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Tag: NBA

  • Delhi HC fallout: NBA chastises motivated stings

    Delhi HC fallout: NBA chastises motivated stings

    NEW DELHI: For the first time since its inception, the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) have officially criticised motivated sting operations on TV news channels, saying that the Delhi High Court’s suggestion that an I&B ministry committee clear all stings before going on air is a matter of grave concern.

    In a press note, NBA president G Krishnan said, “We condemn motivated reporting that attempts to fabricate news to gain popularity at the cost of journalistic integrity.”

    Krishnan also added that such acts risk discrediting television news and indeed the news media as a whole.

    “But this does not mean that sting operations are wrong in principle. The NBA believes that sting operations are a legitimate journalistic tool and means of investigation, but like all powerful tools they have to be used with care and responsibility,” he emphasised.

    It may be recalled that on 30 August, the TV news channel India Live had shown a ‘sting’ that purportedly ‘caught’ Uma Khurana, a school teacher, using her students for flesh trade.

    While the so-called news exposé caused rioting in Delhi’s congested Dariya Ganj area, within two days the operation had been found to be fake, the reporter arrested and a while later, Khurana was cleared by the police.

    Dismissing the case two days ago, the Delhi HC chastised sensational reporting and suggested that the concerned ministry set up a committee to subject all stings to scrutiny and give them clearance, which the journalistic circle has been alarmed about.

    If the ministry were to take up the court’s suggestion at all, there would be clear chances of censorship, the media has felt widely.

    “We have noted with concern the suggestion of the Delhi High Court that the I&B Ministry set up a committee to vet sting operations and issue no-objection certificates on being satisfied that they serve the public interest, before the stories are telecast,” a press statement from NBA said.

    Krishnan said, “We are all aware that events of the recent past have called sting operations to question on grounds of authenticity, but stray incidents do not warrant such interference, which is totally against the tenets of democracy, free speech and the freedom of the press.”

    The NBA feels that the suggestion that a telecast of news receive prior permission of the Government would constitute censorship of news and would, for that reason, constitute “content control” and thereby an unacceptable restraint on the right of free speech.

    “As much as stray incidents of irresponsible reporting cannot constitute a basis for imposing censorship upon the print media, such incidents of abuse of ethics cannot constitute a basis of imposing censorship upon the electronic media,” said the statement.

    The NBA is in the process of formulating a code of self-regulation for news and current affairs channels. Senior advocate and former Solicitor General of India Harish Salve is helping the NBA in finalising the self-regulation guidelines and grievance redressal mechanism.

    Krishnan said, “The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has been encouraging our endeavour towards self-regulation. We trust the government will view the present suggestion in the same supportive spirit and resist attempts and suggestions to interfere with the press.”

  • I&B mulls sending reminder to NBA over Content Code

    NEW DELHI: Upset over News Broadcasters Association’s (NBA) silence on the Content Code almost a month after sending a letter, the Information and Broadcasting ministry (I&B) is now planning to send a reminder.

    Meanwhile, the government-drafted Code remains in place till a regulator comes up.

    “We have no word from them and it may be they have not taken this seriously,” an official told Indiantelevision.com, despite the fact that during a meeting with the minister for Information and Broadcasting, journalists had said they would draft their own Code and send it to the government.

    “We are considering sending a letter to remind them on this soon,” the official said, and added that the government was looking at getting the Broadcast Bill out as soon as possible.

    However, though the Bill was termed as a priority, the official was unable to give a definite deadline for it to be in place. The Bill has to be passed early, the official said, as that would be the only route of setting up the regulator.

    It may be recalled that while most broadcasters are agreeable to having a regulation, they had vehemently fought the idea of a government-drafted Code of Content, terming that as infringement of free speech.

    In the context of the Bill, when asked whether the ministry officials had interacted with the chairperson of Ofcom, the British media regulatory body, the official said they had “a lot of interaction.”

    So, is the Indian ministry taking points from the Ofcom system?

    “They have an interesting system of setting up the Commission, which is basically that the old body of the Commission gets the new body in and this gives them autonomy. We are looking at this and studying it, and may be some parts could be considered,” added the official.

    The system of setting regulatory bodies and Commission is different from that in British media affairs, the official said, and this merits study.

    However, the ministry could not give a deadline of getting the Bill on the house of the Parliament, saying that there is need for more guidance. That guidance would come from within the ministry itself “as we are pretty much aware of who has to say what on the issue”.

    Meanwhile, the Code of Content drafted by the government has not been scrapped and will be there as a referral point as and when the regulator is set up. The government might scrap some provisions obnoxious to the industry and put it for more healthy debate, the official said.

  • NBA Content Code put in cold storage

    NEW DELHI: The proposed Code of Content drafted by news broadcasters in retaliation to the government’s attempt to ‘curb press freedom’ through the latter’s Content Code is gathering dust, with no one in the news TV industry interested in talking about it.

    “There is no forward movement and nothing is likely in the short run, that is for sure,” said a senior editor who also revealed that the draft that had been placed for the consideration of all news channels is mundane and routine: “there’s nothing that can be talked about”, the source said.

    Arnav Goswami, Editor of “Times Now” channel had been given the task – on behalf of the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) of developing a draft Code of Content, with specifics about what would be penalties and who would impose them, but not much of that has found place in the draft, sources said.

    The NBA, which has been closely guarded on the issue of their own draft from the beginning, had also decided to rope in news broadcasters beyond the periphery of Delhi and Mumbai based channels to give their proposed Code a national character, but so far this process too has not take off.

    “We shall place a Code with the government,” said the source. “But that will take a long time, and the government playing on the back foot and the prime minister almost supporting our cause by asking the ministry to go slow, has given us the opportunity.”

    Sources in the industry say that the news TV channels are not at all seriously inclined towards any Code, and the mandarins are not sure they will ever be able to come to a consensus on the Code the industry itself is developing.

    “In a situation where every editor is an intellectual in his own right and with their own egos to serve, it is practically impossible to have a commonly acceptable Code, for each one is going to haggle over every word, all in the name of protecting the rights of the press,” a senior broadcast lawyer told Indiantelevision.com.

    Officially, NBA is not speaking at all, insisting that this is not in the public domain. A senior executive in a broadcasting cmpany said that discussions are going on and “may be in three or four months time this will bear fruit”.

  • Content code draft submitted to NBA

    NEW DELHI: The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) has received the draft code of conduct from the member who had been entrusted with the job, and are going to take legal counsel on the issue soon, sources said.

    Times Now editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami sent the draft code to the NBA yesterday, and after the process of legal opinion taking is over, the draft would be sent to all the members of the association for their study and a discussion to finalise the Code some time later, and there has been no deadline fixed for that so far.

    Sources however said that the NBA would not push the deadline too far, as it is keen to submit the code to the I&B ministry.

    The real problem is getting most of the other channels not based in Delhi or Mumbai to give their inputs, as the NBA leadership would like to broaden the base of the organisation as well as support for the draft code of content, so that the government is not able to dismiss it as the will of a handful of journalists.

    “There is need to make this a national consensus, and hopefully we shall be able to do that, as we are keen on this,” a source in the news TV industry told Indiantelevision.com.

    The code is a response to the ministry wanting to foist a code of conduct on the news channels, which the latter have slammed as an infringement of the right to freedom of speech and expression.

    In fact, the government had promised to redraft the original code it had issued for consultation, and said it would keep a minimalist approach.

    Despite that, in a meeting with the minister last month, the news broadcasters had refused to have anything to do with a government created code.

    The key aspects of the code drafted by the NBA – though no details are being divulged about the actual content – are sting operations, privacy, decency and measures to be taken against an errant channel.

    Issues as to how far is too far, and what to do with a situation like the one in which a news channel repeatedly aired the footage of a former film starlet bathing in the nude inside a jail bathroom, will be central to the concerns of the NBA code, as it had told the government that the industry was mature enough, just a few days before this scene was aired on TV.

    “We have the concerns of the government relating to cultural values in mind, as the government is as Indian as we are and share the same values, but we want only self-governance, not government gagging of the media,” a senior editor told Indiantelevision.com.

    Meanwhile the entire issue of Broadcast Bill and hence the government drafted code has been put on the back burner, seemingly for an indefinite time, as the PMO does not want the media upset to the extent it had become, especially with some critical elections coming round the corner.

  • NBA condemns fake stings, warns govt against undue intervention

    NEW DELHI: For the first time since the Uma Khurana sting, in which the school teacher was shown getting girl students into prostitution, the News Broadcasters Association has openly denounced the fake sting in partucular and similar attempts, if any.

    In a press statement signed by NBA Secretary General Annie Joseph, the organisation has, however, also expressed concerns about the government’s role in news media.

    “The recent sting operation aired by TV channel Live India and events following it have raised substantial and serious issues.

    “The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) unequivocally condemns any attempt by anyone to fabricate news and to attempt to gain popularity at the cost of journalistic integrity. Such acts risk discrediting television news, and indeed the news media, as a whole,” the statement says.

    However, it adds that this does not mean that sting operations are wrong in principle. The NBA believes that sting operations are a legitimate journalistic tool and means of investigation, but like all powerful tools they have to be used with care and responsibility.

    “However, the NBA continues to question the role of government in media.

    “Regrettably, the present instance is only the latest in a series of government interventions in media content in the recent past, including several cases of suspension of licensed TV channels. In each instance the key question left unanswered was how and by what process it was determined that there was an offence; and on what basis the penalty was determined.

    “A free and independent media is the cornerstone of India’s powerful democracy, and it behoves an elected government to support and strengthen that freedom.

    “The NBA knows that with freedom comes responsibility, and respects the role of government in ensuring such responsibility.

    “However, it also believes that to do so requires a transparent and codified process. Government intervention in news content without a transparent, codified process and basis is nothing short of censorship, and a threat to the freedom of the press – and in turn to the health of the democracy.
    “In acknowledgement of the responsibility of the press, a committee of Editors of member channels of the NBA is framing guidelines for self-regulation for news and current affairs channels, for implementation at the earliest,” the statement concluded.

    However, it is notable that the NBA has not yet issued any statement on a national TV channel and powerful broadcaster group showeing the video of a former film starlet bathing in the nude inside a jail. That footage has been hauled up by the Supreme Court. NBA has so far offered no comments on that.

    The NBA, in the meanwhile, is in the process of formulating its own Code of Content, a first draft of which is going to be circulated among the NBA members, with an attempt to involve all news channels across the country, to make it a national, standard Code that is enforceable.

  • NBA, YouTube challenge fans to post basketball moves

    NBA, YouTube challenge fans to post basketball moves

    MUMBAI: Video sharing site YouTube, Inc. and the National Basketball Association (NBA) have launched Post Up the NBA on the new NBA Channel on YouTube.

    The new channel will provide fans around the world and the entire YouTube community with the opportunity to submit video clips of their best basketball moves, and access original NBA content throughout the remainder of the 2006-07 NBA season.

    NBA fans are encouraged to upload their “best moves” to the site www.youtube.com/nba) and rate other videos posted by fans. The top Post Up the NBA videos submitted will be selected and compiled into a special weekly highlight reel “NBA Top 10 on YouTube” that will be featured on the “NBA Channel.

    YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley says, “By delivering a wide array of programming to YouTube, the NBA will be able to connect with its existing worldwide fan base and reach a vast new audience that is passionate about basketball”.

    Google CEO Eric Schmidt says, “The NBA consistently delivers some of the most exciting content in all of sports. We are thrilled to partner with the NBA to give them access to an amazing platform to further engage their fans around the world.”

    NBA commissioner David Stern says, “NBA fans will be able to interact and share their passion for the game by posting their ‘best moves,’. YouTube’s popularity and wide-reaching community of users provides the NBA with another unique way to reach our fans.”

    Along with providing fans an opportunity to post their best basketball moves, the NBA will post select plays and behind-the-scenes video highlights from NBA.com on the “NBA Channel” on YouTube.

    YouTube and the NBA have extended their partnership beyond video footage and community building. As part of the agreement, the NBA will join the growing number of content partners taking advantage of YouTube’s “Claim Your Content” program. This features a content identification and reporting system for user uploaded videos, allowing the league to identify its copyrighted content. The NBA will have the option to remove content from YouTube or share in the advertising revenue generated, if any.

    Google and the NBA are also currently conducting a test to syndicate NBA video content across Google’s AdSense network, adding to the growing list of content providers sharing engaging, relevant material with participating publishers. As part of this test publishers small and large, cutting across a variety of categories, will receive syndicated clips of NBA action.
     

  • Vh1 enters another dimension with ‘Video Mods’

    Vh1 enters another dimension with ‘Video Mods’

    MUMBAI: Vh1, India’s international music and lifestyle channel, has launched a new mixing concept with Video Mods.

    Video Mods transforms music videos by injecting a unique video game environment and featuring characters from one or even a few video games.

    This new concept presents video games and music videos all morphed in one, asserts an official release.

    In upcoming episodes, Video Mods will take on videos from the Beastie Boys, Ciara, Yellow Card, Taking Back Sunday, and The Killers with games like NBA Street V3, Medal of Honor European Assault, Dance Dance Revolution, Silent Hill, and Lineage II: the Chaotic Chronicle, adds the release.

    New 30 minute episode of Vh1’s Video Mods will be telecasted every Saturday at 5 pm.

  • MySpace.com gets 50 mn US visitors in May: comScore Media Metrix

    MySpace.com gets 50 mn US visitors in May: comScore Media Metrix

    MUMBAI: comScore Media Metrix, which provides insight into American consumer behaviour and attitudes has released its monthly analysis of consumer activity at top online properties and categories.

    The social networking phenomenon continued its stratospheric ascent, as MySpace.com reached new heights with 50 million visitors in May and YouTube.com nearly doubled its traffic from April, reaching 12.6 million visitors.

    In addition to shopping for moms and grads, checking out job sites, and staying on top of personal finance and politics in May, Americans also flocked to their favourite TV show and sports sites, including those focused on the World Cup and NBA playoff games. 

    comScore Media Metrix president and CEO Peter Daboll says, “The popularity of social networking is not expected to wane in the near future. This is a phenomenon we’re seeing not only in the U.S., but also around the world. The challenge for social networking sites will now be monetisation and how advertisers will respond to the global marketing potential of these sites.”

    Americans demonstrated their interest in the World Cup soccer tournament and NBA Playoffs in the weeks preceeding the June tournaments. The NBA Internet Network attracted 6.3 million visitors in May which represents a 24 per cent increase versus April. fifaworldcup.yahoo.com — the official World Cup site — doubled its traffic, reaching more than 788,000 visitors.

    Even more impressive was the worldwide traffic to the official World Cup site during the opening days of the tournament, with more than five million unique visitors from around the globe visiting the site on 9 June. Traffic to the site remained strong throughout the opening weekend, with average daily visitors through 11 June surpassing 4.4 million visitors.

    Television fans headed to TV web sites in numbers to check out details for the season finales of their favourite shows. ABC, which aggressively promoted streamed versions of Lost and Desperate Housewives was rewarded with a 39 per cent increase in visitors to ABC.com, surging to 6.9 million visitors.

    Traffic to the Lost site increased 71 per cent to 1.2 million visitors in May. Meanwhile, the Desperate Housewives site attracted 528,000 visitors, up 36 per cent from the prior month, and the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition site saw a 41 per cent uptick in traffic to 286,000 visitors. The season finale of NBC’s long running ER drove traffic to the show’s site, with 236,000 visitors in May, up 49 per cent compared to April.