ITV

Category: Regulators

  • HC orders stay on MIB’s licence cancellation directive to Alliance Broadcasting

    HC orders stay on MIB’s licence cancellation directive to Alliance Broadcasting

    MUMBAI: The Delhi High Court has ordered a stay on a Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) directive to a channel where it had withdrawn the channel’s licence stating that it lacked security clearance.

    Alliance Broadcasting had taken MIB to court for the issue since stating that since its security clearance had been withdrawn by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), it was liable to have its licence taken away. It even rejected its application to extend the renewal for 10 years. Further responses on this case have been sought from the MHA and MIB.

    The channel got its licence in 2007 when it was known as Real Estate and in 2014 it rebranded to News7 Tamil. Since then, the channel has maintained its reputation and had even given the required annual licence fee. In November 2017, MIB issued a show cause notice to it. After a joint hearing, the MIB ordered cancellation of its licence due to lack of security clearance certificate.

    While approaching the court, it not only wanted to overturn this but also get its extension of 10 years. It even wants the MHA to disclose the reasons for which its security clearance was rejected.

  • MIB cancels permission to two channels

    MIB cancels permission to two channels

    BENGALURU: Permissions to two private channels – one news and current affairs and one non-news and current affairs channel have been cancelled in this calendar year as on 28 February 2018 as per the information put out by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB). The total number of private satellite and pay TV channels having valid permissions as of 28 February 2018 stood at 875 as compared to 877 as on 31 December 2018. As on 28 February 2018, the number of private news and current affairs channels that were permitted in India stood at 388, while the number of permitted private non-news and current affairs channels was 487.

    There has been a dearth of licences being handed out in the last nine months. So far, 2018 has seen the addition of only two new channel licences namely Discovery Jeet HD and DSport HD. Before that, the last licence was issued in September 2017.

    Of the 875 permitted private TV channels, 774 channels were permitted to both uplink and downlink to India. 368 of the TV channels that were permitted to both uplink and downlink were news and current affairs channels, while 406 were non-news and current affairs channels. 16 private channels were permitted to uplink from India, but not to downlink in India. Five of these channels were news and current affairs channels and 11 were non-news and current affairs channels. The total number of private channels that were permitted only to downlink to India was 85 as on 28 February 2018. The breakup of these channels was 15 news channels and 70 non-news channels.

    The government had issued licenses to 45 channels in 2017 as compared to 75 in the previous calendar year (2016). In all, permission has been granted to 1,101 channels. Permission was cancelled for 226 channels, with 66 in 2017 alone. 44.3 percent or 388 of the permitted channels were news and current affairs channels.

    Also Read :

    No new channels added in December 2017

  • Madras HC TRAI-Star case: All parties keep options open

    Madras HC TRAI-Star case: All parties keep options open

    MUMBAI: Even as till late evening yesterday all those connected with the case filed by Star India and Vijay TV against regulator TRAI in Madras High Court kept waiting for the full text of the court order, options for future course of action were kept open, including whether the high court should be asked to clarify on some observations.

    As the high court, by keeping its final verdict on hold, has given two weeks time to petitioners to consider appealing in the Supreme Court, which is already in summer vacation mode with just the vacation bench active, TRAI also cannot go ahead and get its tariff order implemented immediately.

    Justice MM Sundresh, who was assigned to hear the Star TV and Vijay TV vs. TRAI case after another bench had given a split verdict, concurred with the view of Madras HC chief justice Indira Banerjee who, through an order dated 3 March 2018, had held that the TRAI Act confers upon the regulator sufficient jurisdiction to notify the said tariff order and interconnection regulation.

    However, the judge also, reportedly, struck down some other aspects of the tariff order, including an important part that capped at 15 per cent the discounts that could be offered by TV channels.  

    That all stakeholders in this court drama are keeping their cards close to the chest can be gauged from the fact the only organisation to come out with an official statement welcoming the Madras HC order, AIDCF (All India Digital Cable Federation), too had nothing to offer on a time frame for implementation of TRAI tariff order. Efforts made to elicit responses from Star India, TRAI, Indian Broadcasting Foundation or even individual media industry players drew a blank. The common refrain was: we haven’t read the actual order, so can’t comment.

    Still, after talking to various people in the industry a possible scenario that emerges hinges around petitioners going back to the Madras HC seeking clarifications on some of the observations of the court, which may take some time. After those clarifications come through, it would be decided whether to exercise the option of appealing in the Supreme Court, especially because a major pivot of the case is the copyright of TV channels over the content it generates and whether TRAI has any jurisdiction over such copyright issues.

    With the present TRAI Chairman RS Sharma’s tenure ending in a few months time, he would ideally like to see the tariff order, issued during his tenure, implemented before his superannuation.

    Also Read:

    Third Madras high court judge gives TRAI tariff order thumbs up

    Madras HC gives split verdict in Star India versus TRAI case

    MSOs move Madras HC seeking relief on inter-connect pacts

    Orders reserved by Madras HC on TRAI jurisdiction case

  • Third Madras high court judge gives TRAI tariff order thumbs up

    Third Madras high court judge gives TRAI tariff order thumbs up

    MUMBAI: The long-awaited judgment of the Madras High Court on the TRAI tariff order has been pronounced.

    Sources indicate that almost all the proposals mentioned in the order have being given the go- ahead –  the only exception being the capping of discounts to 15 per cent.

    The decision was announced by the third judge in the Madras High Court earlier today – an order is supposed to come later this evening.

    Reacting to the judgement, AIDCF hailed it as “significant for the cable TV broadcasting and distribution sector’. AIDCF president Rajan Gupta said, “We are elated to note that Honorable Mr. Justice M.M. Sundresh has concurred that TRAI is within its jurisdiction in notifying the tariff order and interconnection regulations of 2017. This new regulatory framework will benefit the entire sector and especially the consumers by improving transparency, enhancing subscriber choice and removing discrimination in provision of content.”

    He further added: “We hope that this present judgment, combined with the earlier view of Honorable Ms. Chief Justice Indira Banerjee, is taken in the right spirit by the stakeholders and any further unnecessary litigation is avoided so that the TRAI can move forward and continue working towards its vision of creating a transparent and non-discriminatory regulatory framework governing the sector.”

    Earlier in March 2018,  a two member bench of the Madras High Court had delivered a split verdict in Star Vijay’s litigation against its passage as content pricing should be left to the discretion of the broadcasting.

    While chief justice Indira Banerjee, heading the first bench, had ruled in favour of TRAI, the second judge — justice M Sundar – had ruled otherwise. The matter was then referred to a third judge who had been given a month to give his directive. The third judge’s decision came earlier today.

    Sources indicate that the third judge has also suspended the decision for the next two weeks, giving Star India a  chance to appeal against it in the Supreme Court.

    The TRAI order had the following highlights…

    The role of the broadcaster

    Under this, broadcasters will have to first declare their channels as a pay channel or a free to air channel, on an a  la carte basis, and in one of the following seven genres: devotional, general entertainment, infotainment, kids, movies, news and current affairs and sports. The TRAI has defined a ceiling on the maximum retail price (MRP) for each of the genres: devotional (Rs 3), general entertainment (Rs 12), infotainment (Rs 9), kids (Rs 7), movies (Rs 10), news and current affairs (Rs 5) and sports (Rs 19).

    Each pay channel has to have a MRP  that can vary depending on the region, but which cannot be changed before the expiry of six months of it being declared. These rates will be platform agnostic – that is, uniform across the platforms (cable TV, DTH, HITS and IPTV) across a relevant geographical market, and will have to be declared on each broadcaster’s website and be transparently available to the TRAI, TV distributors and consumers.

    The pay channels of a network or its subsidiary or holding company or subsidiary of the holding company can be packaged into a bouquet. This can be done while taking the precaution that the bouquet’s MRP is not less than 85 per cent of the sum of the MRPs of the a la carte pay channels forming a part of the bouquet. Similar conditions of holding prices for six months and in geographical areas also apply to bouquets.

    The TRAI has introduced a category called a premium channel. Broadcasters are free to notify any channel as premium channel in their reference interconnect order (RIO). There shall be no price cap on maximum retail price notified by broadcasters for customers. For HD channels, the regulatory authority has, however, stated the price cannot be more than three times the MRP of the corresponding channel transmitted in SD. For those HD channels that do not have a corresponding SD channel, the benchmark will be the ceiling on the MRP of the genre it is in. These independent HD channels will have a price ceiling of three times the ceiling of the MRP of the genre.

    The television distributor’s role

    On the television distributor side, the TRAI has made them responsible to provide all channels on a la carte basis and it has also  proposed to formalize  a minimum subscription fee of Rs 130 per month per set top box from a subscriber for 100 SD channels.  Now if an HD channel is included in this, it will be equal to 2 SD channels.

    The TRAI has stated that TV distributors cannot change the bouquets formed by broadcasters or its price, but they can form bouquets themselves of pay channels of different broadcasters provided that their price is not less than 85 per cent of the sum of the MRPs of the pay channels forming part of the bouquet. Free to air, HD and SD variants of the same channel and premium channels are not permitted to be included in these bouquets.

    The authority says that the composition of the 100 channel basic tier should be left to the subscriber’s volition. It can consist of FTA, pay, premium channels, broadcast bouquets or even television distributor package bouquets. But it has to have the government mandated channels and at least five channels of each of the seven genres. If the subscriber opts for pay TV or premium or HD channels or broadcast or TV distributor bouquets, he will have to pay the retail price for these separately.

    Subscribers wanting channels beyond the basic tier can opt for other channels by paying the TV distributor Rs 20 – excluding taxes-  for each slab of 25 channels and the broadcaster the MRP of each channel.

    The TV distributors also have another responsibility. The electronic programming guide on the network must display the details of all channels and their MRP genre wise for easy navigation. Broadcasters who are relying on TV distributors to collect and remit the pay channel revenues will provide a 20 per cent distribution fee to them, which the latter can share with the LCOs who are actually doing the collection. Additionally, TV channels can also offer a maximum 15 per cent MRP discount to TV distributors to encourage them. Parameters for discounts will be disclosed by broadcasters in the RIOs that will be transparent and uniform for all distributors of television channels.

    More to follow…Keep reading Indiantelevision.com

    Also Read:

    Madras HC gives split verdict in Star India versus TRAI case

    TRAI-Star case back to Madras HC with SC rider

    SC could take up TRAI-Star case on tariff regulations

  • Comment: 3 areas that new MIB minister Rathore needs to target

    Comment: 3 areas that new MIB minister Rathore needs to target

    In a recent reshuffle of his cabinet colleagues and their portfolios initiated by PM Modi, a surprise move was not Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) minister Smriti Irani’s removal, but handing the independent charge of the portfolio to her till-now junior, Rajyavardhan Rathore.

    There is some merit in giving Rathore full responsibility of MIB, which was conceptualised by the nation’s founding fathers to be the government interface with the media and public, in general. That MIB could have lost its relevance in this digital age – an issue being debated in certain quarters – is another story altogether for some other time. Why Rathore at the helm of MIB seems just what the doctor advised?

    First, he is young and suave. Second, he comes with a good pedigree of being an army officer and an Olympic medalist. Third, he’s comparatively young and has built a youth and people-friendly image, apart from his work as independent charge holder at Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports – his latest initiative on Twitter, #HumFitTohIndiaFit , aimed at encouraging fitness by inviting celebs is already a hit on social media.

    As Rathore has served as a junior MIB minister long enough to get to know the complex issues that come with the terrain, it is expected that he is best suited to address the challenges being faced by the media industry. But for that, he needs to aim at the following three areas and hit the bull’s eye.

    Content Regulation

    The previous MIB minister waded into controversies because of her largely perceived unpopular move to create a panel in April this year to explore regulations for online media/news portals and online content. It did not help her or the government’s cause as this announcement, though being hinted at for several months, came close on the heels of a widely protested move to cancel the accreditation of journalists if found peddling fake news, while the government did not define clearly what constituted a fake news. Though the order was rescinded at the behest of the PM’s Office, the online content committee lingers on directionless and with nobody willing to father the baby presently. That this move antagonised not just online journalists, but also social media players (many of whom are backed and funded by government’s sympathisers) and video-on- demand portals is a story in itself.

    Rathore knows media in India enjoys certain constitutional freedoms, including the right to exercise freedom of speech and expression. Therefore, any move targeted at “regulating” such content shall only be interpreted as silencing criticism. That the online committee is packed with government officials with minuscule industry representation and zero presence of online media raises questions on government’s motives.

    What’s more, doubts have also been raised on the jurisdictional propriety of MIB to create such a committee in the first place. The government allocation of business rules that determine the remit of various government agencies clearly highlights that for all “policy matters relating to information technology; electronics; and Internet” only Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeITY) is competent to make decisions. The ambit of MIB is limited only to “the enunciation and implementation of the law relating to radio and television broadcasting in India by private Indian companies or Indian nationals”.

    With multiple laws applicable on online content, there seems to be no need of any additional regulation for online content, though MeITY could think otherwise, but it’s for it to take a call. Still, a self-regulating mechanism that places uniform standards over user-generated content platforms and video-on-demand portals is the need of the day. This shall also be in line with Rathore’s views expressed after assuming full charge at MIB where he stressed upon self-regulation as the only means of regulating media.

    As the final authority at MIB now, Rathore needs to walk the talk on online content regulation and, probably, let the committee set up by his predecessor die a natural death.

    Online content aside, in the world of traditional broadcasting there is a need to strengthen the already established self-regulatory mechanisms such as the Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC) of the IBF and a similar self-regulatory set-up of the NBA India.

    Ease of Doing Business

    It would be an understatement to say that the past year has been a difficult period for the Indian media and entertainment (M&E) sector what with after-effects of demonetisation of high-value currency notes and a new tax regime of GST rolled out last year. The story remains the same for ease of doing business in the sector as well.

    On this aspect, Rathore could focus on the recommendations made by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on`Ease of Doing Business in Broadcasting Sector’ and implement them in letter and spirit.

    A unilateral decision by the previous leadership of MIB to impose a processing fee of Rs 100,000 per day/channel on temporary live uplinking of events (such as sports) and the same amount for seeking minor amendments (like change in name, logo, etc) has been causing heart burns.

    What was the rationale behind such moves to review processing fees? Allegedly non-revision for several years and that such a move could bring in some revenue for the government. But, should a government use licensing/permission fee as means of revenue maximisation? Probably, no.

    Another issue that demands attention from Rathore is the denial of permissions by DoS to satellite TV channels using private satellite capacity, especially foreign. Here, the newly appointed minister shall have to display his trademark leadership and try to resolve the concerns of his constituents (TV channels, DTH operators, teleport operators, etc) vis-a-vis DoS.

    Building an Investment Friendly Environment

    In the recently held global Asia Media Summit 2018 in New Delhi, PM Narendra Modi said that Asia has emerged as a promising region for media businesses and offers opportunities for international cooperation. This statement highlights his government’s push for increasing investment inflow across sectors of the Indian economy – including creative industries such as M&E.

    In this respect, Rathore will have to hit the road running — which he has done — and look at all the factors impeding investments in the sectors under him. This could necessitate reviewing licensing conditions and guidelines, which many in the industry believe hamper investments.

    Can Rathore bite the bullet and recreate the magic that he unveiled one fine day years back to get India the first Olympic medal in an individual event? Certainly, he can. Keep tuned in for the next episode.

    Also Read :

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  • MIB clears TV channel applications; Rathore calls for stakeholder meets

    MIB clears TV channel applications; Rathore calls for stakeholder meets

    NEW DELHI: Within days of Rajyavardhan Rathore given independent charge of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) by the PM Modi-led government after removal of his senior Smriti Irani, the organisation has been galvanised into action. What’s more, important issues are being discussed, including clearances of three new TV channel applications and meetings being called with broadcast industry stakeholders to debate matters like use of foreign satellites versus Indian ones.

    The three TV channels that have been reportedly given initial government go-ahead — further processes like bank guarantees, etc need to be completed — include Aastha Kannad, Aastha Tamil and Aastha Telugu. All these channels are Indian language off-shoots of the religious product Aastha network that at present broadcasts in Hindi.

    Though critics may say the government has given the nod to three TV channels in South Indian languages belonging to Vedic Broadcasting Ltd (VBL), which is controlled by Yoga guru`Patanjali’ Ramdev’s close associate Acharya Balkrishna and considered close to the present BJP-led government in New Delhi, independent observers feel at least MIB has started taking a stand on applications, a process that was halted for the last nine months or so for various reasons.

    Media industry sources indicated that over 100 applications for TV channels are pending at MIB. And, such applications include ones from big and small broadcast companies.

    VBL is controlled by majority shareholder Balkrishna, who, along with Ramdev, bought it in 2011 from the people who had started a religious TV channel few years back airing yoga shows, religious sermons and some cultural programmes.

    When VBL is searched on Google, one is taken to www.acharyabalkrishna.com where it is indirectly stated that Balkrishna is the managing director. It is further stated: “Vedic Broadcasting Limited is also part of his vision. It [’s a] pioneer & leading socio-cultural network in India. Astha & Astha Bhajan Channel is propagating Indian culture and heritage, Health, Ayurveda, Education, Yoga, Values and Morals, Devotional songs, Spiritual meetings, talks, etc. The channels are available globally covering the continents of Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe and North America (USA & Canada), thus, enabling global organisations an opportunity to reach followers and other viewers worldwide.”

    Meanwhile, both government and industry sources indicated that MIB, under Rathore, is attempting to be a breath of fresh air, if not completely turn over decisions taken earlier under Irani. One such step in that direction was to start convening meetings with TV channels and their holding companies in an attempt to try to address some of the concerns.

    In one such meeting held this week, the representatives from the broadcasting company owning and operating over 30 TV channels in India were asked about their concerns. Also present were government officials from Department of Space and Indian space agency ISRO.

    When the issue of migration to an Indian satellite from foreign ones was brought up by the TV channel reps in the meeting, it was conveyed to them politely that it would be in the national interest to do so, though those having existing contracts could be allowed, in all probability, to go through with contractual obligations.

    One of the concerns relating to leasing space on foreign satellites is that ISRO, according to industry sources, was unwilling to come forth with data on disaster and backup management in case an Indian satellite, through which a TV channel is beaming, for example, sputtered or developed some snag.

    The sources said that more such meetings are in the pipeline with other broadcasting companies.

  • MIB nudge to TV channels on content monitoring

    MIB nudge to TV channels on content monitoring

    NEW DELHI: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has cautioned 121 TV channels for not faciliatiing monitoring of content by government agencies as per existing regulations.

    Pointing out that as technical parameters were not being made available to the Electronic Media Monitoring Centre (EMMC), an organisation under MIB umbrella, government has reminded the errant TV channels regulations clearly state the company/channel shall “provide for the necessary monitoring facility at its own cost” for monitoring of programmes or content by a government agency.

    The list, which has been put out on the MIB website, includes TV channels from big and small broadcasting companies and they have been given time till 30 May 2018 to comply with existing government guidelines.

    Broadcaster names include 9X, TV9 AP, UTV Movies International, Mahua channels, Sony Pix 2, several SAB regional channels, Star Gold South East Asia, Star Plus Middle East, VH1, Colors Tamil, Living Travelz, Living Rootz, Z Living, Shop CJ Tamil, Zee Kannada, Zee Telugu, History TV18 HD, etc. A total of 121 channels have been named. 

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  • Jaipal Reddy calls for doing away with MIB

    Jaipal Reddy calls for doing away with MIB

    MUMBAI: Junk the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB). That’s the call that once MIB minister Jaipal Reddy – who held the portfolio during the Congress I regime in the previous decade – is giving these days. Writing a column in The Hindu last week, he said “It is important to note that no advanced democracy, be it in western Europe or in North America, has a ministry called I&B. Those democracies instead have independent commissions. In the US, for example, the Federal Communications Commission has been effective in regulating the functions of television companies for more than a half a century.”

    Reddy points out in the column that “Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel briefly handled the home ministry after India attained independence, and he also handled the MIB. He used the MIB portfolio to reach out to the people with urgent messages during the country’s formative and most difficult period.”

    He highlights that the “the political demand for conferring autonomy of DD gained volume only in the 1970s, because of which the BG Verghese Committee went into the question and submitted its recommendations. But it assumed the shape of a specific statute only in 1990 when leaders from all parties, including Rajiv Gandhi as the opposition leader, reached a consensus. It fell on me as the I&B minister in 1997 to notify the Act — the Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Act, 1990. At that time, I made a public statement that the time had come for abolishing the I&B Ministry.”

    According to Reddy, Prasar Bharati can truly enjoy independence when it is given financial independence. Says he in the column: “The BBC enjoys financial autonomy as the citizens pay fees compulsorily and directly to it. As a consequence of this freedom, the BBC sometimes takes on the British Prime Minister as well, not to speak of the government.”

    So why garbage the ministry? Reddy has his reasoning. Says he: If a minister is there for the portfolio, he/she cannot sit idle; they poke their nose into the functioning of such institutions by way of self-employment. Hence, the urgency to abolish this portfolio.”

    There’s nothing really new about his yelling about this from the rooftops – he’s done it in the past too – as he mentions in his column. He was instrumental in the drafting of the Broadcasting Regulatory Authority of India Bill in 1998. Nothing came of it then. Will someone in the Modi government listen to him this time?

  • Amit Khare appointed as new MIB secretary

    Amit Khare appointed as new MIB secretary

    MUMBAI: Jharkhand state development commissioner and a whistle-blower civil servant Amit Khare has been named as the new secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB). He will take over from NK Sinha who is due to superannuate on 31 May 2018 after a comparatively quiet stint of approximately nine months at a high profile ministry that has constantly remained in the news after finance minister Arun Jaitley gave up the MIB portfolio in 2016 to concentrate on India’s economy.

    The announcement regarding MIB and Khare came on Friday as part of a big bureaucratic reshuffle initiated by the government that is now gearing up for general elections either late this year or first half next year as its five-year term in New Delhi officially comes to an end in May 2019.

    Khare is a 1985 batch Indian Administrative Service officer and is presently serving in Jharkhand. Considered an upright civil servant, he is credited for unearthing the multi-million dollar fodder scam two decades ago in Bihar for which some powerful politicians, including former Bihar chief minister Lalu Yadav, and senior officials have been handed jail sentences of varied time periods.

    Meanwhile, media industry observers hoped that with Khare’s arrival next month and junior minister Rajyavardhan Rathore entrusted with independent charge of MIB last week, some freshness and action would also arrive at the ministry, which has been under fire in recent months for not only taking controversial policy decisions (one of them relating to regulation of fake news being rolled back after PM’s Office intervened), but also angering its own foot soldiers or the Indian Information Service officials by arbitrary transfer postings and allegedly bungling on a film award event where the president of the country was to be present.

    A senior TV executive on condition of anonymity said both Rathore and Khare would hopefully end power games within MIB and actually work to live up to PM Modi’s claims of easing norms for doing business in India; especially as the media industry has been straining to get some helping hand from the government in difficult economic times when the sector is still in the process of recovering from after-effects of demonetisation of high value currency notes in 2016 and a new tax regime of goods and services tax of 2017.   

    Rathore’s senior Smriti Irani, a former TV actress who was handed the dual charge of MIB along with textiles ministry almost a year back, has somehow been in the news for wrong reasons and was divested of the portfolio last week when the Prime Minister initiated a reshuffle of his cabinet colleagues.

    Broadcast industry has been complaining of arbitrary policy decisions being taken by MIB under Irani, including attempts at creating artificial entry-level barriers by insisting on TV channels shift to Indian satellites from foreign ones and hiking administrative processing fees many folds. Industry organisation Indian Broadcasting Foundation recently petitioned the PM’s Office drawing attention to the likely ill-effects on the industry if certain norms regarding uplinking and downlinking, being debated at MIB and regulatory body TRAI, came into force.

    Media reports have also indicated that in the last nine months inaction had come to such a head at MIB that inter-departmental power games had stalled a decision on over 100 applications for new TV channels, apart from other sundry issues. So, media industry stakeholders expect a breath of fresh air to blow in the corridors of New Delhi’s Shastri Bhawan, which houses the MIB along with some other ministries, with Rathore-Khare duo taking charge.

    Earlier this week, Vikram Sahay was appointed as a joint secretary in the MIB.

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  • MIB’s Rathore signals liberalised regime for online media

    MIB’s Rathore signals liberalised regime for online media

    MUMBAI: Hardly 24 hours into his job and minister of state (independent charge) in the Information and Broadcasting ministry (MIB) Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore is saying things that could make him the industry’s and more specifically the independent media crowd’s darling.

    Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Rathore emphasised that media has to opt for self-regulation and the government has no plans to regulate news portals and media websites.

    He said most publications and TV channels are already self-regulating at various levels, first at the reporting journalist’s level and then at the editor’s desk. He added that this was a model that the government was more than happy to continue with and support wholeheartedly.

    He clarified that media had misunderstood reports that it was setting up a committee to frame rules to regulate news portals and media news websites.

    The prime minister is very clear that the media in our country is one of the very important pillars of democracy and they have to self-regulate, Rathore highlighted.

    He said Prasar Bharati will be strengthened and high priority would be given to better and informative programmes.

    He also pointed that “it is about a collective responsibility that media becomes the voice of the people, whether it is Prasar Bharati or private network or channel. We will work in this direction.”

    Just yesterday, the baton was handed over from senior minister Smriti Irani to junior Rathore. He now has independent charge while she heads over to textiles. He has been in the ministry for the last four years as state minister and has finally got full command.

    Also Read :

    Smriti Irani moved out of MIB as Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore gets independent charge

    MIB moves to regulate online media: various organisations join issue

    Online media professionals write to Smriti Irani expressing regulation concerns