I&B Ministry
Govt. cans plans of introducing comprehensive broadcast legislation
NEW DELHI: Contrary to plans of the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, the present government has said there are no plans to introduce a comprehensive broadcast legislation in the Parliament.
Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha, Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley said, “No such proposal is under consideration of the Ministry.”
The previous government had not only drawn up plans for such legislation but placed it on the Ministry website. In fact, a draft of the proposed Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill 2007 – which was a revised version of the proposed legislation of 2006 – is still on the website.
Meanwhile, Jaitley told Lok Sabha that all the areas uncovered by terrestrial transmitters along with rest of the country have been provided with multichannel TV coverage through Doordarshan’s free to air direct-to-home Freedish service anywhere in the country.
Doordarshan coverage is estimated to be available to about 92 per cent population spread over about 81 per cent area of the country.
DD has 1416 TV transmitters of varying power in terrestrial mode, whereas DD’s Free Dish services on DTH has currently 64 TV channels on air.
I&B Ministry
MIB halts news TRPs for four weeks over sensational US-Iran conflict coverage
Government flags panic-mongering in television war coverage
NEW DELHI: India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting directed the Broadcast Audience Research Council India (BARC) to suspend television ratings for news channels for four weeks amid concerns over sensational coverage of the ongoing conflict involving the United States and Iran.
According to media reports, the move intends to curb excessive dramatisation in television reporting that could trigger unnecessary public anxiety.
Officials have observed that several news broadcasters are amplifying developments in the conflict in ways that may fuel panic among viewers. By temporarily halting the publication of viewership data, the ministry hopes to ease the competitive pressure on channels to chase ratings through sensational content.
The suspension will remain in effect for one month for now. During this period, television news channels will continue to broadcast as usual, but their audience measurement figures will neither be counted nor released.
Authorities will monitor both the evolving geopolitical situation and the tone of television coverage during the pause. The four-week suspension could be extended if the government believes the risk of panic-mongering or sensational reporting persists.
