The Hindu Business Line : Final meeting on Content Code for TV channels tomorrow

New Delhi, July 18 The Government has called for a final meeting of stakeholders on Friday, before it readies its draft Content Code for television channels.

The industry, which has been opposing the move, is hoping to find a framework for a regulatory body from within. At a summit held in the Capital, attended by representatives of CNN-IBN, NDTV, TV Today and India TV, industry leaders suggested a regulatory mechanism on the lines of Ofcom, the independent regulator and competition authority in the UK overseeing the entire communications industries including television, radio, telecommunications and wireless communications services.

According to Mr Q.W. Naqvi, News Director, TV Today Network, a government regulatory body would amount to interference. Mr Rajdeep Sardesai, Editor-in-Chief, CNN IBN, replying to criticism on the increasing popularity of sensational journalism, said that news channels were indeed seeing a crisis of sorts. However, it was for the industry to differentiate between news and those channels that focus on more sensationalism, TRP-chasing content bordering on entertainment, he added.

The News Broadcasting Association, registered recently, with representatives from the leading news broadcasters, has opposed the proposed Content Code. The Broadcasting Regulatory Bill proposes content auditors within the company who could turn to the proposed Broadcasting Regulatory Authority of India, in case their decisions have been overturned.

In the keynote address at the Indian News Television Summit 2007 in the Capital today, Ms Asha Swarup, Secretary, Information and Broadcasting, called on all news channels to share the responsibility of public service broadcasting. No doubt, news has to be presented as it happens, but accuracy and impartiality has to be ensured, Ms Swarup said.

The proposed independent broadcast regulator and Broadcast Regulatory Bill would be in the overall interest of the development of media in the country, she added.