Editors Guild demands national debate on Broadcast Bill

The Editors Guild of India has demanded a wide ranging national debate on the entire issue of Broadcast Services Regulation by involving all stakeholders, the viewers and listeners of electronic media, government and political parties, representatives of civil society organisations and the general public.

New Delhi, Sept 7 : The Editors Guild of India has demanded a wide ranging national debate on the entire issue of Broadcast Services Regulation by involving all stakeholders, the viewers and listeners of electronic media, government and political parties, representatives of civil society organisations and the general public.

The demand for a debate comes as Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi is meeting with representatives of television channels in the capital today to discuss the Code of Content for the media.

The Guild further said that the proposed Broadcast Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI), under the draft Broadcast Services Regulatory Bill, is nothing but a governmental body, as the government has the right to nominate and withdraw all the officials who would be running this Authority.

There is no voice for the media in the selection, functioning and decision making of the Authority, which has powers to punish the channels and their editors, alongside having powers to suspend and cancel licences given to channels, it said.

The present framework of the Broadcast Services Regulation Bill is unacceptable, as the draft bill completely vests the command and control of the electronic media with the government, the Guild said.

The Guild said the best model for Broadcast Services Regulation Bill would be the Press Council of India, the majority of whose members are elected by media organisations, and other members are from civil society. The members have a say in the selection process of the Chairman, who is invariably a retired Supreme Court Judge.

There are no such autonomy provisions in the BRAI proposed by the draft bill, the Guild said.

Acknowledging that a Content code should be there in view of the tremendous impact and influence of the electronic media, the Guild said it does not accept the argument that it should be prepared by the Government.

The Guild is of the view that such a Content Code should be prepared by the Newsbroadcasters Association of India and the Guild, with inputs from civil society representatives. The government too can give its inputs to these bodies, it said.

The Content Code should be self regulatory, and each channel must appoint an independent Ombudsman to monitor adherence to the Content Code.

For hearing complaints against or from electronic media, setting up an independent body like the Press Council of India should be considered by all stakeholders, including the government.

The Guild does not agree that there should be a Public Service Broadcast Council which would dictate the news and current affairs channels on their public service content.

The Council is in danger of becoming an instrumentality of the government to introduce its own programming by the backdoor.

The Guild reiterated that all news and current affairs channels, their editors and journalists must exercise the freedom of press with utmost responsibility.

The Executive Committee of the Guild last met on August 29, and is expected to conduct a further review.

ANI