State Control

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...

Beijing - Police on Thursday detained a German journalist who was attempting to investigate controversial plans to dam the Nujiang river in south-western China's Yunnan province. Georg Blume, a correspondent for Die Zeit newspaper, said he was taken away by police for 'illegal reporting' on Thursday afternoon while he was speaking to villagers about plans to resettle them to make way for one...

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...

BEIJING: A Chinese draft law that threatens to fine news media for reporting on "sudden incidents" without permission applies to foreign as well as domestic news organizations, an official involved in preparing the legislation said Monday. The law, now under consideration by the legislature, calls for fines of up to $12,500 if news media produce unauthorized reports on outbreaks of disease...

BEIJING -- A new attempt to clamp down on China's media has provoked an outcry from Chinese journalists and parliament members, sparking a controversy that could kill the proposal. The unusual rebellion by Chinese news media and politicians was triggered by a draft law that would impose fines up to $12,500 (U.S.) on media outlets that publish unauthorized reports on emergencies, including natural...

BEIJING, June 26 — Chinese media outlets will be fined if they report on "sudden events" without prior authorization from government officials, under a draft law being considered by the Communist Party-controlled legislature. The law would give government officials a powerful new tool to restrict coverage of mass outbreaks of disease, riots, strikes, accidents and other events that the authorities...

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...

One of several journalists sent packing by U.S. military authorities at Guantanamo Naval Base last week has come out with her story of what happened when she and others were forced to leave. Carol J. Williams of The Los Angeles Times wrote in Sunday morning’s edition of the newspaper. The reporter complained of what she called “a Pentagon power play that muzzles already reluctant sources and an...