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Tag: Broadcast Editors Association

  • Smriti Irani tweets industry body advisory urging restraint by TV news channels

    Smriti Irani tweets industry body advisory urging restraint by TV news channels

    NEW DELHI: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Smriti Irani yesterday in tweets amplified advisories issued by news industry associations, which had cautioned TV news channels to exercise restraint while reporting on the violence unleashed in the states of Haryana, Punjab, parts of Uttar Pradesh and Delhi in the aftermath of self-styled godman Ram Rahim being convicted of rape charges by a local court on Friday.

    At around 20.59 Irani tweeted: “Drawing attention of news channels to Clause B of Fundamental Std. of NBSA refraining channels from causing panic, distress &undue fear.”

    As social media exploded questioning the minister’s tweet and intentions — some even supported her assertions, though, saying the media was reporting falsely on incidents of mob violence — she followed up her first tweet with another one stating: “Kindly note this advisory has been given by the offices of the National Broadcasters Association.” In another message she also condemned the attack on media and damage to property.

    News Broadcasters Association (NBA)’s self-regulatory body News Broadcasting Standards Authority or NBSA had actually re-circulated among member-news channels the organisation’s ethics and codes that overall harp about restraint.

    On reporting news involving armed conflicts, communal violence, public disorder and internal disturbances, the NBSA guidelines urge TV news channels that telecast of such incidents should be tested on the “touchstone of public interest”.

    Broadcast Editors Association (BEA), an apex body of editors of national and regional television news channels in India, too issued an advisory on Friday cautioning TV news channels to “keep a careful eye on the content and views that can inflame people.”

    “All editors should take utmost care while playing violence visuals of the coverage of Baba Ram Rahim case. Please verify the facts before putting them on air because lots of rumours are floating around,” the BEA statement said.

    While NBA did issue a statement condemning the violence and attacks on the media (OB vans were damaged and some media people were assaulted), it urged “the chief ministers of Haryana and Punjab to take action urgently to bring the situation under control in order that the media/press are able to perform their duties without fear.”

    For the records, NBSA does have extensive code of ethics and broadcasting standards. In the section Principles of Self-regulation, the code states: “Television news has greater reach, and more immediate impact than other forms of media, and this makes it all the more necessary that channels exercise restraint to ensure that any report or visuals broadcast do not induce, glorify, incite, or positively depict violence and its perpetrators, regardless of ideology or context. Specific care must be taken not to broadcast visuals that can be prejudicial or inflammatory…”.

    Meanwhile, a Punjabi language news channel reporter received injuries in attacks allegedly by followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim in Haryana while the video journalist accompanying him has gone missing after the assault. 

    Rakesh Kumar, a reporter with PTC News, said he and his video journalist Shipendar Happy were attacked near the Dera headquarters when they went there to report after Dera head Gurmeet Ram Rahim’s conviction in a rape case. “They thrashed us brutally leaving me with a fracture in my right hand. My cameraman Happy is still missing. They also torched our vehicle and equipment,” Rakesh told news agency PTI.

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  • Should the Press Council govern TV and Internet?

    Should the Press Council govern TV and Internet?

    MUMBAI: Is there a need to create a Media Council of India? We already have the Broadcast Complaints Council of India (BCCI) and the News Broadcasters Association and the Broadcast Editors Association (BEA) which act as the conscience keepers of the entertainment channels and of the news broadcasters respectively.

     

    But CK Prasad chief of the nearly 50 year old Press Council of India  (PCI) believes its ambit needs to be extended to cover television and the internet. 
    Speaking on the occasion of National Press Day the retired chief justice today said  “It is necessary for society and government to recognise that the noble objectives behind setting up the Council can never fully be realised if its activities are restricted to the print media…. the Council as a body made up of different groups of informed stakeholders, is best placed to play such a regulatory role.”

     

    He added that suggestions to give the PCI more teeth have been made in the past but it has not been followed up with legislative changes. “It must possess the powers to tackle aberrations by the press to ensure that members maintain the highest professional standards. In the absence of such powers, the Council is forced to act more on the basis of moral persuasion than legal persuasion.”

     

    “Our democracy and our media have evolved significantly… legislation has kept pace with developments in other areas vital for the functioning of our democracy such as electoral reforms, attempts to update the Press Council Act to bring it in tune with contemporary realities have until now only been academic exercises,” he pointed out.

     

    He stated that the PCI gets its funding through private sources as annual subscriptions from registered newspaper organisations and as grants from government. This needs to be relooked at. The government’s share of this needs to go down while the print media’s share needs to go up to ensure its autonomy in a new media dynamic.

     

  • NewsX editor-in-chief Jehangir Pocha passes away

    NewsX editor-in-chief Jehangir Pocha passes away

    MUMBAI: The pressure-filled TV news business has had another casualty. Jehangir Pocha, the co-promoter of  IndiMedia Pvt Ltd, which earlier owned the NewsX channel, died earlier this morning in Gurgaon following a cardiac arrest. 

     

    Pocha came into the limelight after he worked out a rescue package  to bail out the channel in 2009 along with Nai Duniya CEO Vinay Chhajlani. Launched originally by the eighties poster boy of television – Peter Mukerjea – as part of the INX Media group, it had fallen up on troubled times soon after its launch in 2008. Pocha was editor in chief at BusinessWorld maagazine when he partnered with Chhajlani.

     

    NewsX continued, but desperately needed cash to run and Pocha and Chhajlani found a buyer in the Kartikeya Sharma owned Information TV (part of the ITV Group) and its associates in mid-2012. Even as Chhajlani exited, Pocha continued as the channel’s editor in chief.

     

    Born in Mumbai, Pocha did his Bachelors in Economics in 1990, followed by an MBA in Marketing in 1992 from the SP Jain Institute, Mumbai University. Later, he also did his Masters in Public Administration, Media and foreign policy from Harvard University Kennedy School of Government.

     

    Pocha was The Boston Globe’s Beijing-based China correspondent from 2003-2007. Prior to that he spent about a decade in the IT industry, holding management positions with start-ups and Fortune 500 companies in the US and Singapore.

     

    His passing away has been mourned by many. Amomg them the prime minister Narendra Modi who said: “I am shocked and saddened to hear about Jehangir Pocha’s demise. I pay my condolence to his family in this hour of grief. May his soul rest in peace.”

     

    The  Broadcast Editors’ Association sent out  a statement condoling his sad demise: “It is big loss to the world of TV journalism. Jehangir was a dear colleague of ours and was a guiding force in BEA’s activities.”

     

    Former IBN18 editor in chief Rajdeep Sardesai tweeted, “Deep condolences to family of Jehangir Pocha. Life is transient, but was lived well. RIP”

     

    Anupam Kher’s tweet: “Can’t believe that is no more. Just spoke to him few days back. One of the best journalists & human beings. So so sad. RIP”

     

    Senior news TV journalist Dibang  tweeted: “Oh suddenly passes away Life is transient, can end suddenly; we plan for future, now is the only moment we have:

     

    Colors TV CEO Raj Nayak had this to say in his tweet: “A friend who tweeted 10 hrs ago, who came to meet me few days back to discuss his future plans is suddenly no more RIP “

     

    Journalist and digital entrepreneur Govind Ethiraj tweeted “RIP wonderful guy, India’s best China journalist, great writer.”

     

    The soft spoken Pocha’s tweeted late last night: “Hurrying Home…”

     

    Pocha’s tweet was in response to a news clipping that he had attached with it. It referred to a High court judgement stating that “constantly reaching home late from work without informing your wife amounts to cruelty. “

     

    He is survived by his wife Ranjana and twins.

     

    RIP!  Jehangir.