006, the council’s rules were incorporated in the Cable Network rules, 2006.

"ASCI rules were incorporated because it was felt that they have proved themselves over a period of time," remarked an official.

The proposed Broadcasting Authority has come about following initial efforts by the Union ministry of information and broadcasting to impose a content code on broadcasters.

The broadcasters while resisting the ministry formulated Code had said that they would come up with a self-regulatory code for themselves. Yet another reason why the news channels have come up with their own code is a suggestion made by the Delhi high court that news channels evolve their own self-regulatory code.

The court’s observation came in the light of a sting operation that falsely implicated a Delhi schoolteacher in a prostitution racket.

In fact, the court had even directed that the ministry set up a three-member panel to vet the sting operations aired by news channels.

NBA came up with its own "code of ethics and broadcasting standards" last month and the proposal for a Disputes Redressal Authority. The chairman of the authority it has been proposed will be an eminent jurist with the six-members nominated by the NBA Board.

While three of the members will be eminent editors employed with a broadcaster, the remaining three will be persons with knowledge or experience in fields like education, law, medicine, science, public administration, literature, etc. The chairman as well as the members will have a two year tenure.

The authority while entertaining and deciding on complaints against broadcasters, news agencies or television journalists can even impose a fine of upto one lakh rupees. This can be apart from the warning, admonition, censure, disapproval, etc. the authority can issue.