Broadcast Bill Controversy

New Delhi, July. 9 (PTI): Trial by media has come under the scrutiny of an official committee drafting the proposed broadcasting code and guidelines which recommends that broadcast service providers (BSPs) "should avoid" such activism since "a man is innocent till proven guilty by law". The guidelines, drafted by a sub-committee under the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, feels that "news...

The preparation of a draft Broadcast Services Regulation Bill, 2006, should occasion no surprise. It has been a long time coming. Broadcasting in India has been subject to executive guidelines rather than any comprehensive statutory regulations ever since cable and satellite television were permitted in the early 1990s. A Supreme Court judgment in 1995 formally decreed that the airwaves were...

There is little doubt that there is a serious problem with the content of the print and broadcast media in India today. Apart from the fact that more and more time and space of the media is devoted to carrying commercial advertisements, much of the remaining content too has become trivial, inane, and debasing, essentially containing violence, sex and gossip meant to titillate and serve the baser...

The Centre, under severe criticism for its plans to regulate the electronic media in the country, has allayed fears over the contents of the proposed Broadcast Bill, and said that the government is committed to press freedom and that the legislation is meant to facilitate and develop the content of broadcasting in an orderly manner. A STING THAT STILL HURTS SOME: Tehelka chief, Tarun Tejpal (right...

NEW DELHI: Unhappy with the draft that has been prepared on content regulation, information and broadcasting secretary SK Arora has asked the panel responsible to rework it. Though no specific reasons were cited, the ministry is apparently unhappy with the way some of the issues have been dealt with as also the length of the 65-page draft, which is seen as being too unwieldy. Earlier in the week...