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The Information & Broadcasting Ministry on Saturday advised private TV news channels to avoid “scandalous headlines and false claims” with regard to coverage of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and the recent incident of violence in North-West Delhi. Expressing serious concerns, the Ministry “strongly advised” news channels to refrain from airing content that is in violation of the Programming Code prescribed in the Cable TV Act.
The Ministry said several private TV new channels have covered these incidents and events in a manner which appeared to be “unauthentic, misleading and sensational”. It also flagged off usage of socially unacceptable language and remarks which it said were found to be offensive, obscene, defamatory and having “communal overtones”.
With regard to reportage on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Ministry saidchannels have been making false claims and frequently misquoting international agencies. Several channels were found to be making “scandalous headlines “unrelated to the news item and journalists were making unsubstantiated and fabricated claims and using hyperbole in order to incite audience.
Similarly, with regard to the recent incident in North-West Delhi, the Ministry observed that certain news channels aired “provocative and fabricated headlines and videos of violence that may incite communal hatred among communities and disrupt peace and law and order.” The Ministry’s advisory stated that coverage of some TV channels was found to be “disrupting the ongoing investigation process by playing scandalous and unverified CCTV footage” and “showing footage of a specific community, thus, aggravating communal tensions” besides “giving communal colours to the actions of the authority.”
It has also cautioned private TV channels against broadcasting debates having “unparliamentary and provocative” language besides communal remarks and derogatory references. These, it said, may “have a negative psychological impact on viewers and may also incite communal disharmony and disturb the peace at large.”
Without naming the TV channels, the Ministry’s advisory cited several examples and expressed concerns regarding “fabricated claims” and “unverified news with regard to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. For instance: It said one of the news channels aired a news item “Ukraine main Atomi Hadkamp” on April 18, during which it mentioned that Russia is planning a nuclear attack on Ukraine thus sensationalising and also misquoting international agencies. It added that another channel indulged in “war mongering” and airing factless speculation with a tendency to infuse fear in the minds of viewers.
On the coverage of the incident in North-West Delhi, the Ministry flagged examples of sensational headlines flashed by TV news channels and said a channel repeatedly carried a video clipping of a man carrying a sword.“ Channels claims that this video depicts that it was pre-planned to spread violence in a religious procession,” it added.
Citing these examples, the Ministry strongly advised against violation of provisions of The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and the rules under it.
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