Govt policies

Iraq's largely autonomous northern Kurdistan region has passed a modified media law aimed at protecting journalists' rights, abolishing jail terms for offences such as defamation, Reuters has reported quoting parliamentary deputies. An earlier version of the law passed by parliament last December carried tough sanctions for journalists including imprisonment, fines of up to 10 million Iraqi dinar...

The Union government has decided to allow the publication of local editions of foreign news and current affairs magazines in India. The 26 per cent cap on foreign direct investment into Indian news print ventures, however, will continue. The Union Cabinet cleared the Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry proposal on Thursday. Till now, Indian editions of only foreign scientific, technical and...

The Egyptian government is increasing its control over the media, especially the broadcast media. Egypt already has a repressive press law and a state of emergency law that has been in effect since 1981. In November, parliament is due to examine a new broadcasting bill that is causing further concern. At the same time, several production companies working with foreign satellite TV stations have...

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) wants the Broadcast Audience Research Council to start its audience measurement activities by January next year with representatives from the government, says a report in the Hindu Businessline. The Authority is also seeking regulation over content. “With increased convergence and the blurring of boundaries between carriage and content, the recent...

The Centre is planning to have a fresh look at the Content Code in television programmes as it feels that the current one has become outdated, the Press Trust of India (PTI) has reported. "We are contemplating a review of the existing Content Code as it needs to be at par with changing times," Secretary in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, Sushma Singh, said here on Saturday while...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has expressed alarm at a draft law in Iran that would extend the death penalty to include crimes committed online. Passed by parliament on first reading on July 2, the proposed law would, for example, apply the death penalty to bloggers and website editors who "promote corruption, prostitution or apostasy." "This proposal is horrifying," Paris-based RSF said....

The Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry has set up a media monitoring centre to keep a watch on channel content. The ministry is expected to come out with a set of guidelines shortly even though there is no consensus on the issue between the government and private broadcasters, says a report in the Hindu. Some details: Located at the Prasar Bharati office, the Rs. 16-crore Electronic Media...

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the print media has been allowed to overcome the shortage of capital being faced by the newspaper industry in the country, a Press Trust of India (PTI) report has said. Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting (I&B), PR Dasmunsi on Wednesday informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply that several Indian companies engaged in publishing newspapers and...

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has now been given the power to reduce the term of the Chairman of Prasar Bharati from six to three years and a maximum age of 70 and raising the age-limit for the CEO to 65, with the Rajya Sabha giving its approval to the amendment bill in this regard. The CEO's term is also reduced from six to five years, says an indiantelevision.com report. The Prasar...

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has proposed to review foreign investment (FI) limits in the electronic media to provide level playing field among competing technologies, says a Times of India report. The telecom regulatory has floated a consultation paper for reviewing the existing foreign investment limits in different segments of broadcasting sector. Some details of Monday's...